ATHENS — Georgia has had plenty of time to stew over its most recent performance.
The last time Georgia took the field, it suffered a shocking 27-24 home loss to Auburn. The Tigers turned around and got blown out at home this past weekend by LSU.
Georgia didn’t get to take the field this past weekend, as the team had an off week.
That gave Georgia coach Kirby Smart the chance to focus in on a few key areas for the Bulldogs as they responded to their first loss of the season.
“The results are what people focus, but it’s the process that we try to focus on, which is what can we do better,” Smart said. “How do we not turn the ball over? How do we stay away from dumb penalties? How do we tackle better? How do we get more turnovers, so that our turnovers are less glaring? Because if you get three and give three, you’re net zero, and you’re a lot better off. I’m a lot more interested in the improvement than I am just the results.”
Smart didn’t just talk about Georgia’s off-week plans on Monday. He spent plenty of time during his weekly news conference giving his thoughts on Saturday’s foe, Florida.
Below are Smart’s full remarks. Saturday’s game against the Gators is set for a 3:30 p.m. ET start on ABC.
Kirby Smart makes it clear what he wants to see from Georgia after first loss
Opening statement...
“All our guys got back last night, and had a good couple days and ready to get rolling on Florida. This is always a great tradition, great game. Obviously the venue’s changed. I don’t think that matters much to the teams playing in it. Fan bases, probably a unique experience for sure to have it in the Benz in Atlanta. A lot of respect for this team. Coach Sumrall’s done a great job putting a lot of energy into the program, a lot of physicality in the program. They play really hard. When you turn on the tape, you see the physicality they play with on both sides of the ball. Ton of respect for both coordinators. Gone against both of them for multiple years. They’ve got great scheme, got really good players. They’re playing in this tough conference that we’re in. But lot of respect for Buster obviously, was on our staff. Just think he’s one of the best offensive minds in the country. It’s really hard to defend, but I’m so happy for his success and how well he’s done. Close friend and a lot of respect.”
On Aaron Philo, Bailey Stockton and Buster Faulkner...
“We’ve got guys playing all our team from those same teams they were on from North and even from Clarke Central. I don’t know that it’s even this area as a whole. It’s this state that provides a lot of uber-talented high school players. You look across the college football landscape, every time I turn the games on, there’s a a kid from the state of Georgia performing really well. That’s no different in the case of Philo and Bailey and all those guys doing well. I know Buster had a bird’s eye view as his son played, and he knows the caliber of players that they are.”
On Jordan Hall’s energy and effort and history of injuries...
“One thing he is is consistently energetic. He plays really hard. He does not want to be seen as a loafer, or someone that doesn’t play with high effort. That carries over to the other guys. I don’t think that had anything to do with the injuries because he was the same way before he got injured. The injuries just made it harder for him to play the way he wanted to play. But he certainly plays with a lot of energy and toughness and brings the FPE we want.”
On Jadan Baugh running the ball and Florida’s run block...
“They’ve got great run scheme and they’ve got a great back to do it with. When you can run the ball and know your back’s going to make people miss in the open field or break tackles by running through them, over them, around them, it certainly gives you the confidence to give him touches. He’s been incredible. He is in and out of breaks. We’ve shown our guys clips of him since the start of the year to say are you practicing to tackle him, or are you practicing to tackle who you’re playing against. We’re driving the motivation that every day, you’re trying to prepare for the best. He’s certainly done that. That’s a talented young man.”
On importance of bye week for recovery and KJ Bolden, Isiah Canion updates...
“Really don’t know on either one of them because we haven’t done anything since Thursday. Those guys, we had good practices all week last week, and then leading into this week, we’ll find out more about where they are today and through the injury report information we have. But our team, not our team, but some of our players needed recovery more than they needed just to get better. We all need to get better, but we’ve got some guys that need to get well and get healthy. Hopefully we’re able to do that some. I always worry because, you spend so much time trying to get healthy, you better be ready to strike somebody in this game because it’s going to be physical.”
On doing anything different in bye week for potential length of season...
“Anything different relative to years past? Yeah. We went Tuesday and Thursday with Wednesday being a lot less. We scripted reps for certain guys more than others. That’s been the last two years really. It’s not what everybody thinks it is. You’re trying to keep your team healthy and got less depth than we’ve ever had. So certainly, we’re trying to develop our guys that will be playing if guys get injured, or that might be playing next year. We’re trying to maintain the conditioning level and the physicality to the rest of them.”
On unknown of Philo or Jones starting affect preparation...
“Both very talented. One beat Ole handily. One beat Texas on the road. They’re both completely capable good players. Known about both of them for a long time. In terms of their ability, they’re both plenty capable, especially in Buster’s offense. I think it’s not like — it’s quarterback driven, but it doesn’t require the quarterback to be perfect. He gives them so many options, and he can play to the strengths of each guy.”
On team’s response to a loss...
“I want to see us improve. I mean, regardless of the outcome of a matter, that doesn’t really matter. The results are what people focus, but it’s the process that we try to focus on, which is what can we do better? How do we not turn the ball over? How do we stay away from dumb penalties? How do we tackle better? How do we get more turnovers, so that our turnovers are less glaring? Because if you get three and give three, you’re net zero, and you’re a lot better off. I’m a lot more interested in the improvement than I am just the results.”
On what you saw from guys behind KJ Bolden during bye practices...
“Since he’s been out, which has been a while now, I guess it’s two or three weeks, those guys have all been repping. I mean, I see those guys every day whether KJ’s there or not. We give those guys tons of reps and tons of development. We give those guys a lot of opportunities. They were going to get those regardless last week because KJ wasn’t going to take a ton of volume. I get to see those guys independent of KJ.”
On Buster Faulkner in a place like Florida...
“I don’t know that personally. I haven’t asked him that question, but he brought several guys with him. He brought some of the guys with him that were really good players. He’s always had a really good offensive mind. His journey has been very different. He’s played in different styles of offense. He’s one style. It’s made him a better coach through doing that. He knows how to utilize the player’s skill sets he has on the team, and he does it while maintaining the physicality and making sure there’s toughness in the run game and how you do things.”
On Ja’Marley Riddle opportunities without KJ and Kyron Jones’ role...
“Ja’Marley’s improving. He plays more strong safety than anything else. He’s very intelligent. He has good instincts, and he communicates really well. He continues to improve coming off a very significant injury to end last year, similar to what Jordan had. That’s tough when you play a defensive back position. He’s improved with every week. He improves every day in our system, understanding how to do things. He’s got good competition around him, including Dink, including Kyron, including Zion, all those guys, Todd. They’ve all improved and continue to get better.”
On Brad White defenses...
“He’s got some really good players. He’s got some twitchy, violent, size, length guys. They strike people. He’s always had really good defenses, so I think when you put him in the Florida system, and you get those kind of athletes and pass-rushers, it compounds his effect to affect the game. They’re always long. They’re always physical. They always have a great depth in their defense in terms of the way they play. A lot of respect for the job that he does.”
On Georgia, Nike, Outkast collaboration...
“I think it’s great. It shows some of the history and blend of Atlanta and what Atlanta’s known for. That’s what they’re trying to highlight with Georgia-Florida being in Atlanta for the first time I know of. It’s really a cool opportunity to do that. Outkast is certainly a representative of it. I can’t think of [a favorite song].”
On AJ Lonon’s role...
“I’ve loved Anthony since high school. He’s a really hard worker. Played with his dad here. Humble kid who just goes out and gives a full day’s work. He’s a good athlete. He’s more athletic for his size than most people. He has twitch. He has leverage. He’s going to get better because he’s going to stay humble and keep working, but I’m really pleased with his progress.”
On adding to game plans because of bye weeks...
“I would probably say there’s more time to make decisions and to flirt with things and look at things because of the time both teams have and things you might carry, might not. At the end of the day, there’s only going to be so many plays in the game, and that doesn’t usually change based on a bye week or not. You want your volume to represent the ability to get reps. We’re always aware of that, and not trying to overdo it.”
On Ellis Robinson’s play this season...
“Ellis is competitor. He’s really driven to be good at what he does. He works hard at it. It’s important to him that he does things the right way and plays with the right technique. He likes the game. He likes to play. He likes to have chances to make plays on the ball and cover people. He has a good mindset about the position that giving up a play does not, he can erase it quickly and move onto the next. That’s a good trait to have at his posiiton. Been really pleased with his effort and the things he’s done.”
On going to see Georgia-Florida game when he was NFL coach...
“That was a long time ago. I was in the NFL, so I was in between games in the NFL, and it was a game in Jacksonville. It reminded me everything that I do as a coach. When you come over the bridge, you see the pageantry. You see the split 50-50. It wasn’t a lot different than I was in the stands and not on the sideline.”
