Georgia football Kirby Smart

ATHENS — Hurry, HUrry, HURry, HURRy, HURRY!

Kirby Smart’s voice boomed over the speakers of the Georgia football practice field on Thursday, fall practice underway, in earnest.

“Here we go, HERE WE GO!”

It was as easy to feel Smart’s sense of urgency as hear it in the words he was speaking,

This is what it sounds like in a program that has not lost a regular season game since 2020 and has captured the SEC’s two most recent national titles over the past three years.

Smart, a Georgia alum, insists neither he nor his program feel any added pressure.

Indeed, there’s enough pressure every day in the way the Bulldogs run their business, where “elite” is the standard every day, an anyone who’s not measuring up at any time can and will get called out.

“C’mon now Malaki, C’mon!” Smart shouted over the speakers minutes before the media entered for a 17-minute observation.

That would be Malaki Starks, projected first-round NFL draft pick, preseason All-American and brand ambassador.

No one is above reproach in Smart’s program, as he has a will call out himself or his coaching staff after such losses as last year’s SEC Championship Game.

But this is the now, and not the then, and so Thursday’s practice was an opportunity for observation and quick takeaways ….

• Miami transfer receiver Colbie Young, a 6-foot-4 target, looked thicker after an offseason in the weight room, the better to handle the blocking and physicality UGA demands at the position.

• Stanford transfer tight end Ben Yurosek looks the part physically and appeared to run crisp routes in the limited drill work during the observation period.

• Quarterback Carson Beck looks every bit the 233 pounds he was listed at by NFL scouts this offseason, in stark contrast to sophomore transfer Jaden Rashada who has the slim appearance Beck once did after arriving as a freshman.

• Safety KJ Bolden jumps out of the defensive backs group with his explosive athleticism, his movements as dynamic as they are fluid in drill work.

• Defensive tackles Christen Miller and Jamaal Jarrett are massive, their frames already of NFL stature, and one imagines their technique one year better than their last regular-season outings.

• Freshman tailback Nate Frazier has exceptional quickness and footwork, to the extent it seems certain he will be given opportunities to flash his 10.5-second 100-meter speed on handoffs or pass targets this season.

• Smart’s pride in special teams was on display, as he hollered “Hey NFL scouts (in attendance), only until team in the country not to have (allowed) one punt return yard all year, zero punt returns.

• Smart signaled out the players on the punt coverage unit, particularly Arian Smith and Dominic Lovett, “best two gunners, 6 and 11.”

Smart, of course, also had his barbs ready for players, including backup quarterbacks Rashada and Ryan Puglisi

Smart told Rashada his snap count was “quiet as a mouse” and gave Puglisi a hard time over some of this throws.

“Ryan Puglisi, are you nervous or something?” Smart said. “Throwing the ball all over the place like you’re from Avon Farms.”

Smart said earlier in the day that talented sophomore Anthony Evans needed to be more consistent, and he made that point to him in practice over the loud speakers.

“Anthony Evans, everything matters!” The head coach said. “I saw that drop this morning … "