Kirby Smart looked and sounded like a coach who knew exactly what to expect from Florida, and just as importantly his own players, on Saturday.
“Not surprised they went for it at all,” said Smart, whose staff had the right defense in place to make the most pivotal stop in the game after he Gators gambled to go for a fourth-and-1 from their own 34.
Smart was also not surprised to see quarterback Carson Beck, making only his eighth-career start, pass for more than 300 yards as Georgia scored 36 unanswered points in the 43-20 victory.
The eighth-year Georgia head coach became the first in his school’s history to win three straight in the series with the Gators by 20 or more points, and his No. 1-ranked Bulldogs made it look easy.
It was Smart’s 19th-straight win in games where the Bulldogs have had more than a week to prepare for an opponent and the program’s 25th win overall.
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Here are three takeaways from Smart:
Inside Carson’s numbers
Beck’s stat line was impressive enough, 19-of-28 passing for 315 yards and 2 touchdowns, but Smart noted more beyond the boxscore.
“He’s continued to improve by not putting us in bad situations,” Smart said, having seen Beck struggle with an interception, fumble and bad snap in the 37-20 win over Vanderbilt heading into the bye week.
“There are things that are not on the stat sheet … he does an elite job with run checks, looks, puts in the best play, the decision to throw the RPO or hand the ball off.”
Florida might have had the right game plan, but as Smart explained, Beck’s ability to adjust can turn right into wrong quickly.
“There’s not really a value you can put on that,” Smart said, “(And) I know as a defensive coordinator there’s nothing worse than feeling you have the right call, then he moves the back, he moves the tight end and you got a bad call. That’s tough.”
Ladd’s step-up
Georgia fans were reminded what they were missing when a healthy Ladd McConkey went off for 6 catches for 135 yards and a TD. McConkey missed the first four games with a bank injury and was somewhat limited in the past two.
But on Saturday, with the game on the line, Smart and offensive coordinator Mike Bobo turned McConkey loose, and the senior responded by gaining 78 of his 135 yards after the catch — something other UGA receivers not named Brock Bowers have struggled to do this season.
“I think it came at the right time, right? With Brock out, had Ladd step up and make plays,” Smart said. “The yards after catch is what he gives us that a lot of other guys haven’t done. He catches it and runs with it, and he does a tremendous job.”
Sack attack
Georgia entered the game averaging 1.7 sacks per game, which ranked 105th in the nation.
Smart has noted all along how most teams make sure to get the ball out quickly, and on Saturday had a chance to illustrate his point after his defense recorded four first-half sacks.
“They gave us an opportunity to (get sacks), you know, drop-back pass, you get a chance to,” Smart said. “We don’t get a lot of opportunities for that in earlier games. The more people drop back and pass, the more we’ll be able to get to them.”
Smart and his staff, anticipating the Florida drop-back game, added a few twists into the game plan for the Gators.
“Our defensive staff ….put a couple new wrinkles in that really helped in terms of getting pressure,” Smart said.
“We didn’t just do the same thing we always do. I think there was one call that we got 2 tackles for loss and maybe a sack all from that call that we had not run all year.”