Thursday ‘Dawg Bites Opts In On Gatorfreude

Good morning Bulldog fans, and welcome to the last ‘Dawg Bites of the year 2020! And thank goodness for that, right?

Unfortunately we begin today’s news roundup with particularly awful news: the untimely death of James Cook, Sr., the father of Bulldog tailback James Cook. Kirby Smart confirmed last night that Cook will not play in the Peach Bowl, meaning he has likely played his last game in the red and black.

This also likely means we get to see more of freshmen Kendall Milton and Daijun Edwards in a preview of 2021. But the bottom line is that 46 is tragically young to lose anyone, and our hearts go out to the entire Cook family.

In better news, Florida never got off the bus in last night’s 55-20 Cotton Bowl shellacking, losing their third game in a row and fourth game overall in the season in which everything supposedly came together for Ray Goff, err, I mean Dan Mullen.

Of course Georgia, like the Gators, has a ton of players opting out for its bowl. While that certainly has us Bulldog fans worried, our SB Nation colleagues at Down the Drive aren’t convinced it will make a difference. By the way, D.J. Daniel is the latest Bulldog defensive starter to confirm he won’t be suiting up on New Year’s Day. Yippee?

I’m 100% in favor of players being able to opt out if they choose to. And I’m also generally against expanding the College Football Playoff. But it is worth considering that if you want to decrease opt-outs (and if you’re a bowl rep/TV executive/conference official, you do...) one solution would probably be to expand the playoff so that games like the Florida/Oklahoma Cotton Bowl and Georgia/Cincinnati Peach Bowl have meaning within the national title race. Just a thought.

We’ll be back with more pre-Peach Bowl content shortly. Until then...

Go ‘Dawgs!!!