Smart: ‘No complacency’ as UGA chases 3rd title
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Alex Scarborough, ESPN Staff Writer
Georgia coach Kirby Smart said on Monday that he doesn’t see any self-satisfaction from his team four games into a season in which the Bulldogs are attempting to do something that hasn’t been accomplished in 87 years: win three consecutive national championships.
“I think the focus level each week has been good,” Smart said. “The results always haven’t. But the preparation is what’s more important to me. Like I actually put a lot of value on Monday to Friday — mental makeup, disposition, practice habits, improvement. You know, we’ve repeatedly said we want to be elite at getting better, and I’ve really been pleased with the progress that we’ve made.
“So that makes me feel comfortable that there’s no complacency there.”
Replacing a number of key players from last season, including 10 NFL draft picks, has resulted in some uneven performances, particularly on offense, where Carson Beck has taken over for longtime starting quarterback Stetson Bennett.
Further complicating matters is a rash of injuries throughout the roster, including starting offensive lineman Amarius Mims (ankle) and preseason All-SEC receiver Ladd McConkey (back).
Beck’s six passing touchdowns — three of which came Saturday against UAB — is the third fewest of all starting quarterbacks in the SEC. But he has done a good job taking care of the football, with only one interception.
How he responds in his first SEC road game at Auburn on Saturday, Smart said, is anyone’s guess.
“That’s something that we’re going to find out,” Smart said. “I don’t think you know. I think he’s been through some ups and downs. He’s certainly been against good defenses like Auburn has. He goes against our guys. It’s different when it’s live. So you gotta find out how he responds to that, and I’m very confident in Carson’s ability to communicate, to understand things. He’s been in our system. You know, you only get good at these situational football things by playing football for a long time. And he’s been with us for a while doing it. This is his first chance to do it on the road.”
The Bulldogs currently rank 51st in the FBS in red zone efficiency and are tied for sixth in the SEC in explosive plays.
Although it could be a while before Mims is back in the starting lineup after having tightrope surgery on his ankle, getting McConkey back is increasingly possible.
McConkey, who led all receivers in catches last season, hasn’t played yet this season.
“He’s going to be able to come back to practice this week,” Smart said, “and we’re going to be able to do some more things with him. How he does in those things will determine whether or not he’s able to play. We had kind of a two-week advised shutdown. He’s done that, and we’re expecting him to be able to go out there today and do some things, but noncontact early in the week and try to move to that.”
On Monday, Auburn coach Hugh Freeze said that Smart has “it rolling” at Georgia and, “Thank God we’re in Jordan-Hare [on Saturday].”
“They are one of the gold standards in college football right now,” Freeze said. “They are recruiting a top-three class every single year. That is hard to compete with, and they are well coached. You have to give them credit. I know it’s a rivalry game, but the truth is the truth. He has built a dang good football program there.”
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Andrea Adelson
Florida State freshman linebacker Ethan Pritchard has been released from in-patient rehab and is expected to attend the Seminoles’ final home game of the season against Virginia Tech on Saturday.
Pritchard returned to Tallahassee on Friday and visited with the team.
He plans to continue his rehab back home in Central Florida, and told WESH-TV in an interview his plan is to play football again.
Pritchard was shot in the back of the head Aug. 31 in what the authorities have described as a case of mistaken identity. He was dropping his aunt and a child off following a family party in Havana, Fla., about 16 miles from Tallahassee, near the Georgia state line.
Four people were arrested last month in connection with the shooting.
Pritchard told WESH, “I remember everything. I turned the corner and shots rang off. I put the car in reverse and just backed up and after that, I don’t remember what else happened.”
Pritchard spent nearly six weeks in the hospital in Tallahassee before moving to a rehab center in Jacksonville. In the interview with WESH, Pritchard said he could not move his right side when he arrived at the rehab facility.
But early one morning, he woke up his dad, Earl, because he could finally move his arm.
“After that, it just got better and better,” Ethan Pritchard said.
OAKLAND, Calif. — A suspect has been arrested in the shooting of college football coach John Beam, who was featured in the Netflix show “Last Chance U” and remains in critical condition after being shot on the school’s campus, the Oakland Police Department and other authorities said Friday.
Few other details were available. It was the second time in two days that there was a shooting at a school in Oakland.
Mayor Barbara Lee described Beam as a “giant” and a mentor, educator and lifeline for young people.
“For over 40 years, he has shaped leaders on and off the field, and our community is shaken alongside his family,” Lee said.
The Netflix docuseries focused on athletes at junior colleges looking to turn their lives around. Beam’s Laney College Eagles starred in the 2020 season.
Two of Beam’s former players, brothers Nahshon and Rejzohn Wright, who currently play in the NFL for the Chicago Bears and New Orleans Saints, posted on social media after the shooting.
“You mean the world to me,” Rejzohn Wright said in a post with a photo of Beam.
His brother posted a photo of the coach with a broken heart emoji.
Beam, currently serving as athletic director, began at Laney College in 2004 as a running backs coach before eventually becoming head coach in 2012, winning two league titles. Twenty of his players have gone on to the NFL, according to his biography on Laney College’s website.
“The Peralta community is devastated by his shooting and deeply concerned for his well-being,” Mark Johnson, a spokesperson for Peralta Community College District, said in an emailed statement on Beam’s current medical status. “We are stunned and heartbroken that such violence has touched our campus.”
The Thursday shooting came a day after a student got shot at Oakland’s Skyline High School. The student is in stable condition.
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