georgia auburn mike griffith jeremy pruitt

ATHENS — There have been times during Kirby Smart’s ultra-successful seven-year tenure that some grew weary of the head coach’s insistence on running the football.

Smart, to be clear, has said that having the ability to run the football and physically impose Georgia’s will would always be a part of the program’s offensive identity.

The No. 1-ranked Bulldogs played that card last Saturday against Auburn, leaning on a tiring Tigers team to the tune of 292 yards rushing in a 42-10 rout.

“Thank goodness we got back to being Georgia football,” said Stetson Bennett, who Smart suggested may have been asked to do too much in Todd Monken’s NFL-style offense, which demands a QB recognize, react and at times realign teammates within the precious few seconds between breaking the huddle and snapping the football.

“It felt nice, the big guys loved it.”

It took a large weight off Bennett’s shoulders, one of which had been bothering the Georgia quarterback, according to Smart.

The Bulldogs’ offense has appeared disjointed at times, whether that be Bennett missing open receivers with throws, or an offensive line that shuffles to the extent of not being able to get into sync.

Former SEC head coach and national championship defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt says people shouldn’t get too concerned with the style points.

“They continue to find a way,” Pruitt said during the On The Beat show on Monday. “There was a couple of plays there Stetson overthrew the ball … but they scored 42 points in an SEC game and dominated a huge rival, it’s hard to complain about that.”

Pruitt said one of the issues Georgia has is what some might refer to as a “good problem,” as it’s a byproduct of Smart’s elite recruiting.

“I think Georgia has so many good players, they are trying to find a way to get everybody the football,” said Pruitt, who worked alongside Smart at Alabama for six years and was Mark Richt’s last defensive coordinator at Georgia.

“I think Georgia has a very talented football roster, but they can only play 11 of them at a time.”

As for how they play, Pruitt knows Smart well, and he sees a trend.

“You look at Auburn’s defense, and it’s a good defense,” Pruitt said. “Georgia did what good teams do, they just kept leaning on them, and that’s a bit of a trademark since Kirby has been in Athens.

“If they had played another 15 minutes, that score would have been really ugly.”