In bizarro world, Tennessee plays better defense, and Georgia's Kirby Smart comes unglued
- Tennessee fields a better defense than Georgia, and college football turns on its head.
- Tennessee faces CFP bubble with a loss, while Georgia could be eliminated from playoff with a loss.
- Kirby Smart calls one of his players 'an idiot.' Just another day in the life in bizarro world.
We’re living in college football bizarro world, and Tennessee coach Josh Heupel is the mayor of this strange land, while Georgia Kirby Smart insults one of his own players.
Everything you think you know about this sport turned on its head in this wackiest of seasons.
Among the crazy twists: No. 4 Tennessee boasts a better defense than No. 10 Georgia, ahead of their clash Saturday in Athens.
Such a statement might have been expected throughout the Volunteers’ 1990s glory days, but during the first three years of the Heupel era, the Vols played offense at a breakneck pace. They spread the field, uncorked the deep shots, cranked up the tempo and asked the defense to do just enough.
Vols fans fell in love with Heupel’s system two years ago, when Tennessee won 11 games behind an offense that led the nation in scoring. Throughout that special “Vols are back!” season, the Vols hung 40 points on LSU, 52 on Alabama and 66 against Missouri. Sixty-six.
This year, the Vols could require three games to score 66 points. Heupel built what could go down as his best team by assembling a veteran defense that wreaks havoc at the line of scrimmage.
Heupel even dialed down his trademark tempo, trusting a defense that relishes the dirty work.
'Extremely disruptive' Tennessee defense rules in bizarro world
Not a single opponent scored at least 20 points against Tennessee (8-1) throughout nine games.
“They're extremely disruptive,” Georgia’s Kirby Smart said of Tennessee’s defensive front.
Tennessee’s disruptors are more reliable than those who reside on Georgia’s schizophrenic defense, which got torn asunder by Alabama, shut down Texas, but couldn’t cover Ole Miss’ receivers. The Rebels bullied Georgia in a 28-10 takedown last weekend.
We’ve seen Smart lose before. Rarely, though, do we see his Bulldogs get pushed around, but that’s exactly what happened in Oxford.
Ole Miss flat whipped Georgia at the lines of scrimmage, and Tennessee comes armed with the personnel to do the same.
“We're on a long journey," Smart said. "It's a long journey.”
Not only long, but arduous.
Georgia (7-2) has faced the nation’s toughest schedule, and although it landed some punches, it also absorbed an inordinate amount of body blows along the way.
While attempting to pay respect Monday to Georgia’s talent, Heupel described this as “a typical Georgia defense." That’s a big, fat fib.
Tennessee ranks No. 2 in the SEC for scoring defense, four spots ahead of Georgia.
Georgia stands on brink of CFP bracket elimination
As we travel down the road into the heart of bizarro world, we arrive at another stunning discovery.
Preseason No. 1 Georgia stands closer to the cliff of College Football Playoff elimination than Tennessee. A Tennessee loss would cause the Vols anxiety and reposition them squarely onto the playoff bubble, but a Georgia loss could tip the Bulldogs over the ledge.
It’s worth mentioning that, for all of Georgia’s warts, it hasn’t lost at Sanford Stadium since Oct. 12, 2019, when a bad South Carolina team marched out of the hedges with a shocking upset.
At my core, I know Smart remains a master motivator, and his Georgia teams often achieve their greatest feats when they believe folks doubt them, but do historical norms apply in bizarro world?
Somewhere along the journey from supremacy to bizarro world, Georgia lost its mean streak.
STAYING COURSE:Why Kirby Smart refuses to bench Carson Beck
BRACKET PREDICTION:SEC adds a fifth team as Big Ten unbeaten falls out
Georgia’s struggling quarterback Carson Beck grinned like a jester on the sideline late in the fourth quarter Saturday, while he watched Ole Miss stomp his team.
While Rebels fans stormed the field, Georgia safety Jake Pope bumped into some family friends wearing Rebels gear that he knew from back home. They jumped up and down together in apparent joy, creating a strange scene of a losing player celebrating with the opponent’s fans, a sight you’d never see anywhere but in bizarro world.
“What an idiot,” Smart said of Pope, two days later. “Just stupid.”
Smart reversed his initial assessment more than 24 hours later and declared that he shouldn't have labeled Pope "an idiot." While Smart argues with himself, a dunce cap sits atop his head. Bizarre, eh?
Smart usually has players’ backs through thick and thin, even after they set speedometer records while leaving rubber on the road racing the streets of Athens.
His remark about Pope registered as an unusually harsh dig at a Georgia player.
Welcome to bizarro world. The strain of a few months living in this most unusual place takes its toll and leaves folks acting out of sorts.
Here’s what else I’m eying in this “Topp Rope” view of college football:
A Heisman Trophy ballot with no quarterbacks?
Heisman ballots give each voter first-, second-, and third-place votes. I became a Heisman voter in 2016, and if my memory serves, I’ve had at least two quarterbacks on my ballot in each year I voted.
This year, I could make a case for a ballot that includes no quarterbacks:
Start the conversation with Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty and Colorado’s two-way standout Travis Hunter. They’re fabulous. Neither player’s team would be in the playoff hunt without them.
What other non-quarterbacks warrant consideration? I propose Tennessee running back Dylan Sampson, Indiana linebacker Aiden Fisher and Mississippi linebacker Chris Paul Jr.
Voters shouldn’t – and won’t – ignore quarterbacks.
Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel, Miami’s Cam Ward, Indiana’s Kurtis Rourke, Ole Miss’ Jaxson Dart and Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders populate on my shortlist of quarterbacks.
If you ask me who’s going to win, I predict Oregon’s Gabriel, Miami’s Ward or Colorado’s Hunter.
Emails of the week
Harold writes (in response to my column critiquing Florida’s decision to retain Billy Napier): You are an IDIOT and don’t know anything about Florida football. You need to write something you know about, and it is not college football. Actually, according to my calculations, you are just plain stupid, and this article will come back to bite you in many, many ways.
My response: I highly doubt it.
Jim writes: How can you criticize a team’s strength of schedule when they have no control over who they play? The Big Ten decides who each team plays. This means you are so stupid no one should believe anything you say.
My response: Well, you do schedule who you play in the non-conference, and if you’re referencing Indiana, the Hoosiers played three yummy cupcakes.
As to Big Ten scheduling, yes, Penn State and Indiana received favorable draws, and they didn’t control that. Not saying they shouldn’t be in the top 10, but it’s funky to see Penn State eight spots ahead of Georgia when we can appreciate the one-game difference between those teams’ records stems from scheduling.
Larry writes: What would it take for Boise State to rise to a first-round host spot?
My response: Forget hosting a first-round game, because the No. 13 Broncos have an avenue to receive a bye into the quarterfinals.
Picture this: Boise State wins the Mountain West, finishes 12-1 and a team other than Brigham Young wins the Big 12, such as two-loss Colorado, ranked No. 17 by the CFP. The Buffaloes are currently positioned to play BYU in the Big 12 title game.
Three and out
1. Other than No. 1 Oregon, No. 4 Penn State enjoys the best CFP positioning. The Nittany Lions will close with games against lowly Purdue, middling Minnesota and mediocre Maryland. Win those, and rest your case at 11-1. Sit back, relax and watch Ohio State (assuming the Buckeyes win out), play a rugged rematch with Oregon in the Big Ten championship. Collect a No. 6 seed in the bracket, and host a first-round playoff game. Ideal positioning.
2. Alabama’s Kalen DeBoer delivered a Year 1 victory against LSU, and his recruiting class ranks No. 2 nationally. With that, sanity and smiles are restored in Tuscaloosa. Just don’t lose the Iron Bowl.
3. Army sits atop the AAC and retains a chance to go 13-0. Army would bolster its résumé if it upsets Notre Dame next week. Meanwhile, Boise State is positioned to win the Mountain West at 12-1. The committee must admit at least one Group of Five team, but no rule prevents it from selecting another as an at-large qualifier. Two G5s in a 12-team playoff? Now, that sounds like a narrative fit for bizarro world.
Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network's national college football columnist. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on X @btoppmeyer. The "Topp Rope" is his football column published throughout the USA TODAY Network. Subscribe to read all of his columns.