Georgia's Kirby Smart gets his wish with big crowd
ATHENS -- When Kirby Smart asked for 93,000 people to show up for the Georgia G-Day game, most people likely chuckled. How in the world would Georgia get four times the normal crowd to show up on a warm April day to watch a glorified scrimmage?
Well, what Smart asks for, Smart usually gets -- as we've found out in the first four months of his tenure as Georgia's football head coach. Yes, the 600 level of Sanford Stadium filled up. Yes, it was packed. Yes, Smart got the 93K he wanted to watch the new era of Georgia football begin.
And those fans did not come to watch Ludacris. Forgive me for having to Google that to make sure his name was spelled right. The popular rapper was not the attraction.
To see a standing room only crowd, at least for a while, for a spring game in Athens was historic. This is a game that has never been emphasized. Forget about an Atlanta television news anchor or a state celebrity being the honorary coach. This game was important for the first time in the program's history.
It wasn't on par with a big regular-season game, but there was a buzz in the air Saturday in Athens. When the video was played before the game that showed the Smart introductory news conference, the crowd went wild. When Smart came on the screen and said, "It's good to be home," the crowd got even louder. That's probably not the last time we'll hear that.
There was an energy injected into the Georgia football program with this spring game. It showed why a change was needed after 15 years to simply try someone else as the head coach. And for Smart to get what he asked for, well, it might have showed even before he has coached a real game that he was a pretty solid choice.
Who knows what can be concluded for the roster from what we saw Saturday. Maybe there was a job or two won on the field, but this game was more about the performance. It was a chance for Georgia fans to see their new head coach, and a chance for the fans to officially welcome someone else to Athens.
When Jacob Eason took the field, most everyone knew who No. 10 was even before the announcement was made. And when he strolled onto the field, no freshman has likely gotten that type of ovation since you know who from Wrightsville played between the hedges for the first time 36 years ago. But this was Eason, the quarterback who most are convinced has a blue T-shirt with a red "S" on it under his jersey.
And then Eason threw a pass, a good pass. Then he threw another one, which was complete. Then Eason threw a 35-yard pass that might have been the best pass thrown in Athens since Aaron Murray left. Well, most Georgia fans will describe it that way. Yes, it was impressive. Eason was very impressive.
The 93,000 fans didn't linger. Really, after Eason came in, and they got a good glimpse, many left. Only the hardcore fans stayed for the second half, making it look more like a normal spring crowd.
At some point Saturday night, after his day was over, the new head coach had to sit back and smile. He got exactly what he wanted. This was a G-Day game unlike any other. People will talk about this for a long time, how the first official day of the Smart era in Athens got off to a tremendous start.
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This story was originally published April 16, 2016 at 5:54 PM with the headline "Georgia's Kirby Smart gets his wish with big crowd ."