ATHENS. — Kirby Smart is certainly earning his paycheck, but the Georgia head coach believes there are even better performances ahead for his No. 1-ranked Bulldogs.
That might not seem likely with the difficult homestretch ahead, starting with the 3:30 p.m. game against Florida on Saturday at TIAA Bank Field.
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But Smart is focused more on what he can control — his team — than any future opponent.
“We have not played our best,” Smart said following a Bulldogs’ practice this week. “We got a lot of players individually that might be playing their best, but we have not played our collective best as a defense.”
A look at Georgia’s national ranks on defense:
• No. 2 in scoring defense, (9.14 points per game)
• No. 4 in total defense, (247.1 yards per game)
• No. 4 in rushing defense, (83.4 yards per game)
• No. 4 in pass efficiency defense (100.22 rating)
The statistics are even more impressive when one considers Georgia is reloading after losing eight defensive players in the 2022 NFL Draft, including five first-rounders.
“We lost a lot of good players, and unfortunately, we’ve had some good players out this year,” Smart said in direct reference to linebacker Smael Mondon missing time and defensive tackle Jalen Carter being out.
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Smart confirmed Tuesday that former starting defensive back Dan Jackson is also out with an injury.
“I’m not one to sit up here make excuses, we get paid to coach the players that are out there,” Smart said. “And the guys that are out there have done a tremendous job of giving us great effort day in and day out.
“They’re buying into the standard of the University of Georgia defense, which is half the battle is your buy-in.”
Coaching and leadership is also key, and while Smart remains involved in the defense, some wondered how the loss of defensive coordinator Dan Lanning might affect the team.
“This has been a real smooth transition,” said Smart, who promoted Will Muschamp to co-defensive coordinator alongside Glenn Schumann.
“It’s no different than it was last year. We have got
multiple guys that present during every defensive meeting.”
Smart has a proven veteran coaching the defensive line in Tray Scott, while Chidera Uzo-Diribe and Fran Brown have proven strong hires.
“Everybody chips in a little bit,” Smart said, “because we think that multiple voices develop coaches and multiple voices are heard better by the audience.”
Here’s a look at where the FBS offenses rank that Georgia has already faced (total offense yards per game (ypg) /scoring), and the remaining regular-season opponents still ahead:
Oregon
No. 5 ypg (517.1); No. 7 scoring (42.4)
South Carolina
No. 82 ypg (374.3), No. 41 scoring (33.1)
Kent State
No. 39 ypg (433.9), No. 71 scoring (28.4)
Missouri
No. 91 ypg (364.7), No. 98 scoring (24.0)
Auburn
No. 80 ypg (377.7), No. 108 scoring (22.3)
Vanderbilt
No. 109 ypg (341.0), No. 80 scoring (26.6)
Florida
No. 43 ypg (429.6), No. 55 scoring (31.4)
Tennessee
No. 1 ypg (571.7), No. 1 scoring (50.1)
Mississippi State
No. 62 ypg (410.8), No,. 59 scoring (31.0)
Kentucky
No. 84 ypg (373.3), No. 82 scoring (26.4)
Georgia Tech
No. 118 ypg (311.4), No. 125 scoring (16.1)
