UGA Football Coach Kirby Smart Talks Lane Kiffin and "Explosive" Ole Miss Offense
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ATHENS - After beating No.12 Missouri last weekend, Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs will now host the mighty Ole Miss Rebels this weekend with a lot on the line.
If the ‘Dawgs are able to beat Lane Kiffin and the No.10-ranked Rebels, they will clinch the SEC East for the third consecutive season. They’ll also stay undefeated with their championship hopes still alive.
Of course, this won’t be a walk in the park.
Kiffin has the Rebels ranked No.10 for a reason. They have talented players all over the place offensively. However, the Ole Miss defense may flash occasionally, but they’re giving up a lot of points. That’s a group that has to play their best game of the season if they want to slow down Carson Beck and the Bulldog offense.
Ole Miss is coming to Athens with the No. 3 total offense in the SEC averaging 479 yards a game to Georgia’s 493 yards a game. The Rebels are also third in the SEC with 38.78 points per game, just under Georgia’s 39.33 points per game.
The Rebels can score, but on the road, they’ve only managed to score 30+ points just once. Still, the weapons are there with quarterback Jackson Dart, running back Quinshon Judkins, receiver Tre Harris, among others.
Of course, they have Lane Kiffin, one of the best offensive minds in the game, calling the plays. Smart knows his defense needs to be ready, and he spoke about Kiffin and the Rebel offense during his Monday press conference.
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“(Lane) does a great job. He's extremely intelligent. He doesn't overthink things. He keeps it simple and doesn't think that -- you know, you don't have to overthink things sometimes as a coach. And probably doesn't get enough credit for that because he wants to beat you with fundamentals. He wants to beat you with his players doing things within their system. It's just -- he does a great job. He looks for matchups. He looks for explosive opportunities. They've been one of the most explosive offenses, run and pass, in really the last ten years of the SEC. They have broken some numbers that are out there. They get lots of snaps because they go with pace, but they do a good job with the snaps they get. So, no, he probably doesn't get enough credit, but it's not like he's trying to be scheme of the week. He does what he does really well, and he knows what they do well, and he also knows what you don't do well, and he's looking for a matchup most of the game.”
Smart also had a lot to say about quarterback Jackson Dart, who has thrown for 2,467 yards (5th in the SEC) and 16 touchdowns.
“Well, I think Lane's quarterbacks take on a personality from him, and they have a lot of moxie. They have a lot of talent. They play really hard. They play with reckless abandon for their body. And he runs like a running back. He's taken some hits this year and shown his toughness. So (Jaxon Dart’s) not going to shy away from contact and toughness, and he's the extra element of run that gives them a competitive advantage over a lot of teams you play, because they have great backs, but he runs the ball like a back, and he throws the ball really well, too, which that's what makes him really hard to defend when you got a guy that can make all the throws, but can also take off and run, and he's proven the ability to do that.”
Then there’s Quinshon Judkins.....
“Yeah, thick lowers. I mean, I'll tell you, I've been super impressed. I already knew about Quinshon (Judkins) and how good he was. I saw him last year and how they ran on people. (Ulysses Bentley IV) incredible, too. They have two really good backs, and Quinshon bears probably more of that load, and he has really thick lowers. He runs through tackles. Extremely patient runner. Like he has an innate ability to navigate what's there and turn it into explosives and positive runs. I mean, he just sets up blockers really well. And really tough, physical runner, and does a great job. So, they have two really capable, talented backs.”
and Tre Harris…
“It's hard to put two people on him because of all the issues we just talked about before that. So, you talk about the backs; you talk about the quarterback. They look for matchups. Lane looks for matchups, and he's looking for every opportunity he can to get a high-percentage matchup in his favor. And it's easier to do when you got big, good wideouts and a quarterback that can get them the ball, and your ability to run the ball does those things. So how do you do it? You do it like you do every week. You do your best to cover them and defend them, and you try to control the run game. It's the package of what they do, everything together, not one thing, that complements each other.”
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