After Another Difficult Loss to Bama, Kirby, Dawgs Get Ready for Kentucky

ATHENS - UGA Football coach Kirby Smart, defensive tackle Jordan Hall, and wide receiver London Humphreys, met with the media Monday afternoon. They offered the following comments. 

Opening statement…
"It's on to Kentucky for us. Our guys are fired up, got work done yesterday, and a bunch of them came in. I think when you see our guys, you realize how invested they are when they hurt. It's good when guys hurt, because you hurt relative to how invested you are in something. So I know our guys will have good energy today. It's always the most physical game when we play these guys. I think because philosophically they believe in running the ball, we believe in running the ball. Those two things hit head-to-head when we play them. We've had head-to-head battles many times with these guys, and Coach Stoops' teams are always physical, so we know it'll be physical. It'll also be a very different time start for our group, and really for them too, because we both played late games last week. So looking forward to getting ready for these guys."
 
On whether there was any discussion between the coaches to ask for a spot review before the 4th and 1 with Cash Jones…
"The only decision on that is they (the coaches box) buzz down, they control that. And every team in the conference so far that's had tempo plays, they've had plays buzz down when they want to review it. They look at it fast and quick. It happened in a South Carolina game. It happened in our game that night. It happened earlier where they buzzed down. We were trying to go tempo and we've scored. But there's no thought of trying to wait on somebody to do that. Not when we feel like that's the most important play that we have in terms of execution."
 
On how to prevent young players from hanging their heads after a mistake in-game…
"You show confidence in them. You love on them. You discipline them. You grow them. Both those guys are talented players. Ellis [Robinson IV] had some really good plays in the game as well. So Talon's [Taylor] deal was tough, but Talon will grow from it. He's a tough, competitive kid. He practices his butt off. People don't give him enough credit for, he's changed our punt team in terms of, he’s replaced an Arian [Smith] as a gunner and been really elite. And every time we've called his number, he's answered it. He's going to continue to do that. I mean, the guy's a worker. I told him that, look, we're going to come back at you and continue to use you and just keep getting better. That's all you can do.  Keep getting better. Block out the outside noise. - I mean, I don't even know what's being said out there, because I've literally just shut it off. But both those kids are talented kids who are going to be good football players here."
 
On whether the loss against Alabama hurts more than other losses…
"No, hurting is hurting. It doesn't matter what age you are. The more invested you are, the more you hurt. My question is, what are you going to double down on? It's a different day and age of college football. It's completely different out there. We've accepted it as coaches. We must do a good job of the players responding to it. What do you double down on?  I know more about my team right now than I did a week ago. I can guarantee you that. That's what fires me up. And I got a lot of optimism after that game, because I learned a hell of a lot more about my team than I had the previous week."
 
On managing the coaching staff after a loss and whether he takes a different approach compared to dealing with the players…
"No, our staff's been great. I think we've put together some really good game plans. I don't know that we've executed them all the time well. There's a line between execution responsibility, me, coaches, players, everybody's involved in that. But I mean, the same calls that we called in the first half, we called in the second half. We got some stops, and we made some plays. It's not about just calls. It's about execution, putting people in a good position. Sometimes it's playing with confidence, and we got to do a better job doing that."
 
On the cornerback group… 
“It's not any different for any position, right? Like the guys that practice and play the best play. That's the system we've installed here. And that's not going to change, that's true at right tackle, left tackle, receiver, d-tackle, linebacker. The best guys are going to play, and the guys that practice best get to play.”
 
On Demello Jones… 
“He did some good things. As the game went on, he got his hands on people and was able to play. He had some contested, I don't want to call them contested catches, some contested breakups that were big in terms of gaining confidence and strength. He tackled a couple times well, and showed up on cracker, cracker places. And they had a couple gimmicks where they tried to trick him, and he saw it. So, he did some good things, but he can improve a lot. We think he's a good player. He's going to give us some skill set that maybe we can use some other places on our defense, and hope he continues to work really hard and grow.”
 
On the pass rush… 
“Yeah, it was a great balance that's the part of the game that you look back on, and I go, you know what, we executed at a high level. We did not have a lack of execution on third down. We had one where we checked, and they checked, and we checked, and they checked, and we didn't quite get lined up right. But it was a front issue, not a coverage issue. And when you play in the home environment, you go back and say, okay, is there a lack of execution? No, there wasn't a lack of execution. There was really good execution and a high level quarterback play. Give him a lot of credit, shake his hand, say he did a great job. The ball came out before some of our rush got there. One time we didn't have our rush lanes right. We didn't, the quarterback took off the first third down of the game. You know you can't let them do that. You have to execute better in those situations. But some of it was really good quarterback play, really good timing, and give them credit, shake their hand, and go get better for the next one. So we have to find ways to affect the quarterback, but we had some in there that we executed, and they out-executed.”
 
On Elo Modozie… 
“He's getting better each and every week. He's a guy that was not here for spring, like our other guys. And he continues to grow and get better. His greatest attribute is his speed and his athleticism. We have to be able to use that more and give Q some rest and continue to develop him, I think he knows that. And we have to find ways to get his skill set out there on the field.”
 
On helping the players manage their emotions… 
“It's called Kentucky, right? We have to go play a really good football team, so I'm not concerned. I'm glad that they were affected and hurt. There's a lot of college football teams right now that have teams that the kids don't care. Like, when people hurt, you usually get a better response, right? You get a better mechanism of buy-in, or doubling down on something, of knowing who I am, and knowing what I have to work on. So that part excites me to get to work today.” 
 
On what he learned in the Alabama game…
“We can run the ball, and we can stop the run. The two things that we struggled with last year, so we have to continue to improve in those areas. We have to lean on those areas, but we have a lot of areas we have to get better at.”
 
On Kentucky RB Seth McGowan…
“Physical, their backs are physical. I mean, every time we play them, their offensive line, they have a defensive head coach, Coach Stoops, who believes in running the ball. They have really good run schemes, and they have really big physical guys. Their backs match their O-line, in terms of size, both backs.”
 
On Nate Frazier and the running back room…
“They love each other, man. The fact that [Nate Frazier] was cheering and happy for [Chauncey Bowens], shows what kind of culture we built here. He was pumped for him, and he was crushed for himself. He's upset and knows that he's got things he has to work on. He has to continue to improve at. Nate's not afraid of hard work. He's not afraid to go out there and get to work, and improve and we'll continue to do that. Look, you don't get through this gauntlet of SEC games without having multiple backs, and having guys ready, and I feel good about that room.”
    
On the importance of continuity in the coaching staff…
“I don't know, I mean, I'm glad that we’ve got all the guys. I'm glad we have the continuity we have. I think it helps the offensive players and defensive players that returned, or maybe the ones that were here last year that didn't play. [For] a few guys that are playing a lot of reps that I call sophomores, I think that continuity really helps them. I think it helps new guys that transfer in, in terms of having a relationship with somebody. But we also made some really good additions. We've gotten great ideas and energy from guys that have been brought in, whether it's from the NFL ranks or college ranks, with [Defensive Line Coach Jimmy Brumbaugh] and some other guys, so I feel great about our staff.”
 
On Noah Thomas…
“Noah's been great, man. Noah's another guy that is a culture winner for us. I mean, he competes so hard, he starts on the special teams, he rolls in and plays with, well, sometimes with [Colbie Young], but at the same position as Colbie. He hasn't gotten some of the breaks that Colbie has in terms of when he's in the game, but he has a lot of the same similarities. We've had two or three shots that early in the year he would have hit, and he was wide open, but we had protection breakdowns. It just hadn't happened, and he hasn't pressed because of it. All he says is, ‘What do we need to do to get better, coach? Tell me what we need to do to get better.’ He continues to grow and buy into that, and when you have that kind of culture, it helps you win.”
 
On Kyron Jones…
“Some good and some bad. Physicality has been good; that's why he's playing. He's thick, he thumps when he hits. He has knockback tackles, and he plays physical, which is really important in that position cause you're going to get caught in positions where you've got to run and cover, and you're going to get caught where you’ve got to go tackle jam or a big back like [Seth McLaughlin], and you're like, ooh. But he's been able to do those. I need him to play with some more consistency in terms of eye control. And he knows that, he knows. I mean, that's right now why he's playing that other safety spot. He's played more physically and tackled well. And we need to keep growing him, I mean, we need to keep getting him better.”
 
On a tough loss developing leaders…
“Just be themselves. I don't see it any differently than any week. I mean, our leaders lead, and our team follows the leadership of this team. It's been great so far, I don't expect it to change any.”
 
On Zachariah Branch…
“It's important he touches the ball. I don't really know how to answer that question because I don't really fully understand the question. Are defenses changing how they play us? I think it's hard because he's all over the place. He's outside one time, he's inside one time, he's in motion one time. He gets handed the ball one time, and he gets a screen one time. I mean, there are a lot of different ways to move him around, and I think our offensive staff has done a tremendous job of trying to find ways to get him touches. It's important to keep his durability up. He's a punt returner, he's a kickoff returner, and he's a touch guy. And so we have to be smart about how we get him the ball, when we get him the ball, and he's got to take advantage of those. There's probably some missed opportunities for him, too, in the game that he has that he's got to capitalize on every opportunity he gets because he is an explosive player.”
 
On the young offensive linemen…
“Growing up, growing up. They all three have not played much. They're all three improving.
They're very different. I mean, in terms of Juan [Juan Gaston] and Bo [Bo Hughley], you couldn't get two more different guys. But there are a couple of critical mistakes, really the fourth and one was a deal where they didn't line up right. They're completely bust. We're going to walk in the end zone with the play call we got, and ( we just have a guy not block a guy that he's supposed to block. But outside of some of that, they did a lot of good things. And that's why I'm pleased and promised by like, okay, went into the game not knowing about the right tackle position, came out of the game going, both guys. I mean, they did some good things. So I'm pleased with where it's headed if they continue to get better.”
 
On playing Kentucky at noon and the impact on the atmosphere…
“I worry about everything. If you know me, I worry about everything.”
 
On Mark Stoops being in his 13th season…
“It's amazing. Mark's one of my close friends. We've grown because we've been in it the longest together, and he's been in it longer than me. I text him all the time. It's just really amazing what he's done at Kentucky. It's one of those things that I hope they appreciate what he's done because he's done some incredible things. Broken some records up there, been extremely competitive in our league, and that's not necessarily by record. I mean, it is by record sometimes, but the games that he's been in and the way they've played is incredible. You can tell he inspires his team to play extremely hard and they're always physical. I just have so much respect for Mark because I know his history. We kind of grew up the same way. Coach's son, defense coordinator, has been some good places, got a head job, and he's worked his tail off.”
 
On lessons from last season’s Alabama loss…
“Different year, different season. I think what's applicable is that college football – teams are going to have this parity, teams are going to play. What's going to separate teams is how they either fracture or don't fracture, or how their infrastructure's built to sustain losses. We're built for this. We have infrastructure, we have plans, we know the pathway, so I'm excited to see where this team goes.”
 
On dealing with long defensive possessions…
“How does it impact the game? Well, it impacts the first five minutes of it. The next five minutes are based on those five minutes, and then the next five minutes are based on those five minutes. Do you want to start fast? Absolutely. Do you want to start with three-and-out on defense? Hell yeah. Do you want to start with three-and-out on offense? Hell no, but it is what it is. How do you do it better? Maybe we change something up, maybe we do something different, but at the end of the day, I'm very confident in who we are. The week before on offense, we drove down and scored. The two weeks prior on defense, it was bang, bang, bang, out, out, out. We didn't even play 50 snaps. Now, our opponents weren't great, but we've done it both ways. I don't get caught up in that, I get caught up in the process over results.” 
 
On when Kentucky made physicality a feature of their team…
“Since their head coach was Mark Stoops.”