Georgia learned from title loss, Smart says

ATLANTA — Even six months later, there was no way for Kirby Smart to dodge the question.

The Georgia coach just knew he’d be asked if he has recovered from the Bulldogs’ loss to Alabama in the national championship game.

“Everybody wants to ask that question,” Smart said Tuesday at the Southeastern Conference’s annual preseason media gathering.

“It’s not like I have nightmares about it, no,” Smart added.

Georgia enjoyed memorable highlights in Smart’s second season, including the Bulldogs’ first SEC championship since 2005, a win at Notre Dame and a national semifinals victory over Oklahoma in the Rose Bowl.

The Bulldogs lost their chance for their first national championship since 1980 when Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa completed a dramatic 41-yard touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith in overtime.

It was a crushing disappointment, but Smart said it shouldn’t overshadow the season’s other accomplishments.

“I think we grow from it,” Smart said. “I think the entire season is a learning experience. It was a confidence builder for a lot of guys on our team.”

The Bulldogs must replace such 2017 leaders as tailbacks Nick Chubb and Sony Michel and linebacker Roquan Smith. Even so, there are expectations for another big season.

Senior defensive end Jonathan Ledbetter said it’s important for players to understand another championship run must be earned.

“It’s a little different, and I will say it’s a little dangerous,” Ledbetter said. “That thought of complacency starts to come in there. We kind of have to push it out if we hear, ‘Oh yeah, they’re going to win it this year.’ “ Added Ledbetter: “You’ve got to take it one game at a time. If you start looking at the future or the past, you’ve messed up.”

As the defending SEC champion, Georgia expects to get every opponent’s top effort.

“We know everyone is going to circle us on their schedule, but that doesn’t change our mentality,” cornerback J.R. Reed said. “... We know everyone is going to be gunning for us, but we can’t change. We have to keep the same mentality.”

Georgia returns 13 starters, including eight on offense. Sophomore quarterback Jake Fromm has new competition from freshman Justin Fields, one of the biggest names in Smart’s toprated 2018 signing class.

West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen didn’t hesitate giving his blessing to a Heisman Trophy campaign for quarterback Will Grier.

The Florida transfer is the Big 12 preseason offensive player of the year, and the Mountaineers hope he will become the conference’s second straight Heisman-winning quarterback following Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield.

Holgorsen said on the final day of Big 12 media days Tuesday in Frisco, Texas, that he “would never approve a campaign unless I felt like a player can handle it.”

Grier is the only returning quarterback among the top six passers in the Big 12 last season. He threw for 3,490 yards with 34 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in his first season for West Virginia after sitting out a year.

Grier’s season ended in the first quarter of the 11th game against Texas because of a hand injury.

Holgorsen said spring football showed the game slowing down for Grier and that he “knows that he’s got a lot of good players around him and that he doesn’t have to go out there and be Superman.”