Why one Texas player called Kirby Smart a maniac
The Longhorns have a lot to be confident about. Texas is returning a ton of talent and advanced to the semifinals of the College Football Playoff last season before falling to the eventual national champion Ohio State Buckeyes.
Texas did miss out on one of their goals, to win the SEC championship, last season because of the Georgia Bulldogs. Georgia beat Texas in Austin in a dominant defensive performance for the Bulldogs and then went on to topple Texas in overtime in the SEC championship.
Taaffe and Texas will try to beat Georgia again in 2025, but this time it will be on the road. At SEC media days, Taaffe was asked what will be the difference this year to give Texas a huge SEC win.
"Coach (Kirby) Smart is one of the most competitive coaches I have ever been against in my life," said Taaffe. "Like, physically hearing him on the sideline when I'm playing defense. I'm like who is this maniac?"
"And it is their head coach trying to, you know, get a call or get something in and I think the team is embodied by the head coach. And he does a great job of embodying what their team is all about and to be honest, I think they out-physicaled us in that first game, so we gotta come with a physical nature and a sense of pride and knowing that if we want to get to where we want to go in December, then we gotta beat those guys," Taaffe said.
Georgia and Texas will meet in Sanford Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 15. The Georgia-Texas game will be UGA's final SEC game of the regular season and it could be a preview of the 2025 SEC championship.
Georgia and Texas' rivalry grew significantly on the same day Georgia and Texas took the stage at SEC media days. Texas beat out Georgia for five-star linebacker Tyler Atkinson and then flipped five-star Georgia defensive line commitment James Johnson.
The Dawgs and Longhorns have a budding rivalry and are both vying to be the best team in the SEC.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
12 minutes ago
- USA Today
Notre Dame hopefully won't be missing a projected offensive starters for long
Notre Dame WR Jaden Greathouse didn't participate in practice today. Based on what I'm hearing, I'm not overly concerned. So far early in Notre Dame football's fall camp, their haven't been any injuries of none, but there was news that we need to watch for with wide receiver Jaden Greathouse. The one of the projected starters, was reported to have missed Wednesday's practice by Ryan Roberts, but the good news is that he also said he 'wasn't overly concerned.' Obviously this is a good news, bad news situation, as the Irish has talent behind him on the depth chart, but not much experience. Greathouse is expected by many to have a breakout season, after dominating Notre Dame's last two College Football Playoff games with 13 receptions for 233-yards and 3 touchdowns. It was a solid 2024 for him, as he totaled 42 catches for 592 yards and 4 total scores. Hopefully this is just a minor setback leading up to a major year for Greathouse. Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on X (Formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions. Follow Mike on X: @MikeFChen
New York Times
16 minutes ago
- New York Times
The potential key to Georgia's season: Running the (dang) ball
ATHENS, Ga. — Mike Bobo stood at the podium Wednesday, going into another year as the Georgia offensive coordinator, much to the consternation of a healthy segment of the fan base. And contrary to a rumor earlier this year that Bobo would step down for health reasons, which Buck Belue had posted in a case of former-Georgia-quarterback-on-former-Georgia-quarterback social media violence. Advertisement Bobo, who dealt with a nerve issue in his feet when he was Colorado State's head coach in 2019, very much did not step down. Belue said at the time he was glad to know Bobo was doing well. And this week, Bobo said he was invigorated by the players he gets to coach on this Georgia team. 'I feel great, and I'm probably as excited as I've ever been,' Bobo said, adding: 'Not to try to prove something.' But there is something for Bobo and the Georgia offense to prove this season. They need to be better. And to do it, it's time to whip out that five-word phrase from the early 2010s, in Bobo's first stint in this job: Run the damn ball, Bobo. That was popularized by Georgia fans back when the school was known as RBU (or Running Back University), and the denizens thought their offensive coordinator got too cute. Or maybe about the end of the 2012 SEC championship, or the key play against South Carolina in 2014. There were hats and shirts made and everything. Now it's the age of pass the damn ball, an era Todd Monken ushered into Athens as offensive coordinator, winning a couple of national titles before leaving for the NFL. Kirby Smart then gave Bobo his old job back, and the first year it went well: Georgia was second in the SEC in points per game and yards per play. The second year, not so much: Fifth in points per game and ninth in yards per play, with a particular dud against Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl/College Football Playoff quarterfinals. When they got home after that game, Bobo said Wednesday, the staff came to a quick conclusion: They need to fix the running game. 'We've got to be more explosive on offense. … But everything starts with the run game,' Bobo said. 'Hopefully our identity will be that we'll be efficient in the run game and everything will run through that.' So much of the focus on Georgia this season has been on quarterback Gunner Stockton and the debate over whether he's good enough to lead the offense back to glory. But the attention may be misplaced. There's a desire to see other offenses slinging the ball around like a 2010s Big 12 team. And Georgia has had offenses that looked like that, including Bobo's in 2023 when Carson Beck was a first-year starter. But this year's offense, with the dual-threat Stockton replacing pocket-passing Beck, probably doesn't need to air it out. Stockton doesn't need to be a Heisman candidate or even an All-SEC player. He needs to be an efficient passer who doesn't make mistakes and whose feet are a problem for defense. Stockton can be that. The bigger question is what happens around him. Everything is connected. That's simplistic and a cop-out in a world where people want people to blame and to praise. But the formula at Georgia has been complementary football: The defense was great in 2021, but the offense was good, and a year later, the roles were reversed. In neither national title year did one side of the ball carry the team. Advertisement An underplayed issue for Georgia the past few years is a defense that hasn't finished in the top 10 in yards-per-play allowed since 2021, including 30th last year, and has been especially vulnerable to the run since Jalen Carter left the program. Yes, the defense wasn't the main issue against Notre Dame, but it also didn't get stops down the stretch when it needed to, which reflected that it just wasn't the usual Georgia standard, as defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann said Wednesday. 'We weren't consistent enough to say we met the standard … We had four or more games where (we) gave up 28 points or more,' Schumann said. 'You can't be up and down. Consistency is a mark of great defense.' If Georgia's defense ups its game, it takes pressure off the offense. But if the run game isn't better, then the pressure remains on Stockton. This was the third-worst rushing offense in the SEC last year, going by total rushing yards, and still only ranked 11th in yards per rush. Passing-wise, last year Georgia had its lowest yards-per-pass attempt (7.6) since the 2019 season. But the volume was still good (281 passing yards per game, third in the SEC), a sign that the lack of a run game caused the offense to pass too much. The biggest issue appears to be the offensive line, which on paper doesn't look promising: Four regular starters gone, three of whom were drafted in the first three rounds, from a unit that wasn't very good last year. So how do you improve on that? The hope is fewer injuries than last year, and tackles Monroe Freeling and Earnest Greene playing up to their high potential. There may also just be a squeaky-wheel-gets-the-grease situation: The line is getting a lot of attention, with coach Stacy Searels and Bobo knowing their jobs may depend on it. Bobo pointed to injuries along the line last year, which hurt cohesion. The blocking is also more than just the line, with tight ends, receivers, and running backs all involved. Smart alluded last month to some changes they made to help the run game, not disclosing what they were. Advertisement There are other needed areas of improvement: Starting faster, for instance, after Georgia scored just 55 points in the first quarter over its 14 games, compared to 113-124-126 in the next three quarters. That doesn't necessarily mean touchdowns, Bobo added, but at least a few first downs, and help the defense with field position. 'When you go three and out to start games, that's something we definitely got to improve on,' Bobo said. Bobo also hinted at tweaks to make sure their playmaker receivers – such as transfers Zachariah Branch and Noah Thomas – can make plays. 'In the past we've kind of let the offense run through the quarterback, and he takes the guy that the defense gives us on a passing concept,' Bobo said. 'We're going to have to make these guys you mention (receivers) that we generate touches for these guys.' That sounds exciting if you like passing. But ultimately Georgia fans like scoring, and whether the offense does a better job of that will have a big impact on the SEC and CFP race. Georgia has running backs who can be stars: Sophomore Nate Frazier (671 rushing yards last year) is fast and elusive, Illinois transfer Josh McCray (609 rushing yards) is physical, and freshman Bo Walker is generating a lot of summer buzz. But it's not as easy as just handing them the ball and letting them work. It's also about play calling, blocking by the line and skill positions, the quarterback making the right fake – plenty of things. 'We've made it an emphasis every day to point out those things when they're good and they're not up to our standard,' Bobo said, then adding, in so many words, the magic phrase. 'We know that we've got to be able to run the ball.' (Top photo of Zachariah Branch: Joshua L. Jones / USA Today Network) Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Spurs rumors: Why Dylan Harper could make De'Aaron Fox ‘expendable'
The post Spurs rumors: Why Dylan Harper could make De'Aaron Fox 'expendable' appeared first on ClutchPoints. One of the big questions for the San Antonio Spurs entering the 2025-26 season is how they will handle the logjam that currently exists in their guard department. Last year, San Antonio saw Stephon Castle win Rookie of the Year and traded for De'Aaron Fox midway through the season, then they selected guard Dylan Harper with the second overall pick in the ensuing NBA Draft. With all of these talented guards on the roster, there has been speculation that one of them could become the odd man out, and recently, ESPN NBA insider Jeremy Woo shed some light in that department, citing a Western Conference scout. '[Harper] has some [Manu] Ginobili to his offensive game,' said the scout. 'If the 3-point shot ever becomes a true weapon [for him], he makes Fox expendable and gives San Antonio a nice trade asset.' Woo also noted that 'Harper's pick-and-roll prowess and crafty, powerful style of play made him the choice for the Spurs, who have been optimizing for additional playmaking around Victor Wembanyama moving forward,' and that even if he comes off the bench this year, the Spurs still view him as a foundational piece of their future. An awkward situation for the Spurs Being too talented is almost always a good problem to have, but it's still something that the Spurs must address as it pertains to their guard depth chart, and whether some of those resources would be better allocated to other parts of their roster. At the current juncture, Fox figures to get the starting point guard nod for San Antonio, with Castle possibly sliding in beside him in the backcourt. However, Harper was one of this year's most highly touted draft prospects for a reason, and it's possible that at some point, he will force the Spurs coaching staff to give him increased minutes. If things reach that point, it's not hard to envision other teams inquiring about Fox's availability. However, in the present moment, Spurs fans can be happy that their team is clearly taking its effort to build around Wembanyama seriously, even if they may have created a guard logjam in the process. Related: The Spurs rookie viewed as biggest 2025 NBA Draft steal Related: How Dylan Harper, Carter Bryant are embracing the Spurs legacy
