ESPN’s College Gameday is back on campus for the first time this season supported by a boisterous crowd in Ames, Iowa in the lead-up to the battle for the Cy-Hawk Trophy. Early in the show, the crew discussed the injury to JT Daniels and who should start for Georgia football at quarterback against UAB.
When it came time for Kirk Herbstreit to give his thoughts, he gave the 2021 version of the Junkyard Dawgs defense a ringing endorsement.
"With that defense, Georgia could punt every time they get the ball on 1st-and-10, and let the defense go out and play with the punt team, and they can win the rest of their games until they get to Auburn. I don’t care who’s quarterback. Bring somebody out of the stands and have them hand it off."
After their matchup with the Blazers, Georgia transitions into its SEC schedule, hosting South Carolina next week Between The Hedges in a primetime matchup.
The following week, the Dawgs head to Nashville to take on Vanderbilt in their first true road game of the season before another game in the friendly confines of Sanford Stadium against former Georgia offensive line coach Sam Pittman’s Arkansas Razorbacks.
The Dawgs head to the Plains on October 9th to take on the hated Tigers in the 126th rendition of the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry.
Herbstreit’s statement is no doubt bold, but if Georgia’s defense mimics the furious intensity they played with in the opener against Clemson, he’s not wrong.
South Carolina and Vanderbilt finished second-to-last and dead-last respectively in the SEC last season and both programs are operating under first-year head coaches.
Arkansas should provide the most resistance over Georgia’s next four games, but they looked less than impressive in their opener against Rice.
Regardless, Kirk Herbstreit is clearly an unabashed believer in Dan Lanning’s Georgia defense.