What We Are Hearing: "Kirby Put It on Them" | Insider Details from UGA's 1st Scrimmage
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ATHENS - UGA Football coach Kirby Smart wasn’t pleased with his team at Sanford Stadium on Saturday. The No. 1 Bulldogs were holding their first scrimmage of the summer, and Kirby was not happy the team was “surviving”.
He wanted to see more.
“No one stepped up... not a lot of leaders today,” he told boosters after the scrimmage ended.
It was a departure from what Kirby said had been going on during camp so far this summer. Kirby said he was “happy” with UGA’s camp so far in terms of leadership - describing that “six or seven” older players had “picked up” younger players during camp.
“They just didn’t do that today,” Kirby said after the event. “They were trying to survive because it is so hot. Sometimes we have to practice like this to realize what we have to do.”
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Kirby’s biggest complaint was that his team was surviving - not thriving.
But Saturday the Bulldogs were losing to something they won’t deal with in the fall - August heat in Georgia.
“It was miserable,” said one attendee. “I was in the shade, and it was about as hot as I’ve ever been.”
Kirby recognized that the Dawgs, who play in a dome and at night in three of their first four games, likely won’t be in the position to worry about heat this season.
“We will have AC in Atlanta,” he told his team, which was trying to work through the practice.
Insiders described Georgia’s first scrimmage in ways that is familiar with first scrimmages over time - the defense won, but the offense had its moments. Insiders pointed out players here and there that had good moments, but with the group of people we trust that we talked to about the scrimmage - no one player stood out consistently.
Gunner Stockton had a good day, but also threw interceptions. Carson Beck was an afterthought in terms of what people talked about. It seemed that Georgia was trying to work out as many mistakes as possible. Kirby was eager for the Bulldogs to clean up problems.
“There are too many panic plays,” Kirby announced to his team.