ATHENS, Ga. — The ball was contested. Zachariah Branch, one of the new Georgia receivers, won the battle, wrestling the ball away for a 36-yard catch. Then Branch got up and waved his arms, bobbing his head towards the stands at Sanford Stadium. If Branch had looked to his left, and up about 50 feet, he would see where Georgia lists the years of its national championships: 1942, 1980, 2021, 2022.
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More and more around here, those last two feel like a long time ago.
“Most guys on this team haven’t won a national championship, including me,” Monroe Freeling, a junior offensive tackle, said recently. “I think that sour taste in our mouth will take us into next season.”
That may be an eye-rolling statement to college football programs not named Ohio State and Michigan. Poor old Georgia, which hasn’t won a national title in almost three whole years. But for a program that looked like it might take over college football, might be the next Alabama, then got beat by Alabama — twice in the past two years — there does appear a jolt of change this year.
Kirby Smart has hammered home three words this spring: fire, passion and energy. He’s mentioned it constantly in practices and meetings. He’s repeated it at news conferences, and several times after Saturday’s spring game.
“If there’s anybody out there that’s playing high school football that has fire, passion, energy and just loves the game, we got a spot for you. Just come to Georgia. We’ll find a way to get you there,” Smart said. “And fire, passion, energy pays off. It’s not the ratings or the stars or all those things. It really isn’t. It’s just the kids that want to play the game the most right now, and those the ones that play the best.”
It’s easy to deduce why Smart made this the theme. Last year’s team could produce double-digit selections in the NFL draft later this month, and yet had a rocky, three-loss season in which it did win the SEC championship but was beat soundly in the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoff.
Throw in the general state of college football, with players able to earn name, image and likeness money, and it’s a recipe for things going stale. Arian Smith, a senior receiver on last year’s team, told The Athletic after the season that the 2024 Georgia team wasn’t as connected as previous ones. Something was off.
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Nobody on this year’s team has come out and said that yet, but they’ve dropped hints. Tight end Oscar Delp pointed blame at himself, saying that as a junior he had “one foot out the door,” then didn’t have as good a season as he expected. As for the offense itself, Delp said: “I think we were more in our heads.”
Freeling was a part-time starter on a veteran-laden offensive line that had a disappointing season.
“Sometimes we were more worried about not failing than succeeding,” Freeling said. “We were more senior-heavy so we thought we were there.”
That may have gone for a lot of players, especially those who already had national title rings. The further that recedes in memory, the more it may naturally help.
But an infusion of that fire, passion and energy — Smart has not yet turned it into an acronym — could also be good. Branch, the transfer from Southern California, may bring a joie de vie spark to this year’s offense. His brother Zion, who made the same trek east, could help on defense. There could also just be younger players moving into bigger roles: Smart pointed to sophomore linebackers Justin Williams and Chris Cole, while junior tight end Lawson Luckie is moving into a vocal, alpha role on offense.
“We’re still young, but we’re hungry,” Luckie said. “We’ve got a long way to go, but we’ve got the guys that are willing to make that happen.”
What did he mean by that last part? Talent, or locker room?
“Both,” Luckie said. “We have what it takes, we just have to put it together.”
Is there any sense the fire, passion and energy stuff was needed, that something was missing last year?
“I wouldn’t say it was missing, but it was something we could improve on, for sure,” Luckie said. “Definitely something we could improve on.”
Georgia’s fate next year could ultimately still come down to personnel and coaching. Plenty of questions remain there, and it’s hard to draw conclusions from a spring game that is always pass-happy. Still, an optimist could take something from quarterback Gunner Stockton looking more confident in his receivers, which have been bolstered by the additions of Branch and Noah Thomas and the return of Colbie Young. The defense, young but talented, especially at secondary and linebacker, could also be back to the Georgia standard.
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The biggest questions are probably along the lines. The offensive line is coming off a poor season and lost four starters. Does that foretell another season of struggling to run the ball? The defensive line hasn’t been the typical Georgia run-stopping force the past two seasons, and also lost some veterans.
Smart knows all this and said earlier this spring that a big emphasis was on stopping the run and running it better.
“I don’t know if we’ve improved on it. But we’ve harped on it,” Smart said.
Just as he harped on the fire-passion-energy thing.
“I’m looking for a bonfire. I’m looking for not a bunch of little campfires. I’m looking for a bonfire. I’m looking to see an inferno,” Smart said. “I can’t sit here and tell you that I’m happy with where ours is, but also not disappointed. I just want to get more guys jumping in there.”
There were signs of that Saturday, even in an atmosphere that was more underwhelming than usual. The nationwide downgrading of spring games seemed to have an impact even at Georgia, where attendance was announced at 35,033. It’s a pretty far cry from the 92,000 day that helped vault the Kirby Smart era. (Don’t blame The Masters; last year’s spring game was also during the golf tournament down the road and announced attendance was 55,000 despite a big chunk of the stadium being closed off for construction.)
Georgia players, however, managed to create their own energy. Whether it was Zachariah Branch bouncing around or defenders lifting freshman cornerback Dominick Kelly after an interception, things did seem a little different.
Earnest Greene, an offensive tackle in his fourth year, had a word for what he’s seen this spring: eager.
“You look around today and you see guys make plays, you see the whole sideline lighting up, you see offensive linemen 25-30 yards downfield to celebrate a play that was made. You see a lot of juice and fire out of guys like that,” Greene said. “I just feel like people are really eager in the locker room to be as good as we can possibly be.”
(Photo: Todd Kirkland / Getty Images)
