ATHENS — The Georgia Bulldogs came away with a 48-7 win over UT-Martin to open the 2023 season. But the win was not as simple as the final score indicated.
Georgia coach Kirby Smart had a lot to say following the season-opening win for the Bulldogs. Below you can see Smart’s full remarks following the win.
Georgia will return to action on Sept. 9, when the Bulldogs host Ball State. The game is set for a 12 p.m. ET start.
Everything Kirby Smart after Georgia football beat UT-Martin
Opening Statement...
“Our fans were elite tonight. I’ll be honest with you, I was concerned about complacency among our team, but I was also concerned with complacency among our crowd. I though first time having a night game in, you guys know better than me but seems like it’s been a long time, the atmosphere was really god for our players. We didn’t exactly respond to it well early, but I really thought our fans were good.
We talked a long time this week to our players about setting a standard for how we prepare for games during the week of practice, how we prepare for games on Friday, how we prepare for games on Saturday and I thought they did a really good job of that every day. Setting the standard for how we play the games, we probably didn’t meet that criteria. I did think we had some players grow up out there today. When you look on the sideline and there’s 5-6 guys dinged up, banged up, you knew there were going to be some butterflies for some guys - particularly on offense. I thought they grew up tonight, and we get feedback. The next step in this process is, what is the feedback? And I’m not talking about feedback from you guys, unfortunately I don’t care what you think or what you say. We get to watch the tape and say, ‘What does the feedback say?’ and figure out who we are and where we go from here.
I was very proud of Carson in his first start. I thought he had great composure. Really that was the epitome of every scrimmage he had. He threw the ball away when he had to, he hit spots when he had to, he made good decisions, he didn’t put us at risk, he made good checks. He did some really good things, and I’m proud of him. We’ve got to get some more help around him with weapons, get some guys healthy, but I’m proud of what he did.
Got to turn the ball over better on defense and make some plays on special teams, but I thought CJ Smith and (Mekhi) Mews were two guys that stepped up tonight. Those are two guys that had outstanding camps, and it rolled over into opportunities. Those two guys had never really made a play in the game, and they went out there and did that. That’ll pay dividends down the road.”
On difference between practice performance and play performance...
“It could be anxiety. It could be the team we played. They did a good job. I wouldn’t say they controlled the line of scrimmage, but they stopped the run well. We weren’t explosive in the run game outside of two runs maybe, I don’t know. They did some nice things, and we’ve got an opportunity to improve on a lot of things and do better and find the guys that we’ve got to say who touches the ball. There were some pretty good ones over there on the sideline that didn’t get to touch it. We knew we were gonna have to spread it around and get Rara involved, get Arian involved, get Dillon Bell involved and find guys that are going to be weapons for us throughout the year. Dom, Mews, we’ve got to continue to use those guys.”
On Ladd, MRJ and receiver evaluation...
“It’s hard to say. I haven’t watched it much. Ladd’s dealing with a back. Marcus is an internal issue. Hope to get both those guys back soon, and we’ve got to get better all the way around. We’ve got to get everybody back. Jackson Meeks is a guy who had an unbelievable camp who’s dealing with a foot injury. When you look at it, there’s a lot of guys that are beat up and banged up. That’s not an excuse, we’ve got to go out there and play with the guys we’ve got.”
On Mike Bobo and how the offense operated...
“Played really well. I thought we struggled a couple of times early. One of the most critical plays, two plays of the first half were, we had a third down that we executed probably a thousand times in camp. Dom and Carson weren’t on the same page. Carson thought he was going to sit down, Dom thought he was breaking in. He threw a little behind him. We convert that, we feel like we go on and score. That hurt us. Settling for a field goal before the half was really frustrating. We feel like we had been really good in that area. We were going to get a score there, a touchdown, and then get the ball right back in the second half. When you get the last possession and the first possession, you can go 14-0. We missed out on those two things, I wish we got those things back. In thought our guys functioned well, especially Carson getting in and out of the pocket. getting the ball to Brock, which we limited that some. WE could’ve gotten him the ball more. We were smart about that and got the ball to other guys.
On Brock Vandagriff and Gunner Stockton...
“Yeah, I thought both of them got to play. It was important to let them play and not sit there and hand the ball off. Gunner’s group didn’t execute as well as they should have. And he made some plays running with his feet. Brock’s group got holdings and that cost him one series that he played well. Just kind of self-inflicted wounds around him we can’t have. THen he came out and had another good series. Both of those guys look guys, they continue to get better. I am so pleased with their progress and what they’re doing. We’re at such a good position there. You only saw 6 or 7 plays of them. I’ve probably seen 20 or 30 of them. I feel really good about each day they get better.”
On Carson Beck...
“I never thought he wasn’t comfortable. There was a poise about him. There were really only two throws I wish he had back. The overthrow to Arian that was really long and Arian got behind the defense. And then the thrid down but he should’ve executed that.”
On Kirby’s definition of success...
“The expectation are never higher than they are in our building. So we have high expectations and our coaching staff will tell you that. You sit in on our headphones and in our building, we internally look at ourselves harder than anyone. But I’m never going to apologize for a win. I learned a long time ago, when a player in the NFL came to me and said, I’ve never felt like when I win, I lose. It will never be that way for me. I’m proud of the guys, I’m ecstatic. We’ve got a lot to work on.”
On a philosophy change in getting young QBs game reps...
“I’ve always stood by it. It’s just been times that the game was too far out of hand or maybe it was the third quarterback and not the second quarterback. The third quarterback is sometimes farther away and we’ve got a battle at two. We need to see who is going to play if something happens to Carson. Those two guys are neck and neck and we want to give those two guys the opportunity to play. Last year was a little different because Carson needed to come in and play and Brock didn’t always get those opportunities. We want to see Brock and Gunner both go in and play and play within the offense. Because that’s where you see their mistakes and flaws or their strengths and their weaknesses.”
On the run game...
“I don’t know, I have to go back and watch the tape and see. I don’t think it’s scheme we have the runs we have, the same runs everyone in America runs. So that’s going to be do we get movement, do we have the wrong mike point, did they just whip us? There is times where we should get movement and didn’t. And then did a back make anyone miss? Because ultimately the best runs I’ve ever seen are the ones where you break tackles on and you have to go do that too.”
On Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint’s absence…
“I don’t think I have to discuss that. It’s one of those deals where we keep our discipline internal. Marcus knows why he didn’t play tonight. Hope we get him back.”
On Kendall Milton’s performance…
“He was not 100 percent. He played because he wanted to play and he wanted to help. He didn’t us to have to go out and play with two backs that had never played college football before. He would probably tell you he was about 90 percent. As the game wore on, he tightened up some. It was starting to bother him on his hamstring. He has not done much all camp. He hasn’t been able to. He’s just now getting back to where he can do some things. Daijun, he probably could have played. He was less percent than Kendall. I was very proud of Kendall. He stepped up, picked up a blitz, did some really nice things. We’re going to need Kendall and Daijun to play really well.”
On the weapon Brock Bowers has become…
“He’s been doing it since he got here. He really tonight showed a lot of toughness, a lot of grit. He’s been banged up too. You wouldn’t have seen it or noticed it the way he played. He’s a competitor.”
On viewing the corner competition opposite Kamari Lassiter...
“Well all those guys are competing, AJ Harris, Nyland Green, all those guys are competing for the other spot. There has not been a large separation. There may have been in this game, I’ve got to go watch the tape. But they’ll continue to compete every day in practice. Kamari knows he’s got to play well too…. It’s never done. It never is at our place.”
On Roderick Robinson’s performance…
“Proud of Roderick. It’s nothing like the first time. In my experience, I’ve learned from being an assistant coach, defensive coordinator, and head coach that it takes probably four or five games before a freshman is comfortable. We’ve got to get through that with some guys. Every year we’ve been here somebody, I mean Joenel goes out the first play and, just like, sometimes they just do crazy stuff. You’re like, what are they doing? You have to get through those. He took one step closer to doing that. Andrew’s in the same boat as him, right? He’s a year older, but he hasn’t played. We’ve got to bring those two guys along because they’re big, physical backs. We need to get some production out of them.”
On the play of the defensive line…
“Hard to evaluate, the level of competition. We’re better than the guys we played against. It’s going to be a bigger to be a bigger evaluation when it’s, A, hotter, and B, a bigger offensive line. No disrespect to UT-Martin, but they made a decision that if they were going to run the ball, they were going to do it through the quarterback. I think, I would venture to say, I don’t know, 33 percent of their yards were quarterback runs. He’s not necessarily a true runner, but they did it because they had to rush the ball. They did a nice job of that. I didn’t think internally we had breakdowns.”
On the play of the safeties…
“I’ll watch the tape and evaluate and see. I thought Malaki could have had a pick. I thought Bull did a nice job. I thought Tykee made some good plays and eye control, but I don’t know that we got challenged like we’re going to get challenged.”
On Xavier Truss wearing 77 and the decision to make that a weekly thing…
“We talked about it as a staff and a team. We went to the players and talked about what they wanted to do. The offensive line felt very strongly about it. Coach Searels kind made the decision that Truss, who was very close to Dev, lived with Dev, that he would honor him and allow him to play in the jersey.”
On the scoring play and drive and what he saw from the catch vs. no-catch...
“They reviewed it, so they know better than I know. It wasn’t like they were trying to point shave or something. They looked at it, and they made a decision. I don’t question what they do. I don’t think there’s ulterior motives, so I wish we could’ve gotten the ball out and made the shut out for the rest of the guys. I’m just proud all those guys got to play. There was a point in time in the game where I didn’t know if we were going to be able to get those guys in, and that’s big for their growth.”
On communication rotating so many guys on defense...
“Well, I’m happy, but that was the expectation. Like, we have a lot of players back, and when we went into the game tonight, I talked to the offensive staff and talked to the defensive staff and was like, ‘Look, we’re going to lean on our defense because we’ve got so many guys who had not played on our offense. With expectation being talked about, everybody thinks you’re just going to walk out and roll over these teams. That’s the ‘it’ll be 40 to nothing by halftime,’ and then it’s not, you get tighter, guys get worried. I’m over that. I’m past those days. I want to grow and get better. It’s not about who we play. The defense executed like they should. We should play well, and we’ve got to continue to do that.”
On who got the game ball tonight...
“I don’t do game balls. I’ve never been smart enough to figure that out. My game balls go out on Monday when we watch the tape. If I had to, it’d be Mews or CJ Smith.”
On what you learned about what you might be elite at or concerned about...
“That we’re going to go back to work tomorrow and put on a grind tomorrow to get ready for Ball State. I never read too much into it. I just don’t think you can get too high or too low. People hit panic buttons. People have expectations. All I’m worried about is the process of getting better. At the end of the day, this is one thing I know. We’ve got to get better.”
On what Peyton Woodring did to earn the kicking job...
“I thought he did a good job. He hit the doink the one time on the crossbar. We’ll look and see. It was really close, to be honest with you. I hated it because Zirkel had a great spring, and he had a really good fall camp, but ultimately the height on the kicks was the biggest difference because their percentages were almost the same. I told them I want to do drills to see who can kick the ball higher, faster. That’s where kicks get blocked. Peyton did a better job of that. To be honest with you, I’ve got a ton of confidence in both of those guys.”
On CJ Allen...
“Hard to play a freshman linebacker in our defense. He and Raylen being here in the spring have really grown. Raylen would’ve probably been in the same boat as him had it not been for his knee. CJ picks things up. He’s very smart and intelligent. He’s conscientious. He can do things right. He has a chance to be a good player. We’ve got a pool of inside linebackers there around him, I mean, I was proud of Smael. He came out there and played in some sub situations. He’s trying to get back to 100 percent. CJ did a nice job.”
On Kyron Jones’ pick-six...
“Tipped ball. It was a tipped ball, so it was lucky is what it was. He’s going to think he did really good. It’s like I tell everybody, when you get a tipped ball, it’s lucky. I got a lot of interceptions in college that were tipped balls. That doesn’t make you a good player. That makes you in the right place at the right time.”
On the four-safety look in dime...
“No, that’s just called dime. That’s just called dime. Six DBs out there. We’ve done it every year since we’ve been here. There’s nothing special about it. It’s just having enough DBs that you can play in sub situations. We have plenty of linebackers to play two linebackers, but it’s based on what the offense does.”
On how the guys ‘grew up’ in today’s game...
“Well, the second half CJ Smith caught a screen and ran through two people’s face. The guy was still on the ground out there hurt, and CJ popped up and played physical. He made a play over the middle. Rara caught a long pass. Mews caught the screen and went to the house. That’s growing up to me.”
On if Kirby thought he was a good player when he had an interception off a tip in college...
“Yeah, I did. I mean, my coach didn’t didn’t say I wasn’t. I’m not saying that Kyron’s not a good player. Kyron is a good player. Kyron’s going to be a really physical, good player. The difference is Kyron’s run 10 400 meters, and that’s really fast. But just like Pop — his first play he ever got in, he got a pick six. With Kyron, that was his second or third play he was. But sometimes it pays to be lucky.”
On Rara Thomas’s progress since getting to Georgia...
“Got a ways to go. He keeps getting better. He had a couple of busted assignments that were costly that he didn’t do the right things, and he’s got to work through those. I know you can say, ‘Well, he’s not a freshman.’ Well, he is in our offense, and he played in a very, very different offense last year. And he is working his tail off. He deals with expectations too, from you guys from home from all over the place. And he’s a great kid who’s working his tail off to learn how to play the position like a pro player. And he’s taking that head on, and he’s going to continue to improve.
And I love the kid. I want him to get better. I was proud that he was able to work through some jitters tonight.”
On upperclassmen who have waited their opportunity and got to start tonight...
“It was good. I mean, I think it pays off. I mean, you look at Quay Walker, you look at Devonte Wyatt who’ve paid off by starting late in their career. They know the work they get from their freshman, sophomore, junior year is probably better work than they get anywhere in the country. You don’t get drafted by playing — you get drafted by playing good. So what allows you to play good? Work and competition. Those guys are products of work and competition, and we had a lot of guys out there like that. We’ve got a mature team, but they’ve got to handle it the right way. I think we’ve got a hungry football team, but I didn’t always see that tonight.”
On how Earnest Greene played at left tackle...
“I couldn’t say. I know there was one time he got beat inside and forced Carson to get out of the pocket, but he threw it to Dom late over the middle and Dom got hit that it would’ve been an easy completion. But outside of that, I couldn’t say. I could say that as a whole offensive line-wise, we’ve got to get more movement, we’ve got to be able to run the ball better.”
On the expectations within the program and the message to the team...
“Yeah, I don’t think our mantra has been about expectations for the last two years. Our mantra is always about getting better and working. That’s what our mantra is. We live outside of expectations. I realize they’re there. That’s not foolish, but I’m old enough and smart enough and wise enough to know you better enjoy moments like tonight ‘cause you don’t get them all the time. And winning football games is not easy no matter who it is, and if you don’t rise up or if you don’t meet the expectations — whether it’s a fanbase or a media base, you’ve got to make your team realize that we can actually get better. They don’t need to pay attention to any negativity — not that I’m saying there will be. We just got to get better. And guess what: the team that’s standing at the end will be the one that got better, so that’s what we’re trying to be.”
