ATHENS — In what was a surprise to many, Vanderbilt did not play quarterback Jared Curtis on Saturday.
The 5-star quarterback, who twice committed to Georgia before ultimately signing with Vanderbilt, sat out Saturday’s game due to a knee bruise. He had been listed as a game-time decision before Saturday’s game.
After the game, Kirby Smart spoke about how things changed when Curtis did not play.
“They did the same thing,” Smart said of the Vanderbilt offense. “I mean, there’s not a big difference. The guy’s a little more experienced, a good athlete. They shift-motion a little more with the old kid than they do with Jared, but not a lot different.”
Curtis wasn’t the only talking point for Smart, who touched on a number of areas in Georgia’s 38-14 win over Vanderbilt.
Below is a full transcript of his remarks.
Kirby Smart responds to Vanderbilt not playing Jared Curtis
Opening statement...
“Yeah, I thought it was a great atmosphere out there today. A little warmer than we probably anticipated. I think the fans felt that way, too. But our guys pushed through. I think to play well in this conference, you gotta be able to take as many punches as you give, and I thought our guys really responded well.
“We really needed this kind of game — tough, physical, hard fought. Punch, punch back, punch, punch back because that’s how you play in the SEC. So I was proud of our guys for that. Probably played the most complete game we’ve played so far in terms of all the way around and responded well in the second half.
“And I thought Gunner did an outstanding job in execution. Played probably his best game. A really physical game. A lot of respect to Vanderbilt. They had a good game plan and did a nice job shrinking the game. And I have a lot of respect for their program and what they did so far.”
On the conversation at halftime with the defense...
“Same as it’s been the last four games: Going over adjustments, going over what they’ve done well, what we haven’t done well, and making adjustments. Just exactly like we did in the previous four games.”
On any adjustments with Vanderbilt not playing Jared Curtis...
“No, they did the same thing. I mean, there’s not a big difference. The guy’s a little more experienced, a good athlete. They shift-motion a little more with the old kid than they do with Jared, but not a lot different.”
On facing more adversity...
“Yeah, it’s all about how you respond to it, right? So we get adversity every Monday through Friday, and I think that’s important to creating our DNA. We’ve got to really physically see it with the heat and the toughness and trying to be in shape. Really proud of the guys in the second half to respond and show their conditioning well.”
On the third-down defense in the first half...
“It was not great. It was not great in the second half, but it’s a lot of things we can do to improve. But at the end of the day, you know, you gotta have an identity on third down. They did a good job executing on third down, mixed cadence, did a good job of that.
“And another thing: You don’t trick teams this league, you know? You gotta go out and play them, and they executed at a pretty good level. In some cases, we did, and in some cases, we didn’t.”
On his vision of this team through five games and where Georgia is now...
“Yeah, I don’t know that I had a vision for game five. The vision changes every week. Where are we now, and where do we need to head, and each week we reassess that. So to look at it from beginning to now, sure, I’d like to say we’re lucky to be 5-0, right? I’d like to say that we’re operating on all cylinders. I’d like to be healthy. There’s visions of all these things, but they change. You know, you have injuries, you’ve got guys in the game, out of the game. Your team changes, adapts. You’re better at this than you are at that.
“I’m very pleased with where we are. We have to get better, but honestly, I don’t know a team in this league that doesn’t have to get better.”
On Landon Roldan’s big first half...
“Yeah, he’s doing great. He’s really smart, bright kid. Understands defenses and coverages, has speed, can compete to win the deep ball. Really proud of Landon, especially with his special teams prowess and the things he’s been able to do there. But he made some plays today.”
On Mike Bobo’s reaction when Gunner Stockton passed him for career passing touchdowns...
“Is there an assumption that Mike knew that? So Mike’s listening to the broadcast? I don’t know that Mike [knew that]. He was celebrating because he’s happy. I mean, they’ve done a tremendous job offensively, guys. They’re executing at a high level, they’re hard to defend. They’ve got multiple personnel groupings, believe in running the ball, believe in being physical, and got an experienced quarterback. So those things allow you to be aggressive, be explosive, and do good things. I’m proud of what they’ve been able to do.”
On how he keeps this coming week normal looking ahead to Alabama...
“I don’t know. I mean, it’s the next week in the SEC, guys. Guess what? Week after that one, there’s another week. I mean, they’re all big. There’s not one that’s not big. This one’s big. Wasn’t big to y’all. It’s big to us because I have respect. That team never quits. I mean, there’s teams that were up on them. They came back. I mean, I’m enjoying this victory, and then we’re going to turn the page tomorrow. Come Sunday, we’re going to turn the page on that one. Like, that’s what we do. We’re really consistent in our approach to things. Let y’all deal with the highs and lows.”
On if he remembers a time in his coaching career where his starters haven’t played a full game this deep into the season…
“No, I mean, I thought we played a full game today. I mean, there’s one or two possessions that are at the end. We played much more than a full game when you take into account the heat and the snaps. There was a lot of physicality in that game, long drives, clock-eating drives. So not really concerned with that part, conditioning that whole group, we’ve got good conditioning.”
On if the plan was to play Nate Frazier and how he’s feeling...
“The plan was to play him if we needed to, and Chauncey was a little banged up, and that was the scenario we thought we’d use him in. He went some. He probably could’ve continued to play, but elected not to play him as we scored, and they did some things. Hopefully he’ll continue to get better. We knew he would improve. Every time that he doesn’t have to go out there, he gets closer to 100 percent.”
On what Dwight Phillips brings to the passing game...
“Dwight’s awesome. Dwight’s great. He’s a great kid to be around, a joy to be with. Like I talked about, everybody’s trying to find ways to get touches, and he capitalized on a lot of his moments today when he had a chance. That’s what part of being a good player is. You take advantage of the opportunities you’re presented with. He’s done that.”
On how the secondary played today...
“I thought they played good. I thought, when you go in one-on-one situations, you’re not going to win them all. You can’t gift them PIs, and we had two of those, and those were gifts. But look, this league is becoming closer to the NFL. They’re calling things tighter, and there’s more PIs called each and every year, and they’re calling it more tight. They made more plays than we did. But it wasn’t like there was a bust or a lack of technique on those 50-50 balls. We’ve just got to play them better.”
On what having a corner like Ellis allows him to do with the secondary...
“Nothing. I think that’s a misnomer that we’ve got this corner, so we’re going to put everybody on the other side. If they’re on the other side, they’re going to throw at Ellis. There’s no such thing as a lockdown corner, where we’re going to play six people on the other side. That’s a farce.”
Injury updates on Isiah Canion and Thomas Blackshear...
“Isiah wasn’t able to go today. Blackshear was banged up. I’m not sure how bad it is. Shoulder.”
On the offense’s ability to hold the ball in the second half...
“Yeah, I talk about it all the time. We’re a very efficient offense. We wear you down. It’s the Anaconda effect, pound you, hit you sideways, shots. A lot of different offensive plays, formations, and conversions. We had some big third down conversions. Those drives were the difference in the game. I think the heat took its toll on them, we were able to stay fresh on defense. It was a time of possession-type third quarter. Those two long drives, it makes it really hard on their defense, but it really helps our defense.”
On how important it was to have a complete game at this point in the season...
“Yeah, it’s gonna be important this week, the next week, the next week, the next week, the next week. So, we’ve got to get better. Whether it’s a complete game or an incomplete game, we’ve got to find a way to win. When you go against really good players, really good teams, you don’t beat yourself. The dogs are not supposed to beat the dogs. If we can out-execute people, not beat ourselves, then we’re going to be in every game we play. We’ve just got to play well and finish.”
On Gunner Stockton having a strong day...
“Great game plan, great coaches, and a great kid. A kid who works really hard, great protection. I thought our offensive line played really well today. The Vanderbilt presents a lot of problems defensively, and they brought some guys in unorthodox positions. They had some timely pressure calls. Gunner took advantage of those, and he didn’t make the catastrophic mistake. The close one there on the almost safety touchdown plays, not like he had no way to get out of that. He had nothing he could do, and he’s still saved us.”
On the run defense in the SEC...
“It wasn’t great today. It wasn’t great today. We didn’t play the run well, and I can’t say that it was all on the kids every play. We had some tough calls for them, and they thought their offense was in the right call a couple of fronts that hurt us, and then a couples times we just didn’t do our job. But I didn’t think we tackled as well defensively today. I think a lot of that had to do with Vandy’s willingness to hit the dirty yards. They played physical.”
On running the ball without Nate...
“We have good backs. We had good backs, we had good coaches, good schemes. Look, we’re gonna get whipped sometime too, but we’re gonna keep coming at you and throwing blows, like I said. You’re gonna take some blows, and you’re gonna get some. If we keep our quarterback upright, we don’t give up lost yardage plays, and we stay on schedule, and we can be efficient.”
On Georgia having the most defensive-ready players based on the NFC North...
“It says we probably know the most NFC North GMs and coaches in terms of those guys, and we don’t have any alums in there, so I don’t think it’s that. Doesn’t really matter. At the end of the day it’s what do you do with what you got.”
On Vanderbilt wide receiver Junior Sherrill being so productive...
“Yeah, he’s a really good football player. We saw that on tape. They do a really nice job of pitching to you. They keep things changed up, and they’re not as traditional.”
On Jordan Hall’s blocked field goal...
“So proud of him, and he plays with so much effort. He’s one of our inspiration leaders. It matters to him. He cares, and he chose to come here from out of state, and he plays really hard, and leads really hard, and I’m just glad he got his finger on that.”
On Whit Muschamp getting in for Vanderbilt...
“Yeah, there’s so much respect for him and his family, his mom, dad, one of our best, my best friends, and basically lived with him when I was in Valdosta, and just have so much respect for him. Even his brother Jackson played for us. Whit’s one of the toughest kids who grew up as a coach’s kid, just like I did. He’s got thick skin. He’s been through the ups and downs as a player and a coach’s kid, and that’s hard when you live in four and five different cities, and people say stuff about your dad, and his dad’s one of the best men there is in terms of being a friend and being a coach. Players love playing for his dad and Whit’s the same way. I mean, you ask every kid on the Vanderbilt of his team, they love Whit, and they love what he stands for.”
On the secret of being prepared every week...
“Do what we do. We have a process that we really feel good about. And we take time to really drive home what our purpose is each week. And we don’t vary very far from what we think we need to do. And the buy-in of the kids for just what you said, everybody in the country’s trying to stay focused each week. We just try to sell it, that it’s not about who we play. It’s really not. It’s about how we can do it better.”
On the officiating decisions on the near Gunner Stockton safety and the fourth-down overturn...
“I don’t know what you mean in terms of what do I make of it. I mean, that’s the official’s job to do that. I don’t, the last thing I do is judge officials, because I don’t even understand how, when they shank a punt, they figure out what yard line it’s on. I ask the guy in 15 minutes about how they do that. That’s their job, and our job is to respond to what happens, not judge it.”
