Georgia Bulldogs HC Kirby Smart Calls Out Current Landscape of College Football After 63-3 Orange Bowl Victory; ‘It Needs to be Fixed’
The Georgia Bulldogs smashed the Florida State Seminoles in the Orange Bowl last night, 63-3. The Seminoles were without 29 scholarship players due to opt-outs and the transfer portal, resulting in 146 yards from scrimmage in a blowout loss. Despite his team blowing the doors off the Seminoles, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart was not too pleased with the product on the field.
Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart took the podium postgame, discussing how opt-outs and the new NCAA transfer portal rules resulted in the lopsided win.
“People need to see what happened tonight, and they need to fix this,” said Smart. The Seminoles played down 29 scholarship players, including the star wide receiver duo of Johnny Wilson and Keon Coleman. They also took the field with their third-string quarterback, Brock Glenn. Starter Jordan Travis suffered a gruesome leg injury late in the season, while backup Tate Rodemaker entered the transfer portal less than a week before the Orange Bowl.
Smart continued, “It needs to be fixed. It’s very unfortunate that they have a good football team and a good football program, and they’re in the position they’re in.”
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The College Football Playoff committee made an unprecedented move this postseason, omitting the Seminoles from the CFP despite going undefeated and winning the ACC Championship. Florida State became the first Power-Five team in the history of the CFP to miss out on the four-team playoff field after finishing the season without a loss and taking home their conference title. Instead, the committee picked a pair of one-loss teams, the Texas Longhorns and the Alabama Crimson Tide, as the last two teams to make the dance.
“We had our guys, and they didn’t have their guys. College football has to decide what they want. I know things are changing. But there’s still going to be bowl games outside of those. People need to decide what they want and what they want to get out of it because it’s really unfortunate for those kids on that sideline that had to play in that game and didn’t have their full arsenal. And it affected the game.”
There are 43 bowl games, starting with the Myrtle Beach Bowl in mid-December and ending with the College Football Playoff National Championship. However, opt-outs and the transfer portal have decimated squads, especially those outside the CFP. Over 2,000 FBS college football players have entered the transfer portal during the current cycle.
He is not wrong. Personally, I would like to see the transfer portal capped at one transfer per player career.