Georgia
Opinion: One missed Peach Bowl field goal keeps Georgia’s Kirby Smart from being Ohio State’s Ryan Day
WATCH: Kirby Smart Press Conference after loss to Alabama
WATCH: Kirby Smart Press Conference after loss to Alabama
The ball dropped in the Big Apple, the kick hooked in Atlanta, the clock struck midnight on the East Coast, and Kirby Smart claimed a victory that cemented our perception that Georgia’s coach stands as a resolute winner.
When Ohio State’s field-goal attempt in the final seconds of the 2022 Peach Bowl sailed left while the calendar rolled into a new year, it affected perception of Ryan Day, too. Day persistently falls short in his biggest games.
But, what if the Buckeyes had made that 50-yard attempt? Then, we’d view Smart and Day a lot more similarly.
Georgia’s dramatic 42-41 comeback victory against the Buckeyes 21 months ago came in a College Football Playoff semifinal, but it served as the de facto national championship. Georgia crushed overmatched TCU nine days later.
Ohio State would have done the same to TCU if it had made the field goal to beat Georgia. TCU’s defense was not equipped to handle the Buckeyes’ firepower that pushed Georgia to the brink.
In that alternate universe, Smart and Day would have one national championship apiece.
Shoulda, woulda, coulda, right?
As the saying goes, if ‘if’ was a fifth, we’d all be drunk. And Day would have as many titles as Smart.
Day doesn’t, so we view each differently. That’s appropriate, because national championships form the ultimate metric of coaching success. But, when I reconsider that New Year’s Eve night, one field goal separates Smart from being Day, and from Day being Smart.
The Buckeyes whipped Georgia for three quarters. Then, Ohio State’s star wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. exited with a concussion, and the Buckeyes failed to protect a 14-point lead. Day didn’t have his best coaching moments in the fourth quarter, and that damaged his reputation, especially on the heels of his loss to Michigan one month previously.
I started thinking about Day and his Buckeyes after Georgia lost 41-34 at Alabama on Saturday.
Why?
Because, like Day, Smart persistently beats nearly everyone he faces.
Except that, like Day, Smart consistently loses games against the other premier program in his respective conference.
Smart, though, does not face the same degree of big-game scrutiny that Day encounters, in part because that field goal missed in Atlanta.
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Kirby Smart fizzles vs. Alabama, much like Ryan Day against Michigan
Smart only scaled the Alabama mountain one time. He’s now 1-6 against the Tide. Day, to the great chagrin of Buckeyes fans, is 1-3 against Michigan.
If Day loses to Michigan this season, fuming Buckeyes fans undoubtedly will issue demands to, fire everybody! Other than perhaps a few crazies, no one issued such edicts after Smart’s latest disappointment against Alabama.
Smart’s two national championships provide the ultimate shield. They uphold his reputation in a way that Day’s 11-0 combined record against Penn State and Michigan State does not.
Also working in Smart’s favor: Alabama, while sharing comparable footing with Georgia inside the SEC, is not Georgia’s biggest rival. Smart is 20-4 against rivals Florida, Auburn and Georgia Tech. He’ll go for an eighth consecutive win against Auburn on Saturday.
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Michigan is, literally, The Game for Ohio State, and so what if Day’s Buckeyes thumped Sparty 38-7 last weekend?
Day’s .882 winning percentage trumps Smart’s .851 clip, but they’re not on the same plane, because that all-important national championship tally shows two to zip in Smart’s favor.
Anybody can win one national championship. OK, not anyone, but Gene Chizik and Ed Orgeron won one. To win two placed Smart into rarefied air and built a layer of reputational defense against repeated losses to Alabama.
Smart won his first national championship came in his sixth season. He previously lost a national championship – to Alabama, who else? – in Year 2.
Day also lost a national championship to Alabama to culminate his second season. He’s now in his sixth season. His No. 3 Buckeyes are undefeated entering a game against Iowa. And that’s just dandy, but it’ll mean squat if he loses again to Michigan.
One more point in Kirby Smart’s favor in Ryan Day comparison
It’s also relevant to distinguish that these coaches inherited programs in different places of their trajectory.
Day grabbed the keys to Urban Meyer’s sportscar. Comparatively, Smart stepped into a Georgia garage that, for years, housed Mark Richt’s sturdy but unremarkable Toyota Camry. Smart transformed Georgia into a mean machine. He accelerated the program with elite recruiting and by instilling a higher degree of urgency. He also catapulted Georgia to the elite stratosphere while Nick Saban’s dynasty hummed and while LSU produced one of college football’s best seasons ever.
Smart’s Bulldogs elbowed their way to the top and then stayed on top for a second season.
Smart’s achievements are undeniably impressive, and they’re superior to Day’s.
And still, Smart melts against Alabama, while he gets red in the face, and he becomes a meme in a cockeyed visor.
Kalen DeBoer proved that Nick Saban isn’t the only Alabama coach who can win a chess match against Smart.
“We had a solution to everything they were going to present to us,” Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe said after torching Smart’s defense with 491 yards of offense.
Smart shrugged it off. Asked about his repeated losses to Alabama, Smart offered this gobsmacking response: “What’s everybody else’s record against them, you know? Has anybody got one better than 1-6 that’s played them (that many times)?”
Imagine if Day spoke so flippantly about his losing record against Michigan. He can’t, because Michigan is Ohio State’s top rival. And he can’t, because a field goal sailed wide of the uprights at midnight.
These two coaches compare in some ways, and, in other ways, not at all. One missed kick relegates Day to a crowded rung of accomplished coaches with no national championships, while Smart belongs to an exclusive back-to-back club that provides him the ultimate credibility and reputation protection, even as he succumbs to the Tide.
Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @btoppmeyer.
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Georgia
How Georgia’s economy drew the World Cup—and how the World Cup will strengthen Georgia’s economy
Illustration by Dan Matutina
It’s the $1 billion dollar question: What prompted FIFA to choose Atlanta as one of the host cities for this summer’s FIFA World Cup 2026™? The answer is the same one that lures companies from all over the world to Georgia: the state’s robust economy, strong infrastructure, and cooperative culture.
Since the Olympics, Georgia has positioned itself as the Gateway to the South for global business. It has built a diverse industry base in fields such as agriculture, manufacturing, logistics, film and television, technology, and aerospace. Direct foreign investment is strong here: Atlanta is home to more than 70 foreign consulates, trade missions, and bi-national chambers of commerce.
One of Georgia’s biggest assets is global connectivity—by air, rail, road, and waterways, says Pat Wilson, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development. Eighty percent of the U.S. population is within a two-hour direct flight from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the world’s busiest passenger hub. Georgia’s interstate system provides 20,000 miles of federal and state highways, and the Port of Savannah is the fastest-growing container terminal on the East Coast. All of this allows sports fans, foreign dignitaries, and corporate executives to get in and out of Atlanta very easily. “And business follows connectivity,” Wilson says.
These factors, combined with Georgia’s long history of cooperation between the private and public sectors, helped seal its position as a host city. And that, in turn, will pay dividends.
Courtesy of Georgia Ports Authority
Courtesy of Stone Mountain
Photograph by GenePage/ AMC
Take, for example, tourism. Explore Georgia, the state’s tourism arm, is betting big that FIFA World Cup 2026™ could potentially catapult the state’s visitor numbers to unprecedented levels. To maximize the possibilities, it has launched a global marketing campaign in conjunction with the tournament, including ads on stadium and railway-station billboards in the United Kingdom. “We want visitors to make Georgia their home-away-from-home during the World Cup,” Wilson says.
Katie Kirkpatrick, president and CEO of the Metro Atlanta Chamber, is similarly bullish. Much like after the Olympics 30 years ago, she expects the city and state to leverage the global soccer tournament’s effects for decades to come. Economic-impact estimates range from $500 million to over $1 billion. “Atlanta does ‘big’ well,” she says. “And I’m confident that we will see increased foreign direct investment and show the world once again that here in Georgia, business culture and innovation naturally converge.”
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Georgia leaders from both political parties are paying tribute to longtime U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham following the South Carolina Republican’s death at age 71, remembering him as a dedicated public servant whose influence stretched far beyond his home state.
U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff said he joined others across the country in mourning Graham’s passing.
“I join in mourning Senator Lindsey Graham and extend my deepest condolences to the Senator’s family, friends, and staff,” Ossoff said.
Ossoff praised Graham’s military service and lengthy congressional career.
“Senator Graham dedicated his life to the United States, from his service in the U.S. Air Force to his representation of the State of South Carolina in the U.S. House and Senate. Lindsey was an energetic leader who loved South Carolina. May Lindsey’s memory be a blessing.”
Sen. Raphael Warnock also shared condolences, calling Graham a man of faith who served his state with determination.
“I am deeply saddened by the passing of my colleague, Senator Lindsey Graham,” Warnock wrote on X. “He was a man of great faith who served the people of South Carolina with passion and tenacity. I am praying for his family and his loved ones as they mourn this tremendous loss.”
Gov. Brian Kemp described Graham as a patriot and a friend whose impact reached across Washington.
“Senator Lindsey Graham was a patriot, an impactful public servant, and a friend,” Kemp said. “His love of this nation, unyielding belief in its possibilities, and defense of its values made him a true force to be reckoned with in Washington.”
Kemp added that he, First Lady Marty Kemp and their family were praying for Graham’s loved ones and for South Carolina during what he called a difficult time.
Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, who is challenging Ossoff in November’s U.S. Senate election, also reflected on Graham’s legacy.
“Leigh Ann and I are praying for Senator Graham’s loved ones during this time of immeasurable grief and reflecting upon his many years of public service,” Collins said.
Collins added that while he did not know Graham well personally, he admired the senator’s defense of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh during his 2018 confirmation hearings, calling it “a commitment to our nation and the truth that should be admired.”
Graham served South Carolina in the U.S. Senate for more than two decades after previously representing the state in the U.S. House. Throughout his career, he became one of Senate Republican’s leading voices on national security, foreign policy and immigration, while emerging as one of the Republican Party’s most influential lawmakers.
His death has prompted an outpouring of tributes from leaders across the country.
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