It’s all Carson Beck’s fault. He’s selfish, wasn’t a good teammate, wasn’t the same, dependable player after signing an NIL deal and driving a Lamborghini around Athens. 

There, feel good, Georgia fan?

Now, some harsh truth: when Beck, the former Georgia quarterback, decided last week to enter the transfer portal after initially declaring for the NFL draft, the first team and coach to try and secure him – the very first – was Georgia and Kirby Smart.

A person close to Beck’s decision making, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the process, told USA TODAY Sports that not only was Georgia at the front of the line for Beck – who has been eviscerated by Georgia fans on social media since the Bulldogs’ early exit from the College Football Playoff – but SEC heavyweight Alabama was next to call. 

The easy answer is the quarterback. The difficult reality is the coach, and the roster built around the quarterback.

Georgia’s typically dominant offensive line was inefficient all season, and struggled in pass protection. The Georgia receivers, never really a team strength in nine seasons under Smart, were exposed week after week through a difficult SEC schedule. 

Then the College Football Playoff began, and Georgia – playing without Beck, who sustained a season-ending elbow injury in the SEC championship game – looked like it didn’t belong in an embarrassing loss to Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl quarterfinal. 

Georgia scored 10 points against the Irish, rushed for 62 yards on 29 carries and got a meaningless 200-yard passing game from backup quarterback Gunner Stockton. The offense under Smart never looked more inept.

The problem is, that CFP loss was simply the final ugly performance from an offense that was dysfunctional all season. But for a second-half performance in a loss to Alabama, and the overtime win over Georgia Tech, it was a mess. 

The Georgia receivers finished the season with 31 drops, according to Pro Football Focus, and senior Arian Smith led Power Four conference players with 10. Georgia had its worst rush offense in nine seasons under Smart, finishing 102nd in the nation and averaging just 124.4 yards per game.

That number – ready for this? – is 50 yards less than the worst output prior under Smart. Wait, it gets worse.

Georgia gave up 25 sacks this season, the most of any team under Smart. Or as guard Dylan Fairchild said after the loss to Notre Dame: “We gave up too many sacks, gave up too many pressures, didn’t run block efficiently enough.”

So how did Georgia get here? Smart historically hasn’t recruited well at wide receiver, which is the one area where his mentor, Nick Saban, dominated. It got so bad last season, Georgia’s top three receivers were from the transfer portal: RaRa Thomas, Colbie Young and Dominic Lovett.

Thomas was arrested prior to the season, and never played a down. Young was arrested in early October, and only played the first five games of the season. Lovett was a possession receiver and had six drops, according to PFF. 

Smith, the only true No. 1 receiver on the team, couldn’t be counted on by November.

Smart signed five wide receivers in December, and has signed three from the transfer portal, including Zachariah Branch of USC and Noah Thomas of Texas A&M, two of the top receivers available. Clearly, it’s a priority now. 

Smart began this past season declaring Georgia would throw the ball more, opening up the offense for Beck and offensive coordinator Mike Bobo. Beck would be given more freedom at the line of scrimmage to get the offense out of bad plays, and the offense would move away from its run-based sets of the past.

Beck began the season on top of most NFL draft boards at the quarterback position, but by the end of the season, had slipped to a projected mid-round pick. Some of that had to do with the elbow injury – and ulnar collateral ligament surgery has a six-month rehabilitation process – but his performance also raised red flags.

Beck’s yards, rating, completion percentage and average per attempt dropped from 2023, while his interceptions increased. Georgia went from rolling anything in its path in 2023, to squeezing out wins over Kentucky, Mississippi State, Florida and Georgia Tech.

The fall guy, of course, was Beck. Because all quarterbacks are to blame, and all get too much credit. 

If there’s any doubt about that, look who contacted Beck first when he entered the transfer portal. 

Miami has an experienced and talented offensive line returning, and you better believe the Canes didn’t spent $4 million on a one-shot NIL deal without future moves in focus. Miami won’t begin the 2025 season with a current roster full of young and inexperienced receivers.

The Canes, more than likely, will make moves in the portal to surround Beck with weapons at wide receiver.

The very thing Georgia should have done all along.

Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB.

The wild-card weekend has come and gone, with five of the six games ending up either boring or blowouts. Thus has largely been the fate of “Super” wild-card weekend since its inception in 2020. 

But the divisional round is typically where the playoff drama simmers, anyway. In the AFC, all four division winners are in action. The NFC has three of its four division winners still going, and the lone wild-card team to advance has a rookie quarterback who has the style of a seasoned veteran. 

Let’s rank the four games from least exciting to most – not that we don’t love them all the same.

4. No. 4 Houston Texans at No. 1 Kansas City Chiefs (Saturday, 4:30 p.m. ET, ESPN/ABC) 

Welcome to the divisional round, ESPN. “The Worldwide Leader” is making its divisional-round debut with two-time defending Super Bowl champions hosting a team that was a popular pick to be upset last weekend. 

NFL STATS CENTRAL: The latest NFL scores, schedules, odds, stats and more.

Even with Patrick Mahomes and C.J. Stroud quarterbacking the two teams, the strengths of both squads were on the defensive side of the ball. The two QBs do add a star element to the game, at least. But the likelihood of a low-scoring effort is why this one simply has to be fourth on the list. Perhaps one day the Texans will emerge from leading off a playoff weekend.

3. No. 6 Washington Commanders at No. 1 Detroit Lions (Saturday, 8 p.m. ET, FOX) 

The primary reason this did not leapfrog the other NFC matchup is the chance of a blowout. Washington was (and still is) one of the league’s best stories of 2024 with the emergence of Jayden Daniels and the turnaround in Year 1 of Dan Quinn’s tenure on the heels of the hellscape that was the Dan Snyder ownership era. The Lions aren’t a great matchup for them – or basically any team, for that matter. They will be well-rested and determined to host the NFC championship game the following week. 

However, the Commanders did play the most exciting tilt of wild-card weekend (as we expected). Maybe this time they can prove me wrong. 

2. No. 4 Los Angeles Rams at No. 2 Philadelphia Eagles (Sunday, 3 p.m. ET, NBC/Peacock) 

Like its NFC counterpart, this one could have been interchangeable with the No. 3 spot. That’s because of the way the defenses have come on in recent weeks – or in Philly’s case, the way the unit has played all season – could be the groundwork for a defensive battle. This one should be closer though, and that’s why it’s at No. 2. Plus, the teams will (likely) be fighting for a chance to travel to Detroit the next Sunday with a spot in the Super Bowl on the line. 

1. No. 3 Baltimore Ravens at No. 2 Buffalo Bills (Sunday, 6:30 p.m. ET, CBS/Paramount+) 

For the second straight season, CBS has the crown jewel of divisional weekend as the finale. Last year, it was the Bills hosting the Chiefs. Now it’s a matchup of the two MVP favorites. 

This one is billed as Josh Allen vs. Lamar Jackson, but newsflash: Quarterbacks don’t face each other. That these two will be facing each other during arguably the best years of their careers is the real treat. This is also a rematch of when the Bills and Allen sent Jackson and the Ravens home four years ago, also in the divisional round. 

Allen will have to best a Baltimore defense that has been the best in the league over the final third of the regular defense against the pass. Jackson will have to win his second road playoff game ever. Can either quarterback go on the road and upset the Chiefs on Championship Sunday (the likely scenario)? Which one will have the chance for revenge against the Chiefs? They’ll have to dispatch the other first. 

Let’s go back in time a bit. It was September and Los Angeles Rams receiver Cooper Kupp was injured. So was his teammate Puka Nacua. Early in the season a dozen Rams players were injured. The team was blown out by the Arizona Cardinals on Sept. 15.

After that game, McVay was asked if there were any positives he could take away from it. His answer was blunt: ‘There’s nothing positive about it. The only positive thing is that this game is over now and we can move forward.’

The early part of the season, to put it mildly, was a disaster for the Rams. One headline blared: ‘Rams season effectively over with latest Cooper Kupp injury update.’ Yes, that was slightly, umm, overstated. But actually, it wasn’t an entirely crazy notion at the time. The team was physically decimated and the Rams started the season 0-2, and eventually 1-4.

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Then Sean McVay did what he always does. What he is better at than almost any coach in the sport. If there is a crisis, he will manage it. If the team is in an impossible situation, he will pull the Rams out of it by his teeth. If the team is hurt, he will carry it on his back. If energy is needed, he will become the gravitational force of a sun. If innovation is needed, he will become a Starfleet engineer.

Not all the time. He hasn’t been perfect. But close to it.

After starting 1-4, they’d go 4-1 in the next five games. McVay was on his way. McVay doing McVay things.

And here he goes again. The Rams just obliterated the Vikings in the wild-card round. We are seeing The McVay Process yet again. The same process that got him to two Super Bowls, winning one. Now, he wins a postseason game in Arizona because the Rams had to play there due to the California wildfires.

This could have been a spot where the Rams faltered and it of course would have been completely understandable. But there’s no way McVay would allow that to happen.

‘There was definitely every excuse in the book to come out here and be lethargic,’ Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford said. ‘But we knew we weren’t playing just for us. (We were) playing for people back home that needed something to, you know, watch and enjoy. And I’m glad we could give that to them.’

‘They represented the city the right way. You talk about sports offering a platform for people coming together and offering a little bit of temporary relief. I thought the way our team competed tonight was what it looked like,’ McVay said after the game. ‘To stay connected (and) to stay together. Just the fight, the spirit (and) the resilience. All the different things that are great traits that this team has really built through the challenges that they’ve gone through over the course of this season.’

I don’t want to get into listicle brain and start ranking coaches. I’m not sure where McVay ranks in terms of the best coaches in the league but, hoo boy, there aren’t many I would take over him.

McVay is one of the few coaches in the NFL who has achieved a perfect balance. He gets players and they trust him. He is a splendid technician who can outcoach almost anyone. He’s one of the best communicators in the NFL.

There was a piece of data shared by ESPN this week. The Rams’ victory over Minnesota was McVay’s eighth playoff win. McVay is 38.

No other coach in the history of the NFL has more than five playoff wins before the age of 40, according to ESPN. If that’s accurate, well, that’s remarkable.

Who knows how long this will last? Maybe the Rams lose to Philadelphia in the divisional round. Maybe McVay leaves after this season, especially if he wins another Super Bowl. Whatever happens we’re seeing something pretty unique. It’s like watching a young John Madden.

We might never see anything like this again.

Let’s enjoy it as long as it lasts.

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It’s been a long, long time since Iowa State women’s basketball failed to make a 3-point shot in a game.

The Cyclones defeated Texas Tech 71-58 on Tuesday night, however, they had their NCAA record of 945 consecutive games with a 3-pointer end at Hilton Coliseum, as they shot 0 for 7 from 3-point range in the win. It was the first time Iowa State didn’t make a 3-pointer under coach Bill Fennelly, who took over the program in 1996.

The last game Iowa State didn’t make a 3-pointer was Feb. 19, 1995, against Colorado, under former coach Theresa Becker. The Big 12 had not been formed yet.

‘We only shot seven of them, so we really didn’t care,’ Fennelly said postgame of the Cyclones’ streak. ‘If we were really worried about (the record) we probably would have run about 15 more plays to get one.

‘I get it’s a big deal to some people, and it’s a big deal to us. I’m proud the streak was there. But it’s just like a kid getting a triple-double. I’m not leaving them in the game just to get stats. We ran two plays to get a 3, and both were in the first half.’

Iowa State’s offense also runs through center Audi Crooks, who is dominant in the low post. The 6-foot-3 sophomore is averaging 22.6 points and 7.7 rebounds per game on 60.2% shooting, and she poured in 28 points on Tuesday. The Cyclones’ other forward, Addy Brown, added 21 points, seven rebounds and five assists against the Red Raiders.

Iowa State ranks third in the Big 12 in made 3-pointers this season with 151, behind TCU’s leading 177 makes. The 3-point shot, which has revolutionized basketball the past few decades, played a large role in Fennelly’s rebuild of the team over the years. Fennelly has won three conference tournament championships and has turned the Cyclones into a NCAA tournament mainstay.

Altogether, Iowa State has made 22 NCAA tournament appearances, all of which have come during Fennelly’s tenure. It appears this version of the Cyclones, though, might be able to get there by scoring in different ways this season.

American Coco Gauff had to navigate an unexpected obstacle Wednesday in her march to the third round of the Australian Open.

Up a set and seemingly cruising to victory over Jodie Burrage of Great Britain, Gauff mysteriously couldn’t hold her serve as Burrage fought her way back into the match. After breaking Gauff twice, the 85th-ranked Burrage had a chance to serve for the set and pull even.

However, the moment was too much for her as a double-fault to drop serve gave Gauff the opening she needed and the tournament’s No. 3 seed closed out a 6-3, 7-5 victory.

‘I think it was just one of those things, just step up my level against her,’ she told reporters afterward.

AUSTRALIAN OPEN STORYLINES: Coco Gauff ‘confident’ in bid for second Grand Slam title

Gauff, the 2023 U.S. Open champion, will next face Canadian Leylah Fernandez in the third round in Melbourne.

Gauff previously trained with left-handed compatriot Robin Montgomery to prepare for Fernandez and beat the Canadian 6-3 6-2 in their first tour-level match at the recent United Cup.

‘We’ll see two days from now if it makes a difference or not,’ she said. ‘It’s a different match, different story. Anything can happen.’