ATHENS — Kentucky may not be of the same prestige as Alabama, but it is a game that Kirby Smart worries about all the same.
“I worry about everything. I worry about everything,” Smart said. “You know me? I worry about everything.”
The game against the Wildcats will be Georgia’s first chance to take the field after its loss to Alabama.
Monday is the only time Smart is set to meet with the media in person this week.
Below is what the Georgia coach had to during his Monday news conference.
Kirby Smart shares how the loss to Alabama ‘still hurts’ Georgia
Opening statement...
“All right guys, it’s on to Kentucky for us. Our guys are fired up, got work done yesterday, and a bunch of them came in. I think when you see our guys, you realize how invested they are when they hurt. It’s good when guys hurt, because you hurt relative to how invested you are in something. So I know our guys will have good energy today for a really, really, it’s always the most physical game when we play these guys. I think because philosophically they believe in running the ball, we believe in running the ball. Those two things hit head to head when we play them. We’ve had head to head battles many times with these guys. Coach Stoops’ teams are always physical, so we know it’ll be physical. It’ll also be a very different time start for our group, and really for them too, because we both played late games last week. So looking forward to getting ready for these guys.”
On if they discussed reviewing the spot on the third down before Cash Jones’ fourth down run...
“Yeah, the only decision on that is they buzz down. They control that. Every team in the conference so far that’s had tempo plays, they’ve had plays buzz down when they want to review it. They look at it fast and quick. It happened in a South Carolina game, it happened in our game that night. It happened earlier where they buzzed down, we were trying to go tempo and score. But there was no thought of trying to wait on somebody to do that, not when we feel like that’s the most important play that we have in terms of execution.”
On helping Talyn Taylor and Ellis Robinson grow from a big game where they made mistakes...
“Yeah, you show confidence in them, you love on them. You discipline them, you grow them, you try to get them better. Both those guys are talented players. Ellis had some really good plays in the game as well. Talyn’s deal was tough, but Talyn will grow from it. He’s a tough, competitive kid, he practices his butt off. People don’t give him enough credit for, he’s changed our punt team in terms of, he’s replaced an Arian and a Dom as a gunner and been really elite. Every time we’ve called his number, he’s answered it. He’s going to continue to do that. I mean, the guy’s a worker. I told him that, look, we’re going to come back at you and continue to use you, and just keep getting better. That’s all you can do, keep getting better. Block out the outside noise. I mean, I don’t even know what’s being said out there because I’ve literally just shut it off. But both those kids are talented kids who are going to be good football players here.”
On if the team hurting/the response is different after a loss with a young team...
“No, hurting is hurting, it doesn’t matter what age you are. The more invested you are, the more you hurt. My question is, what are you going to double down on? It’s a different day and age of college football. It’s completely different out there. We’ve accepted it as coaches. We have to do a good job of the players responding to it. What do you double down on? I know more about my team right now than I did a week ago. I can guarantee you that. That’s what fires me up. I’ve got a lot of optimism after that game, because I learned a hell of a lot more about my team than I had the previous weeks.”On approaching postgame review with the staff following a loss...
“No, staff’s been great. I think we’ve put together some really good game plans. I don’t know that we executed them all the time well. There’s a line between execution responsibility, me, coaches, players, everybody’s involved in that. But I mean, the same calls that we called in the first half, we called in the second half. And we got some stops, and we made some plays. It’s not about just calls, it’s about execution, putting people in good position. Sometimes it’s playing with confidence. We’ve got to do a better job doing that.”
On what it will take for Daniel Harris to get back in the rotation...
“It’s not any different for any position, right? Like the guys that practice and play the best play, that’s the system we’ve installed here. That’s not going to change, that’s true of right tackle, left tackle, receiver, d-tackle, linebacker. Best guys are going to play, and the guys that practice best get to play.”
On what he saw from Demello Jones watching film...
“He did some good things. He, as the game went on, he got his hands on people, was able to play. Had some contested, I don’t want to call them contested catches, contested breakups that were big in terms of gaining confidence and strength. He tackled a couple times well, and showed up on crack, crack places. They had a couple gimmicks where they tried to trick him, and he saw it. So he did some good things, but he can improve a lot. We think he’s a good player. He’s going to give us some skill set that maybe we can use some other places on our defense, and hope he continues to work really hard and grow.”
On the pass rush getting better compared to what Alabama did...
“Yeah, it was a great balance. I mean, that’s the part of the game that you look back on, and I go, you know what? We executed at a high level. Like, we did not have a lack of execution on third in. We had one where we checked, and they checked, and we checked, and they checked, and we didn’t quite get lined up right. It was a front issue, not a coverage issue. And when you play in a home environment, you go back and say, okay, is there a lack of execution? No, there wasn’t a lack of execution. There was really good execution in a high-level quarterback play. Give him a lot of credit. Shake his hand and say he did a great job. Ball came out before some of our rush got there. One time, we didn’t have our rush lanes right. Quarterback took off the first third down of the game. You know, it’s like, you can’t let them do that. You got to execute better in those situations. But some of it was really good quarterback play, really good timing, and give them credit, shake their hand, and go get better for the next one. So we got to find ways to affect the quarterback. But we had some in there that we executed, and they out-executed.”
On Elo Modozie...
“He’s getting better each and every week. He’s a guy that, you know, was not here for spring like our other guys, and he continues to grow and get better. His greatest attribute is his speed and his athleticism. We got to be able to use that more and give Q (Quintavius Johnson) some rest and continue to develop him. I think he knows that, and we got to find ways to get his skill set out there on the field.”
On managing the emotions coming off the Alabama loss...
“It’s called Kentucky, right? Like, we got to go play a really good football team, so I’m not concerned about it. I’m glad that they were affected and hurt. There’s a lot of college football teams right now that got teams that the kids don’t care. Like, when people hurt, you usually get a better response, right? You get a better mechanism of, like, buy-in or, like, doubling down on something, of, like, knowing who I am and knowing what I’ve got to work on. So, that part excites me to get to work today.”
On what he learned about his team...
“We can run the ball, and we can stop the run. Two things that we struggled with last year. So, we’ve got to continue to improve in those areas. We got to lean on those areas, but we got a lot of areas we got to get better at.”
On Kentucky’s offense...
“Physical. Their backs are physical. I mean, every time we play them, they’re offensive line. They have a defensive head coach, Coach Stoops, who believes in running the ball. And, like, they have really good run schemes, and they have really big physical guys, and their backs match their O-line in terms of size, both backs.”
On Nate Frazier and Chauncey Bowens...
“Yeah, they love each other, man. The fact that Nate was cheering and happy for Chauncey shows what kind of culture we built here. He was pumped for him, and he was crushed for himself. He’s upset and knows that he’s got things he’s got to work on. He’s got to continue to improve that. Nate’s not afraid of hard work. He’s not afraid to go out there and get to work and improve, and he’ll continue to do that. Look, you don’t get through this gauntlet of SEC games without having multiple backs and having guys ready, and I feel good about that room.”
On how consistency with the coaching staff was valued given it was going to be a young team...
“I don’t know. I mean, I’m glad that we got all the guys. I’m glad we have the continuity we have. I think it helps the offensive players and defensive players that returned or maybe the ones that were here last year that didn’t play, like a Q that were playing a lot of reps that I call sophomores. I think that continuity really helps them. I think it helps new guys that transfer in in terms of having a relationship with somebody, but we also made some really good additions. We’ve gotten great ideas and energy from guys that have been brought in, whether it’s from NFL ranks or college ranks, with (Jimmy) Brumbaugh and some other guys, so I feel great about our staff.”
On Noah Thomas...
“Noah’s been great, man. Noah’s another guy that is a culture winner for us. I mean, he competes so hard. He starts on special teams. He rolls in and plays with, well, sometimes with Colbie, but at the same position as Colbie, and he hasn’t gotten some of the breaks that Colbie has in terms of when he’s in the game, but he has a lot of the same similarities. We’ve had two or three shots that early in the year he would have hit, and he was wide open, but we had protection breakdowns. It just hadn’t happened, and he hasn’t pressed because of it. All he does is, what do we need to do to get better, coach? Tell me what we need to do to get better. What do I need to do to get better? And he continues to grow and buy into that, and when you have that kind of culture, it helps you win.”On Kyron Jones...
“Some good and some bad. Physicality has been good. That’s why he’s playing. He’s thick. He thumps when he hits. You know, he has knock-back tackles, and he plays physical, which is really important in that position because you’re going to get caught in positions where you’ve got to run and cover, and you’re going to get caught where you’ve got to go tackle, Jam (Miller), or a big back like Seth (McGowan), and you’re like, ooh, but he’s been able to do those. I need him to play with some more consistency in terms of eye control, and he knows that. He knows. I mean, that’s right now why he’s playing that other safety spot is he’s played more physical and tackled well, and we need to keep growing him. I mean, we need to keep getting him better.”
On how a loss furthers the leadership of a young team and what he anticipates to see from the leaders at practice...
“Well, just be themselves. I don’t see it any different than any week. I mean, our leaders lead, and our team follows the leadership of this team. It’s been great so far. I don’t expect it to change.”
On Zachariah Branch and how much differently defenses are playing him...
“It’s important he touches the ball. Like, I don’t really know how to answer that question because I don’t really fully understand the question. Are defenses changing how they play us? I think it’s hard because he’s all over the place. You know, he’s outside one time, he’s inside one time, he’s in motion one time, he gets handed the ball one time, he gets a screen one time. I mean, there’s a lot of different ways to move him around, and I think our offensive staff has done a tremendous job of trying to find ways to get him touches.
“It’s important to keep his durability up. He’s a punt returner, he’s a kickoff returner, and he’s a touch guy, and so we’ve got to be smart about how we get him the ball, when we get him the ball, and he’s got to take advantage of those, you know? There’s probably some missed ops for him, too, in the game that he has that he’s got to make. He’s got to capitalize on every opportunity he gets because he is an explosive player.”
On what he saw from Bo Hughley, Juan Gaston, and Dontrell Glover on Saturday...“Growing up. Growing up. You know, they all three have not played much. They’re all three improving. They’re very different. I mean, in terms of Juan and Bo, you couldn’t get two more different guys, but there’s a couple critical mistakes. Really, you know, the fourth-and-1 was a deal where they didn’t line up right. They’re completely bust. We’re going to walk in the end zone with the play call we’ve got, and we just have a guy not block a guy that he’s supposed to block.“But outside of some of that, they did a lot of good things, and that’s why I’m pleased and promised by, like, okay, went into the game not knowing about the right tackle position, came out of the game going, both guys, I mean, they did some good things. So I’m pleased with where it’s headed if they continue to get better.”
On if he worries about a sleepy start for a noon kickoff against Kentucky...“I worry about everything. I worry about everything. You know me? I worry about everything.”
On Mark Stoops’ longevity at Kentucky...“Man, it’s amazing. Mark’s one of my close friends. We’ve grown because we’ve been in it the longest together. He’s been in it longer than me. I text him all the time. It’s just really amazing what he’s done at Kentucky, and, you know, it’s one of those things that I hope they appreciate what he’s done because he’s, you know, done some incredible things, broken some records up there, been extremely competitive in our league, and that’s not necessarily by record. I mean, it is by record sometimes, but the games that he’s been in and the way they’ve played is incredible. You can tell he inspires his team to play extremely hard, and they’re always physical.
“I just have so much respect for Mark because of I know his history. We kind of grew up the same way. Coach’s son, defensive coordinator, been some good places, got a head job, and he’s worked his tail off.”
On lessons from last year when Georgia lost to Alabama and bounced back that are applicable this time around...
“Different year, different season. I mean, I think what’s applicable is that college football teams are going to have parity. Teams are going to play. So what’s going to separate teams is how they either fracture or don’t fracture or how their infrastructure is built to sustain losses, and we’re built for this. Like, we have infrastructure. We have plans. We know the pathway. So, you know, I’m excited to see where this team goes.”
On the impact of early three-and-outs...
“Yeah, how does it impact the game? Well, it impacts the first five minutes of it. The next five minutes are based on those five minutes, and then the next five minutes are based on those five minutes.
“Do you want to start fast? Absolutely. Do you want to start with three-and-out on defense? Hell yeah. Do you want to start with three-and-out on offense? Hell no. But, like, it is what it is. Like, how do you do it better? Maybe we change something up. Maybe we do something different. I mean, at the end of the day, I’m very confident in who we are. Like, the week before on offense we drove down and scored. You know, the two weeks prior on defense, it was bang, bang, bang, out, out, out. We didn’t even play 50 snaps. Now, our opponents weren’t great, but we still — we’ve done it both ways. So I don’t get caught up in that. I get caught up in process over results."
On when he noticed physicality becoming a core philosophy at Kentucky...
“Since their head coach was Mark Stoops.”
