ATHENS — Georgia football picked up its fourth win of the season, besting UAB 49-21.
Afterward, there was plenty for Kirby Smart to talk about. The Georgia coach spoke on the team’s injury situation, Carson Beck and much more. Below is the full transcript from what Smart said.
Opening Statement...
“I’m going to give a lot of credit to the fans. I thought fourth home game in a row, great environment. I wondered what the turnout would be, but the weather helped. It was rather electric down there on the field, especially at the start of the second half. I thought the atmosphere was really, really good for that.
Proud of the hunger the team showed. I thought we were really aggressive and played faster, especially on offense. Just looked to be in rhythm a lot better. Proud of those guys, six for six in the red area, did a lot of things better. Could have played better on defense. I give UAB a lot of credit. They did a good job. The offensive coordinator and offensive line coach are good friends of mine. They’re really good football coaches and had a good plan there. The score before the half probably hurt us the most.
I really was just proud of the way our guys played. Thought we got better this week. That’s the goal. Our hunger. Our theme for the week was ‘Be hungry, and hungry to get better.’ Not just hungry to go beat somebody, but hungry to get better. I did think the players tried to get better this week.”
On 100 games...
“I wish it was 100 for 100. Nah, we’re on to the next Chip. You know how that goes. It certainly takes an unbelieve organization, university, athletic department. President Morehead, Greg, Josh, all the guys that have been involved in this program make our job much easier by supporting us. The fans, the people that pay for the tickets and pay for the facilities, we wouldn’t have 85 wins out of 100 if we didn’t have the organization we have. The people I work with every day from Jonas Jennings to Bryant Gantt to Scott Sinclair, it’s just incredible. Couldn’t do that without all these people, including Claude.”
On red area turnaround...
“I think it just happens like that sometimes. I’d love to say it was a perfect call or perfect play, but you don’t ever really control it early in the year. There’s not enough opportunities to really measure it early in the year. I told the players, look guys, all it takes is 3-for-4, a 6-for-10 on third downs and then you flip the script because there’s not a lot of data. I thought we did that on offense tonight. 10-of-13 on third downs, six for six in the red area, that’ll get you well quick.”
On Carson Beck’s confidence...
“I’ve never seen his confidence not be there. He’s a confident kid. He’s got experience that brings confidence. He’s gotten experience, but he didn’t lack confidence. That’s just not in his DNA.”
On offensive line...
“Very similar to how they’ve been playing. I thought they were good. I thought they handled some pressure from the opposing defense and picked up some things. When you pick up pressure you can usually get some explosive plays, and that’s what led to several of those tonight, the ability to block people. If you can protect, you can make big plays.”
On Mykel Williams...
“He’s sick. Hope to get him back next week. Hate it because he’s a really good player, but he wasn’t able to play. We expect him to be back next week.”
On if he saw Brock Bowers getting the 2,000-yard mark...
“Not ‘til I saw him run and catch, then I could. That spring when he got here, he probably could acknowledge that might happen because he’s that kind of talent. I thought he had a really good night and deservedly so. He got the crowd into the game, got a lot of juice. He’s hard to tackle.”
On Eddie Gordon...
“Yeah, he’s incredible. I had to get in line. I couldn’t get a hug or handshake, it was 15 deep. A lot of respect for Eddie. Like I said earlier in the week, he’s one of those guys that you look at as a young coach and he held his own and he didn’t back away from being hard on the players. I think they respected that about Eddie. He stayed in the organization, got promoted through the organization and then got the opportunity to go out and do it on his own. That is what he is doing now. He has a bright career and a bright future in this business.”
On playing on the road against Auburn...
“I would not want to draw it up that way. I really believe in playing at a neutral site or getting a road game but there’s not a lot of control I have over that either. It will be one hell of an environment. They do an incredible job with their fan base. It’s one of the places I think I’ve coached there more than any other location outside of here and Tuscaloosa. Because I always went there here and I always went there there. It’s just an incredible environment. Their fan base is second to none. They’re believing and they’ve got a new coach and a new energy and they’re doing a really good job. It will be tough. We have to prepare that way and hope our players acknowledge that.”
On first impressions of Auburn...
“I don’t know if I can answer that fairly because I haven’t seen them. I don’t know that. I certainly have a lot of respect for Hugh. I know the coach he is, I know the motivator, the teacher he is. He gets the players to play really hard for him, they respect him and they buy in. They have an incredible staff. Those guys do a really good job.”
On the two-minute drive defense...
“A lot went wrong. Missed tackles. We didn’t communicate well. Bad eye control. What’s sad is Schumann and the defensive staff does a great job before the game of scripting plays It’s about a 70-play walkthrough we do and they hit on almost every one of them. They out-executed us. Just at the end of the day, they did their job and we didn’t do our job as good. We had two chances for sacks and we just missed him them. We didn’t finish on the quarterback. He was a big thick kid, thick lowers. A couple of times, I think we were a little too timid. We didn’t want to rough the passer, hit somebody late. Get him on the ground. We missed those opportunities. You do that and they don’t sustain drives.”
On Javon Bullard...
“It’s hard not having him out there. He’s a good player. He’s a field general, he’s a communicator. I don’t know that we’ve had to adjust with him not being out there. You can’t adjust. Your defense is your defense. You don’t like to change your defense because Javon is not out there. You have to plug and play. Dan (Jackson) and David Daniel have both stepped up and play. You can’t cry about it. You have to put your big boy pants on and play.”
On the defense playing up to the standard...
“Spurts. I really thought the offense didn’t play to the standard tonight. It would be hard to argue they didn’t. The defense played in spurts. It was the closest we came to the standard. Not domination or not what we want but it was much better in spurts and the standard was there.”
On the offensive identity...
“Explosive. Get after it. The ability to run and pass. The ability to move the pocket. I feel like we are. I told yall all along I’m very pleased with the practice the organization, the plans, what they do, it’s been good. It’s been great. I got no complaints, I just wish we were healthier. I don’t think people acknowledge the difference in Darnell, Kenny, Roderick. There’s a lot of dudes, Ladd, Kendall, not out there. There’s a lot people missing. These guys they don’t stop and complain and whine about it. They find a way. As a coach, you have to be agile, mobile and flexible. And that’s what we had to do.”
On the 4th down attempt in the first half…
“Just feel like that situation, we’ve got as good a chance of, analytics would say 85 percent and maybe the field goal’s 85 percent. So why not go for the four more points?”
On being pass-heavy with running backs out….
“I don’t know if that had to do with it. I feel good about Daijun, Dillon, Cash, and Andrew. I think it was more about how we wanted to start and what we wanted to do and what the defense gives you.”
On the explanation on the defensive penalty where it looked like UAB jumped but it was called on Georgia…
“They said we were simulating a snap count…. Yeah, that’s what they called. It’s really deep and complicated. I’d rather not have to get into it and do all that.”
On injuries…
“The only update is they weren’t available today. I’m hopeful to get them back. I don’t know what to tell you. Kendall was not like a game-time decision. We didn’t feel like he was healthy enough to go. Will he be back, I don’t know. Ladd, he’s been running this week. He’s been cutting. He got to run today and work out this morning, do some things. He’s been in a black shirt. We’re hopeful.”
On if he watched any of the Oregon/Colorado game earlier and if he’ll talk to Dan Lanning…
“No. I haven’t seen any of the other games other than what was on the screen of ours. I haven’t seen anything.”
On the importance of having guys like Bowers and Rosemy-Jacksaint helping a guy like Carson…
“Well it’s not just Brock and Marcus, it’s everybody. It’s everybody. Oscar Delp has been invaluable. He’s been healthy, number one, and he worked really hard to improve. He’s improved his blocking skills. Not being healthy at that position has been tough. Wideouts have been in and out, in and out, in and out. Marcus didn’t practice all week and just got cleared barely for the game or we were going to be without him. I look at it as there were six starters that were out today and probably six twos. It is what it is. We’ve got to do a good job and adjust to it. I’m not going to sit here and cry about it. There’s other teams in the SEC that’s got the same problem.”
On running the ball in the red zone…
“Yeah, I don’t know. I think we did. I don’t know how many were rushes and how many were throws. I guess he had three touchdown passes but I don’t know how many of those came from the red area. It seems like we ran it better. We kept people off balance. Usually, the equation is if 19 touches the ball, good things happen.”
On surpassing names like Saban, Bryant, etc with 85 wins in 100 games…
“That’s pretty steep company when you start talking about those people. I probably had an easier schedule.”
On opposing teams bringing pressure against Georgia and if it’s those teams’ identities or something UGA will face a lot...
“Yeah, I think it’s a little uptick. I think South Carolina probably did about as much as they do, to be honest. They were a pressure team. These guys probably copied some of that. They did a little more than they normally do. Hey, I’m all about it, you know what I mean? Like, there’s nobody that works as hard as we do in the country at picking it up. If you pick it up, there’s explosives out there. We’ve got to be able to do that.”
On the immediate boost that came with Carson hitting Dominic Lovett on the first play...
“I think it’s great. It was awesome. I wish that we had hit the other ones that were there. You know, we had several others that we left on the field. We work really hard on those plays, and you know? It’s going to come together. It’s just a matter of when. We work really hard on those explosives. Right now in the SEC the most unique stat there is is plus-or-minus ratio on explosives versus plus-or-minus ratio on turnovers. You would think turnovers are a greater indicators, but explosives are greater indicators of win-loss — of how much more you’re explosive than your opponent. So we’ve got to find ways to be explosive.”
On if there’s anything more harmful than special teams turnovers...
“Any turnovers. Like, what’s the difference in a special teams turnover and an offensive turnover? Like, turnovers are awful and harmful. I feel like there’s just an uncanny emphasis on getting the ball off people on special teams and defense. When you continue to not get it — like we had one tonight and we just didn’t get it. But we had two on special teams that were just, you know, costly. You can’t do that in our league and win games. So we better fix it.”
On how close Lawson Luckie was to returning...
“Yeah, I don’t know how close he is. The clearance was like, OK, he’s back, he’s running, he’s doing routes on air, he’s in a black jersey, he hasn’t hit anybody. Alright, tonight we’ll take another step. He ran this morning hard. I mean, we want to get him ready. We’re hopeful he’s ready to go, but it’s also, man, he has not practiced football in six weeks. So that’s hard.”
On how tough Ladd not being able to play has been on him...
“He’s right out there, man. This dude is, like, on the sideline right by me, high-fiving me, talking to the players. I mean, he is a gym rat to the word. It’s killing him not to be out there, and I can only imagine if that’s my, I forget what year it is for him, third or fourth year in the program and you’re just not able to go out there and help. It’s all he wants to do. That’s been hard on him. Hopefully he gets healthy enough to help us.”
On what he saw from the young QBs...
“You know, I wanted to be able to do more with those guys and go out there and play, but with the injury situation in any other year we’d be out there like playing, you know, being aggressive, playing and running the offense. But it’s like, ‘Well, I can’t put him in. I can’t put him in because he’s the only guy I got. He’s the only guy I got. If I lose him, I don’t have anybody.’ So you’re trying to make a decision as a coach of do I get to develop the quarterback and leave the twos in or that kid may have to play next week. So that’s frustrating that we don’t get to go out there and do more with them, but I thought Brock had a good drive in there. Gunner, a tough situation out there on the bootleg. He was going to make a nice run with the draw.”
On how much more dangerous explosive plays make the offense...
“Yeah, if they’re clicking on all cylinders. I think we’ve got a good defense. I don’t know if it’s great, but we’ve got a good defense and there were times this fall camp that we struggled, that they were explosive and they were getting after it. And when they’re in the rhythm, they’re good, you know? Now, we also rolled some eggs out there and not looked real good at times. And I know what they have the potential to be. It’s will they realize that and execute at a high level?”
On what he said to Warren Brinson walking onto the field pregame...
“Well he got an opportunity, and I think he started tonight. I’m not sure. I told him that he had earned it and that he should go out and play with confidence because he’s been in this program a long time and he works really hard. I’ve been really proud of his work ethic. His work ethic has gotten so much better. I just told him, ‘Hey man, you earned this. Go enjoy it.’”
