It’s almost sounds like blasphemy to think that Kirby Smart‘s Georgia Bulldogs could miss out on the 12-team Playoff this year. But ESPN’s Pete Thamel believes there’s a path that leads to the two-time national champs being on the outside looking in.
Appearing on the “College GameDay Podcast,” the senior writer stated his case.
“There were some positive signs for [Carson] Beck and Georgia in the second half. I think we all picked George to go to the Playoff … I happened to pick Texas to win the SEC. But it was not with, like, stand on the table conviction. It was those two,” Thamel said. “I do think there’s a path where they don’t make the playoff right now. Like, I don’t think that’s a crazy statement at this point … I didn’t see a lot of Playoff picks without Georgia there before the season.”
Thamel added that on paper everything looked right for Georgia but there was just something missing with this 2024 team.
“I talked to half a dozen scouts, three or four coaches who played each team, you know, going into this game. And there was this, like reluctance, acceptance of Georgia,” the insider explained. “Does that make sense? Like the talent individually was there, and people were very complimentary of it, but we hadn’t seen it. There was not, like an edge … there was just a little bit something missing. And Beck really epitomized that, right?”
“Like, what was Carson Beck‘s best career game?” he asked. “There’s not a signature performance. He’s obviously a very good player … But we had just never had that Quinn Ewers in Tuscaloosa performance, right? Baker Mayfield at Ohio State, when he literally plants the flag in the ground, where you say, that’s where that guy came out.”
The Bulldogs definitely have their work cut out for them. But I don’t know if we’re ready to bury them just yet.
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