ATLANTA — Georgia was not playing with a full deck on the offensive side of the ball. Ladd McConkey and Rara Thomas were in street clothes.
Tate Ratledge and Brock Bowers dressed out but neither played in Georgia’s 31-23 win over Georgia Tech.
Afterward, Smart was coy when it came to how close those four were to seeing the field.
“If they could play, they would have played, 100 percent,” Smart said. “If they could have played, they would have played. I don’t think you measure it, it was a championship game. It was a state championship game. They wanted to play, all of them wanted to play. But guys, we’re beat up. We’ve got two freshman linebackers out there playing, I don’t know, 50 percent of the snaps. Smael’s out there fighting his tail off, he’s hurt and beat up. Everybody does, we’re not going to whine and cry about it. We’ve just got to get the next man up and got to continue to make plays with the other guys.”
Dominic Lovett led Georgia in receiving, catching 5 passes for 68 yards and a touchdown. Oscar Delp has just a single catch for 16 yards but made several key blocks at the tight end position for Georgia.
With Ratledge out, Xavier Truss started at right guard with Dylan Fairchild at left guard.
Georgia also saw defensive tackle Jordan Hall leave the game, though Smart was not asked about the status of the freshman after the game. Georgia did see Warren Brinson return to action after missing the Tennessee game with a calf injury. Brinson had 6 tackles and a tackle for loss.
McConkey is dealing with an ankle injury, while Thomas has a bone bruise on his foot. Ratledge is dealing with a knee injury while Bowers has ankle soreness. He caught 7 passes for 60 yards and a touchdown in the win over Tennessee.
“Yeah, he was more sore this week than he’s been. He was not able to do much during the week,” Smart said. “He tried to go, he wanted to go, but it just, I mean, he’s sore. He’s got to be honest with us and tell us.”
Georgia was able to get by Georgia Tech without several key players. But the Bulldogs will need to be much better next week when they take on the Alabama Crimson Tide in the SEC championship game. Alabama beat Auburn 27-24 on Saturday.
Smart hasn’t seen much of Alabama to this point but he knows the Bulldogs will have a challenge next Saturday.
“I haven’t seen them,” Smart said of Alabama. “I know they’re physical, they’re big, they’ve got a really good quarterback, good wideouts. They’ve got a good team.”
Georgia football takes on Alabama in Atlanta on Saturday at 4 p.m. ET.
Georgia football injury report
Jamon Dumas-Johnson, forearm -- out
Darris Smith, away from the team -- out
Julian Humphrey, collarbone -- out
Branson Robinson, knee -- out
Ladd McConkey, ankle -- did not dress
Warren Brinson, calf -- played
Tate Ratledge, left knee -- dressed, did not play
Brock Bowers, tight end -- dressed, did not play
Rara Thomas, foot -- did not dress
