KNOXVILLE, Tenn., — It hasn’t always been fun for Kirby Smart, as the Bulldogs won their 28th straight game on Saturday.
But as Georgia strolled to another big win on Saturday, the head coach couldn’t help but smile as the Bulldogs wrapped up a perfect SEC slate with their 38-10 win over Tennessee.
The Georgia coach had plenty to say after the win, touching on topics from the first play of the game to how Carson Beck played.
Below is a full transcript of what Smart had to say on Saturday.
Opening statement
“I’m really proud of our resiliency. The kids did a great job, they knew it would be a tough environment and they responded to a not so great start. We continue to improve and get better. I can’t say enough good things about our offensive staff and our offensive game plan.
Our kids buy in each week to the plan and they get better each week. All we’re trying to do is find the best version of ourselves. Give the kids a lot of credit. They did the hard work, they did the heavy lifting. We’ve got to continue to get better.”
On the first play...
“I talked to Schumann before the game [and said] ‘Just let them score so we can get this over with.’ So, we’ve consistently found a way to let them score first, have great first drives. We probably got a little aggressive there, and didn’t fit a play right. It’s simple. We just didn’t have a guy in the gap and the secondary has to get the guy on the ground.We historically, Georgia does not give up explosive runs. We have a great secondary that leverages the ball, we take a lot of pride in that so when the ball breaks out we’re going to get it before it gets 20.
That didn’t happen. A lot of that has to do with their splits, but we didn’t fit a gap right and give them credit.”
On Dillon Bell’s play...
“Great competitor. When his number is called he’s ready. He made plays on back-shoulder 50-50 balls, made a great play that Bobo put together for him with the opportunity to the pass, and the runs after the catch were big. So, he stepped up big today, and we continue to have guys do that when other guys are down.”
On thoughts on three straight seasons going 8-0 in SEC play...
“I’ve got to go play Tech next week, that’s the perspective I’ve got. I’ve got a lot of respect for Brent [Key] and I know how much this game means to him.
I mean, there will be a time to look back on that and to celebrate that. It’s not right now.”
On Tate Ratledge and RaRa Thomas injury updates...
“Tate banged knees, so we felt he might be able to get back in there. He tried to go, but couldn’t, there’s no X-ray, no damage, so he tells me he’s going to be able to play this week. We’ll see.RaRa’s foot was bothering him. The X-rays were negative, it wasn’t an ankle sprain, it bothered him in warmups. Maybe a foot sprain, which is what Kamari has been dealing with. We don’t really know, but the X-rays are negative, so that’s really good news. But it’s not an ankle.”
On Ladd McConkey being limited...
“Ladd had an ankle last week and he didn’t practice all week. We thought he’d be able to go, but he was not really able to go. He tried, got out there in warm-ups but he didn’t do much.”
On Carson Beck’s effectiveness on third down...
“A good plan, a good offensive line, a good understanding of protections, a really bright coaching staff. You know, B-Mac, Bobo and all those guys, they do the third-down stuff together and put together a good plan. You know, I like to brag that we get a picture that’s as close to the game that most people don’t get, like, during the week. So we put the best pass rushers we got over there and say, ‘Hey, here’s your third downs.’ And sometimes the picture might be better that we give them in practice than they get in the game. I thought that we didn’t do that real well Wednesday and we went back Thursday and did it again. It paid off today to be, what were we, 9-of-13 — and one of those we didn’t get was late there when we were running the ball. And the defense was 2-of-11, so third downs have been the difference for us obviously this year. We cannot continue to lose first downs and play in third-and-longs, but we’ve overcome a lot of those.”
On losing coordinators and being able to withstand that...
“Uh, I don’t see it as a problem. I don’t feel like we’ve had to replace a lot of coordinators. I don’t know what a lot would be. I don’t know what that’s relative to. I look at it as we have a lot of continuity. When you do the right things, people get job opportunities, and I’m certainly happy for them. But the culture’s not going to change. The scheme’s not going to change, at least on defense. So it’s an opportunity for guys to come here, grow, and get better.”
On the key to sustaining a program like Georgia has been able to do...
“A lot of work, man. A lot of buy-in. You know, we spend a lot of time in the offseason building our roster, and I’m not talking about portal kids or recruiting kids. I’m talking about, like, take what we got and make what we got better than what they got. And if that means meeting with a kid and selling our culture and selling that Marcus Rosemy’s got to crack on a block and that’s more important than any catch he makes. And if the kids believe in that, they do a great job. You know, we get a lot of outside help. We contract with people to come in and help us build. I really believe our culture is our difference. Everybody will say it’s players. I just don’t think that it’s just players. We’ve got good players. We’ve got really good players. But I think there’s a lot to our culture that the kids buy into, and they stay level-headed. We’re not talking about the streak. They’re not worried about the streak. Like I said, it’s going to end, and we’re going to start a new one. But for right now they just keep getting better.”
On finding satisfaction in the building up of the team and the culture...
“Yeah, I mean that’s the one thing I can control as a coach is how we sustain, how we retain — our retention and our ability to sustain is incredible. We’ve got a great footprint to recruit from, unbelievable administration that supports what we want to do.
And it’s not easy, guys. Like, it’s hard to win, and I don’t appreciate that sometimes until you’re talking to the coach before the game. It doesn’t matter — and I’m not talking about Josh. I’m just saying in general [I hear comments] like, ‘Man, it’s hard to do what y’all have done.’ It’s hard, and I don’t think that the staff — I’m not talking about me — the staff and the players get enough credit because, you know, people have let-downs, people have bad games. We try to win one more victory on punt, one more victory on punt return. What edge can we create in the game because if we slip up here, we’ve got this over here? And I thought special teams was a big part of today too because they’ve got the best punt returner in the country, and, you know, we didn’t give them a shot.”
On who emerged as leaders this week after a poor Tuesday practice...
“The leaders did. They responded well to a not so great practice on Tuesday. Tuesday I felt like our team was tired. And they should be. We’re doing more reps when we play fast ball, you got to do more reps, everybody’s tired of hitting each other, it’s the end of the year. It didn’t feel like we were getting ready to go play Tennessee, and it ticked me off. I told them. They responded well with a really good practice Wednesday, good practice Thursday and executed a good plan in a hard place to play. Guys, they’ve won 14 in a row here for a reason. It’s hard out there. You give up a touchdown on the first play and don’t blink, it was loud. Loud as hell.”
On if Carson Beck deserves more national praise...
“I don’t lobby for those guys, but it’s easy to sit back and say, ‘Look at what this kid has done.’ The worst thing for Beck individually is he plays with a good defense. It makes you not want to sit there and just run it up. Some of these other guys, they get opportunities and have to score 40 a game. With Carson Beck, I don’t think we as an offensive staff think we have to score 40 a game. I don’t think we think we have to. We may have to, but we don’t think we have to. So you’re able to call the game differently as an offensive coordinator. I don’t think he cares about that. He’s talented guys. He’s smart, and he’s a better athlete than you think. He’s got 19 and some good players out there.”
On what set Brock Bowers off...
“I don’t know. There’s a couple things he said that bothered him, but I’d rather not get into that. I don’t get into all these soap operas.”
On if it’s been fun this season...
“It was fun tonight. It’s work during the week. It’s not the stress of the streak or the wins. My wife and son are sitting over there and they’ll tell you, they have to deal with me all week. You get tighter and tighter as the week goes. I’m not comfortable. I’m not going into a game comfortable. That wears on you in terms of the wanting to be at your best, but you’ve got to relax and know that you’ve done a good job. I’ve read what Nick said recently about how much he’s enjoying this team because it’s not about all the stress and stuff. Just enjoy the team. You can learn a lot from that, especially a guy that’s done it as long as he has. He’s at the point in his career where he’s like, I’m going to enjoy this. I’m going to enjoy being out there at practice and being around the players and not worry about the expectations that so many of you guys have.”
On if he’s gotten better at relaxing...
“It’s always been that way for me. I want to be prepared and have thought about everything that’s going to happen and have a plan for if this is not working, what are you going to do next. If you coach well during the week, you don’t have to coach as hard on Saturdays.”
On defensive success...
“Good plan by Schumann and them. Look, they have wide receivers that have been injured, and Josh’s offense is around the fact that you can’t cover guys on the perimeter. And they’ve got really good backs. They’re not quite the team that they were last year. I think he would openly admit that. They helped us some today, and the injuries they’ve had at wide out have made it tougher on them.”
On how Carson Beck has evolved...
“I’ve get that question a lot and I don’t know how to answer it. His evolution was two years ago when he was out there at practice and he was getting blitzed by eight first-rounders. His evolution was already happening. Anything that I’ve seen this year, what I’ve seen him do is go on the road. I still remember when Stetson came up here two years ago, running around like a crazy man and making plays. This guy is throwing the ball at defensive lineman. He made an unbelievable throw to James Cook. But he grew up by going on the road, Stetson did. That’s what we had to see Carson do. Go to Auburn. And go to Tennessee and grow up. But outside of that I’ve seen him do a lot of the stuff he’s doing.”
On what his team is elite at...
“Taking a punch. It’s way, way, way more indicative of who you are in your ability to take a punch than give one. The knockout fighters, they get knocked out if they can’t take a punch. This group has proven again and again they can take jabs and punches and hang around until they can throw them.”
On the 50-50 balls...
“That’s the difference in the game. I told Shock (DJ Shockley) that. I told them before the game, on defense 40 percent of the game is can we destroy blockers and tackle the back. The other 40 percent is can we play with our back to the ball. Because they’re going to get your back to the ball. You’re going to have your back to the ball and you’re going to have to make a play. If you win about 66 percent, you’re good. I feel like we had 3 times and we won 3. If you go 2 out of 3, you probably do ok. That’s what it boils down to when you play them. You have to play with your back to the ball and you have to stop the run.”
On staying poised after giving up the first touchdown...
“We get a lot of practice at it. Seriously, I don’t know how many times they’ve scored on the first drive. We’re 11-0 so maybe they’ve scored 11 straight. That doesn’t bother us because we know we can fix it. There’s a lot of confidence when they jog off the field. Take a deep breath, get it fixed, we’ll get it right. And the kids believe in that. A lot of teams, when that landslide happens, that’s what I talk about with the offseason program and all the mental conditioning. We’re good, man. Let’s go fix this.”
On the Georgia offensive line...
“With the injuries we’ve had, it’s been great. Stacy has done a great job of cross-training those guys. I feel like we’ve got 3 tackles, 3 or 4 guards, 2 centers. You have to go into the season with that. When you don’t, you get in trouble. He’s done a great job of building those guys that way.”
On Georgia Tech...
“Who wouldn’t? They’re all coming for us. That’s what it is. We’re not concerned with who is coming after us, we’re concerned with who we’re coming after. Our job is to get ready and prepared for a physical, hard-nosed team that knows everything about us. Buster Faulkner is there, Kevin Sherrer is there, Brent Key is there. They’ve got good coaches. But it’s not going to be the coaches that win the game. It’s going to be the players. It’s going to be a tough game. Our kids have got to respect it, understand it and go out and be physical. That’s what football is.”
