Georgia is set to play their second consecutive noon football game on Saturday following a (62-0) victory over Vanderbilt a week ago. Except this contest won't be nearly as anticlimactic. No. 8 Arkansas comes to town for their first Top-10 matchup in the Sam Pittman era in Little Rock and Georgia is expecting quite a few big names to show up for the noon slate.
When asked about how noon kicks impact recruiting, head coach Kirby Smart had some interesting things to say.
"I think it’s all about how your fans handle that. The fact that Game Day is here, I think that helps with recruiting. I think the way our fans handle it, the atmosphere they create, will help, whether it gives us more time at the end of the game, as opposed to guys being gone and jetting out of here for long drives home. We’ll probably have an opportunity to see them more afterwards. It makes it tougher for guys from far away distances to get here, obviously, with the 12:00 kick. With each good thing, there’s a negative thing, and with all things, that’s the case. So we try to make these things positive for us in recruiting this Saturday with a noon kick the best we can.”
One of those big names in terms of recruiting that will be in town is Shemar Stewart. The 6'5, 260-pound edge defender attends Monsignor Pace High School in Opa Locka, Florida, and has long been connected to the Miami Hurricanes.
Though that was before the season started.
Now, several weeks into the season the Hurricanes have a 31-point loss to Alabama, a two-point win over Appalachian State, and a 21-point loss at home to Michigan State.
Not exactly a great start to the 2021 campaign for Manny Diaz and the Miami Hurricanes.
On the other hand, Georgia leads the nation in total team defense, is ranked No. 2 in the country, is set to be on College Gameday for the second time in five weeks, and has several players drawing the attention of NFL Scouts and GMs on the front seven of their defense.
According to sources, momentum is certainly in Georgia's favor in a lot of these recruitments like Shemar Stewart. The performance on the field this season is directly impacting the success they are having on the recruiting trail.
Which shouldn't come as a surprise.
More must-reads: