ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — No. 6 Georgia might have viewed Friday night's state rivalry game against Georgia Tech as another playoff game before a crazy weekend of upsets in the Southeastern Conference sent the Bulldogs to the SEC championship game.
Georgia (9-2, No. 7 CFP) can wrap up a spot in the playoff by beating No. 3 Texas or No. 20 Texas A&M in next week's SEC title game in Atlanta. A loss to Georgia Tech (7-4) wouldn't necessarily knock the Bulldogs out of the playoff — but it would be highly unwelcome.
Coach Kirby Smart has tried to make sure no one on his team is looking ahead with state bragging rights on the line.
““My thoughts are on Georgia Tech,” Smart said. "I mean, it’s a great honor to be able to play in the SEC championship game. ... My concern 100% is with Georgia Tech because of what that game means to so many in this state, so many on our team, and what it means to this season and these seniors playing at home. So that’s the focus.”
Only one week ago Smart said he didn't consider speculation about his team's chances to play for the conference championship to be relevant. A rash of losses last week by some of the SEC's top teams dramatically changed things. The SEC announced on Saturday that losses by Alabama, Texas A&M and Ole Miss meant the the Bulldogs had secured a trip to Atlanta.
The SEC's drama was of no interest to Georgia Tech and its coach, Brent Key. If Georgia Tech ends its six-game losing streak in the series, it would make the Yellow Jackets' season.
Speaking at an alumni event in June, Key didn't hold back on his feelings about the Bulldogs in the rivalry known as “Clean Old-Fashioned Hate.”
“There’s nothing I hate more in the world,” Key said, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "It’s probably the only thing I actually hate. When I say hate, like, truly despise everything about it. I really do.”
Asked this week about Key's comment, Smart said he prefers a different approach.
“I don’t think you get really emotional about things like that,” Smart said. “I think you’re a lot better coach when you stay composed, and you coach your players, and you teach your players what it’s going to take to win the game. It will be an emotional game, but I don’t get emotional about it.”
Georgia senior linebacker Smael Mondon says Key's comments provide no extra motivation.
“Yeah, I see it,” Mondon said. “I don’t really pay too much mind to that. I feel like he’s supposed to feel like that for the rivalry. ... So it doesn’t really add anything. You know, we still going to prepare like we normally would.”
Georgia Tech has rotated quarterbacks Haynes King and Aaron Philo in recent games. Philo, a freshman, passed for a career-high 265 yards in the Yellow Jackets’ 30-29 win over N.C. State on Nov. 21 and added the late go-ahead 18-yard touchdown run.
"You have to prepare for both of those styles of game and know which quarterback is in,” said Georgia linebacker C.J. Allen.
Key would like for Georgia to be uncertain about the Yellow Jackets' plans.
“I mean, who’s to say we use both of them?” Key said when asked about his tandem of quarterbacks. “... Every week is a new week and a new defense, new scheme, new coaches, new ways to attack things. So really one week has no bearing on the next when it comes to putting a plan together.”
Coming off a Thursday night game, Georgia Tech has had a full practice week. Georgia has had a short week after Saturday's 59-21 win over Massachusetts. Smart said the practice week went “great” despite an accelerated schedule.
“We had a good plan for it, and we just keep calling today Wednesday,” Smart said after Tuesday's practice.
Georgia QB Carson Beck has ended criticism about his midseason turnover woes. Beck has thrown six touchdown passes with no interceptions in the last two games. Beck threw four scoring passes against UMass. For the season, Beck has 23 touchdown passes with 12 interceptions.
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Georgia head coach Kirby Smart, right, is restrained by an assistant as he yells instructions to his players on the field during the second half of an NCAA college football game against UMass, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024, in Athens, Ga. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
Georgia Tech quarterback Aaron Philo (12) celebrates a touchdown during the second half of an NCAA college football game against North Carolina State, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
Georgia quarterback Carson Beck (15) throws from the pocket during the first half of an NCAA college football game against UMass, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024, in Athens, Ga. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australia’s House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a bill that would ban children younger than 16 years old from social media, leaving it to the Senate to finalize the world-first law.
The major parties backed the bill that would make platforms including TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, X and Instagram liable for fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars ($33 million) for systemic failures to prevent young children from holding accounts.
The legislation passed 102 to 13. If the bill becomes law this week, the platforms would have one year to work out how to implement the age restrictions before the penalties are enforced.
Opposition lawmaker Dan Tehan told Parliament the government had agreed to accept amendments in the Senate that would bolster privacy protections. Platforms would not be allowed to compel users to provide government-issued identity documents including passports or driver’s licenses, nor could they demand digital identification through a government system.
“Will it be perfect? No. But is any law perfect? No, it’s not. But if it helps, even if it helps in just the smallest of ways, it will make a huge difference to people’s lives,” Tehan told Parliament.
The bill was introduced to the Senate late Wednesday but it adjourned for the day hours later without putting it to a vote. The legislation will likely be passed on Thursday, the Parliament's final session for the year and potentially the last before elections, which are due within months.
The major parties’ support all but guarantees the legislation will pass in the Senate, where no party holds a majority of seats.
Lawmakers who were not aligned with either the government or the opposition were most critical of the legislation during debate on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Criticisms include that the legislation had been rushed through Parliament without adequate scrutiny, would not work, would create privacy risks for users of all ages and would take away parents’ authority to decide what’s best for their children.
Critics also argue the ban would isolate children, deprive them of positive aspects of social media, drive children to the dark web, make children too young for social media reluctant to report harms encountered, and take away incentives for platforms to make online spaces safer.
Independent lawmaker Zoe Daniel said the legislation would “make zero difference to the harms that are inherent to social media.”
“The true object of this legislation is not to make social media safe by design, but to make parents and voters feel like the government is doing something about it,” Daniel told Parliament.
“There is a reason why the government parades this legislation as world-leading, that’s because no other country wants to do it,” she added.
The platforms had asked for the vote to be delayed until at least June next year when a government-commissioned evaluation of age assurance technologies made its report on how the ban could be enforced.
Melbourne resident Wayne Holdsworth, whose 17-year-old son Mac took his own life last year after falling victim to an online sextortion scam, described the bill as “absolutely essential for the safety of our children.”
“It’s not the only thing that we need to do to protect them because education is the key, but to provide some immediate support for our children and parents to be able to manage this, it’s a great step,” the 65-year-old online safety campaigner told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
“And in my opinion, it’s the greatest time in our country’s history,” he added, referring to the pending legal reform.
In this October 2023 photo provided by the Holdsworth family, Wayne Holdsworth sits with his son Mac on a family holiday in Hawaii. (Maggie Holdsworth via AP)
In this October 2023 photo provided by the Holdsworth family, Wayne Holdsworth sits with his son Mac on a family holiday in Hawaii. (Maggie Holdsworth via AP)
In this image made from video released by Leo Puglisi, 17-year-old Leo Puglisi records his online streaming news service 6 News Australia, from Melbourne, Australia in January 2024. (Leo Puglisi via AP)
Online safety advocate Sonya Ryan attends a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia on June 15, 2021. Ryan knows from personal tragedy how dangerous social media can be for children. (Mick Tsikas/AAP Image via AP)
Australian Communications Minister Michelle Rowland speaks during House of Representatives Question Time at Parliament House in Canberra, Monday, Nov.18, 2024. (Lukas Coch/AAP Image via AP)
Australia's Minister for Communications, Michelle Rowland, introduces the Online Safety Amendment Bill in the House of Representatives at Parliament House in Canberra, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. (Mick Tsikas/AAP Image via AP)/AAP Image via AP)
Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers, right, gestures as he and Industry Minister Ed Husic speak to the media during a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra, Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. (Lukas Coch/AAP Image via AP)
A teenager uses his mobile phone to access social media, Sydney, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024. (Dean Lewins/AAP Image VIA AP)
