Yikes, not-so-good updates for the Irish and the Dawgs!! Every Georgia fan already knows the struggle the team will go through after losing Carson Beck. Yeah, the dude had a mixed season, but he still was the reason they made it to the 2nd seed. With that single injury, Georgia’s natty run and Beck’s NFL future both were sent right down the drain. But hey, Kirby Smart is a smart man, and he and his boys now rest their faith in Gunner Stockton. “The chosen one”. Now if he’s gonna be a “good” Anakin Skywalker or flip to the dark side and lead Georgia astray, we have to wait and find out. However, Smart ain’t the only one who’s gonna struggle at the Sugar Bowl.

Marcus Freeman is going to have a tough time keeping his endzone free, man. (See what we did there?). “Notre Dame lost, arguably their most dominant defensive lineman, Rylie Mills, against Indiana,” Greg McElroy pointed out on ESPN. Trying to get a sack on Kurtis Rourke, Rylie Mills ended up colliding with Jaylen Sneed and got his right knee injured. This puts him completely out of the playoff ru,n and this will give Freeman some nightmares. Mills is a big guy. 37 tackles in with over 7 sacks. He was a dominant force in Notre Dame’s chaotic but organized defense.

Well, if you thought the worry stops there, then you are wrong. Keeping Mills aside, Notre Dame is also losing out on 3 players to the transfer portal. Aiden Gobaira, Tyson Ford, and Jaden Mickey are all out. Out of the 3, only Mickey had a shot at playing in the 2024 season and brought in 3 tackles for the Irish.

Both Ford and Aiden had no playtime, hence saying that this will affect Notre Dame’s defense feels far-fetched. At the end of the day, the core starters for the Irish are still strong and ready to dominate. But what about Georgia, you might ask? Yeah, well, Carson Beck’s loss ain’t even the only problem for them.

In the last few games, one thing that has plagued the Bulldogs is the drop-prone receiver corps and the slow-starting offensive plays. 4.3 points on average in every game in the first half. This is worse than the 2006 Georgia team. On the FBS list, the Bulldogs are currently ranked 115th, making them one of the worst starting offenses out there. In every game, they somehow managed to come alive in the second half, but this mentality and playstyle will NOT work against the Irish.

Georgia Bulldogs dilemma

Adding woe to the offensive problem are the players Smart is going to miss out on. First is WR Colbie Young. A dominant force for the Georgia offense but got caught up in illegal acts and is now suspended. Following him are Branson Robinson and Roderick Robinson. The Robinson brothers (not literally) are down with injuries. Roderick has a lower-body injury, and Branson has a knee injury.

See, at the end of the day, Smart could still redeem himself. Stockton is a duel-threat QB. All Mike Bobo has to do is leverage that identity. If he can find the perfect mix in run-and-pass games with help from Trevor Etienne and Nate Frazier, then Georgia could pull ahead.

Although the team has the worst starting offense, they still know how to end in style. Their finishing offense is ranked 7th in the country with 9+ points on average per game. The task now is surviving till the second half.

So, who do you think comes out on top? Freeman and the Irish or Smart with his new QB1?