Watching the Sausage Get Made - Kirby's Decisions Are the Most Interesting Thing to Watch
ATHENS - The most amazing think about Kirby Smart’s time at Georgia is his recruiting. But the most interesting thing to watch is his decision making at critical times.
We saw that once more on Saturday night when the guy who has proven that he’s more than willing to go for broke pulled back and kicked the field goal instead.
A reminder:
On third and ten from the ND 35-yard line, Jake Fromm scrambled from the 45-yard line all the way to the 25. It appeared the junior got the first down - hitting an Irish defender at the 29 and another at the 27 and dragging them both to what appeared to be a massive first down. But after a review, the officials spotted the ball to make it fourth and one.
The clock was running at 7:34 left in the game. Georgia was up 20-10. Because the Sanford Stadium crowd forced Notre Dame to call two timeouts earlier in the half, the Irish were nearly helpless in stopping the clock in a meaningful way.
A first down wouldn’t have ended the game, but it would have drug the clock down to under five minutes with a two-score lead. So the decision had to be made - attempt at 40-yard FG to possibly make it a 13-point lead, or go for it and possibly score to make it a 17-point game (game over) or at least bleed even more time off of the clock and live with a closer FG attempt.
Kirby decided to kick it, and looking back on it - right or wrong - that call worked out… even with everything that went wrong for UGA at the end of the game. I said after the game that I would have probably gone for it.
I’m not as sure 48 hours later going for it would have been the right move. Here’s why:
While we are only talking about one yard, that first down doesn't totally end the game.
Who is the power back UGA would use to get that one yard? D’Andre Swift or Brian Herrien? Zamir White didn’t have a carry Saturday night, so putting him in for that one reason would have been pretty odd.
Notre Dame had scored one touchdown at that point - and that game on an eight-yard drive that required an awkward fourth-down conversion. In addition, the longest drive for Notre Dame at that point in the game was 66 yards. At that point in the 4th quarter the Irish had one first down that half.
Kirby played the percentages, and he was correct to do so. However, that doesn’t mean he would have been incorrect to go for it. He just went with the safer play in that instance, and looking back on it that was probably the right call. It certainly worked out, which is not “always” the best indicator for if something was the correct decision.
But folks have to remember that Kirby isn’t always going to play it by the book. Fakes and surprises are part of his game, and are part of any successful coach’s toolbox. The hard part is figuring out when to use them.
Another thing that’s good, at least to me, is that Kirby is willing to take risk. Because, maybe more often than we would like to admit, in sports (and life) being willing to take risky action is the only true path to ultimate success.
It’s just about picking the right spots to do that.