Should Trevor Etienne be suspended for UGA's opener against Clemson | On The Beat

The scene setter all right guys welcome to Monday game week we've finally made it it's Clemson and then you know that that catches people's eye it gets a little extra uh Adrenaline Rush it's Clemson Georgia that are about you know 80 miles apart uh with a lot of history a lot of tradition uh you best believe people going to tune in to watch that one it's going to be a feather in the cap of someone whoever wins the game is going to be going into that uh that playoff committee talk with a strength of schedule uh a major win because both teams are going to have good Seasons after that I know the teams de said I know I'm excited sense urgency has definitely been up um you know you go through fall Camp you really focus on you you get out of Camp really start to you know own in on you know your week one which is Clemson press this week on the beat we'll answer those lingering questions you've got heading into the opener and mik's insight into how Saturday in the bins is going to go down let's go giving you the Insider takes and the big picture of VI on the dogs this is on the beat presented by Engles with dog What Kirby is saying about Trevor Etienne Nation Insider Mike Griffith and Cody chaffins well hey everybody Mike Griffith here and welcome to this week's edition of on the beat Cody can you believe it's finally game week and man what a game it is Kirby Smart and Dabo Sweeney four of the last eight national championships between these coaches they meet on the field Saturday in mercedesbenz Stadium High Noon Showdown I love it so much when the season starts with the big game when you go into the season and you're playing a cupcake it's just not the same feeling when you've got a huge one nationally televised game everybody's eyes will be on this one it just feels a little different yeah no doubt about it you don't want to say must win because there's a 12 team playoff this year but you know you play this out and I mean you could have the SEC Champion playing the ACC Champion more on that later Florida State fans and yet it could also mean who gets the host and who plays away from home in the first round of the playoff should one of these teams slip up and not win their conference so a lot at stake in the opener for both George and Clemson yeah and we finally get to talk about real football no speculating like we've done since you know against that FSU game all the way back and that was in December dogs have not played in this cend year yet so we're finally getting to talk about real football and there are definitely real questions as we head into this game against Clemson first and foremost will Trevor etn play you were in the press conference with Kirby Smart and boy he was ducking and dodging and weaving he he avoided that question about six different ways yeah well who knows maybe it's not settled you almost wonder if there's kind of a a give and take or some pull here I mean look etn had a very well documented driving incident in the offseason Cody but but George has come out and they're finding players now they're getting in the players pockets and taking money from them now the players still need to be suspended when they're already being fined I mean it's kind of a a new world problem and situation and I kind of look at it like why punish the whole team uh over a driving incident in the off season I mean if etan is being fined I don't know why he would also need to be suspended the idea when it comes to discipline is to teach these young men's lessons I does he really learn that much more by missing a football game rather than losing uh you know upward thousands of dollars out of his pocket so you wonder what's going to happen with Georgia and Trevor etan and it's important because like you said Cody there's some other backs in that backfield maybe not as experienced I think Mike you're right in one case I think the fine definitely does you know take a chunk of change out of those guys pockets and it makes a difference and I think other programs around the country a driving related incident maybe the guy just pays the fine and he still plays I think it's different with this team still we're only a couple years away and when you hear the arrest report of Trevor etn it was 80 to 90 mph Crossing double yellow lines to pass people I think that's where this game or this team just cannot have that somebody asked me the other day they said you know I can't see anybody challenging Kirby how how is this team going to be challenged I think the challenge comes from within for Kirby because the only thing that's going to do them in is themselves and it's those off field incidents that would just if they keep getting bigger so you've got to nip that in the butt I think that's why this one not just going to be a fine but he's got to sit out as well yeah I I don't know I don't know that again I'm not sure that any of these previous driving related traffic incidents is involved to fine as well I mean if you if you gave Trevor etn the option of sitting out a game or paying money then maybe I'd agree with you but uh to lose uh thousands of dollars of money on an incident that occurred in the offseason months ago uh again hurts the entire program I I don't know that the lesson has any more gravity for et in uh if you sit him out a game and who's to say that he has to sit out this game why not sit him out in game two what is the point of this do you want to punish and teach Trevor etn or do you want to punish the entire University of Georgia football team the fans and all the work that the other 105 guys have put in as well as that coaching staff as well as all the donors that have donated hundreds of millions of dollars to give Georgia the best facilities again I think the suspension idea is outdated and especially when it comes to uh nonrelated issues with substance abuse and when it comes to having already find a player uh several thousands of dollars I guess I looked to the NFL as an example Cody now that we're seeing players paid I look at the nil model is being more applicable to college and I I don't know that I've seen a whole lot of NFL players finded for traffic incidents where uh no one was injured I think you know maybe kiry smart this is the Turning of a new leaf and maybe this is the new way and maybe this will be the game that we find that out if that is not the case because Kirby Smart has not said straight up whether or not he's going to just find Trevor etn or he'll F out to sop this game so you say it's gonna it's going to challenge everybody on the team how big of an impact as we know rodri Robinson out with turf toe he had to have surgery gonna be out for a while how big of an The running back depth if Etienne cant play impact will it be if Trevor Yan cannot go or is not allowed to go against Clemson well I mean you're talking about you know one of the top 10 running backs in the nation not going if that's the case and again I want to repeat that that at this time of this show has not been announc or perhaps not even determined I mean Kirby Smart again would not acknowledge that question directly at the Monday press conference but you just said it Rod Robinson is next up and and a guy who would be used in concert with etn when hey this is a 240 PB power back that can really move the pile he's been dealing with turf toe he's out indefinitely so here's what you're left with uh you you've got uh incoming freshman Nate Frasier who by All rights is look great in scrimmages but this kid wasn't even here in the spring I don't think he got on campus until June as Dynamic and as explosive as Nate Frasier is you're talking about putting a true freshman into the spotlight of a season opening game on I don't even know if he's played on this sort of field Turf before so that that is a that that seems to be really taking a chance and then you've got the other Robinson Branson Robinson now here's a guy that suffered a very serious knee injury just in Fall Camp last year uh hasn't been full go in a game ever since hadn't played a game in two seasons he's come back some but is he back all the way and where is he at on that comeback where's the confidence at for Branson Robinson on that serious knee injury then you got cash Jones and you know he's a Wy crafty uh little player very little player but but he was a walk-on for a reason so if you're telling me that this doesn't have a direct effect I I would probably challenge that I think this has a huge effect I think this opens the door for Clemson uh because they have a very good front seven I mean it's it's a strength on strength now Georgia may have the best offensive line in the nation but I will tell you that Clemson has one of the best probably top five front sevens when it comes to run defense in the nation so I think this really challenges Georgia if etn can't play I think it's a factor so if all right you talked about it if etn is not there you got a third and seven Barr Carter is going to be coming through that A or B Gap who do you want there blocking him yeah I mean it's a great question I I guess it's got to be Branson R we think I mean provided that surgically repaired need that is and it may be heal obviously it's healthier they wouldn't put him out there but psychologically where is Branson at and in terms of just knowing his assignments and playing at game speed again it's been two years since this big guy played football now they've played a couple scrimmages but that's not the same as a game day in Mercedes-Benz stadium so there's questions and and maybe you don't even call that play you know that's the other thing Cody if you take Trevor etn off the field I think you take out a hunkier Playbook and now of a sudden there's just not as many options and Clemson knows that Clemson knows that there's no Trevor eten in the back field maybe they want him to throw the ball to Frasier again a talented player but one of the players at a recent scrimmage said hey you know Frasier looked great but one time he dropped a pass in the open field with 20 yards ahead of him another time he fumbled in a tackle drill so or or there's Branson Robinson and the surgically repaired knee the first game back or there's little cash Jones the the Wy you know uh Little Engine That Could and how much do you really ask him to do again we've seen him do well in spurts but to your point how is he in pass protection and how does he hold up so there's a lot of questions here I know it's a very talented backfield but with rodri Robinson and perhaps Trevor eten missing Georgia would be thin in those running back ranks yeah I would like to think Kirby always says can I trust you I think the guy he probably trusts most out of that group is Cass Jones but again yeah I don't I'm not necessarily wanting Cass Jones to be doing pass blocking when it comes down to it now one of the other things we heard in the press conference we hardly ever get to hear from Carson Beck ahead of a game but we got to hear from Carson Beck on Monday talking about the game he was out to about ask about the running backs first thing he said was Bron Robinson I don't know if that's to tell or if that we should read anything into that or not but it was really interesting just to hear from Carson Beck ahead of a football game for once yeah well I think Carson's ready to talk ahead of football games I think he's ready to carry the message I know this he's certainly a team player in fact we had a story on dog.com earlier today that in an Carson Beck speaks on game week upcoming commercial for Georgia Power Carson insisted that the offensive line be a part of this advertisement and that's that's sharing the wealth I mean take care of the guys that take care of you and you really got to like that maturation and growth from Cars me look this is a guy who's earned that money this is a guy who set three years patiently when he could have transferred out he'd have been a certain starter at probably 95% of the schools in the country but instead he chose to spend his time in Athens backing up JT Daniels and Stetson Bennett until he had his chance last year and he did pretty good 13- one he's the nation's leading returning passer he's a projected number one overall draft pick I mean Georgia by All rights has essentially an NFL quarterback Talent under Center might have had to pay a little bit of money to keep him and these n are pretty sweet but now Carson sharing the wealth through the nil and he'll be looking to share the wealth on Saturday with some new receivers and this backfield whatever's left of it he literally is putting his money where his mouth is right he says he wants to be a leader how do you be well pay the guys in front of you and I I love to see that because you hear so much in the NFL guys are buying their offensive line they all get Rolexes for Christmas so that's that's the way to be a leader is like you said put your money where your mouth is when you come talk about when you talk about Carson back to I I watched the games this weekend and you saw you know the Georgia Tech quarterback putting his hands over his ears and it all comes back right yeah we are going to have this inh helmet communication for the first time he talked about it you know at SEC media days he says mike Bobo's so loud he's going to have to be loud because this is going to be you know we just saw in a a game in Ireland the quarterback having to cover his ears when we get in these SEC games and Gary stoken said on dog Nation daily expects 5545 mix of the crowd so there going to be a lot of Clemson folks in there making it very difficult to hear Mike Bobo and Carson Beck's helmet yeah you know and and Carson really kind of shared a little bit about how this will put him ahead I mean remember this is a guy that saws Rubik's Cube in under a minute reads defenses in under 10 seconds check your card that's right now he's going to get to play that much faster instead of getting to play with maybe 15 seconds on the play clock and you look up you say oh man there's not time to change the play now he's getting it immediate from the sideline and he's watching the Defense form while the plays in his head so Carson that much quicker can process and perhaps change plays or perhaps change the alignment make sure he gets that blocking assignment just right and that's kind of a question with these uh radios and helmets from the sideline is it going to be benefit the defense more or the offense more and I think that depends on the quarterback and on the defense's ability to execute well with Carson back I will tell you I think it's a huge Advantage for back and I think it's a huge advantage for Georgia because this is a player who knows the offense inside and out who processes quickly and now we'll get that information that much faster to get Georgia into the right play most every time one of the other things when we get to hear Carson back ahead of a game we got to hear a little bit of game plan and talk and he talked about this Clemson up front you've mentioned how really good that front seven is for them he said they want to take away the run if Georgia again if if they are without Trevor etn that's going to be easier thing to do if you're Clemson but it was interesting to hear him he's going to have to try to push those guys back get them out of the box a little bit spread them out do you feel like he's going to have to play Hero ball against Clemson carry more load on his shoulder without a guy like etn in the backfield well not necessarily but other players are going to have to step up you mentioned cash Jones a minute ago and yes using him as a pass Blocker on a 260 pound player wouldn't seem like a good idea but what cash does very well is catch the ball in the flats and one of the ways you can neutralize the rush is to get the ball out quickly we saw STS and Bennett do a lot lot of that in 2022 and I think you'll see Carson do some of that here you could run some tight end screens now it's not Brock Bowers out there anymore but Oscar Delp is plenty capable we're still waiting to find out more about Benjamin urasc the Stanford transfer how quickly might he contribute and you've got some receivers some Shifty receivers Dominic loveit's a guy that can step back and catch a receiver screen and make something happen so I look for some quick passes and may maybe some throws to the running backs out of the back field to neutralize that Clemson pass rush yeah really what they had to do last year when they had so many guys injured in the back field Kirby Smart kept coning an extension of the Run game we're going to know a lot more about this Georgia team after Saturday's game we're going to talk about the things on Sunday morning what we are going to feel like we know about this Georgia team we'll do that in a little bit we'll also have our hot and cold segment here on on the beat but we are so glad you were with us it's on the beat presented byles did you know Les only sells USDA choice and Prime cuts of meat maybe it's time to reward yourself our butchers cut all our meat fresh in the store every day grass-fed organic you name it not only that we'll even cut it to order just the way you like it and we grind meat fresh in the store multiple times a day it's all in the bag that's the best meat in town for the best folks in town Eng Les low prices love the savings here at dog Nation we know there is nothing better than georg's first game especially when it's an opponent like Clemson but as someone who's lived in Atlanta for the last six years I know that getting to Atlanta can be a hassle whether it's Hotel parking or traffic it's a pain and that's the last thing we want you to worry about for the opener so dog nation is here to help along with our partners at Discover dwy if you've got tickets to the game discover Dum Woody will take care of everything else their VIP package 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different now on Sunday morning when we wake up we're going to know a lot more about this Georgia team than we already do whether it's because of the closed practices we hear Whispers and things but we're never really sure of what this dog team is going to look like I feel like FSU fans they know a lot more about their team on Sunday morning than they did Saturday going into that game against Georgia Tech so Mike my question for you is when we wake up Sunday morning what will we be sure about of this Georgia team that maybe we're unsure about right now well I think that linebacking core I think CJ Allen's a guy who's really ready to step up in a big way now CJ started last year after jaman Dumis Johnson suffered the injury and performed really well had a big game against Old Miss but I don't think he really has become a household name I I think he will be and I think that'll happen soon he's the middle linebacker he's the voice of the defense I mean this guy packs a punch loves to represent his hometown of Barnesville Georgia and he is ready to represent the Georgia Bulldog so you're going to see CJ Allen step up from that mik position I think he's going to have a really big game I think he's going to control the Clemson ground game and help make the Tigers onedimensional offensively I'm a Believer in Nate Frasier what can I say I think Branson Robinson can run between the tackles and move the sticks and certainly pass block but in Frasier you've got a home run hitter this player has a ton of speed now this is in the event that Trevor etan doesn't play which would be what I would bet as of Monday night as we do the show but Frasier is explosive you don't often see true freshman breakr but this is a very special player who played in the Trinity league in Southern California and that is the best high school football in the country when you take a look at the division one prospects that come out of there m Day High School same high school that produced JT Daniels so I like what Frasier can bring I know I said he's had some nerves in the scrimmages but they wouldn't be giving him all that work if they didn't believe in him so I say Nate Frasier is a guy that we're going to be talking about with more than 100 all-purpose yards on Sunday morning so you got three on offense and a three on defense CJ Allen and Nate Frasier a love that from you all right when you talk about this Clemson team and we heard Kirby Smart talk about it on Monday you know this is the Clemson team that like Georgia as a coordinator in his second year with an experienced quarterback and a very experienced offensive line and they've got one of the best rushers in their conference in Phil mafa so do you think this game will be a four quarter game against Georgia I think we both think that Georgia will win the game but do you think you know we kind of go back to the Oregon game and it was a blowout right I I'm not sure it's going to be something like that do you think it'll be a four quarter game because of the way Clemson tries to run the football I think it'll be a four quarter game because of the way Georgia will play on offense and that is to say they're not going to turn the ball over they're going to be patient they're going to play field position football because really the only way Georgia can beat it lose this game is if they beat itself and that would be turnovers or special teams miscues or too many explosive plays given up so I think you're going to see Georgia play this safe I think you're going to see a very inspired Clemson team they do have the advantage of having Matt Luke over there on their sideline as an offensive line coach remember he was at Georgia just a couple years ago and understands Kirby Smart schemes quite well so I think that's Advantage for Clemson I think Clemson will be fired up I think this is a game that still will be within 10 points at the start of the fourth quarter Georgia leading by 10 uh and to me that's still a game I don't know that I think it'll be a one-core game in the fourth quarter but I think it'll be a 10-point game going in the fourth quarter and then you decide to the dogs tack on the extra touchdown when they have the opportunity you know they didn't the last time they played Clemson that was a very deceptive 10 to3 final score dogs could have easily scored again so I say it will be within 10 10 or less going into the fourth quarter although I would put my money on Georgia covering the 13 and a half point spread I think Georgia wins by 17 to 24 points talk about Matt in the offensive line for Clemson for Georgia one of the big questions all off season has been the defensive line also the the secondary with some missing pieces back there getting mixed around now do you think we will have answers at those two positions or is that going to be kind of a see as we go two or three games or do you think we'll say you know what Nas stack house has made a market improvement from last year to this year you know Kirby Smart was talking on Monday about the experience on the Clemson offensive line he said three of those five starters are returning starters and com B Clemson lineman have more than 100 starts see the problem with the Georgia defensive line is it's not completely healthy now Jordan Hall he was kind of in that spot as that number three DET tackle we thought he might take a jump instead he broke a leg and and he's out indefinitely unfortunately Xavier McCloud a guy that they got from South Carolina really looks the part in the uniform but I don't know how many snaps he'll get he's had that abdominal strain going on and Warren Brinson I mean I know Kirby's cleared him but they rested him a little bit with an Achilles heel Rel ated injury so is Warren really 100% I think it's time for Jamal Jarrett and Kristen Miller to step up I think they're going to need those two players to play more snaps than they have in the past and get those three and outs because you want to keep Clemson's offense off the field you know we talked about that just a minute ago part of the reason I think it's going to be a 10-point game is because I think George is going to bleed clock I think Kirby's want to keep that clock running and protect that defense from the Clemson offense getting too many snaps against I think is an underman interior defensive line going into this game yeah and for that reason I think climpson is going to try and pound the ball and again the clock will keep going so I think this game maybe like the Georgia Tech FSU game G to move pretty quickly as well and I think both Cody you've brought that game up twice now are you trying to jinx the dogs this is the second or third time you've brought up Georgia Tech upsetting Florida State I'm not I'm not getting a good vibe here with that AC what it does is it just says everything I thought I knew do I really know and we you know we thought Georgia Tech would play FSU tough but you thought FSU oh that defensive line that's going to be one of the best defensive line and now all of a sudden I'm like I don't know that and so now all these things I thought I knew about Georgia maybe it's the Larry mson inside of me it's like hey I I don't know about all that so I I do wonder you know and I and I don't think that we'll have answers on that defensive line come Sunday morning I think we'll have to kind of see that progress throughout the year and we'll say you know was it just because it was a an experienced Clemson offense line was it because maybe Georgia got an early lead and put them in past situations you know so I don't think we'll have answers to that I think that's going to be ongoing thing one of the things we did you know I think back to the last Clemson game we we kind of got the secondary figured out in that game as well and you know as we go through do we say is it pretty clear Julio Humphrey I think is going to be a guy he's going to be the other guy besides dalen Everett on the other side and will he establish himself or will there be you know you know a little bit of back and forth a little bit of challenging going on throughout the first few games yeah Daniel Harris is super talented and long now Ellis Robinson is a guy was very high rated recruit but I got to tell you Cody watching the kid on the field he just looks a little small and fragile I just don't know if he's ready to come up and run support and punch one of those big running backs in the mouth or take on a Blocker on one of those screens I think you could see him in situations but I don't think the talented freshman Ellis Robinson is ready for down in and down out play now Harris is different this kid is long and special he looks NFL as does Humphrey so that's a good problem to have when you've got two future NFL players competing for playing time I've got a bigger question about Jon El Aguero and not because he wasn't a great Prospect he was he was a five-star but he's learning the position and he's coming in behind a guy that I got to tell you was probably one of the most underrated Georgia players of all time the most productive player on defense last year was tyi Smith at the star position and now this is a big drop off not to say Aguero doesn't have a ceiling but he's not going to come in and play like ta played that's the position in the secondary that I Circle and say be very careful with the assignments there Aguero because big plays will hurt this defense one of the things I love about being at the season is now we get to look back next week and to see if if we were totally nuts about what we were saying if we were right or wrong for months now it's just been ah we could just say whatever because we're not our feet won't be to the fire but now you and I get to talk and we get to kind of check our work next week which is going to be so much fun Mike has up on on dog nation.com right now five questions he wants to see answered as Georgia heads into the season I want you to check that out we also have the depth chart Georgia won't put out a depth chart we will put out a depth chart for you if you were interested in knowing you want to pull that up have it with you as you watch the game on Saturday that's something that's on dognation decom as well I urge you to get to that now we talked a little bit about that ACC game that happened in Ireland we'll talk a little more about that as we get to another break it's our hot and cold segment coming up right after this want to make sure your family stays comfortable all year long our family of train Comfort Specialists are available anytime to service or repair your system or it may be time to replace your old units with a new trained HVAC system we are a locally owned family business and we carefully select the technicians that we send into your home at any time heating cooling and plumbing we are large enough to handle all of your hbac and plumbing needs but small enough to care call today to take advantage of our three visit annual maintenance plan welcome back into on the bead it is time for the famous hot and cold segment Who’s Hot and Who’s Cold who's hot and who's cold brought To Us by anytime heating cooling and plumbing and we talked next week we're GNA have so many more choices this week it didn't really seem like a ton of choices week zero didn't provide a ton of football and I have a feeling you're not going to go SMU Nevada for who your hot and cold segment is Mike no we don't have to look far you got to look at Brent key and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets that 2421 stunning win over Florida State now a lot of people gave him much of a chance but uh you got to give the El jackets credit they were able to pound the ball run the ball effectively against a very talented Florida State team and I gotta tell you Cody I when Brent key was named the intern head coach this was this was a no-brainer for me I mean you just look at the guy I mean this is a guy that played at George attch beat George I believe he won three out of four against George as a player uh this is a guy that was on a Nick Sabin staff that beat George's well coach the offensive line you know kind of the anti- Kirby Smart and an offensive line coach versus Kirby being a DB and uh and now a DB coach and now a head coach at at Georgia it was very clear to me that Brent key was the answer and I still remember a lot of Georgia Tech fans well you know there's this coach down there at Tain that's uh you know no no you need one of your own that understands your culture that can speak to the booster and speak to the administration and understands the needs and you got to give Brent key a lot of Credit Now Georgia Tech doesn't play Georgia till the end of the year and there's a pretty good chance the yellow jackets are going to have some injuries and that depth does not appear to be of Championship ilk it's not to say they won't be a challenge but it won't be the same exact team that played Florida State so I think Georgia Tech is off to a great start I think it's a program win a lot of Georgia fans love that game I've been saying I don't know why you're playing it you don't get any extra points for beating the only thing that can happen is you lose and but it can be a good game be careful what you wish for do you really want that good of a game that now Georgia Tech perhaps can try to recruit or get a player even just one player Cody if they get one player that Georgia wants that's probably one too many for Bulldogs fans and they just picked up Christian Garrett a decommitment from Georgia has committed to Georgia Tech but I'll tell you one thing Brent key also knew what to do he knew to go find an offensive coordinator out of a championship winning program and that's what he did he found Buster fauler and fauler former of course Georgia quarterback coach with Stetson Bennett was on that staff for a while got a lot of FaceTime during that game he is very hot right now to me what stands out he's got Haynes King what stands out is that his time at Georgia Tech doesn't seem like it's going to be very long it seems like somebody's going to snatch him up now will he wait for the right opportunity Buster of course in Atlanta native went to Parkview High School where he played quarterback shout out to our friend John stinchcomb as as well but so will he wait for the right moment to to go find somewhere I don't know but he also is not going to have a better quarterback than Haynes King looks like moving forward one of the things I will say for Georgia Tech fans that are maybe overreacting a little bit one thing they cannot do is put the ball on the ground like they did in that game FSU hops on one of those fumbles is a completely different football game all right Mike so if Georgia Tech's hot I can guess who's cold they were ice cold in Fort Lauderdale not too long ago FLA State all we heard about was the seminal teers about how you know opting out players because they belonged in the playoff and they could have won without their starting quarterback they said well listen they had a high-profile transfer quarterback dju you remember from the Clemson Georgia game he was at Oregon State last year put up some really good numbers and they still couldn't beat Tech and Mike noral I don't know if anybody's been celebrated more for doing less this guy got a $3 million raise on the heels of losing 63-3 one of the worst the worst Bowl loss excuse me let me correct myself the worst Bowl loss in history and the man got a $3 million raise because he was rumored to be an Alabama candidate and all these Georgia fans now are saying oh if only the tide had hired him now seriously Norville had done a pretty good job but Cody this brings up a lot of questions I don't know how you could not have your team ready to play now I don't want to take any credit away from Georgia Tech but if they were a nine or a 10- win team I'd be very surprised I expected Florida State to compete for a National Championship now maybe a seven- win team did he break the culture at FSU that he was trying to build with the way they handled the Orange Bowl and he kind of excused all his guys not playing well it did send a message you're right and and it's hard to know how to manage that situation it was one of the unintended consequences of nil dealings and and the ability to transfer right away you didn't know how these transfers would take it when it got to the postseason now you saw Georgia every healthy Georgia player played in that football game even though it quote unquote didn't matter in the playoffs listen it mattered to the Georgia players to wear that g one more time that's the culture that Kirby Smart has built playing for your brother playing for one another representing your school Florida State on the other hand with so many high-profile transfers those players hadn't put the time in there they didn't bleed gar inle they cared more about themselves than the team and they made decisions that exhibited that they'll never live that down it'll never go away and I dare say that losing to Georgia Tech in an opening game may have been more embarrassing than losing 63-3 to a 13-1 Georgia team what do you say Cody I think yeah they were they were according to them they were trying in the game against Georgia Tech they say they were not trying in the game against Georgia like we said next week we're going to have so many more games this is going going to be a really fun week of college football you got Miami and Florida you got Texas A&M doing their thing against Notre Dame going to have so many more candidates for hot and cold is there a game in particular you're looking forward to most this week Mike I think the Miami and Florida game you know I talked with Mark Rick about it he works for the ACC Network he really likes this Miami team now of course Coach Rick also went to college at Miami so maybe a little biased there but the Gators I listen Billy Napier needs this if Florida loses to Miami the drums will start to beat louder in Gainesville and and you just don't know could we have an inseason firing will Billy Napier make it to the Georgia game as the gator head coach and if he's not the head coach who takes over do they call it Buster fogner Georgia attack Cody tell him to come on over and take over the or do they wait and maybe hire the Liberty head coach who I think is in line to be the next Florida head coach we'll wait and see we'll mark it Down August 6 Mike's already called the successor at Florida and Mike I know you're doing something special this year whether your talking SEC and it's a much bigger League than it's ever been so you're taking things to the next level right oh no doubt about it you know I'm really looking forward to all the appearances that we have here on our dog Nation programming you know I do that dog Nation Daily Show with Brandon Adams every Wednesday and of course in addition to our on the beach show on Monday nights uh I'm on the SEC network on Thursdays on the Paul fine bomb show uh also looking forward to some more content on Georgia football SEC football and National Football so I'm going to Branch out try to do a little bit more Enterprise work I did a story on Sunday I don't know if you saw this everybody knows this already that there's a possibility that Georgia could play in Mercedes-Benz stadiums four times this year we know that they're playing in the opener against Clemson there's the SEC Championship Game the Peach Bowl is one of the playoff games and then of course the national championship game there well Cody what if what if Georgia Tech makes the playoff gets seated ahead of Georgia and declares Mercedes Benz their home stadium you could have five Georgia gam now that one's out there that's pretty dog on remote but I think four trips through the Benz is uh probable and likely for the Bulldogs this season yeah it would be interesting to well hey to see Georgia Tech make the playoff and then decide they would not want to play it at Grant field would be well if it's cold enough right I mean if you got 25 weather and 55,000 fans why not put it in the Benz it would be very interesting I think the one thing for Georg if they end up playing in the Benz that many times it would actually be a disappointment because I think there's still a tie if you're the SEC Champion you're going to get that buy and then you're going to probably go to the Sugar Bowl I think there's still a tie there at least when I spoke with Gary stoken at SEC media so ideally you're not if you're Georgia fan gonna do that but it it's really possible and I didn't even think about the fifth possibility yeah I love you throwing that in there that's a lot of fun to well to think about and there's no way the committee would make Georgia Georgia Tech having played like just two weeks before uh one of those first round playoff games would be very interesting as well and you got your super 16 poll this year can you tell me about that yeah really looking forward to the super 16 we got a poll of riders from all over the Southeastern Conference even a few out there Texas Oklahoma and every week we're going to be ranking those teams one through 16 to see how they stack up in the SEC and I'll be asking different questions throughout the year like this week for example we know most people are picking Georgia but who's the dark horse to win the SEC is it Old Miss is it Missouri is it Tennesse would we call Alabama or Texas a dark horse I don't I guess it depends on how you look at horses or but to me I would say Old Miss is the Dark Horse I think they have a very favorable schedule uh of course they would have to beat Georgia in Oxford we've seen that before you know C's first year when Hugh freees was head coach I I still think it's remote I still think Georgia is the odds on favorite to win that's my pick to win the SEC but if Georgia doesn't win it it wouldn't surprise me if Old Miss was right there and close to the top of the league really interesting stuff there and I love that you're talking to everybody around the league because here on on the beat that's what we do right Mike you come in here with so much Decades of experience in the Southeastern Conference you can provide us a perspective that none of us can have espe especially as Georgia people so it's really good to have somebody who knows what's going on around the league can bring that to us every Monday night again next Monday night at 7:00 on the beat are you going to be ready a little a little bit earlier next week Mike I'm gonna be I'm gonna be way ready I'm Gonna Be Ready Sunday to tape the show on Monday because those games Saturday are going to tell us so much and yet it's the tip of the iceberg right we know this Georgia football team whatever you see out there Saturday will be better the next week of course it helps it's Tennessee Tech but I think they'll look even better against Kentucky we talked talk about the defensive line we talk about the running back situation you know dogs a little staggered to those spots they're going to look much better at those positions moving forward and that'll be the home opener Tennessee Tech the next week so much to talk about really appreciate your time Mike this week it's been great being with you here on on the beat as we kind of kick off the new look of this show and we kick off the 2024 season going to be a great one High Noon kickoff in Mercedes-Benz we'll wrap it up all for you on dognation docomond the beat next week at 7: f [Music]