ATHENS — Even after a big win over Oklahoma this past weekend, Georgia coach Kirby Smart knows he can’t take things easy.
The Bulldogs have yet another home SEC game this week, as they welcome Vanderbilt into Sanford Stadium.
The Georgia coach made sure to point out how Vanderbilt was nearly a College Football Playoff team last season.
“They’ve got a great program, a great team,” Smart said. “Arguably should’ve made the playoffs last year with the record they had, teams they beat.”
As for this Saturday’s team, Smart raved about Vanderbilt freshman quarterback Jared Curtis. He was twice committed to Georgia during the recruiting process before ultimately signing with Vanderbilt.
Smart’s full remarks from his news conference are below. Saturday’s game is set for a 12:45 p.m. ET start on the SEC Network.
Everything Georgia coach Kirby Smart said about facing Jared Curtis, Vanderbilt
Opening statement...
“Yeah, a lot of respect for Clark. He’s one of the best voices in our room. He does a lot for college football. He’s super intelligent, and I enjoy the friendship I have with him and respect the job he does for really all of college football and the SEC, the way he represents us on different things. Started getting ready for these guys today. They’ve got a great program, a great team. Arguably should’ve made the playoffs last year with the record they had, teams they beat. He does a tremendous job there. They’re really a physical football team made in the same mold with a defensive coach as us.”
On what you’ve seen from Jared Curtis...
“Tremendous talent. Way better athletically than people give him credit for. I don’t know if anybody’s tackled him, with one person, tackled him yet. He’s strong. He’s quick. He’s powerful. He’s got great arm talent. Everything everybody thought has been true.”
On value of Gunner Stockton learning from playing Brent Venables defense...
“Yeah, I think there’s value in the opponent we play every day in practice. We get a lot more reps during the week than we get in games. I’m a big believer in the quality of those has to be at a high level to make the ones in-game more efficient. The ones in-game matter too. The ones against different opponents. You just don’t get enough looks at it.”
On what’s contributed to early scoring margin...
“Turnover ratio has been better. That’s probably the biggest difference. We’ve taken more than we’ve given.”
On challenges of holding onto recruits who commit early...
“I don’t see it as, I mean, no one’s committed until they’re signed. So I don’t see it as a challenge. I see it as they’re not committed. At the end of the day, they’re not bound until they sign something or they enroll, and that’s just kinda the way it is. I don’t really look it as the challenge of keeping them. They’re not yours. They have an option to go other places. You also have an option to not keep them.”
On Thomas Blackshear’s high rep share...
“Thomas has been afforded the opportunity because he’s worked really hard. Isiah’s injury and his absence has created the opportunity for a lot of guys to go over and play some X and develop and work. Thomas had a good camp. He was dealing with a hand injury for a while that held him out. He really was just coming back from that going into the Arkansas game, but Thomas has worked really hard. He practices really hard. He practices really physical. I’m still excited about the future that he has here.”
On London Humphreys’ role in three years...
“Consistency. High level of character and toughness. Just his overall character and more aptitude. He is a great human being that loves this place, loves football, sets a tremendous example, never too high, never too low, and he’s fast. He’s a weapon, and I’m very proud of him. Continue to get more opportunities, continue to take advantage of down-the-field throws. There’s all kinds of things he could probably tell you he could improve on, but it’s not his attitude.”
On Nate Frazier’s health and how other guys spelled him...
“Really proud of those backs. Bo and Nick and Jae Lamar all picked up the slack in practice, got reps, got work. Obviously Chauncey and Dwight got the feature presentation of most of that, but those other guys worked tremendously hard as well. As for Nate, I’ll just defer to the injury report like everybody else does. It’s why we have one.”
On JJ Hanne’s role on this team...
“Well first off, y’all are in for a treat because JJ is a wonderful kid. One of the most positive, optimistic, hardest-working, cover-down, run-to-the-ball, play with the right energy, never walks on the field for a day, never a day that he’s discouraged. He’s always got a smile on his face. I think his experience in life puts him so much further ahead of other kids who, they might take for granted an opportunity like this. He does not.”
On Hanne and Valdin Sone backgrounds helping early playing time...
“I would say soccer. I would say natural talent. They both have size and speed, so that has a lot to do with it. The soccer background seems to be the common theme. As long as you have toughness too, they have that. They have physical toughness along with good athleticism.”
On Dwight Phillips waiting his turn...
“It says something about his character. He’s had some opportunties. He’s had some plays last year. He flashed and had some really good plays. He’s got some opportunities when guys have been dinged up. But he’s one of the consistent guys in the room in terms of work ethic. He has an elite trait, which is speed. He works really hard at special teams. I was more proud of the tackle than even the run because he’s worked really hard on that. He got opportunities in the past on special teams that he maybe wasn’t ready for or he didn’t capitalize on, and it bothered him. He worked really hard. I mean, he’s taken thousands of reps to get that one rep that he covers down there and makes a tackle on the best punt return in the country or maybe the conference, and he makes a big play. But the run, we’ve seen those things before. We’ve seen those in scrimmages. We’ve seen those against our defense. We know the caliber of player and even better person that Dwight is.”
On Jordan Hall’s early-season bounceback...
“Jordan’s fast. Jordan’s always been fast. He can run. He cares. He’s a great effort player. We have the saying that effort counts twice. He embodies that. He gives great effort. He runs to the ball. He leads. I appreciate how hard he works.”
On Jared Curtis’ mobility and affecting the quarterback...
“It’s always important that you tackle well, right? No matter if it’s a running back, receiver, tight end or quarterback, you’ve gotta tackle well. We’re going to play mobile quarterbacks the entire year. I mean, tell me somebody who’s not mobile that plays quarterback. I don’t know that there is one. So they’re all mobile. They’re all athletic. They’ve all got good arms. They’re all good players, and they all got good teams, so it doesn’t change what we have to do each week.”
On Clark Lea’s defenses...
“Well, athletic. They’ve got twitchy guys. They’ve always had really good defensive players, in my opinion. They do a good job. They’re sound fundamentally. They play really hard. He’s got a defensive staff, but he’s also the head coach that’s a defensive guy and does a good job with them.”
On Isiah Canion’s availability and Darren Ikinnagbon...
“Yeah, I’ll refer to the injury report. That’s why we do those, right? Every other coach says that’s what we do them for. People in this room beg for injury reports. You got one. It comes out every Wednesday. What time? 8:10, so I’m sure y’all are sitting on the edge of your seat waiting to get it. You’re dying to get it so you can write another article about it. You guys are awesome about following those things up. I wait for y’all to write about it, so I can find out about the other team. I don’t even check it myself. So it’ll be out Wednesday at 8:10. Maybe a little later.”
On Gunner Stockton diving vs. sliding philosophy...
“I don’t know if it’s more dangerous. I think you’d probably have to do a study on injuries and how they’ve done it. I know Gunner’s baseball background and defer to Gunner what he’s more comfortable with. On one, you’re giving yourself up and you’re losing yards because people don’t realize how far it goes back when you start the slide. The other, when you’re close to a first down, you want to be able to go head fist and be able to get every yard you can as you dive forward. I’m not a trainer or an exercise scientist that can tell you which one has more risk of injury. Probably has a lot more to do with who’s coming at you and what their speed is.”
On transformation of Josh Horton...
“Maybe that’s just your perception. I think Josh Horton was a good player last year. I think he’s a good player this year. If I had to say a difference, I would say he’s more comfortable in our scheme and he’s a year older. And typically when you’re a year older, let’s hope you’re a better football player than you were the year before. I do think he’s playing better. He understands how we practice. He understands how we do things. He was really active the other day.”
On Ray Lamb, older friends of his dad shaping his coaching style...
“The Ray Lamb one was special for me because he was here during the era that I played. I went through trials and tribulations like every player does. Doubt, self-doubt, playing time, not having your parents here. He was like a second father to me and a lot of players. He was a father to a lot of people all across this state, in terms of high school football players that didn’t have a role model, didn’t have somebody to stick up for them. Above all else, the wins and losses, just the man he was. I was a GA here, and I went to eat lunch with he and Dan Pitts at the Varsity, and they would take us. It was the highlight of my week to go eat at the Varsity with those two guys as a young coach and be around somebody that was a mentor, a Christian man, just a great human being. I said a lot about him that he worked on Jim Donnan’s staff. He worked with Ray Goff. He worked with Mark Richt. Nobody felt like he was loyal to one person. He was loyal to Georgia.”
On moment with Demello Jones in tunnel before game...
“Go play and have fun. Demello practiced really well last week. It’s very important to Mello, and you can tell that by the way people practice, so I wanted him to go and have fun.”
On getting true freshmen snaps early...
“The lead.”
On Justice Fitzpatrick and having coached his brother...
“I don’t think it’s a fair comparison to do that. I don’t think he wants to be compared to his brother, and I know you prefaced it with that. He’s a great kid first of all. He hasn’t been able to practice that much. He’s been able to do more recently, but I’m not going to compare or talk about his practice habits until he really can practice, and he’s still working through that. Excited about his demeanor, the way he approaches things. He’s very serious and very workmanlike.”
On Varsity go-to order...
“I don’t even remember. I really don’t. Probably a mix of chili dog or chili-cheese hamburger. Something with chili on it. I like that I didn’t have to pay then.”
On QB-WR miscommunication issues in passing game...
“Where do you guys get that? I wouldn’t say communication issues. I would say coverage dictates some things, and that can create communication issues, but sometimes it’s just mistakes.”
On OL play against Oklahoma...
“Physical. Tough. Like we expected. Hard-nosed. I think the complement of run, drop-back pass, play-action, pocket movement helps them. We have a lot of plays we can run, and so when you have that, you have things that can complement your offensive line and allows them the freedom to not have to drop-back pass, not constantly have to do this. That group, they practice hard, they play hard. Things they could’ve done better, a lot of things they could’ve done better, but a lot of things they did well against a good defense.”
