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Georgia aims to take ‘business’ mentality into eagerly anticipated matchup against Notre Dame
By Ryan Black
Published:
Kirby Smart isn’t old enough to remember Georgia’s last game against Notre Dame.
That came Jan. 1, 1981, when the Bulldogs topped the Fighting Irish 17-10 in the Sugar Bowl — a game that capped an undefeated season, Georgia’s last national championship campaign.
Smart’s memories of Notre Dame pick up later in the decade, when Lou Holtz took over the program and restored it to prominence. Specifically, Smart recalls Tim Brown and Raghib “Rocket” Ismail and their dynamic playmaking abilities on punt returns.
But Smart’s focus now is on Notre Dame players of a more recent vintage. Smart, in his second season as Georgia’s coach, will lead the Bulldogs into Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday.
No one needs to tell him about the lore of the Fighting Irish.
“It’s a special place, I know that,” Smart said. “They have had a lot of talented players — the most Heisman Trophy winners, All-Americans, second nationally in victories. It’s just a resume that speaks for itself.”
Yet times have changed.
Smart conceded the hostile road environment will be a good test for his team. But he said things are far different than they were two decades ago, when he starred for the Bulldogs as an All-SEC safety.
“If it was my freshman year and we were going there, I think it would be much more intimidating,” he said. “To be honest with you, these kids know Notre Dame’s players. A long time ago, you didn’t know Notre Dame’s players unless you saw them on TV, because you didn’t get recruited with them. These kids have gone to All-Star games with those guys. They know those players.”
On the other side of Saturday’s matchup, Notre Dame is used to playing in games against other storied programs seemingly every week of every season. But recently, it has made a more concerted effort to schedule SEC schools. Last month, it announced a two-game series against Arkansas, with a home date in 2020 and a road contest in 2025. Notre Dame will also play against Texas A&M in 2025, hosting the Aggies one season after playing in College Station.
And in 2019, the Fighting Irish will complete their series with Georgia with a game at Sanford Stadium.
For Notre Dame, it’s all about putting together a difficult slate of games each season, one that will hold up should it be in the running for a berth in the College Football Playoff.
“So those conversations (about scheduling) were about, ‘How do we best balance it without it being too strong of a schedule to sustain itself throughout the entire year?,’ ” Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said, “and this game fit pretty good in that balance.”
Saturday isn’t the first time Kelly and Smart have been on opposing sidelines. They met in the 2013 BCS championship game, when Smart was Alabama’s defensive coordinator.
The then-undefeated Fighting Irish proved no match for the Crimson Tide, which cruised to a 42-14 victory to give Nick Saban a second straight national title — his third at Alabama and fourth overall.
When asked whether he could use anything learned from that game to his advantage this week, Smart drew a blank. He simply couldn’t remember enough about Notre Dame’s schemes from 2012 to say for certain.
Kelly was similarly circumspect when asked about that Alabama matchup and one versus LSU in the 2014 Music City Bowl, which the Fighting Irish won 31-28.
“I think you walk away from those games, and you certainly know that the talent level that you’re going up against,” Kelly said. “But you also know that it still comes down to your preparation and execution and that you’re capable of beating those teams. Certainly we weren’t capable of beating Alabama that day. But we did against LSU. So I think the takeaway is that with your preparation and execution, (you know) you can beat … anybody that you play.”
Still, Saturday’s game, as all do, will come down to the players.
And the Bulldogs are trying to walk the fine line between respecting the Fighting Irish’s illustrious history while not being overwhelmed by the hype surrounding the game.
“Yeah, there’s some great history. It’s going to be a fun thing,” said Jackson Harris, a junior tight end. “It’s going to be a game we’ll remember for the rest of our lives. But at the end of the day, it’s still just a regular football game. I feel like everybody’s done a good job of recognizing that and just staying focused on the task at hand.”
By now, games like this have become old hat for Sony Michel. A fifth-year senior running back, Michel has appeared in 34 games since his college career began in 2014. He’s seen the build-up for other highly anticipated games.
Though it sounds cliche to some, Michel said he views Saturday no differently than last week’s opener against Appalachian State.
“What’s the difference in App State and Notre Dame?” Michel asked. “App State is a pretty good football team. The outsiders may think different, but we think another way, because we watch film on them. We see certain things that they do. They’ve got the same kind of players; certain players on (other) teams could have been on a Georgia team, but they’re on the App State team maybe because of different reasons — grades, attitude problems.”
Georgia’s veterans have made it a priority to stress to younger players what Saturday’s game represents: A “business trip,” as Michel put it.
“We’ve got to treat every opponent the same,” Michel said. “All of our guys (have) got respect for everybody at the end of the day.”
Ryan Black covers Georgia football for SaturdayDownSouth.com. Follow him on Twitter @RyanABlack.
