Georgia hopes for a better showing at this season's Sugar Bowl, but the Bulldogs will head to New Orleans later this month without one of the key components of the Kirby Smart era.
Offensive line coach Sam Pittman, who added the title of associate head coach in February, was announced Sunday night as the new head coach at Arkansas. Pittman helped former Razorbacks coach Bret Bielema compile 7-6 and 8-5 seasons in 2014-15 before joining Smart's inaugural staff in Athens and raking in elite linemen on an annual basis.
Arkansas went 7-6 again in 2016 but is 8-28 in the three seasons since.
"As one of the nation's premier offensive line coaches, he has built a remarkable body of work thanks to his tremendous passion for his student-athletes, including teaching the fundamentals and developing his players on and off the field," Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yurachek said Sunday night in a released statement. "Sam knows the Southeastern Conference inside and out and is one of the nation's best recruiters. His connections throughout football will enable him to build a quality coaching staff."
Pittman, who takes over after Chad Morris was fired last month, may not be alone when it comes to no longer representing Georgia on New Year's night when the No. 5 Bulldogs (11-2) take on No. 7 Baylor (11-2).
The Bulldogs dropped just one spot in Sunday's final College Football Playoff rankings, which followed Saturday's 37-10 loss to LSU in the SEC championship contest. It's the second consecutive league title game to elude Georgia, with last December's heartbreaking 35-28 defeat to Alabama followed by a lackluster effort in a 28-21 loss to Texas.
"I think we learned a lot of things," Smart said Sunday. "The first thing we did when we got back last year was to look at a bunch of different notes that had been written up by every coach and every support staff member about things that we could do better or different if we were ever put in that situation again - playing in a non-playoff situation.
"We've got some ideas, and we'll look at those, but the bottom line is that it's your job to go play in a football game and that you've got an opportunity. There are a lot of teams across the country who would die to play in a game like this, and we're going to sell it that way. None of the kids on our team have been Sugar Bowl champs."
Baylor lost the Big 12 championship game Saturday, falling to Oklahoma 30-23 in overtime.
Georgia played last season's Sugar Bowl without cornerback Deandre Baker, who skipped his final game in order to get a head start on his NFL career that began in April with the New York Giants, but even more Bulldogs could choose to sit out this time. Running back D'Andre Swift and offensive tackles Andrew Thomas and Isaiah Wilson are believed to be Georgia's most likely players to bypass their senior seasons.
"It's a fluid situation, and we'll find out more as it comes about," Smart said. "We really haven't had time to really sit back and observe where they are. I really don't know where that will fall, and I'm really not concerned with that right now as much as I am finishing up final exams and getting on recruiting and then getting started on Baylor."
The Bulldogs had multiple players who had to be helped off the field against LSU, but Smart believes most of them will play against Baylor. The exception is freshman receiver Dominick Blaylock, who tore the ACL in his left knee during the first quarter and is expected to undergo surgery in the next few days.
Blaylock is the stepson of Chattanooga Lookouts co-owner John Woods.
"Dom is a hard worker and will be back," Woods said Sunday. "The good news is that he will have a full recovery."
Odds and ends
College Football Playoff committee chairman Rob Mullens told ESPN that Oklahoma and Georgia were "on the board" for the fourth and final spot before the committee went with the Sooners. Smart called receiver Lawrence Cager "very doubtful" for the Sugar Bowl. Georgia is 4-0 all-time against Baylor, with the most recent encounter a 15-3 Bulldogs triumph in Ray Goff's coaching debut in 1989.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524. Follow him on Twitter @DavidSPaschall.