There’s almost a cottage industry playing armchair psychologist, assigning emotions, and motivations to athletes.
Folks judge if they were extra up for a game or feeling overconfident or unfocused. If often has the effect of whitewashing over when those things actually happen, often in conjunction with athletes and coaches being relatively private about the inner dynamics of the team.
But sometimes, an athlete will come out and say the team’s focus might not have fully been there. South Carolina safety D.J. Smith said that’s what he felt in his team’s loss to Kentucky.
“Me, myself, I feel like we got a little bigheaded,” Smith said.