ATHENS — Kirby Smart was decidedly more pleased with Georgia football’s second scrimmage of fall camp than its first.

“I thought we had a much more spirited scrimmage,” Smart said after his No. 3-ranked Bulldogs ran off approximately 135 plays at Sanford Stadium amid temperatures in the 90s.

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“I thought both Ones units played better, which means the Two units probably didn’t play as well,” Smart said. “There were some explosive plays in the scrimmage, and I was proud of the competitive toughness.”

Smart enters his fourth season as Georgia’s head coach aiming for a national championship, having told the college football world that the 24-5 record his program has accumulated the past two years isn’t good enough.

That doesn’t leave much margin for error, so Smart has leaned on himself, his staff and his players to buy into a “Do More” mantra this offseason.

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The first scrimmage last Saturday was characterized as “lethargic” by the head coach, sending a message that players need step up or step out of the projected starting lineup.

Smart made it clear his team responded in proper fashion, third-year quarterback Jake Fromm directing a more efficient passing game that produced more big plays.

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“Last scrimmage it seemed like a lot of the backs, the backfield, had some big plays,” Smart said, no doubt referring to a 50-yard TD catch by Zamir White in the first scrimmage.

“(Saturday), it was the wideouts as a group. (Lawrence) Cager had one, .George (Pickens) had one, Tyler (Simmons) had one, Trey (Blount) had one.,” Smart said. “We had several guys have explosive plays. Explosive to me is over 12, 13 yards. Kearis (Jackson) had a big one. So it seemed pretty balanced on the explosive plays.”

Smart said the so-called Havoc Rate was down, an indicator the offensive units did a better job protecting the ball and avoiding tackles-for-loss in Scrimmage Two.

Georgia will remain in training camp mode through the middle of next week, beginning to focus on season-opening (Aug. 31) opponent Vanderbilt on Wednesday.

Georgia football coach Kirby Smart

 

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