Georgia found its offensive footing Saturday, rolling up nearly 700 total yards on Missouri in UGA’s 53-28 victory at Stanford Stadium in Athens.
The Bulldogs were tested early and the game was once tied 21-21 before they scored 26 unanswered points. Georgia finished with 326 yards passing and 370 yards rushing.
The Bulldogs have a bye this week before facing Florida on Oct. 28 in Jacksonville.
Kirby Smart was effusive in his praise of his offense – which saw freshman QB Jake Fromm have his best day passing as a Bulldog. Fromm was 18-for-26 with 2 TD passes, a pick, and ran for a score.
Here are a sample of Smart’s post-game remarks, including some from his post-game interview on the SEC Network.
On how UGA amassed 696 yards of total offense
“A lot of hard work. Some toughness. Some strong backs. A young quarterback and a very, very gritty offensive line. The wide receivers made plays. I thought Coach (Jim) Chaney did a great job tonight.”
On the disparity between UGA’s offense and defense
The offensive is growing up. We’ve got to some up with some answers on defense … We didn’t play to the level we need to on defense but our offense was spectacular today. ”
On what UGA will take into the bye week
“Humility.”
On UGA’s current No. 4 ranking in the AP poll
“These rankings mean nothing. We’re going to get everybody’s best shot. Missouri came out and fought hard. We thought they would.”
On what Roquan Smith and Sony Michel mean to UGA
“Both these guys are special. They’re leaders. They’re not afraid to talk when it’s a difficult time to talk. And I’m proud of them.”
On how effective the offense played
“The offense really saved us. They did a tremendous job converting third downs, making plays and answering the bell. We had two deflating plays defensively and the offense had the backs of the defense.”
On continuing to improve
“I was a little disappointed in some of the things we didn’t do well. We just can’t do that to beat really good teams. … We did some poor things tonight that could get us beat in the future. … We’ve got to continue to improve. Offensively, we still have series where we shoot ourselves in the foot. What if we execute at the highest level? Defensively, what if we keep the players in front of us? How good could we be? We’ll keep showing things to the players and hopefully get better.”
On this week’s schedule:
“They have to embrace work if they want to be champions. We’ll find out about this team this week. Some call it an off week, some call it a bye week, we call it a work week. The seniors carry that load. They drive that message home. It’s their team and the young guys need to listen.”
On Florida:
“It’s a great atmosphere and a great rivalry. It’s a great tradition game.”
On the open date:
“It’s been seven weeks in a row in our league along with Notre Dame and Appalachian State. We need some rest and recovery. It’s coming at a great time. We’ve got some healing to do. It’s tough and it wears on your depth. We’ve got to get some guys healthy.”
