{"id":61933,"date":"2024-08-03T09:00:25","date_gmt":"2024-08-03T13:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=61933"},"modified":"2024-08-02T15:56:56","modified_gmt":"2024-08-02T19:56:56","slug":"georgias-first-day-of-fall-ball","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2024\/08\/03\/georgias-first-day-of-fall-ball\/","title":{"rendered":"Georgia&#8217;s First Day of Fall Ball"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Talkin&#8217; season is officially over. Thursday marked the first day of Georgia&#8217;s Fall camp in Athens. The Bulldogs have high expectations heading into the 2024 season. The player&#8217;s names are all over preseason award lists, and the team is expected to contend for an SEC and National Championship. Kirby Smart spent about 20 minutes talking to the media. Here are three keys from his press conference.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">It\u2019s time \ud83c\udfc8<a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/GoDawgs?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#GoDawgs<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ttLNe9HO67\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/ttLNe9HO67<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Georgia Football (@GeorgiaFootball) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/GeorgiaFootball\/status\/1818980534048932055?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">August 1, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>Georgia&#8217;s First Day of Fall Ball<\/h2>\n<h3>No More Rara<\/h3>\n<p>Smart began his press conference by announcing a decision we anticipated <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2024\/07\/27\/dawg-kings-georgia-we-have-a-problem\/\" target=\"_self\">last week<\/a>: Wide Receiver <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cfb\/players\/rara-thomas-1.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rara Thomas<\/a> was officially dismissed from the team following his arrest on charges of cruelty to children and battery. Smith was arrested early Friday on felony charges of cruelty to children and misdemeanor battery. Later that day, Georgia announced Smith&#8217;s indefinite suspension. On Thursday, it was confirmed that Smith&#8217;s removal from the team was permanent. With the dismissal of Thomas and safety David Daniel-Sisavanh, we hope to focus on Georgia&#8217;s play on the field rather than the problems off of it.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cI had a chance to sit down and meet with him face to face on Tuesday which I think was really important to let him know he can no longer be a part of the football team,\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h3>No Take It Easy Pace<\/h3>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cWhat we do know is that we\u2019ve got a really tough opening opponent and we\u2019ve got a really tough schedule. I don\u2019t know that employing a back off pace, take it easy pace lends itself to success when you\u2019re talking about facing the schedule we have to face.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>College football is undergoing significant changes in 2024, with the playoff expanding from four to 12 teams, potentially leading to some teams playing up to 17 games in a season. When asked if this expansion would affect his practice planning and scheduling, Smart responded, &#8220;Many have discussed this. I don&#8217;t see much impact on camp. The NFL extended their preseason and added games, but camp remains largely unchanged.&#8221; Smart added, &#8220;Camp is camp. We might adjust during the season as we get more information and understand its duration, but nothing is certain right now.&#8221; Smart and Georgia have their sights set on Clemson. The Bulldogs open the 2024 season against the Tigers on Saturday, August 31, at noon in Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta.<\/p>\n<h3>Return of RBU?<\/h3>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cI think we\u2019ve got a room of good backs that are as talented as we\u2019ve had, but inexperienced.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Georgia&#8217;s offense was strong in 2024 but lacked a dynamic running back. To address this, they brought in Trevor Etienne from Florida, a talented back expected to help reestablish Georgia as RBU. \u201cTrevor does a great job of leading that room and holding people to a standard,\u201d said Smart. Etienne, selected as a first-team preseason All-SEC pick at SEC Media Days, brings an edge to the team.<\/p>\n<p>Branson Robinson, who missed last year with a ruptured patella tendon, is fully participating in camp. He will be joined by 240-pound sophomore Roderick Robinson, who will provide a thunderous inside presence to complement Etienne\u2019s lightning-fast home-run threat. Additionally, walk-on Cash Jones adds a consistent, veteran presence to the room.<\/p>\n<h3>Last Word on Georgia<\/h3>\n<p>Stay tuned to Last Word on College Football for all your Georgia coverage. \u00a0As Fall ball kicks into high gear we will make sure you have the latest and greatest Smart Quotes. \u00a0As well as the preseason awards announcements. Athens will not disappoint us. We all know August 31st and the first game of the season will be here faster than the Bulldogs drive. Too soon?<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_61944\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-61944\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-61944 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/08\/USATSI_23882412_168400562_lowres-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"Georgia's First Day of Fall Ball \" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/08\/USATSI_23882412_168400562_lowres-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/08\/USATSI_23882412_168400562_lowres-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/08\/USATSI_23882412_168400562_lowres-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/08\/USATSI_23882412_168400562_lowres-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/08\/USATSI_23882412_168400562_lowres-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/08\/USATSI_23882412_168400562_lowres-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/08\/USATSI_23882412_168400562_lowres-1200x800.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-61944\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo Credit: Joshua L. Jones \/ USA TODAY NETWORK<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Talkin&#8217; season is officially over. Thursday marked the first day of Georgia&#8217;s Fall camp in Athens. The Bulldogs have high expectations heading into the 2024 season. The player&#8217;s names are all over preseason award lists, and the team is expected to contend for an SEC and National Championship. Kirby Smart spent about 20 minutes talking [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4424,"featured_media":61944,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"520","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,2],"tags":[36,7945,65,106,9420,20,9497],"class_list":["post-61933","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sec","category-featured","tag-clemson-tigers","tag-fall-camp","tag-georgia-bulldogs","tag-kirby-smart","tag-rara-thomas","tag-sec","tag-trevor-etienne"],"modified_by":"Kate Pearson Halyburton, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61933","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4424"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61933"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61933\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61933"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61933"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61933"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}