Tennessee shouldn't forget about Kirby Smart's haughty gesture at the end of the 2022 season
The Georgia Bulldogs are undoubtedly the team to beat in college football this season. They're the program that the Tennessee Vols and the rest of the SEC are chasing this fall. Tennessee, which is widely regarded as Georgia's biggest competition in the SEC East, shouldn't forget about Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart's haughty gesture last […]
The Georgia Bulldogs are undoubtedly the team to beat in college football this season. They're the program that the Tennessee Vols and the rest of the SEC are chasing this fall.
Tennessee, which is widely regarded as Georgia's biggest competition in the SEC East, shouldn't forget about Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart's haughty gesture last January after beating TCU to claim UGA's second straight national championship.
Shorty after beating TCU 65-7, Smart held up two fingers to the crowd to signify Georgia's second straight national championship.
And then he held up a third finger — which was obviously Smart sending the message that Georgia is going to win their third straight national championship this season.
Smart has worked hard this offseason to downplay the idea of a three-peat for Georgia. Instead, he's tried to make the 2023 season more about this year's Bulldogs team than the budding dynasty that Georgia has going.
"But you know as well as I do, we don’t focus on that, that third one, or trying to get a three-peat," said Smart on the College GameDay Podcast earlier this this month. "That’s not a focal point for us. We really don’t talk about it. We don’t worry about it. I get the hype around it, because when you think about how little it’s been done, it can be a special thing."
"Like I said, each and every year is independent of the previous, and there's nothing about the other two that's going to help us or hurt us in this season," added Smart during his weekly media session with reporters this week. "It's completely independent just as last year was. We've kept it that way. We've focused on this year. Our team is, I don't know, 80 percent new from the one two years ago. So it's a new group."
Smart can publicly say all he wants that a three-peat isn't the focus for Georgia this fall. But it's pretty clear from Smart's actions after beating TCU that winning three in a row is a focal point for at least himself in 2023.
The Vols shouldn't forget about that moment from last January. They shouldn't forget about that image of Smart holding up three fingers and arrogantly assuming that the Bulldogs will win a third straight title.
Tennessee is one of the programs that has the best chance to bring Georgia back to Earth in 2023. And the Vols have the perfect motivation, thanks to Smart, to help them beat the Bulldogs in a key late November matchup in Knoxville.
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Featured image via Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
