Georgia HC Kirby Smart shares one equalizer that has made upsets like Vanderbilt over Alabama possible

College Football has been constantly changing over the last half decade or so. The Transfer Portal. Name, image, and likeness. COVID's overall impact. Drastic changes to player eligibility and movement. Many things have changed. But Kirby Smart shared the one thing that he believes has made upsets like Vanderbilt stunning Alabama possible this week when speaking with SEC media.

It's not just the Transfer Portal. It's the one thing the portal has made possible that wasn't ever before:

"I mean, here's what I'll say. And I don't know much about Vanderbilt in Arkansas [in regards to their upset wins over Alabama and Tennessee]...but when you've got a quarterback, you've got a chance. And with the [transfer] portal, and this age of college football, anybody that can get a quarterback--and it might be a niche quarterback, it might be like he's not going to be the greatest pro...but if he can make plays, and you can build your offense around him, and create problems for the defense--there's anybody you can beat. You can beat anybody out there. And I firmly believe that that's the biggest change that's created the parity. Yeah, everybody's got less depth than they had, but now everybody can go and find a quarterback to build their team around."

It seems simple, but it's absolutely true. Getting the right quarterback to build your team's offense around is the single most important piece of any good football team. Prior to the combination of the Transfer Portal and the ability to play immediately after transferring it would take multiple years in many cases to rectify just one wrong decision made at quarterback.

Now, if a team brings two or three new quarterbacks in that fail, they can immediately turn around and bring two or three more new ones in the following season and have them all compete to play right away.

This new system allowed Arkansas, who just defeated 4th ranked Tennessee 19-14 weekend, to bring in a dual threat playmaker in Taylen Green who could help them defeat the Vols. And perhaps even more notably, today's college football allowed Vanderbilt to add Diego Pavia to help them defeat Alabama.

Related: Georgia HC Kirby Smart shares 'unfortunate' update on WR Colbie Young

When teams find the right quarterback to build around in an era--like Kirby Smart mentioned--that has the best teams possessing less depth than they ever have, it creates an environment where for the first time in college football history nearly any upset is possible.

Luckily for Georgia, beyond Carson Beck, they have at least three more quarterbacks (Gunner Stockton, Jaden Rashada, and Ryan Puglisi) who look ready to step up and replace him right away next season. But the beauty of today's college football is that even if every single one of those quarterbacks struggles Georgia can immediately go get someone else to play in their stead.

Related: Georgia vs Mississippi State preview: Another big day from RB Trevor Etienne is loading

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