Monday ‘Dawg Bites Is On The Title Trail And The Recruiting Trail

Get up, Dawg fans. We’ve got a championship to play for.

Perhaps we don’t get here via quite the path we were hoping for, but your Georgia Bulldogs will take on the Texas Longhorns this Saturday in Mercedes-Benz Stadium with a chance to hoist an SEC Championship trophy and book a first round bye in the upcoming College Football Playoff. The Red and Black have been installed as a slight 2.5 point underdog, an interesting line given that they grilled the Longhorns by 15 in Austin a mere six weeks ago. If anything it’s likely a recognition of the fact that the Longhorns have generally looked fairly business-like since (don’t count that one trip to Nashville, nobody does) while the Bulldogs have looked, well, leisurely.

Kirby and Steve Sarkisian both talked to SEC media on Sunday about the game, with Smart emphasizing that winning the SEC is a challenge right up there with getting to the playoff. The Top Dawg also had some thoughts on a big physical Texas defense and why a three loss SEC team deserves to be in the College Football Playoff. Theoretically, I mean.

As if this week wasn’t busy enough, Wednesday is early National Signing Day, and the Bulldogs are right in the hunt for the nation’s top recruiting class. One potential piece of the puzzle for the 2025 class is four star Toombs County safety Lagonza Hayward, who had been committed to Tennessee. Hayward is the #3 safety in the nation according to On3 ‘s recruiting rankings and #13 by 247Sports.

Georgia has continued to push hard for Hayward, who said as recently as three weeks ago that he wasn’t flipping on the Vols. I’d also keep a close eye on the Florida Gators, but this recruitment could go up to Signing Day or even past it. When Kirby sets his mind on an instate recruit, history has shown he won’t give up until the ink is dry and the kid’s had a couple of meals in the dining hall.

One former five star recruit who’s unlikely to be making an impact going forward for the ‘Dawgs is cornerback Julian Humphrey, who announced yesterday via social media that he will be entering the transfer portal.

The decision wasn’t a huge surprise. Humphrey entered the portal last year before being talked back into the fold for the 2024 season. Then after struggling for much of the year he lost his starting spot prior to the UMass game to sophomore Daniel Harris, and didn’t play last week against Tech.

For his part Coach Smart is focused on the guys who want to go play Texas, which at corner will likely be veteran Daylen Everette, Harris, and their backups, true freshmen Ellis Robinson, IV and Demello Jones. That’s a bit of a worry against a talented Longhorn receiving corps. But then, we’ve got plenty of other stuff to worry about, so let’s not use up all our points on that one.

We’ll be back with more news and notes later. Until then…

Go ‘Dawgs!!!