Kirby Smart and Georgia Still Trying to Find Out Who Can "Win One on Ones" at Receiver

Through two games, Georgia and head coach Kirby Smart still feel they have a few questions. Like who can win one on ones on the outside.

The game of football is one of matchups, or in the words of Georgia head coach Kirby Smart, "football comes down to winning your one on one." 

Man on man, good on good, titles are won and lost in the moments of the football game — like 2nd & 18 in the national title game — where one receiver has to catch one ball over one defensive back to score the touchdown to help win a title. Adonai Mitchell won that rep in the national title, but in 2022, who will be the players to make that type of late season accension? 

That's what Saturday was supposed to be about. A non-power-5 opponent in Samford was expected to provide Georgia with an opportunity to showcase the others on the roster. Though leaving Saturday's 33 to 0 victory over Samford, head Smart says they are still searching. 

"We have a good system that allows us to put people in places to say Is he a get the ball to guy because you better know who those guys are when you play elite opponents. And sometimes they will take those get those ball plays away from you. And then you get narrowed down to who can touch the ball. And ultimately football comes down to who can win one on one. And we got to figure that out."

Smart would go on to say that, unfortunately, they haven't played an opponent that has forced them into such a situation. Saying that both Oregon and Samford presented opportunities to "get the ball to anybody" whenever they've wanted to, stating that that wouldn't always be the case moving forward. 

However, South Carolina will likely open as a multiple touchdown underdog at home, followed by Kent State, Auburn, and Vanderbilt. It's not exactly murderer's row coming up for Georgia. 

Which, if you listen to Smart's closing remarks on the subject, you'll notice that there's a reason they emphasize practice as much as they do. 

"That's what we've really worked hard on during the week of practices of finding out when it's good on good who the best player is," Smart said. Good on good being the first offense versus the first defense, something that Smart and his staff present a proving ground for young players. If you can survive and win your one on one in practice, you can win on Saturdays. 

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