Justin Fields transfer in 2019 Could Define Kirby Smart's Tenure at Georgia

Kirby Smart stared across the field Saturday in Jacksonville and watched Kyle Trask shred his defense for four quarters. It didn’t seem like a fair fight, Trask made drive after drive scoring touchdown after touchdown after the initial punch in the mouth when Georgia went up 14-0 in the first four minutes of game time.

While Trask threw for nearly 500 yards (474 yards and four touchdowns) after that initial blow, Georgia didn’t score another offensive touchdown until well into garbage time. While the Gators ran up the score and adjusted to the different things that Georgia threw at them, the Bulldogs did not, and watched their playoff chances get blown out of the water in primetime.

And again, like we have seen time and time again in big games with Kirby Smart as head coach, there were no adjustments to be found, there was no comeback, and his quarterbacks faltered when he really needed them.

Stetson Bennett and D’Wan Mathis combined for 9/29 passing, 112 yards, two touchdowns, and three interceptions. That stat line is just mind-boggling to look at, especially against a defense that is ranked 59th in the country in total defense. There’s no excuse to have this poor quarterback play for a team that has recruited as well.

Georgia, per the 247Sports composite rankings, has the most talented roster in all of college football. In the four years, here’s what the Bulldogs recruiting rankings were the last four years: first, second, first, and third. That’s just insane. How does his quarterback situation crumble to this?

Well, I have a good idea, I don’t recommend going to see a game in Columbus. Justin Fields has 11 incompletions and 11 touchdowns this season. He’s projected to be the No. 2 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft after this season. He has been a huge reason why Ryan Day has been so successful following up Urban Meyer at Ohio State.

Smart got too comfortable with Jake Fromm at quarterback to give Fields a fair shot at starting in Athens. While Fromm got Smart to a national championship game in 2017 and an SEC title game in 2018 and 2019, he could never get over the hump and win the big game. He was always outplayed in the second half and was nothing more than a game manager. 

Being comfortable doesn’t always get it done in college football. Do you think it was a comfortable decision for Dabo Swinney to sit Kelly Bryant, who had lost one career game at the time, for his highly-touted freshman QB Trevor Lawrence in 2018? What about for Nick Saban the year before, when he benched Jalen Hurts, who at the time was 26-2 as a starter for freshman Tua Tagovailoa at halftime of the 2017 National Championship Game.

No, it was not comfortable for either of those coaches to make those moves, but those decisions paid off with national titles for both teams, while Kirby Smart left his best QB on the bench to run gadget plays.

Fields finished as the runner-up in the Heisman Trophy last year and is on pace to be a finalist in the award this year as well. His Buckeyes are a good shot to win the national title this year as well.

That decision to leave Fields on the bench and leave his program could define how we view the rest of Kirby Smart’s tenure at Georgia. In the modern college football world, no matter how much talent you have in your program, you can’t win a title without a star quarterback. Look at the last four championship-winning quarterbacks: Joe Burrow, Trevor Lawrence, Tua Tagovailoa, and Deshaun Watson. 

Smart is more than capable of recruiting another generational quarterback talent to Athens, but until then, the decision on Justin Fields will hang over Smart’s head like a thundercloud.

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-By: TJ Mathewson