Did Georgia flip a switch? The fuel it found to take down No. 1 Texas looks familiar

AUSTIN, Texas – Even before kickoff, it was clear that something felt different. When Georgia came out for warmups and the entire team lined up, Jalon Walker stood alone in front of them and screamed. This was his normal routine, he would tell me later.

But it wasn't just him. The body language throughout the team seemed more closed.

Georgia was back to adopt a phrase from its opponent. You saw it on the field, especially on defense, where Walker and Co. looked like the 2021 Georgia defense, while quarterback Carson Beck and the offense looked like the 2021 Georgia offense, imperfect but good enough.

It would be an exaggeration to point out that Saturday's final score of 30-15 was three points away from 33-18. So let's not point that out.

On the other hand, you can also say that no one believed in Georgia, which was a five-point underdog against the country's number 1 team. But there was Smart announcing it, first in the ABC postgame interview, then in his press conference.

“I was proud of our guys,” Smart said. “Nobody really gave us a chance. Everyone doubted us.”

Ah, there it is.

“Our entire program was questioned,” Smart said. “Who saw the shows this morning?” I didn’t do that, I was in meetings, but I got 8,000 text messages about it.”

He meant the show on a case-by-case basis, like on ESPN's “College GameDay,” where the four pickers – Desmond Howard, Lee Corso, Pat McAfee and Scottie Scheffler – all chose Texas.

“It's hard not to see it. But that’s just fuel for the fire, man,” Georgia tailback Trevor Etienne said. “I mean, we are all we have, we are all we need. That’s the attitude we have in this locker room.”

That's the thing with Smart's program. It thrives on disrespect. It looks for it, and if it can't find it, it creates it. Nolan Smith, the 2022 team's defensive captain, loudly proclaimed that people had picked this year's team with a 7-5 record, but later admitted he had made it.

The more Georgia won after that, the more difficult it became. And maybe that was the problem. Maybe that's why something was wrong this year, that the team was trying to find its identity on and off the field.

By the way, it could be that it still hasn't been found. As great as the defense looked against Texas, particularly in the first half and throughout the opening game against Clemson, there were plenty of worrisome periods in between. As spotty as the offense looked against Texas — a measly 4 yards per play, three Beck interceptions — it has had times this season when it has been explosive, and it made those plays Saturday when it absolutely had to.

“If we can just put everything together,” Beck said, “we’ll still have our best game.”

But the mental identity of this year's team may finally be coming into focus. We saw it in the second half of the Alabama game, even in the loss. We saw it from the start against Texas when the Bulldogs jumped out to a 23-0 lead. Then we saw it again after the chaotic, controversial sequence that most people will remember from the game: the pass interference call that followed an interruption caused by Texas fans throwing debris onto the field , was reversed, and the Longhorns' subsequent score made it 23-15.

“I knew there would be no backing down at Alabama. We’re not giving in,” Smart said. “That doesn’t mean we guarantee a win or anything, but I told you the momentum was gone. Everything was gone. And on third-and-12, or third and whatever it was, Beck steps up and fires a shot to Arian over the middle, and it changed.”

Arian Smith got free downfield and Beck hit him for a long lead. And on the very next play, offensive coordinator Mike Bobo conjured a double-reverse flea flicker for an even longer gain.

Aggressive play, just the way Smart wants it now. In stark contrast to the years leading up to 2021, when he was criticized for being too conservative on offense, not breaking through in the fourth period when he should, and so on. Now Smart might be trying too hard.

With just over two minutes left, with a 30-15 lead and a fourth-and-1 from his own 39, Smart decided to give it a try rather than throw it away and make Texas use up the clock to go offside to come. The decision failed, but Texas still didn't score, and Smart had no regrets afterward.

“What do I gain, 50 yards of field position versus winning the game? We’ll try every time,” Smart said. “If I ever get a chance to finish the game with less than a yard, I want to count on the offense to do it. Just like we did with the touchdown run to make it happen.”

That referred to Smart attempting to maintain the 23-15 lead on fourth down from the goal line instead of shooting the chip-shot field goal to preserve the two-ball lead. That decision paid off, as 330-pound guard Micah Morris was moved to fullback to clear a path for Etienne to the end zone.

Individually, each of these decisions may involve analysis, hunches, or whatever. But they all fall under the post-2021 philosophy that Smart is the hunter rather than the hunted, sending a message to his team through his aggressive decisions.

The squib kick at the start of the second half? As it turns out, that was actually an accident. Peyton Woodring, who was perfect on field goals on Saturday, simply made a mistake on the kickoff. Otherwise, Smart seems content to take risks and push his coordinators to take risks and deal with some mistakes that miss the mark.

That and the disrespect card are the ways Smart ran his program differently than Nick Saban. Their personality differences may explain why: Saban barely knew how to use a computer, while Smart has rabbit ears, knows exactly what's being said about his team, and strives to cherry-pick what will benefit his team.

That might be a better solution in an era of major conferences and the 12-team College Football Playoff. It will be much harder for a program to be as dominant as Alabama was and as Georgia was about to be. The Bulldogs' 29-game winning streak that ended last season is likely the last of its kind. Texas was nearly toppled on Saturday, but it's still Texas. Alabama may be slipping, but it's too early to draw any conclusions on that score. Tennessee, LSU, Texas A&M… it's a tough league and it's going to stay that way.

Every edge will be necessary. So, for all its talent and for all it has to offer, Georgia will rely on what works for them.

“Look, I know everyone thinks I'm playing this doubter role, I really don't care,” Smart said. “I mean, I don’t, but it’s a lot easier to say after the game. I don't bring it up to our players. Everyone thinks that we preach, “No one believes in me,” and so on. But our intention was different. When we entered the field we had a completely different intention.”

The “intent” was not stated. Another catchphrase Smart uses. But it was clear that the intention had an effect on Saturday. And whatever this team had going on mentally at the start of this game, they had to try to repeat it going forward.

Georgia returned to the national title discussion on Saturday. It rejuvenated his season. But there is still a lot left of this season. And we still don't know for sure if we're going to get this Georgia team for the rest of the season.

Even Smart admitted as much when waxing philosophical on Saturday.

“I think we're a very well-respected program, we have a really good team and we played some really good halves,” he said. “We showed some skills to be really good. We just have to be able to hold on for longer.”

(Photo: Tim Warner/Getty Images)