ATHENS — Saturday was a longer day than any Georgia partisans could’ve anticipated.
A rain delay extended the afternoon, which was not all that impressive considering Georgia slogged its way to a 28-6 win over Austin Peay.
Below is a full transcript of what Smart had to say.
Everything Georgia football coach Kirby Smart after Bulldogs battle Austin Peay
Opening statement...
“Yeah, I want to first thank our fans for being able to adjust on the fly like we had to do today, but especially thank you for the fans that stuck around after the rain delay. I thought there was a lot of energy for the stadium, you know, not being full after the rain delay. But the energy in the stands was awesome. That was a big momentum play when we came back out for the second half to go three-and-out on defense, and then march down the score on offense. I felt a little energy and enthusiasm in the stadium, and that was huge for us in terms of this game, so I appreciate that during tough times in the weather.
“Congratulations to Austin Peay. They’ve got a good football team, and for us, it’s on to the next. So we’ll open it up.”
On the way Chauncey Bowens ran the ball...
“Really physical. I thought he got yards after contact. He was running violently. He’s got really good power in his lower body. He runs behind his pads, you know? We’ve noticed that all camp. He’s broken a lot of tackles. I thought he had a little more burst and spring in his step today, and he got yards after contact, which is big for us.”
On Dwight Phillips Jr...
“He grows. He gets better, you know? He’s continuing to develop, get size and strength. He’s got to get a little more size and strength to run behind his pads. He seems more electric. You hold your breath when he comes in there because you’re glad he can break out any time, but then when he’s running east and west, sideways, he’s got to cut it up and go somewhere. He had a couple of runs where we ended up not getting anything out of it, and they weren’t great runs. They weren’t well blocked. But I’d like to see him get vertical and get the ball back to the line of scrimmage. But really pleased with Dwight and just excited for him because he works so hard every day.”
On what he needs to see from Gunner in terms of confidence during practice...
“Well, I actually need to see what he does in practice in the game. That’s the biggest thing because we take a lot of periods. We took a lot of periods last week to do throwing periods with rush and pressure-pass periods. You know, where you have to play in the pocket and win things in the pocket. So we did a lot of that last week in practice. A lot of play-action shots, working — we’re trying to add up and do things. So he did a really nice job of those things all week. He’s just got to continue to grow, get better at that, and get comfortable with it.”
On what kind of impact offensive line injuries had with the offense struggling...
“I mean, I don’t want to lean on that. I mean, we’ve had injuries every year we’ve been here, right? I don’t run from injuries. We’re certainly not who we need to be with Earnest out, Juan being out as a factor. But, I mean, it’s not like — I mean, Juan wasn’t here last year. Earnest has played more football. But it’s the moving parts right now, you know? The guy’s bouncing around. This guy’s here. This guy’s there. But that’s part of it. When you have injuries, you’ve got to have a guy step up and be ready to play.”
On what disappointed him the most about the two-minute drive before half...
“What disappointed me the most is the fact we didn’t score. Which play, I guess you’re asking?”
On which play, specifically...
“There was, like, five plays that were within inches, right? So, like, they did an unbelievable job managing the clock with one timeout to get it there, and then I forget what play got us to that spot, but then it was three plays where we actually had either a run or a pass completion that didn’t get in. So, like, any one of those gets in or – I mean, they actually helped us by calling a timeout because we’re going to clock it and we’re going to lose a down. They call a timeout, they give us another down. And we get the extra down and we don’t cash it in. And then we get another down because of a penalty, and we don’t cash it in, we don’t cash it in.
“You know, looking back, I probably wish we would have ran the ball earlier. But the thought was that you don’t run it when you don’t have a timeout, you know, until the end. And we didn’t have a timeout. So, it was disappointing. And give them credit. The best part is it created a little adversity for us, so I’m glad we had some.”
On an update on Ethan Barbour...
“Yeah, it was a tough ankle injury. I’m not sure. I mean, it was a bad deal. I don’t know what the progress is going to be or how long, but it was a tough one to see right there, especially on the last play of the half.”
On what Georgia did at halftime to keep the team engaged...
“Yeah, it probably was more what we didn’t do. You know, we had a plan of we’re going to come in there, got the iPads, got the TVs. And I was like, guys, we can overdo this. So, we went in and jumped right on it. And then once we realized, hey, the forecast said it’s going to be a while, we took the pads off. We took the cleats off. We shut it down. We let guys go back to their peace, quiet, sit there, and treated it like a new game when we came back. And didn’t try to coach them the entire time. Didn’t try to just sit over the top of them. And we had a good 20-minute conversation when we knew we were going back. And then we warmed up and went out there. But the energy helped us more than anything. I think the rest helped our guys energize a little bit, too. It was hot that first half, so it was what I call slop ball. When I get some scrimmages, it was just sloppy. Guys can’t run. Guys look bad. And you think that you’ve got to be in shape. There’s only so long you can play in the wet bowl of that temperature.
On Dontrell Glover...
“Yeah, I wish he’d come in here because he’s been a blessing. He loves the game. He’s passionate about it. Very naturally instinctive. You can tell he’s well-coached in high school. He does a good job. He’s earned the opportunities with some of the injuries to get in there. He’s made the most of them. I’ll reserve judgment on this game because I don’t really know how he played. But he’s done a good job in practices.
On what he wants to see from the offensive line moving forward...
“Well, they ran the ball really well. We had a 99-yard drive where I don’t know that we threw the ball outside of an RPO once. I mean, so they overpowered a group they should overpower. But as far as gelling, I mean, it’s more communication, execution. They had slip up at pass pro, slip up with a guard, let them run through and get Gunner on an RPO. I mean, a couple mishaps that we have to overcome. But we’ve got to find ways to be explosive. I mean, you’ve got to be able to throw the ball downfield and take shots. And that’s probably the toughest thing that I’ve been most disappointed in.”
On if Gunner Stockton is lacking confidence in taking shots down the field...
“I don’t think he – I mean, he does everything in practice. He does a great job of it. It’s more about how people are playing us right now. And there;s two weeks in a row, wgere there’s just a ton of cushion. I talked to you all about it before. If people want to play like that, you’ve got to take what they give you. And we had some really easy throws. And, you know, we call it an extension of the run game. When you play in our league, those aren’t there. Nobody’s giving you that. So, if they don’t give you that, then you’ve got a chance to hit your shots. And it’ll be interesting to see as people creep up in our league or be able to throw it beyond them.
On Ellis Robinson’s interception...
“Yeah, it’s great. It’s a good play. I mean, I think that’s a – it’s always a guy’s instinct. When the ball’s in the air, can you go catch it? It’s a great play for him.”
On Daylen Everette...
“He had a really big play on the goal line fade to extend that goal line stop before they flipped the quarter. He had a really nice play down there. He’s playing well. He’s a leader. We need him to play well. He plays a lot of times into the boundary. And it’s good to have his confidence back out there.
On the late goal line stands...
“It helps. I mean, any red zone stop is huge, right? I mean, that was a four-play sequence, I guess, or something like that, where they got down there and, you know, they’re not in until they’re in is our saying, they’re not in until they’re in. And we’re not going to let anybody in our end zone for free. The best defense I’ve ever been around will not allow you to run the ball in. You have to force people to throw the ball to score. And that’s hard to do down in those tight quarters.
On if he felt like Gunner got rattled at all in the second quarter..
“No. I mean, if you’re talking about the second quarter, there was nothing there. There was, I mean, threw a pass to Zach Branch, Dillon Bell didn’t block a guy. Threw a ball to Dillon Bell and it got tipped in the line. Had a great drive in the second quarter, the two-minute drive. I mean, he had two drops on the plays that he sprinted out and threw a little behind Cash, and then a little speed out to Branch that, I don’t know if a guy tipped it or not, so I don’t know if it was a drop, but those were all good plays by him. So there’s nothing in that window that you say is calls for concern or anything. I’m pleased with where he’s at. I want him to have confidence in the pocket and make some throws.”
On how challengi
ng today was with moving up the game and then the delay..
“No, we just say be the best at adjusting. We do this every Saturday. We go eat a meal at 10 and practice at 12, so today it was eat a meal at 11:30 and play at 2:30. It was three hours instead of four. We say all the time that if it changes, we want to be the best at being able to change. So we have a plan in place. We execute the plan. Everybody has confidence in it. You communicate the plan. You go out and do it. It happens on the battlefield all the time, so you have to do those things.”
On Brett Thorson in his first game back from injury...
“Yeah, he had the really good pooch. I think that was his pooch. He did a nice job. One of his points was a little flat. It didn’t have the same hang, but he’s been punting the ball well in practice. He felt good enough to go.”
On Nate Frazier early in the season...
“Been great. I mean, the biggest thing is ball security, right? You’ve got to protect the ball. You’ve got to be smart with the ball. You’ve got to run through contact, see things, but he works his tail off. That’s all you can ask. I’m not sitting here and criticizing. There’s holes sometimes there that he misses, but then other times he runs right through contact, breaks tackles. He plays with very good effort for us. I love the way Nate competes and he cares about his teammates. All those backs, they love doing it by committee.”
On how ready he feels the team is to begin SEC play...
“We’ll find out. That’s for sure. You know what I mean? It’s a different demeanor when you go on the road in the SEC, especially when you have not been on the road. Study the stats on that. You ain’t been on the road and your first road game’s in the SEC. We had that a couple years ago at Auburn. It’s always an adventure. We’ve been preparing for that, knowing that all along it’s going to be different when you go up there. You’ve got to be prepared for it. You’ve got to have confidence in your plan. You’ve got to go execute as a unit. It’s not you against 100,000. It’s you against 11-11.”
On if they do anything different with Gunner before playing on the road...
“We do that every week. I don’t question Gunner’s confidence in throwing the ball from the pocket. He does it every practice. So, we’ll see him carry it over to the game and play like he does in practice in the game. A lot of that comes through the protection he gets in front of him. So, protect well. You’ll get the completion you need.”
On Colbie Young...
“Yeah, it’s great. Again, most of those were short, intermediate, RPO-type throws. And again, those will change as we play other people. He’s a contested catch guy. He’s a big guy. He’s a weapon on the perimeter blocking. He’s a weapon to tackle. So, he’s hard to get down on the ground. I’m really proud of his energy and his enthusiasm, the way he leads and his personality. The team takes on his personality.”
On some early pass-protection issues...
“Well, it’s more about run game and play action. When you have a play action, you’re accounting for four down or three down, and then you’ve got add-ins. And everybody’s got to to have their eyes in the right spot for add-ins because you don’t always get run-throughs. It’s not pressures. It’s somebody’s trying to stop the run. If people try to really sell out and stop the run, sometimes they just keep on coming. And we’ve got to do a good job picking them up. That should help on your overs and your play action because there’s nobody in the underneath coverage.. (word I didn’t understand). But they’re getting home before we can get it protected. And we’ve got to shear that up because that’s an identity of who we are for the last three or four years. We’ve been really good at play action and shots and overs and 15-, 20-yard passing game. We’ve got to improve that.”
