Georgia Bulldogs QB Stetson Bennett: "The Gators Are Force to be Reckoned With"
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ATHENS - Stetson Bennett and the No. 1 Georgia Bulldogs are heading into the most-anticipated matchup of each season against the Florida Gators.
Stetson Bennett on growing up in South Georgia and what the Florida game mean to him
“Yeah, for me it was a little bit closer to home down there, you know? I don’t know exactly how far we were to Gainesville. I only went once. But, it seemed like there were more Florida fans, so it was more rivalries between households — you know, talk smack. So yeah, I’d say I grew up with a little bit more of a proximity to the game.”
Bennett on the Georgia-Florida rivalry now that he’s played in it
“Yeah, well, I don’t know. I can tell you that it’s hard to get a feel for how much the players care and feel about the rivalry until you play in it. And, you know, you can throw out the records or whatever you want to out the window more so than probably any other game on our schedule when we go down there and play Florida. I think Coach Napier has built a good program. I loved him whenever he was at Louisiana. They’re always going to be a force to be reckoned with down there.”
Bennett on how tight ends have made a comeback in football
“Well, first of all, it hides — it mellows out a defense because it tells them that you could run the ball, so they’re going to blitz a little bit less. You know, they’ve probably got a little bit more of a bland game plan in 12 personnel if you have two tight ends. And then if they go in their nickel package and you can run the ball, and you’ve got a weight advantage. And when you’ve got guys who are as big as these guys are and can move, then what are you going to do? Are you going to put a smaller guy on them to move with them, or you can put a bigger guy on them who may not be able to move with them. They just create mismatches, and when you play clean football [inaudible because Jordan almost choked to death on his own spit]. I think we’ve got some of the best.”
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Stetson Bennett on Nolan Smith’s comments about him last year after Florida game, what Smith means to the team
“I think, Nolan doesn’t hesitate to say his piece. He’s consistent with what he thinks. There’s never been a question for me, where he’s stood. We struggled a little bit and the defense had our back that game. Then for him to come out and just say, hey, I’m… whatever. It puts that to bed and makes me love the guy. Like all right, that’s my teammate, he’s there, he’s for me, he’s ride or die, that’s my guy. He is our vocal leader. He says stuff, people listen. He talks smack at practice and runs around. We try to give it back to him whenever we’re playing against each other. I think he adds a little levity, I don’t know, maybe that’s the right word, to the whole team, makes us laugh and have a good time.”
Bennett on what AD Mitchell brings to the offense
“He’s one of the best receivers in the country, if not the best. I’ve got an immense amount of trust in him. What he does, what he brings to the table from a ball skills standpoint, twitch standpoint, strength, physicality, blocking, route running. We’ve missed him. I hope we get him back.”
Bennett on adjustments that they made during the bye week
“Just practice, just getting after it, being critical of ourselves and listening to corrections. It’s always been said that a player-led team versus a coach-led team is better. I think that’s because you keep guys accountable. It’s easier to talk to them, it’s easier to get people to do things the right way. I think that’s what we’ve got. It’s not just the coaches telling us that we need to fix things. It’s us going in the film room after practice, before practice, looking up script, knowing what we have to do and then when we don’t do it, we go fix it. I think that’s a sign of maturity. I think we did a good job of it over the bye week.”
Stetson Bennett on Kirby Smart’s motivational methods
“I love it. I love a little fire. If he doesn’t like that, he’ll get after you, but it comes from the standpoint of wanting the best for the team. So when you put it that way – I heard somebody call it an emotional bank. You put in deposits and you can pull it out whenever he gets after us. But as far as motivation, I love him. He’s one of the best I’ve ever heard. He gets us fired up in his own little special way, and it makes you ready to play football.”
Bennett on only throwing one interception so far this season
“You trust your guys to make plays, but when they’re not there, you throw it away or you check it down. It’s a mixture of being smarter with the ball, more careful with the ball but also just knowing your receivers and knowing what throws you can make as well. If you need a play and feel like you can make the play, then do it, but not if you’re going to put the offense, the team in a dangerous position.”
Bennet on his relationship with Billy Napier who recruited him to Louisiana-Lafayette where he was committed before coming to Georgia in 2019
“It was extremely hard. There were a few schools like that. Them and Samford. I just love Hatch. He was my high school coach’s quarterback in college so there’s a good relationship there. I knew the offense pretty well. But yeah, it was a tough phone call. I’m sure he had to make those same phone calls when he had to go to Florida. That’s just this game. You make your decisions, you let them know, they say alright, you say alright and smile the next time you see them.”
Stetson Bennett on where he wants the Georgia-Florida game to be played
“You know, the grass is always greener. It would be cool to play in Gainesville. It’s hard to say, I don’t really know what it would mean for Jacksonville, Athens, Gainesville, this city and all that stuff. It would be cool to play down there. As far as permanently, I don’t know.”
Bennet on it being his last Georgia-Florida and thinking about it
“No. No, I really haven’t, and I probably won’t either.”
Bennett on injuring his shoulder against Florida in 2020 and how it is feeling this season
“A couple of years ago we got smoked. Slid the protection left and they came from the right. That was the play that me and Marcus got hurt. We were rolling, that was a tough injury, tough touchdown play was what that was. As far as this year, I got a little banged up against Missouri, it got hit a little bit. Auburn a little shaky. Going into Vandy it felt like I was healing up a bit and i feel better now. Bye week helped out. I’ll try not to do that this year because I thought I snapped my collarbone in half. It hurt so bad.”
Stetson Bennett on how Kirby Smart has grown as a coach
“I don’t want to say I’ve seen him grow as a head coach. It’s mainly been me getting better, me maturing more. And then him I imagine him trusting me a little more in the offense and then we can have those talks. I think that’s where that comes from. He’s the same guy.”
The Georgia Bulldogs WIN the 2021 NATIONAL TITLE!
Check out DAWGSTRUCTION NOW!