On Saturday, the Georgia Bulldogs defeated the Oregon Ducks by a spectacular score of 49-3 in their opening game of the season.
With this victory, Georgia coach Kirby Smart said he was proud of how his players performed and that they followed his instructions all week.
“I was really proud of the way our kids played,” he said. “We talked about coming out and playing as if we were hunting, and we wanted to play connected football.”
“That was what we talked about all week: ‘We’re going to play connected, we’re going to play aggressive; we’re going to be the hunter,” Smart explained.
The Bulldogs’ quarterback Stetson Bennett also said in a statement that he had faith in the team’s abilities considering how well they prepared for the game.
“When you have guys like Kenny McIntosh and you’ve got an O-line and have four seconds to throw the ball, you would hope you have a quarterback that can throw the ball to guys,” Bennett said.
“So, yeah, I think we did that. We had confidence in ourselves with the preparation we put into it that we could go out there and execute like that,” Bennett added.
Fans’ reactions
Given this outstanding performance, many people now regard Georgia as one of the best franchises in the country, as evidenced by the outpouring of support on social media.
According to @oh_lindzbreezy’s Twitter account, Georgia may be the best team, claiming, “I was just about to post something similar. This Georgia team may be the best team! Damn.”
Her comment was in response to another tweet from @jbook37, who said Georgia TEs are “ridiculous.”
“Georgia TE’s are ridiculous. They got an All-American with two other 5 stars backing him up and they just all bully people,” the tweet reads.
According to another account, @dipdtruck, Oregon no longer has that “edge,” and that Georgia may be “the greatest team in the country.”
“Early cfb thoughts: UCLA isn’t as bad as the first quarter they played. Oregon no longer has that edge. Georgia may be the best team in the country, where are their flaws?”
An account with the username @senor_crappy, backed up the remarks, saying Georgia remains the best until proven otherwise.
“Georgia is the best team in the nation until they prove they’re not. Sorry!”
The euphoria of Georgia’s incredible victory is noticeable in downtown Atlanta. The Bulldogs’ fans descended on downtown Atlanta to celebrate the team’s victory at Mercedez Benz Stadium.
“You don’t even have to wait for a touchdown, you can scream now, ‘Go Dawgs,’” one Bulldogs fan said.
Another person mentioned how exciting the season began, saying, “Since we won the National Championship, the season started so exciting on top.”
Linning’s take
However, Oregon coach Dan Linning has a different attitude, saying that win, defeat, or draw, everything is still right in front of them.
“Everybody knows I have a ton of respect for Kirby. I told our staff before we ever played the game, every single one of our goals is still going to be ahead of us regardless how this game comes out,” he said.
“Win, loss, draw, every one is still right in front of us. Our players feel the exact same way. But that was a tough locker room because we have competitors,” he added.
According to reports, the Bulldogs opened the 2022 season rated third, after Alabama and Ohio State, with the Oregon Ducks placed 11th.