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The higher the number, the better the recruit. Several times they have multiple Top 5 players sign, highlighted by 2018’s class which featured four of the top five players from Georgia.Įach year 247Sports Composite ranks the top players nationally with different ratings from 70 to 100. Since Smart took over as head coach in Athens, he’s made it a point to keep the best high school players from Georgia in Georgia.īeginning with the 2017 recruiting class, UGA has had at least one of the Top 5 players in Georgia sign with the Bulldogs. In the Smart era, that might not have happened. 10 recruit from the Peach State in the class of 2013 and he seemingly played his best games against UGA.Īnd yet, there was never a UGA offer sent Dobbs’ way. Georgia fans were familiar with the former four-star prospect from Alpharetta, Georgia. “He’s one of the best quarterbacks in the country. “The guy has improved immensely as a quarterback,” Smart said prior to the game of Dobbs. The touchdown gave the Volunteers a 34-31 win, handing first-year UGA coach Kirby Smart his second of an eventual five losses in his inaugural season leading the Bulldogs.īut that play, the one that was catapulted by Dobbs, might have been the catalyst for a five-year-long recruiting plan for Smart and the UGA coaching staff. UT quarterback Josh Dobbs launched a Hail Mary pass from his own 47-yard line to the end zone, where then-sophomore receiver Jauan Jennings hauled in the pass amidst a pack of Bulldogs.
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The end of the 2016 UGA-Tennessee game went down in Volunteer lore and was a play that Georgia football faithful want wiped from their memories. Part Two: ‘I have no idea what stars are’: How Kirby Smart, UGA football is winning the five-star game
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Part One: How Kirby Smart's recruiting positioned UGA football for its first national title in 40 years The research was gathered using recruiting numbers. This is the third of three articles looking at recruiting data and trends since Kirby Smart became head coach of Georgia football.