Georgia coach Kirby Smart said college football’s current bowl system, marred by opt-outs and transfer portal departures, is a major issue that needs to be fixed moving forward following Saturday’s 63-3 win over Florida State in the Orange Bowl. Playing without nearly two-dozen of its two-deep personnel, the Seminoles trailed by 39 points at halftime during the most lopsided bowl game in history.
“I can say we had our guys and they didn’t have their guys, I can listen to all that, but college football has got to decide what they want,” Smart said, via Dawgs247. “I know things are changing. Things are going to change next year, but you know what? There’s going to still be bowl games outside of those. People got to decide what they want and what they really want to get out of it. It’s really unfortunate for those kids on that sideline that had to play in that game that didn’t have their full arsenal. It affected the game, 100 percent.”
Georgia faced several opt-outs for injury-related issues, but for the most part, had its full arsenal available against the previously-unbeaten Seminoles. The Bulldogs never trailed during a rhythmic beatdown of the only unbeaten Power Five team to ever be left out of the College Football Playoff. With quarterback Carson Beck — who threw for 203 yards and two touchdowns in two quarters — announcing his return for 2024 this month along with several key playmakers, the Bulldogs will be one of next season’s national title contenders after falling just short of their bid for three-peat this fall.
The playoff selection committee pushed the Bulldogs five spots back to No. 6 in their final rankings earlier this month and, clearly, Georgia used that as motivation in Miami. Georgia’s 60-point win is a new bowl record, eclipsing last season’s 58-point drubbing of TCU in the national title game.
For Smart, however, the lack of competition in the Orange Bowl against a team that was a shell of the one that won the ACC this season, is disheartening.
Smart said before the game that Georgia’s lack of major personnel changes ahead of its final game speaks to the culture of the program.
“The leaders of the team spearheaded [the lack of opt-outs],” Smart said. “I stay out of it. They want to go out on top. They don’t want their last Georgia outing to be what was the SEC Championship. They put their minds to it, and it was a little bit of almost a contagious deal. One guy did it, another guy did it and they wanted to play.”
Florida State head coach Mike Norvell said the CFP committee’s controversial decision to leave the Seminoles out of the playoff “hurt” several players who opted out of the Orange Bowl.
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“There’s been some tough choices that guys have had to make,” Norvell said this week. “I support our players in their journey. It was hard. A lot of them were hurt by decisions of things that they couldn’t control. Ultimately, I believe in where we’re going, and we will continue to build through experiences. I’m grateful for all that our players have poured into our program throughout this journey.”
