ATHENS — Georgia does plenty of things well. It’s a big reason the Bulldogs are in the College Football Playoff after a 12-1 season that saw Georgia win the SEC.

But Georgia is not a perfect team. Like all eight remaining teams in the College Football Playoff, it has flaws.

And the biggest one, per ESPN’s Mark Schlabach, comes on the offensive line.

“Georgia’s offensive line struggled early but improved throughout the season once key players returned from injury,” Schlabach wrote. “Then the Bulldogs lost starting center Drew Bobo to a foot injury in their 16-9 victory against Georgia Tech in the regular-season finale. Bobo, whose father is Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo, will miss the CFP because of the injury.”

Bobo did not play against Alabama, as he was on a scooter during the 28-7 win. Malachi Toliver filled in for Bobo, playing well in Bobo’s absence.

Georgia coach Kirby Smart was asked about the status of Bobo specifically on Monday when speaking to reporters.

“Yeah, I’m optimistic we get all those guys back,” Smart said. “We’re hopeful to get those guys back and get them back recovered, get them going. They’re good football players, and they’re going to help us. We’re hopeful to get a lot of those guys back, and we’ve got guys dinged up from the practices we’ve had, too.”

Even with all the injuries — Georgia started six different offensive line combinations in its first six games of the season — Bobo had been a stabilizing force for the group.

Bobo was a second-team All-American selection by the AFCA this year for his play. Without him, questions exist as to whether Georgia will be able to match up with some of the more physical defensive units. Should Georgia beat Ole Miss, the Bulldogs would face the winner of Miami-Ohio State.

“Georgia’s offensive line ended up being among the better ones in the SEC. The team ranked third in the league in sacks allowed (18) and fifth in rushing (186.6 yards) after struggling mightily to run the ball in 2024,” Schlabach wrote. “How well will the line hold up if the Bulldogs end up playing a menacing defensive front such as Miami’s or Texas Tech’s?”

Georgia’s offensive line played well in its first game against Ole Miss, as the Bulldogs rushed for 221 yards and scored 43 points in the win over the Rebels. Georgia did not punt once in the win.

The offensive line will once again need to be sharp if the Bulldogs are to go on a deep playoff run. In last year’s Sugar Bowl against Notre Dame, Georgia’s offensive line struggled mightily. The Bulldogs had just 62 rushing yards in the 23-10 loss, while Gunner Stockton was sacked 4.0 times.

We will have to wait a little while longer to see how Georgia’s offensive line holds up, as the Bulldogs will face Ole Miss on Jan. 1. The game is set for an 8 p.m. ET start on ESPN.

Authorities are searching for three inmates, including one charged with murder, who escaped from a county jail east of Atlanta on Dec. 22.

The three inmates fled from the DeKalb County Jail early on Dec. 22, according to the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office. They were found missing during a routine security check, which prompted internal security teams to search the jail, the sheriff’s office said.

“We take this breach very seriously and are working diligently to ensure these individuals are safely returned to custody as quickly as possible,” DeKalb County Sheriff Melody M. Maddox said in a statement.

‘Devil in the Ozarks’ killer caught: A 12-day search ends less than 2 miles away.

The sheriff’s office did not provide further details on how the inmates were able to escape from the jail, but said its fugitive unit and uniform patrol units were “actively searching” for the three men. Several local law enforcement agencies, along with the U.S. Marshals Service, are assisting in the search.

The sheriff’s office warned that the inmates might be armed and are considered dangerous. The agency said the public is “urged to exercise extreme caution and should not approach them,” adding that people with information regarding the men’s whereabouts are asked to contact authorities.

The DeKalb County Jail is located in Decatur, about 10 miles east of downtown Atlanta.

3 Georgia inmates facing multiple charges, including murder

The sheriff’s office said the three inmates were being held on multiple charges. The three men were identified as:

• Stevenson Charles, 24, is charged with murder and armed robbery.
• Yusuf Minor, 31, is charged with two counts of armed robbery and two counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
• Naod Yohannes, 25, is charged with simple assault, arson, and unlawful acts of violence in a penal institution.

The U.S. Marshals Service is mainly seeking the location of Charles, according to WSB-TV in Atlanta and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The agency described Charles as a violent fugitive, the television station reported.

The U.S. Marshals Service told WSB-TV that Charles has been “charged with, or convicted of, murder, aggravated assault, weapons violations, sodomy on a person less than 10 years old, kidnapping, carjacking, armed robbery and probation violations.”

In 2024, Charles pleaded guilty in Georgia to false imprisonment, aggravated sodomy, two counts of kidnapping, two counts of armed robbery, and two counts of aggravated assault, according to the Gwinnett County District Attorney’s Office. He was sentenced to life in prison.

Before his guilty plea, the district attorney’s office said he was convicted in 2023 in a federal court in Florida for carjacking, kidnapping, and robbing five victims in Miami.

“Let the message go out to Mr. Charles and all other fugitives. We are looking for, and we will find you,” Thomas E. Brown, the U.S. Marshal for the Northern District of Georgia, said in a statement, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Any person who violates the laws of the United States will not be allowed a moment of rest. You will never find peace. You will answer for your crimes.”

The U.S. Marshals Service did not respond to USA TODAY’s request for comment on Dec. 22.

Recent jailbreaks across the United States

The incident in Georgia is the latest jailbreak to occur in the United States this year. It also comes just weeks after another Georgia inmate escaped from custody at a hospital and used ride-hailing services, including an Uber ride, to evade sheriff’s deputies.

The inmate, identified as 52-year-old Timothy Shane, was captured after about three days in Covington, a small city located outside of Atlanta, authorities said.

On Dec. 19, authorities arrested the last of three inmates who escaped from a Louisiana jail in early December by removing mortar and concrete blocks from a degraded part of a wall.

In June, a former Arkansas police chief — convicted murderer and rapist Grant Hardin — was recaptured following a 12-day manhunt. Hardin had escaped from prison disguised as a guard and only made it over a mile away from the facility before he was found.

Earlier in the year, 10 inmates brazenly escaped from a New Orleans jail. Authorities previously said the inmates fled through a hole in a cell wall after ripping away a toilet and sink unit on the morning of May 16.

Most of the escapees were caught in the weeks after, and since then, multiple people have been charged with helping the inmates escape or stay on the run. The final inmate was recaptured on Oct. 8 in Atlanta, nearly five months after the escape.

Contributing: Jeanine Santucci, USA TODAY

ATHENS — Kirby Smart is dialed in, and it’s clear he has the same expectations for his players with Georgia’s CFP Sugar Bowl quarterfinal with Ole Miss fast approaching.

UGA last took the field on Dec. 7, when it defeated Alabama in the SEC title game, 28-7.

Smart acknowledged on Monday that the time between games does create challenges, but also, potential benefits.

“The negative is when you’re playing good football, a lot of times you want to keep playing, you want to stay in rhythm, you want to stay in a weekly schedule,” Smart said.

“That schedule gets thrown off by the break. You do the best you can with the calendar you have and try to talk to other people and find out what the best way to do things is.”

Smart said that, despite the underlying roster management taking place in his program — as it is in every program, with teams on the verge of the Jan. 2-Jan. 16 portal window — the focus is on the game.

“Development occurs in December for us, and that’s what we’ve been focused on,” Smart said, noting that, regardless of players’ futures, hard work is the next step.

“Did you truly come here to develop? Because if you did, all your buddies are out there right now, everybody’s announcing what they’re doing, announcing that ‘I’m going into the portal, announcing that I’m re-signing.’

Smart said a different sort of declaration is more appropriate.

“How about you announce that you’re getting better and you’re going to practice?” Smart said, “And actually do what the 20 and 30 years of college football players did before you, which was practice in December.”

The Bulldogs (12-1) play Ole Miss (12-1) at 8 p.m. on Jan. 1 in the CFP Sugar Bowl quarterfinal in New Orleans, and Smart made it clear there’s not a second to waste.

“I’m excited about where our team is, (and) I’m excited that they’re practicing the way they are and are excited about the opponent, because they have so much respect for the team,” Smart said of the Rebels, who held a double-digit lead over UGA before the Bulldogs rallied for a 43-35 win in Athens earlier this season.

Smart said the Bulldogs’ preparation this year is similar to what it was last year leading into a CFP Sugar Bowl quarterfinal against Notre Dame, a game Georgia lost 23-10 to the eventual CFP runners-up.

“As far as changes, going to New Orleans, there hasn’t been a tremendous amount of change,” Smart said.

“We don’t think we did anything wrong in the prep last year. We didn’t necessarily play a great game, but we also played a really good football team. We had a block of the middle eight (minutes, final four of first half, first four of second) where we played really poorly, but I don’t think there was anything wrong with our prep.”

To Smart’s point, the Irish scored 17 points between the 39-second mark of the second quarter and the 14:45 mark of the second half — a span of 54 seconds — on a drive-ending field goal, a touchdown one play after a strip-sack fumble on Gunner Stockton and the opening kick of the second half being returned for a touchdown.

Georgia actually out-gained Notre Dame 296-244 but could not overcome a fumble in the end zone, the turnover that led to an Irish touchdown and a special teams breakdown.

Smart noted the back-breaking nature of such plays when teams are more evenly matched.

“I think when you play a quality team, just like every game we play in the SEC is tight,” Smart said. “And so when you’re in a playoff, you’re gonna play a good team.

“We trust the prep we have. We trust the rest and recovery we’ve had. And we’re gonna trust the plan we have to go out there and play at a high level.”