Georgia
Playoff? Georgia football has much to clean up after Florida win and Ole Miss looming
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Kirby Smart settled into his seat for his postgame press conference in EverBank Stadium Saturday night and sounded a little bit like his No. 2 Georgia football team just lost.
“Ooh, that was a tough one guys,” Smart said. “We didn’t play our best game.”
Georgia had just put away Florida 34-20 with a pair of touchdowns in the final 4:01 to go to 7-1.
And lookie, now. Georgia is tied for first place in the SEC with Texas AM at 5-1 after South Carolina’s 44-20 takedown of the Aggies Saturday night. Tennessee at 4-1 and LSU and Texas at 3-1 follow. The top two teams in the now division-less SEC will play in the conference championship game with the winner getting a first-round playoff bye.
Georgia has enough on its plate what with cleaning up from its win over the Gators—first and foremost the turnovers after three more Carson Beck interceptions—and a big test Saturday at No. 18 Ole Miss.
All that College Football Playoff talk this week with the first rankings coming out Tuesday night will be viewed as just outside noise inside the program.
Playoffs? Playoffs?!
Smart didn’t quite turn into Jim Mora Sr. when the subject came up on his radio show before the Florida game.
It offered a window into his public stance on all the talk about the 12-team playoff.
“Everybody wants to talk about it,” Smart said. “Everybody wants to say this and that. You got to do this, you got to do that? Look, man, you’ve got to take care of business that week.”
Smart should write a thank you card to quarterback Jaxson Dart.
Ole Miss’s offense came to life Saturday after mostly underwhelming during SEC play. Dart threw for 515 yards and 6 touchdowns on 25 of 31 passing in a 63-31 rout of Arkansas.
The Rebels will go up against a Georgia team coming off a second straight game with Beck throwing three interceptions. It was a comedown type of game for the Bulldogs after the win at No. 1 Texas two weeks earlier, but Georgia is still in good shape to make the playoff.
“We really didn’t get stopped unless I, you know, turned the ball over,” Beck said. “It’s a good thing for our offense and a bad thing for me.”
Georgia did have 5 pass plays of 21 or more yards including 25 and 34 yards to Arian Smith.
Smart said Georgia needs to prevent the interceptions, but also won the game because it can wing it.
“I mean, we’re not going to not throw it,” Smart said. “Like, he throws the ball well. We think that we’ve got a really good pass game, we got a great pass pro, we got good wideouts, and we got a really good quarterback. “
Georgia’s defense held Florida to 228 yards, the lowest by an SEC team against the Bulldogs since Vanderbilt’s 219 on Oct. 14, 2023.
Granted, the Gators were down to a third-string quarterback after DJ Lagway left the game with a hamstring injury in the second quarter.
Georgia was down not only two starters in the secondary in the first half for targeting but JaCorey Thomas, forced into the starting lineup, left the game for a span injured during the first half and Georgia turned to Kyren Jones.
In addition, return man Anthony Evans was out with a hamstring injury. Malaki Starks handled punt returns and Cash Jones kickoff returns.
Georgia could use all the healthy bodies it can get.
It will play its fourth game this season against a top 20 opponent in Oxford with a fifth the week after with Tennessee.
“We’ve got another big game next week and then another big game after that and another big after that,” Beck said. “That’s why you come to Georgia.”
Head coach Bruce Heppler has been the architect of one of college golf’s most consistent powerhouses at Georgia Tech, crafting an exceptional record of success since taking over the reins of the program in 1995.
The Yellow Jackets haven’t missed the NCAA regionals since 1998, an incredible stretch of 27 consecutive berths. The program has advanced to 22 NCAA finals, and claimed four national runner-up finishes as well. Most recently, Tech reached the NCAA semifinals in both 2023 and 2024 — finishing second in 2023 and tying for third in 2024. Remarkably, since 2000, the Jackets have fallen outside the top 10 in the major college golf polls only five times.
But Heppler, who is 65, has announced that he will retire following the conclusion of the 2025-26 season.
“Georgia Tech is a special place, and to be a part of this school, this athletics department and this historic golf program has been an honor,” Heppler said in a release. “It’s meaningful to me that my career as a head coach, and all of the relationships that come with that, are tied to one place – Georgia Tech.
“To the men that have come through our program: I’ve had the privilege of having a front-row seat to when many of your dreams came true, and to see the growth in each one of you. I hope that maybe we’ve altered your course in some small way – not just as golfers, but as people, husbands and fathers.”
The 10-time ACC Coach of the Year has mentored a pair of NCAA champions (Troy Matteson in 2002 and Hiroshi Tai in 2024), three national players of the year (Matt Kuchar in 1998 and 2000, Bryce Molder in 2001 and Matteson in 2002), three U.S. Amateur champions (Kuchar in 1997, Andy Ogletree in 2019 and Tyler Strafaci in 2020) and a British Amateur champ (Christo Lamprecht in 2023).
“I’d also like to acknowledge the generosity of those who have donated to our program over the years. Nothing could have been achieved without those resources that you provided. (Former athletics director) Homer Rice told me when he hired me that I won’t find a place that people love more than here at Georgia Tech, and that has proven to be true. The trophies will stay here, but the relationships will travel. The goal when I arrived on The Flats in 1995 was to leave things better than I found them, and I hope that is the case.”
Heppler, who hails from St. George, Utah, and spent three years as an assistant at Oklahoma State before heading to Georgia Tech, was inducted into the Golf Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2013.
“It’s impossible to put into words everything that Coach Heppler has meant to Georgia Tech and college golf,” Georgia Tech vice president and director of athletics Ryan Alpert said. “He’s built Georgia Tech golf into one of the nation’s premier programs, while developing some of golf’s premier players but, more importantly, developing men that have gone on to be successful in all walks of life. We couldn’t be more grateful for Coach Heppler’s contributions to Georgia Tech and are excited to celebrate him through his final season on The Flats.”
Luke Resecker (Source: Texas DPS)
JOHNSON COUNTY, Texas – Nearly two years after a devastating head-on crash that killed six members of a visiting Georgia family, a Johnson County jury has sentenced 19-year-old Luke Garrett Resecker to 65 years in prison.
The fatal crash and victims
What we know:
The verdict follows a week-long trial in which prosecutors said Resecker was under the influence of marijuana when he crossed into oncoming traffic on U.S. Highway 67 near County Road 1119 outside Cleburne on December 26, 2023.
Resecker’s Chevy Silverado collided head-on with a Honda Odyssey minivan, killing six of the seven occupants inside.
Those killed were 28-year-old Rushil Barri, 39-year-old Naveena Potabathula, 64-year-old Nageswararao Ponnada, 60-year-old Sitamahalakshmi Ponnada, 10-year-old Kruthik Potabathula and 9-year-old Nishidha Potabathula.
The lone survivor from the minivan, Lokesh Potabathula, lost his wife, two children, cousin and in-laws in the crash. He survived but was left paralyzed from the waist down.
Resecker’s passenger, 17-year-old Preston Glass, suffered a severe traumatic brain injury that left him mentally impaired.
Marijuana found in truck
Dig deeper:
Potabathula’s family had recently moved from Plano to Alpharetta, Georgia, returning to North Texas to visit friends over the holidays. Barri, his cousin, had moved from India for graduate studies and was living and working in Irving.
An affidavit and toxicology report showed that THC was present in Resecker’s system at the time of the crash. Troopers also found THC wax, a vape pen, and marijuana inside his truck.
When charges were first filed in early 2024, Resecker faced six counts of intoxication manslaughter, two counts of intoxication assault, and drug-possession charges. Due to injuries from the crash, he was placed on monitored home confinement after posting bond.
Trial and sentencing
Local perspective:
During closing arguments, Assistant District Attorney Stephanie Miller invoked each victim’s name, saying:
“Justice for Rushil, Justice for Naveena, Justice for Nageswararao, Justice for Sitamahalakshmi, Justice for Kruthik, Justice for Nishidharaman, and Justice for Lokesh — and justice for this community.”
The district attorney’s office thanked jurors, investigators, and prosecutors for their dedication, calling the case “by no means an easy one.”
The jury ultimately sentenced Resecker to 65 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
A message on reckless driving
What’s next:
The Johnson and Somervell Counties District Attorney’s Office said the case stands as a sobering reminder of the irreversible consequences of impaired and reckless driving.
Assistant District Attorneys Connor Day and Stephanie Miller prosecuted the case.
The Source: Information in this article was provided by a social media post from the Johnson and Somervell County District Attorney’s Office.
Georgia
T&L Opponent Preview: Georgia Legend Buck Belue Previews Mississippi State-Georgia – SuperTalk Mississippi
Mississippi State and Georgia will match up Saturday with one set of Bulldogs looking for bowl eligibility, the other looking to find their way into the College Football Playoff. Brian Hadad welcomes Buck Belue, quarterback of Georgia’s 1980 national championship team and host of the Buck Belue Show on 680 The Fan to the pod for a Bulldog vs. Bulldog preview.
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