UGA Football Coach Kirby Smart Talks A Lot About The Kentucky Wildcats
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ATHENS, Ga. – Georgia football head coach Kirby Smart spoke with the media on Tuesday afternoon and offered the following comments.
On practice this week…
“It's good. It's been good. A lot better than last Monday. That's like I told you all. Last Monday was a bad deal just because it was coming off of Labor Day. They were good Monday and good today. We had two good practices and got after it today like we like to do. We'll get after it tomorrow and then start dialing back some.”
On Jordan Hall, Xzavier McLeod and Nate Frazier…
“Nate's great. Jordan and Xavier have got pads on and got running and moving around doing some functional movement stuff. Got to do “indy” and doing some stuff. We'll see how it goes. I'm proud of both of them because they're pushing hard.”
On the offensive turnover at Kentucky…
“When you change coordinators, then you change offenses. There's different tendencies and things like that. Their coordinators have been really successful. They've had good quarterback transfers. They've had guys come in there and play. He's [Coach Stoops] had coordinators move on. He's made some changes. You prepare for the guys that's there. You look at history, too. We go back and watch games against them and things like that. We're preparing for the coordinator that's there now.”
On playing eight SEC opponents in a row…
“Most people finish their season with a rivalry game. We've got a lot of interstate rivalries. I'm thinking Alabama-Auburn but other people play rivalry games to end. We don’t. We have an ACC game, so our rivalry game is out of our conference. That makes it difficult. You open with Clemson. That makes it difficult. They fall where they fall. I don't have much control over that.”
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On the Kentucky offense…
“Really physical. They add the extra element with the quarterback, both quarterbacks are good runners and throwers. They've done a tremendous job of mixing that up and using those guys legs. They're a physical team. I think they had 18 consecutive runs against South Carolina. I don't know that I've played against a team that had 18 consecutive runs in a long time. They're physical up front. They've got good backs. They've got a good scheme. Mark has a workman-like, blue-collar toughness, physicalness, win at the line of scrimmage mentality, and that carries over into his offense. We've always said this has been the most physical game we've played in most years, especially when we've played up there. Our kids have come out and said that. We're preparing for a super physical game with a really physical run game.”
On what he wants to see from Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins…
“I want to see him lead. I want to see him continue to practice with great effort so that he can play in the games with great effort and sustain more snaps. He's practicing a few more reps now. With Mykel (Williams) being out, he's played more reps. He's got to be able to keep the high level of conditioning, playing more snaps. I thought he did that in the last game.”
On Joenel Aguero…
“He's tough. He's physical. He seeks contact. He has learned our defense. He was a kid that was really talented coming out of high school. He was talented last year, but he wasn't knowledgeable of the football concepts we do. He's taken a lot of reps. He went every rep last year behind Tykee (Smith). Usually in our defense, if you can do that for a year, you can grow and get better. He's done that. The jump he made this past spring was just really incredible. JaCorey (Thomas) doubles as a safety, but JaCorey also plays star and gets a lot of work. The two of those guys have really given us good physical stars that can also cover.”
On the cornerback room…
“Well, they do it all day at practice. It's not like I handle it. It's the same way they practice every day. They're in sometimes and they're out sometimes. I think they handle that fine. They're doing a good job of what we've asked them to do. There's a lot of area they can clean up and play better, but we're in constant pursuit of getting better with those guys.”
On determining the travel roster…
“Just a numbers game of special teams. With 74, you're not usually talking about starters. You're talking about a travel roster of guys that are going to be emergency players and have to go in if you lose somebody. We've been up there before and had a couple injuries and had to fill in with guys at Kentucky. Probably the 65th to the 74th guy are special teams picks and guys that can play on special teams.”
On if younger players typically learn from older teammates…
“Yeah, I hope it is. That's the older player's job, right? Set a standard, set an example, helps those guys. It's happened before where that guy takes their job if he's more talented and can learn fast. That's the unselfish nature of our business. I watched Dan [Jackson] really help Malaki [Starks]. Malaki ended up taking over for him. He got a lot of playing time in his place, but Dan never blinked about it. That's just the culture of our place.”
On if physicality leads to long-term success in the SEC…
“I don't know about that. We've had some really physical teams and the coaches haven't lasted. It's not a guarantee. A lot of things can go into sustaining a good program and Mark has done an incredible job at a place as tough as Kentucky is. It's got a great basketball program. They don't have the recruiting base we have. He's gone out and done it. He's gone into other areas to do it. It has a lot more to do to me with recruiting and size and the line of scrimmages than it does just the physical nature.”
On Coach Muschamp’s role with the team…
“I don't know what you mean. What do you mean? What does it look like? He coaches. He's here. He does a good job game planning. He does ideas. He works with the players. He coaches the coaches. He helps me. He does what he did last year. I wouldn't say he changed in that dynamic other than he gets to be with his family.”