Lincoln Riley takes a shot at Georgia Football and their defense

It’s ‘taking season’ and Lincoln Riley had a few things to say about Georgia Football’s defense that didn’t come across very well.

It should be an easy enough thing to do. Don’t talk down the team that beat you in a bowl game the year before. Probably avoid talking smack about their conference as well for that matter. But Oklahoma Coach Lincoln Riley made the mistake we too often see from young head coaches. He made an off the cuff comment about the Georgia Football team on the radio. Now that statement is going viral.

It should be no surprise to anyone that Danny Kanell is the guy pushing this narrative. He tried to generate interest in his radio show the other week when he said the Dawgs had to ‘prove 2017 was no fluke’. It’s standard operating procedure for Kanell who does his part to get hits. Having ‘hot takes’ is one way to get yourself noticed in this day and age of sports media. It’s the only reason our society has been cursed with Skip Bayliss and Stephen A. Smith.

But Riley probably will want a mulligan on this one. Of course the SEC and the Big 12 are different. One is all about offense and the other defense. It’s why games between the two conferences tend to be so fun to watch. But he dropped the ball on this and has allowed a presenter to make him look like a guy who has a bad case of sour grapes.

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Would UGA shut out every Big 12 side week in week out? Very unlikely. Would the Sooners put up 50 consistently in the SEC? Not a chance. But there are ways to say that which doesn’t come across as being bitter. It’s hard to see what the Sooners get from this, but it’s easy to see how Georgia can benefit. If UGA and Oklahoma meet again in the CFP, Riley just gave Kirby Smart all the bulletin board material he could ever need. Probably not the takeaway you want from a radio interview…