ATHENS — Oscar Delp spread a Holiday Season’s worth of Georgia football cheer in less than seven minutes this week.
Delp, a rising junior tight end, made a most convincing presentation the Bulldogs’ championship run isn’t over.
Georgia will arrive in Miami for the Orange Bowl on Tuesday, staring on-site prep for the 4 p.m. Dec. 30 game against ACC champ Florida State.
Note: “On the Beat” will be live next Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. from Miami
“Definitely, we’ve got something prove, they’re a great team, 13-0,” Delp said, sharing the team’s approach to playing the Seminoles, who are riding a 19-game win streak, the longest in the FBS ranks.
“This win will send our senior class out as the winningest senior class in history in Georgia football, and that’s huge to send those guys out the right way. They deserve it.”
Indeed, Coach Kirby Smart said the opportunity for the seniors to win a 50th game is being used for motivation — even more than UGA’s six-game bowl win streak string of six Top 10 finishes.
Unfinished business
Delp indicated he had a good feeling Carson Beck would return for the 2024 season, and the official announcement sparked more excitement in the locker room.
“It’s huge, you saw what he did this year, and I think with a year under his belt — I can’t even describe how good he’s going to be next year,” Delp said.
“So it’s exciting to have him stay, and just know we’ll have him in our offense again, and have that leader in our program and on our team.”
Delp has a good idea what’s going through his quarterback’s mind, too.
“He knows we have some unfinished next year,” Delp said, “and I think he’s going to have a chip on his shoulder and (so is) everyone else and it’s exciting to have him back.”
Delp explains offense
Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo runs the same Pro Style offense Todd Monken did, with answers for each look at personnel grouping.
The ball goes where the defense isn’t, and as Delp explained, early enrollees learn quickly it’s a much more complex scheme than high school.
“The big thing I took off (bowl practices as an early enrollee) was every play here and in college is like multiple different plays,” Delp said.
“In high school you’ve got one play, one chalkboard route, and you’re running that no matter what,” Delp said.
“Here, one route could mean you run four different things based off different coverages and different leverages, so it’s a lot faster, there’s a lot more thinking involved, processing for every play, and it just takes practice.”
Oscar on the future
Delp added more perspective to Georgia’s bowl trip and preparations.
“I think it’s a springboard for next year,” Delp said, “let people know we’re still going to be here.”
Delp said he and his teammates embrace Georgia’s 2024 schedule.
“I would much rather go play those big games and those exciting games, that’s just how I am and how our team is wired,” Delp said. “I think we get fired up for those big games and excited and really locked in.”
Georgia often played its best against marquee opponents in the regular season, especially in wins over Top 20 teams Kentucky (51-13), Ole Miss (52-17) and Tennessee (38-10).
“I think we play good in those big games,” Delp said, “I think everyone wants the schedule we have next year and we’re all excited for it.”
About that schedule
Georgia opens the 2024 season against Clemson in Atlanta before diving into arguably the most difficult conference slate in the league.
The Bulldogs open SEC play on the road against a Kentucky team that will know UGA’s base offense and defense like few others, as former Georgia 5-star QB Brock Vandagriff figures to be under center and former UGA All-American middle linebacker Jamon Dumas-Johnson will be staring into Beck’s eyes.
Those who evaluate schedule strength don’t factor those sort of intangibles into their computer metrics, but the potential disadvantages are quite real.
After Kentucky a road trip to Tuscaloosa is followed by a home date with Auburn the very next week, and there’s a trip to Texas leading into the annual game in Jacksonville with Florida.
Georgia’s game with the Gators is a designated “home” game followed by more travels the next week to Oxford to play Ole Miss before Tennessee visits Athens.