Earlier in the week, Kirby Smart made it clear that COVID-19 was a concern of his team after allowing players to return home over the Christmas holidays to be with their families.
Related: Georgia on ‘pins and needles’ over Covid-19 tests leading to Peach Bowl
In his last media appearance before the Bulldogs faced No. 8 Cincinnati, Smart did not detail which players will be out of the game. But he hinted that some players may not be available for the game.
“The guys who can play will be there to play. Those who won’t, unfortunately, won’t be there to play, ”said Smart. “We have been dealing with this all year and we do not disclose it.”
Georgia tested the players on Saturday, Monday and Wednesday before the game against Bearcats. In addition to any COVID-related absences, Georgia will be without Eric Stokes, DJ Daniel, Monty Rice, Tre ‘McKitty and Ben Cleveland, as these five declared for the 2021 NFL Draft.
Bulldogs will also be without James Cook after their father’s death earlier in the week.
“James was close to his father. Difficult environment for him, ”said Smart. “I know that all the running backs reached him, they spoke to him. I spoke to him a few times. He’s handling it the best he can. Thanks for all the support of Dawg Nation, all of our fan base. Your heart is sorry for him. “
This will be the tenth game this season for both teams, one that COVID has obviously impacted. Both teams had games canceled due to the virus this year. Both also had their non-conference severely affected. The Bearcats were supposed to play in Nebraska, while Georgia had all of its off-conference games destroyed.
Friday’s game will be the first time in the entire season that Georgia have faced a team that does not represent the SEC.
“If you asked the players, they would have liked to have faced opponents outside the conference in terms of starting with UVA,” said Smart. They will always say they want to play.
“I know that every guy, including me, would love to be able to compete and play every game we could.”
Cincinnati head coach Luke Fickell noted that the teams were not only fighting COVID this year, but also the wear and tear that comes with a normal college football season. Georgia knows this very well, as names like Richard LeCounte and Jordan Davis have lost several games due to injuries this year.
“There are a lot of things that happen in the backend, if you missed training, you had a break, the guys are not that healthy,” said Fickell. “It’s not just the lungs, the virus, it’s the things that happen when the guys are off. We’re in the same boat. “
For all of this, however, Smart is proud of how his team handled the endless adversity that 2020 brought to the Georgia team. In August, when the Big Ten and PAC-12 canceled their respective seasons, it seemed hard to imagine that a full season of college football would be played.
However, by the end of 2020, Georgia has gone through nine games and is ready to play in a tenth on Friday. This team from Georgia certainly lived to “make more” nickname during this season.
“Never, never, never give up. Don’t give up, ”said Smart. Keep fighting, advancing. We are teaching our children some valuable lessons. There are a lot of people in the world today, in America today, I will not say use COVID, use the pandemic maybe to do less.
‘These kids really did more, okay? They did more during the pandemic because they had to work twice as hard to remain available. “
Kirby Smart previews Peach Bowl against Cincinnati
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