continued from page guys (TCU) ….

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guys (TCU) really play hard.”

The fear of losing had brought about a new meaning. Obviously, he wanted to win the game. There is no greater competitor in the game today. But to have it on the record that this team might lose to TCU would have been a colossal defeat. With all due respect to the Horned Frogs, a loss would have been embarrassing.

Therein lies a telling element of the Kirby Smart story. He never takes anything for granted. He had to know he had better talent but is driven by the notion that the best team does not always win—rather, the team that plays the best. Whatever, he would never tip his hand that he is confident about an opponent under any circumstances to anybody. God forbid, his team. That is why he is now the only coach in history in the College Football Playoffs to win back-toback national championships.

Unless you have been hiding under a rock somewhere, you know the rest of the story. No team of Kirby Smart has ever been more opportunistic, none of his championship teams have been smoother or more efficient. They gave of themselves; they kept the pedal to the metal, and they are again the class of college football. This was a team of muscle and finesse. Heart and soul. It featured love and laughter, commitment and enduring resolve and resiliency.

The memory of the Bulldogs, led by the Horatio-Alger-like-quarterback, Stetson Bennett, will be featured in the UGA statistical Hall of Fame and the memory banks of Georgia loyalists forever. This was a football Rembrandt.