UGA Football Coach Kirby Smart Details "Really Good" Practice
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ATHENS - UGA football head coach Kirby Smart spoke with the media Tuesday evening after practice and offered the following comments.
According to FanDuel, the Bulldogs still have excellent +220 odds to win the national championship for the third consecutive season.
On how practice this week has been...
"I thought it was a really good Monday and I thought it was really good today. I've been very pleased. We probably got a little blessed by the weather today, it was not as hot as I was expecting it to be. It was overcast, but we were able to go outside the whole time. Pretty good humidity, guys worked hard out there and had good spirits and good tempo. I think we challenged them to have a better week of practice. So far we've done that, but we've only done two of the four."
On recruiting for the defensive line based on opposing quarterback play...
"No because to win football games you can't throw the ball in 2.1 seconds all the time. That's your early downs. As you get into third down and more sophisticated teams, they are going to drop back and pass on you and you got to affect the quarterback. It's one of the number one things that you have to do on defense. You have to have people who can rush the passer, especially when you get to the upper-echelon and you start paying your SEC opponents, it's not like that. It's usually that way in a team that feels like their offensive line is outmanned by a defensive front. They get rid of it quicker, and they want to protect their quarterback. We don't see that the further up we go. It doesn't really affect, we have to have guys that can block, tackle, run, catch hit, intercept, and that doesn't change how we recruit."
On seeing growth, development from cornerbacks getting reps against UT Martin...
"Well, they probably grow up more in practice because they get challenged a lot more in practice. We don't put any greater value on the game reps that they took the other day, then we do the practice reps that they took today. They get to go up against high quality people. I thought they held the point, played a little more physical out there than I expected in regard to AJ [Harris], Julian [Humphrey] and Nyland [Green]. Daylen [Everette] has played quite a bit because last year he got to play a lot in some of the games. Then Kamari [Lassiter] has played a good bit. Nothing really stood out, and I thought those guys played with good confidence."
On Smael Mondon and Raylen Wilson's progression from injury...
"Raylen is back in a black shirt, and he's practiced the last two days. It's so great to have him out there. I don't think he's 100 percent but he's coming off a hyperextended knee. He's wearing a little bit of a brace and there's a little bit of a lumber in there. He's really a bright kid, it's like he didn't miss a lot mentally. He was able to stay in tune with what was going on while he was not practicing, which is really hard for a freshman to do. Smael has been good, like a said I don't really know how much he played the other day but in our mind, he was playing. He was playing in the sub situations. He's played a few more snaps this week, kind of building him up trying to ramp him up slowly to a full game's kind of snaps. I don't how much that will be this week, but he's practiced well."
On having depth coming into the offensive line mid-game...
"I don't know the exact score. Our plan was Dylan Fairchild was going to play some, and I thought he did but I maybe he didn't before then. You would know better than I do because I don't check the score to see when they go in. Then Micah [Morris] would play a little bit, he's got to play with more consistency. He has the ability but there's days that he doesn't do his assignment and it worries you. One of those things could be a tackle-for-loss that can cost you a drive, a hit on a quarterback, so he's got to do that at a more consistent level. Jared Wilson is the other guy. Those three guys have played a lot, [Austin] Blaske has done well, and I trust Blaske to go out there and play."
On Xavian Sorey's first start and performance...
"He did some good things. He had a couple of mental errors. I think the anxiety of playing in that game and starting; he's played in games, but he's played more as a sub rusher. So to play stacked inside backer and sub rusher, which we ask our guys to do, was a daunting task for him for a first time and a first game. He played hard. He missed a couple of run keys, and he missed a couple of walkaways. We call them where you have to walk out of the box but pleased with Sorey's development and he's been very coachable."
On the difference in what he learns from his team when they are playing non power-five opponents...
"I don't think you do. I really think you don't. I don't know what we learned last year in that Oregon game where almost everything went our way offensively, and then this year everything went almost our way defensively. Obviously two very different opponents. I'm not comparing the two opponents. I'm comparing what I know about our team, but I don't. In each of those years, there were games immediately after that in which we had question marks. I think you are always going to have question marks. Nobody says you have to be the best team after week one."
On if back injuries make game availability more difficult to determine...
"It's tricky to me because I don't understand it. It's one of those that I listen to Ron [Courson] each day talk about it, and I can't even explain to you exactly what it is. It's a really big word. It's frustrating for him [McConkey] because he doesn't control. He runs and does great and feels fine, and then one sudden movement can set him back, he has pain, and then he's back down. He's battling his tail off. He rehabs three, four times a day. He's like, 'I can go, I can go, Coach. Let me go out there and practice.' And we are not going to do that until we are certain, so in some ways it's probably more frustrating.
On Ball State's tight ends...
"They're big. Really good, talented tight ends. One kid didn't play last week, and the other kid did play. And he played really well. So, they gave good tight ends."
On being a good open space tackling team...
"Understanding leverage. Understanding blockers. Where's my help? We don't let guys just do what they want to do. There's a play in the scrimmage the other day that Bullard trusted Tykee [Smith]. He said Tykee is going to be there, I'm going to fit here, and we're building a wall. I think Tray Scott and our defensive staff do a good job of teaching the defensive backs that on the perimeter throw game, run game, it's really just defensive line play. I strike my blocker, hat in hands, I check my gap, I stay in my gap, I trust my buddies going to be in the other gap, and if I have to shed to get off and go finish, I'll do that, as well. But we practice that lot because we see it. So. our offense does that, we do that. We do a lot of perimeter drill work."
On Tramel Walthour’s impact on the defensive line…
“It’s been huge for us because look at the situation that we’ve been in. That’s the position that we’re probably the thinnest on our entire team – more so than running back and tight end – is what I call the “Big End.” We’ve got defensive tackles, but we have a deficiency there. Ty [Ingram-Dawkins] has been injured back and forth. Mykel [Williams] has been out almost all of camp. Where we would be without Tramel, we would be forced to play undersized outside backers at that position, and Tramel has given us great leadership and great consistency.”
On C.J. Smith’s lightbulb moment during the offseason…
“There is, but I can’t define that moment. There are several times where I was like, ‘Woah!” Number one, he’s been present. He has not been injured. It almost mirrors Arian [Smith’s] early years where he had multiple injuries, and all of a sudden, he was there for 10 to 12 consecutive practices, and he started showing up. I’m like, ‘Dude, that guy’s blocking well. That guy’s running good routes. He’s catching the ball with his hands. He looks good.’ And then he had a little bout with a hamstring, and then he had something else. But then he battled back and got through that. I’ve really been impressed with his physicality blocking and his speed. We knew that we were getting somebody who could really run if we could get the rest of the traits to show up, and he’s still a work in progress as a receiver. He works hard at it and has done a nice job. I think that B-Mac [Bryan McClendon] and Bobo have done a great job of developing him. "
On Marcus’ Rosemy-Jacksaint’s impact as a veteran…
“I think it really helps Carson [Beck’s] confidence. That’s one of the big things about having Marcus around. It’s like, ‘Marcus knows every fastball play. Marcus knows exactly what to do when he checks. Marcus knows the route tree.’ Marcus gives you comfort as a quarterback that he’s going to do it right. It’s not just the physicality and blocking because he’s more than a blocker. He goes up and makes plays on the ball. He had huge catches last year over the middle. He had the endzone catches against Tennessee. He’s just very reliable, and I think having him back gives all those guys a little more swagger and confidence at receiver because he’s out there. It takes a bit of a load off the other guys in terms of volume.
On being a team-oriented passing rushing unit…
“We usually fix that when we show them how many we have drafted, and it’s silenced. We put Travon [Walker’s] sacks up there and say, ‘He went No. 1 overall.’ We put Devonte [Wyatt’s] up there and say, ‘He went in the first round.’ We put Quay [Walker’s] up there, we put Nolan [Smith’s] up there, we put Jordan Davis’ up there, and then they don’t say anything."
On new clock rules...
"It really wasn't a big change or a big deal of any kind. We anticipated those things being different. I think that's going to be a lot more significant the tighter games are. With ours not being as tight in the second half, it probably didn't matter. Before the half, we kind of talked and communicated about the drive there where I think it was over two minutes, so we knew it was going to run until it got below two minutes. Unfortunately, we didn't have the one timeout to play with, so it didn't matter. In a situation where we had three timeouts, we might choose or elected to use those, but it was not significant in terms of anything. I think across the country, there was a lot of scuttlebutt about the number of snaps but I don't think we can significantly say anything until we get more data to get a good barometer of that."
On Mykel Williams' progression...
"Maturity. He carries himself well. He's a leader, he's very mature. Practices hard, plays hard, he's what you want a football player to be. He's tough, physical, does what you ask and he really handles coaching well. For a guy as talented as he is, he doesn't think he has all the answers. I'm very pleased with where he is and we have to find a way to keep him healthy."
On if the team needs a different maker on the defensive line...
"Need or want? You always want a really disruptive, violent, quick, twitchy player. Everybody wants that and you need both. You need someone that can do that. You need someone that can anchor and handle double-teams and strike blocks. We have guys that can be disruptive, but we just don't know if they can consistently do it and stop the run as well without guessing sometimes. Our defensive linemen are perfectly capable, there's just not that kind of guy. Even when Jordan [Davis] and Devonte [Wyatt] were here, they were not that kind of guy either. They were big physical guys. Devonte was twitchy and quick, but he was not what Jordan was. Jordan was a very unique player in terms of stopping up two gaps and not necessarily being an elite pass rusher. I'm very comfortable with the guys we've got and very comfortable with what Jordan is doing in being able to help us. We're going to keep bringing those guys along so that we have more of those guys than anybody in the country."
On Daijun Edwards, Ladd McConkey's participation...
"Daijun has looked good. He's practiced and done well. Not in a black jersey but he's still got a knee brace. Ladd has not practiced with us. He's done routes on air, he's run routes, he's run, he's cut, but he has not taken hits and done practice cuts. He's done cuts on air."
On who Malaki Starks reminds him of...
"I've been around some thumpers. And I think about all those guys - the Mark Barrons, the Ha-Ha Clinton Dix, and Dom Sanders here, Lewis [Cine], Chris [Smith], and Richard [Lecounte] - he's really different than all of those guys. He's probably the one guy that, if he had to, he could go out there and play corner if he had to. He's got a coverage skill set and a speed skill set that most safeties don't have. He's a good tackler. Maybe he's not as physical as those guys in terms of knock-back tackles, but he's a good tackler. He's got good range, and he's intelligent."
On limiting explosive plays...
"Well, I think it's hard to run the ball against us. Historically, if you say over the history of seven or eight years, we've been really high in run defense. When you do that, you force people to throw the ball, and we say you do more with less. So, you can cover more with less in the box and occupy gaps if your defensive linemen have the ability to strike and play the run. So, we have been good at that, and we have to continue to be good at that. But, that sometimes can limit explosive plays because you don't run the risk of five and six guys that often."
On Javon Bullard's first game playing safety...
"I wouldn't say - it's hard to get an evaluation because he didn't get tested. The longer they hold the ball the further the receivers can run, the more the ball goes down the field. I don't think there were a lot of down-the-field throws. What he did well was tackle. He was in the right place. He really did a nice job in the perimeter, the RPO game, which everybody runs now. It's millennial Oklahoma out there on the perimeter. He's really good at that. But he didn't get tested on hard play action, eye-transfer, shots in the middle of the field. That is the area that we work with him every day on so he can be really good at it because it's the most different thing about playing safety - the deep part of the field. He didn't get a lot of chances."
On Jackson Meeks' injury...
"He's running. He's out there running, and he was over there running and cutting with Ladd [McConkey] a lot of times. I would think that Ladd is ahead of him based on what I see, but he's out of the boot and off the treadmill. He's out there on the real grass running."
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20-Year Warranty | Made in Georgia
Bulldogs Among The Leaders In Scoring Defense
Since the arrival of Kirby Smart in 2016, the Bulldogs have featured talented defenses. From 2016-2018, Mel Tucker served as the DC before leaving to take the head coaching job at Colorado (now at Michigan St.). Dan Lanning assumed the DC role from 2019-2021 until being hired as the head coach at Oregon in 2021. Now Glenn Schumann is in his second season as the Fain & Billy Slaughter Defensive Coordinator. Also, the 2023 defensive staff features Will Muschamp (co-Defensive Coord.), Fran Brown (DB), Tray Scott (DL) and Chidera Uzo-Diribe (OLB). The Bulldogs return 12 players who have starting experience from a corps that ranked fifth nationally in 2022 allowing opponents only 14.3 points per contest.
In the season-opening win over UT Martin, Georgia carried a shutout to the fourth quarter. However, UT Martin scored with 6:39 left in the contest. In the first half, the Skyhawks were limited to 89 yards on 24 plays as the Bulldogs enjoyed a 17-0 lead. The Skyhawks finished with 260 yards of offense on 63 plays.
Georgia’s leading tacklers were sophomore safety Malaki Starks with eight and senior star Tykee Smith with six including a TFL. Sophomore DE Mykel Williams had a sack as he led the team last year with 4.5 sacks. Freshman DB Kyron Jones registered a pick-six after collecting a tipped pass, racing 26 yards for the final score.
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Piling Up The Points Again
*The 2023 Bulldogs: Averaging 48.0 points/game, which ranks 18th nationally *Have outscored their opponents 48-7, including 17-0 in the opening half *Own a +41 point differential
*5-for-5 in the Red Zone (T1st nationally 100%) with 3 TDs, 2 FGs
* The 2022 Bulldogs: Averaged 41.1 points/game, which ranked 5th nationally *Outscored their opponents 616-214, including 341-105 in the opening half *Second consecutive year led the nation in point differential at +402
*81 of 83 in the Red Zone (98% led nation) with 57 TDs and 24 FGs
* The 2021 Bulldogs: Averaged 38.6 points/game, which ranked ninth nationally *Outscored their opponents 579-153, including 358-65 in the opening half
*Led the nation in point differential at +426
*59 of 69 in the Red Zone (86% ranked 50th) with 42 TDs and 17 FGs