What Makes Kirby Smart's Georgia Bulldogs Special?
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ATHENS - Georgia Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart has been mentioning special teams a lot lately.
That’s probably because he gets asked about it. But Saturday Kirby said this about TE Arik Gilbert:
“He’s developing as a special teams player also,” Kirby said. “It’s something he has not done as much before.”
Yeah, because the very best players in college football don’t typically play special teams. We can’t really say that at Georgia. The discussion of Gilbert playing special teams shows two things specifically. First, just how deep the tight ends are at UGA. Second, that Gilbert has been so good in the past (at Marietta and LSU) that he didn’t play a lot on special teams at those stops.
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But he will in Athens, and he won’t be the only high-level player for the Dawgs on special teams. And if you think about some of the big moments in Kirby’s time at Georgia special teams have played a huge part in those moments.
The blocked kick against Oklahoma in the Rose Bowl Game set up the Dawgs playing for the program’s first national title since 1982. The blocked kick against Auburn in the SEC Championship Game a few weeks before that sent the Dawgs to the College Football Playoff. The blocked kick against Alabama in the 33-18 win over the No. 1 Tide in Indy set up Georgia’s biggest offensive play of the game - a James Cook chunk play that set up Zamir White’s touchdown to give the Dawgs a lead in the third quarter of that game.
But it hasn’t just been on blocked kicks. Georgia’s blocked punt in the win over No. 8 Arkansas was a huge moment that ended that game Between the Hedges. A year before in Fayetteville the Dawgs blocked a punt to push the Hogs out of the way in a sloppy season-opening win.
Would Georgia have beaten Oklahoma without Hot Rod’s long kick before the half? Is it happenstance that Georgia was ranked No. 3 in the country in kickoff return defense in 2022?
When is the last time Kirby Smart’s team allowed a special teams touchdown?
I’ll give you a moment to think about that, and continue this rant by adding: Georgia’s special teams should be good. The accumulation of a much high-level talent as the Dawgs have had over the last few years means they should overwhelm other teams. And more often than not they do.
That’s why Georgia, usually, is the team that punishes others in special teams. Georgia’s special teams unti is a big reason why FanDuel is giving them -550 odds to win the SEC East once again this season.
Kirby had this to say about special teams Saturday:
“I thought both of those guys (Jack Podlesny and Jared Zirkel) kicked off really well. I’d have to check the numbers. I don’t know the hangs and distances, but just watching it off the foot and seeing it in the air, I thought they really kicked off well. Field goals we have to continue to work on. I thought we had great effort on both side, protection and rush, which is critical for us defensively and protection-wise. I thought that (Brett) Thorson hit some good punts. We punted situationally today where we were trying to pin some kicks inside the 10 and work on some different things. It wasn’t about the distance. It was more about directional and trying to work on some different things. I thought all of those guys continue to get better.”
Special teams is the part of football we forget to consider more often than not. Last week Georgia partisans were, correctly, concerned about the front seven on the defense. But there was some static about the special teams being a little shaky. That’s going to have to get figured out or fixed. Because Kirby Smart’s defenses have not been the only things that separate the Dawgs from their foes. It has been special teams, too.
Oh, in 81 career games at UGA Kirby’s teams have given up two special teams touchdowns. The most recent one came when Georgia Tech’s Juanyeh Thomas raced 100 yards on a kickoff return for a score in 2018. The other was in Kirby’s first game ever as coach against No. 22 North Carolina.
To put it another way - Georgia has given up as many special teams scores in Kirby’s time as it has played in for the national title.