Georgia's football team woke up Wednesday morning in California.
The Bulldogs ventured to Disneyland and practiced under blue Golden State skies, with their focus on Monday afternoon's national semifinal showdown against Oklahoma in the Rose Bowl. It's a unique destination for a program that last ventured to the Rose Bowl after the 1942 season, and it's an accomplishment taking place just two years after the firing of Mark Richt and the hiring of Kirby Smart.
"Who knows what would have happened if things didn't change?" Bulldogs senior tailback Nick Chubb said last week in a news conference. "We would still probably be right here."
Who could have known that Georgia's two traditional rivals in the Southeastern Conference's Eastern Division, Florida and Tennessee, would go a combined 8-15 this season after going a combined 19-8 in 2015? Who could have known that Jake Fromm would flip his commitment from Alabama to Georgia several weeks after Smart's hiring and guide the Bulldogs to a league championship as a true freshman?
What is certain with the obvious advantage of hindsight is that Georgia players have locked into Smart and his assistant coaches in the same manner Smart and his staff have locked into them.
"For everyone to stay with the coaching change going on, it felt special," junior receiver Terry Godwin said. "We knew coming into this season that we were going to have something special. With Coach Smart bringing physicality, it went with our swagger, and we knew it was going to be special.''
Georgia's debut season under Smart was perfectly mediocre. The Bulldogs went 8-5, with losses to Vanderbilt and Georgia Tech in the same year for the first time since 1961.
Yet last December, Chubb and fellow tailback Sony Michel announced with outside linebackers Davin Bellamy and Lorenzo Carter that they all would be returning for their final seasons in Athens. It's an event that has been remembered throughout Georgia's 12-1 run this year, but Smart believes the significance of that moment cannot be stated enough.
"I think the greatest impact it had was that it gave the younger players, the juniors, sophomores and freshmen, confidence in the regime," Smart said. "It showed them, 'Hey, these guys have only been with this staff one year, but they're willing to stay.' I think that gave a quiet confidence to the spring. Then there is just the value of experience.
"You could have a freshman that's better than the senior, but the senior plays better in the big moments because he's got poise. He's got an understanding of it. You think of Davin's play against Notre Dame and his play against Auburn, which were both kind of momentum-changing plays. I don't think you can put a number of wins on that."
Michel was asked last week about his decision from a year ago.
"It couldn't have gone any better," he said. "We've put a great season together. This team is one of a kind, from the young players to the old players. It's extremely special to me and these guys. This all means a lot."
Georgia won 10 games in each of Richt's last two seasons but never sniffed a conference championship, let alone an appearance in the four-team playoff. This year's team has been on course for a lofty destination all season, blinking only once with the 40-17 loss at Auburn on Nov. 11.
The Bulldogs avenged that loss to the Tigers in the SEC title game, punching their ticket for a historic trip to a historic venue.
"You definitely dream this," Chubb said. "You have a vision first, and then you work at it to reach these goals, and that's what we did. We've worked very hard to get where we are."
Staying focused
Smart was asked Wednesday during a news conference at Disneyland whether his team's experience could help this week when it comes to distractions.
"When you're in downtown L.A. with kids who are primarily from the state of Georgia, you're going to have some distractions, and we've got to manage those distractions," Smart said. "You take kids out of their normal atmosphere and throw them into this? It's not easy."
'He's going to live'
Oklahoma quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Baker Mayfield skipped Wednesday's trip to Disneyland due to an illness, but first-year Sooners coach Lincoln Riley didn't seem concerned.
"He's going to live," a smiling Riley told reporters. "He'll be fine. He'll be ready."
Smart's first Rose
Smart will be making his second appearance inside Rose Bowl Stadium, having been the defensive coordinator during Alabama's 37-24 win over Texas in the BCS championship game after the 2009 season. That was the first of four national championships Smart won as an assistant with the Crimson Tide under Nick Saban.
"The only thing I remember was being on the field, and the sky over Pasadena was just beautiful," Smart said. "It was a memory I'll have for the rest of my lifetime, because it was unlike any other. The scenery was incredible.
"The first one is always the most unique and the one you remember most."
Leaving a mark
Several Bulldogs rode Disneyland's new "Guardians of the Galaxy," which is an elevator-like ride that hurls its guests up and down. Smart said he may have made a mistake by sitting next to junior inside linebacker and Butkus Award winner Roquan Smith.
"He squeezed my arm, and, as you know, he's pretty strong," Smart said. "I think the other guys were fine, although Sony said he may have eaten a little too much before the ride."
Said Chubb, who turned 22 on Wednesday: "I'm not afraid of heights. I just don't like going straight down."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.