Bulldogs moving on, but still feel deserving of playoff spot after Twitter storm

“That game doesn’t have much to do with us so our focus is on Texas right now.”

That’s what Georgia offensive lineman Andrew Thomas said about the 2018 College Football Playoff results, in which top-ranked Alabama beat No. 4 Oklahoma 45-34 and No. 2 Clemson trounced No. 3 Notre Dame 30-3. That second result, which wrapped up before Alabama-Oklahoma even kicked off, drew even more criticism for a Playoff system many want to see moved from four to six (or eight) teams.

Only, that wasn’t the tone of many Bulldogs the night before.

Over the course of Notre Dame’s blowout loss, many players voiced their opinions via social media platform Twitter, starting with defensive end Jonathan Ledbetter:

“@CFBPlayoff Ya’ll want a redo lol?” Ledbetter’s tweet, still up on the site, read.

Receiver Terry Godwin got in on it, too. And Mecole Hardman, whose tweet has since been deleted. And linebacker Monty Rice, whose status remains in the air for the January 1 Sugar Bowl.

And offensive guard Kendall Baker. And running back Elijah Holyfield. And receiver Jeremiah Holloman. And Isaiah Wilson.

“I think the committee put the best four teams in the playoffs,” Godwin said. “It is disappointing, but we have to concentrate on Georgia football and beating Texas.”

But the unrestrained tone was, expectedly, reigned in Sunday morning, when the team’s offensive players took the podium for the final time before their New Year’s Day matchup with Texas (8:45 p.m., ESPN). The toned-down approach was present again, and the message – that the past is the past and the Bulldogs are focused on Texas – back on the table.

But there’s still no doubt the Bulldogs feel deserving of a playoff spot.

“We feel like we’re the best team regardless,” Godwin said. “If you’re any kind of competitor, you’re going to feel like your team is the best team in all of college football. The game against Texas, we’re going to go out there and make a statement for ourselves to let us know that, we’re still the Georgia Bulldogs. We’re still the team that we know we are.”

Holyfield added that it was “good watching all of the games, but we’re focused on Texas.” When asked specifically if he thought Georgia was one of the best four teams in the country, sophomore running back D’Andre Swift offered a short, to-the-point answer.

“Most definitely,” he said.

Thomas said more of the same, that the playoffs “don’t have much” to do with the Bulldogs now. Thomas, like every other player reporters spoke with Sunday, echoed the message that their focus remains on Texas.

And that may, in fact, be true. The Bulldogs won their only non-playoff bowl, a 2016 Liberty Bowl win over TCU, since Kirby Smart took over. So, there’s certainly evidence to dispose of the notion that the team won’t enter the bowl unfocused.

“We don’t need to prove anything,” Swift said. “Just keep doing what we are doing. People saw how we played last game. I do not think we need to prove anything.

But the message on Twitter Saturday night demonstrated a team that felt cheated by a highly-criticized Playoff Committee, and a program that felt like its playoff hopes shouldn’t have fallen onto the Mercedes-Benz Stadium turf with Jake Fromm’s last-gasp throw on December 1.

“I learned a long time ago as an assistant coach my job is to do my job. I stay out of all of the business outside of it,” said Bulldogs offensive coordinator Jim Chaney. “You guys that know me know that I’m not going to open nothing up or anything. My job is to do the best I can. Someone else handles the playoffs, and they do the best that they can. I trust that they do that. And we live with the results of what they decide.”

Chaney, to his credit, was just about right. The committee is here to stay, no matter how much its standards for playoff teams change year-to-year. And, really, there’s not much else Chaney, Smart or the rest of the Bulldogs can do at this point, except face Texas Tuesday night.

Well, at least outside of Twitter.

This story was originally published December 30, 2018 at 2:01 PM.