Old friends Smart, Bobo set to face off
COLUMBIA, S. C. — Georgia football coach Kirby Smart has gone from matching up at South Carolina with one close friend in Will Muschamp to another in Mike Bobo.
The three men were college teammates at Georgia in the 1990s and have remained close throughout their coaching careers.
Smart, who took over at his alma mater before the 2016 season, is 3-1 against South Carolina, with the Gamecocks coached by Muschamp in each of those games. That includes South Carolina’s 20-17 double-overtime upset of the Bulldogs — ranked No. 3 at the time — in Athens last season.
However, with Muschamp fired two weeks ago, it will be Bobo in charge on the South Carolina sideline tonight as Smart’s 13th-ranked Bulldogs (5-2) visit the Gamecocks (2-6).
“I respect both of them as coaches and as friends, and they know as well as I do when you get in this profession that’s a possibility that that happens,” said Smart, who referred to Bobo’s attitude and energy as strengths that appeal to players.
Bobo, Muschamp and Smart are all the sons of fathers who coached high school football in Georgia.
“He’s grown up in a coach’s family,” Smart, who played safety at Georgia, said of Bobo, a quarterback during his time with the Bulldogs. “He’s got thick, tough skin, and players like him.”
Bobo came to South Carolina last December, shortly after Colorado State announced his fifth season as head coach was his last with the Rams. Muschamp hired him as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, roles Muschamp held during his time as a Georgia assistant before heading to Colorado State.
In his newest position, Bobo has spent much of his time working to rally players and build the confidence of a team that has lost four straight games. In his debut last Saturday, the Gamecocks lost 17-10 to Missouri after trailing 17-0 at halftime.
Freshman quarterback Luke Doty replaced starter Collin Hill in the second half and accounted for 189 of South Carolina’s 283 yards of offense.
Georgia has its own quarterback who has stirred excitement in his first season with the program. Redshirt sophomore JT Daniels, who transferred from Southern California, made his Bulldogs debut last Saturday and passed for 401 yards and four touchdowns in the Bulldogs’ 31-24 win over Mississippi State.
Daniels became the third player to start at quarterback for Georgia this season, following redshirt freshman D’Wan Mathis and junior Stetson Bennett. Daniels will present a huge challenge to South Carolina’s secondary, which is still making up for the loss of NFL- caliber defensive backs Jaycee Horn and Israel Mukuamu, who opted out after Muschamp was let go.
The fact that Bobo is a former Bulldog was apparent as he discussed the game between border rivals.
“There’s more excitement in the air,” Bobo said. “Lot of history, there’s a lot of people I’ve known on the other side of the ball.”
Exciting coaches
Mississippi State football coach Mike Leach and Ole Miss counterpart Lane Kiffin have brought sound bites and plenty of passing to their programs in their first seasons leading them.
Wins have not been as abundant, but the two outspoken coaches with impressive offensive pedigrees finally get to match wits — and talent — as Leach’s Bulldogs ( 2- 5) visit Kiffin’s Rebels ( 3- 4) this afternoon for a highly anticipated Egg Bowl.
“I know it’s very meaningful to people, and I know that it’s in conversation all year round,” Leach said. “Every day. There’s not a day that I don’t hear somebody mention the Egg Bowl. So I know it’s a very meaningful game. I also know that there’s been plenty of them that were exciting to watch, long before I was ever in the state of Mississippi.”
That certainly includes last season, when Mississippi State won 21-20. It was a game that might have gone to overtime but for a missed PAT in the final seconds on a kick pushed back by an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Ole Miss star wide receiver Elijah Moore.
Two years ago, the game was marred by a fight that led to four ejections in the second half as the Bulldogs romped 35-3.
Georgia transfer safety Otis Reese will finally make his Ole Miss debut, and Kiffin believes he’ll play “a lot.” Reese, cleared by the NCAA on Nov. 20, played in 25 career games for Georgia the past two seasons, though he started just once.
Pioneer spirit
NASHVILLE — Vanderbilt soccer player Sarah Fuller will don a football uniform today and is poised to become the first woman to play in a game for a Power Five conference team when the Commodores ( 0-7) visit Missouri (3-3) in an SEC matchup.
“Let’s make history,” Fuller, a senior goalkeeper, wrote Friday on Twitter with a photo of herself wearing a football jersey with a soccer ball between her feet while holding a football in her hands.
COVID-19 protocols and restrictions have left Commodores football coach Derek Mason with a limited number of specialists available against Missouri, so earlier this week he reached out to soccer coach Darren Ambrose for some help.
Fuller made three saves last weekend as Vanderbilt upset top-seeded Arkansas 3-1 in women’s soccer to capture the program’s first SEC tournament title since 1994. Fuller played every minute of the tourney and said it’s an honor Vanderbilt called on her to help out on the football field, too.
She’ll be wearing the words “Play Like A Girl” on the back of her helmet.
“I think it’s amazing and incredible. But I’m also trying to separate that because I know this is a job I need to do, and I want to help the team out and I want to do the best that I can,” Fuller said. “Placing that historical aspect aside just helps me focus in on what I need to do. I don’t want to let them down in anyway.