Welcome to Gimme 5, a weekly Q&A where one member of the DawgNation team answers your questions about the Georgia football program. To ask questions, simply check out the DawgNation forum and your questions could be featured in a future edition of Gimme 5.
Jakobe HBTFD on Twitter asks if Carson Beck is the Heir Apparent at quarterback or if there is some ambiguity to the future of the Georgia offense behind center?
Answer: In video
Robert Heider asks on Twitter What are your feelings on 8 vs 12 for future playoff expansion?
Answer: For clarification, it is going to be a 12-team playoff and the question now is whether it will start in 2024, 2025 or 2026. I believe the parties involved want this to begin sooner rather than later.
Related: Georgia football keeps top spot in College Football Playoff rankings for Week 13
As for how I feel, I’m just fine with it going to 12 teams. It keeps more fan bases invested over the course of the season and adds more intriguing games from a national standpoint later on in the season.
I completely understand how some might feel with regards to teams like Georgia, Alabama and Ohio State having a pass to the College Football Playoff every year because their current talent advantages are so overwhelming. It’s true. So long as Kirby Smart is at Georgia, the Bulldogs should never miss a 12-team playoff.
For those worried about a diluted regular season though, think back to the Tennessee game. What made that win so satisfactory for Georgia fans wasn’t that it helped clinch the SEC East or moved Georgia to No. 1 in the College Football Playoff rankings. It was the fact that Georgia beat rival Tennessee and got Volunteer fans to stop talking for just long enough until they came up with an excuse as to why their team got emasculated in Sanford Stadium.
College football is special because of the people. The playoff stakes don’t change that. Beating Florida, Auburn and Georgia Tech is always going to be great for Georgia fans. Losing to those teams will always stink. Playoff stakes won’t change that, even if it seems to have distorted everything else about the sport.
Jim Jarrell on Twitter asks if there is a chance we see Carson Beck this Saturday against Georgia Tech?
Answer: We briefly touched on this in the video, but Saturday would be as good a chance as any to see Beck since the Vanderbilt game.
Georgia just played its most difficult slate of games so it’s understandable why we didn’t see Beck in the wins over Florida, Tennessee, Mississippi State and Kentucky.
This Saturday though, Georgia is a 35.5-point favorite against Georgia Tech, the largest point spread margin since the Vanderbilt game. If Georgia does what Vegas thinks it should, the Bulldogs should get out to a big enough lead to insert Beck into the game.
What Beck does though is a far different discussion. Given the SEC championship game is next week, Georgia may just want to get in and out with a win and move things along.
Or, like the Bulldogs did against Vanderbilt, they could really let Beck rip it. He had 11 pass attempts in the win, completing eight for 98 yards and two touchdowns. Every game rep matters and getting Beck — who could be Georgia’s starting quarterback next season — more seasoning could help Georgia in the long run.
First, Georgia must take care of Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets are playing for a bowl game and aren’t likely to roll over as they did a season ago under then-head coach Geoff Collins.
Jim Wallace on the DawgNation Forum asks: Remove Kirby and Saban from the equation…which SEC Coach is doing the best job?
Answer: This time a week ago, you could’ve said Lane Kiffin. But after falling down 42-6 against Arkansas and then all the nonsense that has taken place this week, it feels hard to say him.
So instead, let’s go with Brian Kelly. In his first season, he’s gotten LSU back into the SEC championship game. The magical 2019 season wasn’t all that long ago, but LSU won just 11 games over the two seasons prior to Kelly’s arrival.
Should the Tigers beat Texas A&M on Saturday they’d be at 10-2 and in a very real position to make the College Football Playoff. This LSU team has gotten better throughout the season and Kelly seems to be building a culture that should bring sustained success to Baton Rouge.
He also convinced Harold Perkins to come to LSU instead of Texas A&M and Florida. The linebacker has become one of the best players in the country in recent weeks. And he is just a freshman, meaning Kelly gets another two years to build around him.
Josh Heupel is a worthy selection as well for what he’s done at Tennessee but LSU, in my opinion, feels both closer to a national title right now and has higher upside. So with that, Kelly gets my vote.
Brian Green on Twitter wonders about how Deion Sanders might help add more energy and passion to the Georgia Tech rivalry
Answer: Following Saturday’s game, Georgia Tech is going to have a decision to make about who it hires as its head coach.
Deion Sanders figures to be a very popular name. He’s brought real success to Jackson State and proven he can recruit. He’s also got ties to the Atlanta area stemming back to his days as an Atlanta Falcon.
Related: Why Georgia Tech’s coaching future holds the key to ‘Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate’ mattering again
I am of the belief Sanders would do well at Georgia Tech. And that it would be a home run hire for Georgia Tech. I’m just not sure that Sanders is ready to leave Jackson State at this point and that he couldn’t land himself a better job if he elects to remain patient.
Remember, Kirby Smart had other offers and jobs he could’ve taken prior to becoming the head coach at Georgia. But he elected to wait until the job he really wanted came open. The move has worked for all parties and Sanders would be wise to follow a similar route.
As for who Georgia Tech could hire other than Sanders, let’s not overlook Brent Key. He’s brought real energy to the Georgia Tech program, providing the substance that Collins never could as the head coach. With new AD J Batt coming from Alabama, there is also Bill O’Brien, the current Alabama offensive coordinator. Jamey Chadwell of Coastal Carolina also makes sense, though his hiring would represent a step toward the Paul Johnson model.
Whoever ends up getting the job will be worth monitoring from Georgia’s perspective. Given the Yellow Jackets are on the schedule every year through 2037 as it currently stands, Georgia will be seeing whoever the next Georgia Tech coach is often.
Perhaps the next coach will get to coach more games in Athens than Collins did, which would be zero.
