Everything Kirby Smart Said After UGA Football's 70-20 Win Over Western Kentucky

ATHENS - Here is everything UGA Football coach Kirby Smart said after the Bulldogs’ 70-20 win over the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Between the Hedges in Sanford Stadium.

KIRBY: I was proud of the guys. Started fast and have to keep improving. That was the theme of the week. I did think that we got to improve in a lot of areas. Then we had some guys finish the game kind of sloppy that showed they weren't quite ready.

But glad they got an opportunity to go out there and, you know, I think we played more people in the second half than we've ever played, um, before. So, uh, they gotta get better if, if we're gonna have to put 'em in the game in a competitive situation. But onto the SEC league now, and it's a different league.

You play in this league on the road, over the years that I have and coached, um, you learn that it's a different environment. Every game is, uh, is really hard, especially on the road, especially the first one. So with that, we'll be focusing on Arkansas moving forward.

On Gunner Stockton

KIRBY: He's executing at a high level. He took some hits today that I don't want him to take. He took two or three. One, he probably could, could have controlled it and, and, and done something about it, and, uh, the others he couldn't. Um, he's tough. He'll stand in there and not flinch, but, uh, he's, he's, he's played well

No, I don't know What can you say about the-

Yeah, right place at right time in terms of the recovery. He never quit. He was a backside safety. He kept chasing and, um, it was a hustle play that he made. And then, um, you know, the, the, the kickoff return, looked like they had some guys get out of their lanes, and we finally timed it up better and, and thought we should have had better return yardages on the others.

And, uh, you know, he's a bright kid and, uh, he's a competitor. Lane Taylor gets his first touchdown since-

Tell me a little bit about just his, his progression through the last year and a half. Yeah, Landon's a, a talented young man that works hard. Uh, he's, uh, fast. He makes competitive catches. He's smart, um, disciplined, but needs to work on his punt return, that's for sure. You talked about starting young- Turnovers.

I mean, they gave us one today, right? The opening kick, they turn it over, we go out, start fast. That's a overwhelming, uh, way to go. Things, you know, the opponents haven't, you know, been SEC opponents. So, uh, it's all rosy and dandy until you go on the road and, and you gotta play somebody of SEC caliber and, you know, it's hard and all of a sudden you have some adversity.

This team has not really had adversity, so we're gonna find out

Yeah, that's, that's Georgia football. Like, I don't know, every year I've been here you could say that. Like, we spread the ball around and, you know, everybody wants a 1,000-yard receiver, you know, this and that. But we spread the wealth. That's the way the offense is built. And, um, it's a good thing. Um, and, and you reward guys that, that, that work hard and, uh, the offense is built to go where people are open.

It's not, uh, one that just goes to one person

That they listen, they compete hard, they practice well, they execute at a high level early in games, and, um, attention to detail's been there for the first half. But, um, not really a lot to, to be able to tell in terms of adversity

Yeah, the throw and the decision by Gunner was great. It was elite. The, um, the catch by Sukowa using all his hands and not his body, which is, is really big. Uh, and then his burst, you know, to split the safeties and go, go make a play. So it was really nice protection and really nice decision and great catch and run after the catch.

I didn't really have a reaction. I mean, that's, it's pretty common. I mean, it's- Congrats- Our guys jump. Yeah. What's that? Congrats on the win. I just wanted to ask, um, what's been something different about our offense this year? I mean, we look really good going into these first two games, and we're normally known for our defense, so what's clicked?

Our opponents. Going back to Gunner, he was just talking about how-

Who's that? Gunner. Yeah, it's fun when you score every possession you're in, right? I mean, like, that's, that makes it fun. But is that real? You think we're gonna do that in SEC play, score every possession? So it's gonna be how you deal with adversity that, that moves forward

Yeah, that if you don't get off the field on third down six consecutive times, you're not ready to play for Georgia's defense. If you can't possess the ball on offense, then you can't play. If you can't crack block a guy that's lined up inside you and hold your block and pin him, then you're probably not ready.

If your front five offensive linemen can't move Western Kentucky's defensive line, you're gonna really struggle on the road when you play in the SEC. So, you know, there, there's guys that, that, you know, that want playing time and think they're worthy of playing time that just prove to me they don't deserve it.

Coach, that kind of thing happens-

No, it doesn't surprise me. I do it every year. It's every year. It's the learning curve, right? You go through it, and you keep coaching them. You rub their nose in it, and you say, "Look, this is what you are. This is not, you know... Don't, don't, don't, don't be offended because somebody gave you your four star, and then you came in here, and you couldn't block somebody that out-strengthed you from Western Kentucky.

Don't be upset about it. It's just, it's real. Like, it's reality. So you can do something about it by going out there and practicing

Yeah, we run. We run. We're gonna run. We're gonna run Monday, we're gonna run Tuesday, we're gonna run, and hopefully that'll help us

Just talk about it. When's it time to get another guy reps versus rhythm versus, uh, continuity, making sure we're giving the other guy a fair chance in terms of who's in with him. And, you know, it's not, not a lot of hard decisions when you're up like that.

I don't know. Time will tell. If we play like we did in, in the second half, hell no. Going back to the question about spreading the ball around, Gunner with five different- touchdown. I remember in 2022 against Oregon, you kind of said the same thing about this is Georgia football, this is how we like to do it here, is spread the ball around, everybody gets their own piece of the cake.

Is that something that you use on the recruiting trail when recruiting guys like that? Uh, I, it's not really something we use on the recruiting trail. I mean, it's, it doesn't, it just happens that way. I think you guys think that we, like, hit program B and, like, you call a play and this guy's getting the ball.

That's not how it works. The defense dictates who gets the ball by what they play. We don't dictate that. We don't call up a play and say, "This is his play. He's gonna score a touchdown here. It's this, this, or this. If they do this, then we're doing this, and if they do that, then we're doing this." And then sometimes we check out of a pass into a run or a run into a pass, and we don't dictate that.

So the ball gets spread around by what the defense does and not what we do.

Yeah, he got over an injury, his toughness. Uh, he's got a long way to go, guys. Look, he's played two inferior opponents, him and PJ Dean. You know, th- th- they, they go against our guys every day, and I get to see him against two really good tackles every day in our, in ours. They got a ways to go, so let's, you know, w- we don't have to anoint anybody right now because they recover fumbles or catch touchdowns.

When you score 70, you're gonna have a lot of fluffy stats. I don't care about stats. I really do not care one bit. You guys will chase it. You guys will reward them. You'll say we scored 70 and 60, and the only thing I'm worried about is how the hell are we gonna play on the road next week

Yeah, that's, we played two Satur- Saturday scrimmages against Georgia right here in Sanford Stadium, and that determines a lot of that. How do you play when you play against the best? And what gives us the best chance to win? That's the only thing in our mind, is what gives us the best chance to win, and who is that?

Kirby, we saw-

Yeah, he's, he's the best guy for the job. I mean, he's one of the toughest, best competitors. You ask any guy on the team who had the most explosives in camp, he's... He blocks, he runs, he catches, he's consistent, he understands his assignment. He's a good special teams player. I mean, he's a really good player.

I mean, because somebody didn't have him anointed coming out of high school, I don't know. All I know is he came here as a pretty good player, and he has gotten much better and continues to improve. You know, Tommy- He's got a little wrist injury that we're dealing with. He had a cast on it, and, um, he's just getting better from that

Consistency in performance. He works really hard each day. He runs routes the right way. He listens to coaching. Like, when you tell Craig something, you see him actually carry it over and do it. He plays fast. He has consistent hands. He catches the ball. He blocks with toughness. I mean, like, you know, a receiver, half the battle is doing what you're supposed to do and, and he does that.

And, uh, he's, he's go- given himself multiple opportunities because of that. How much of-

Yeah, I, I, I mean, the turnovers can be credited to the weather both ways. I mean, the ball was loose, the ball came out. It's gonna happen. You don't, you don't accept it, you don't blame it on the weather, but both teams struggle with, uh, exchanges and the ball being on the ground. So I wouldn't be ready to say that our defense is forcing turnovers.

We fell into 'em. Coach, if you-

Well, the execution has been at a good level. The two hits on the quarterback were late add-on rushes, and, and we had a couple things there we've got to do to, to pick those up. But even when they did get some pressure, Gunner got away from it. But I think the early parts of the game, they've executed well, they've communicated well.

It just has not extended throughout the game

No, I mean, I'd rather play in good weather. And, uh, I mean, I don't really judge it by the weather. I don't prefer anything. I prefer to play well regardless of the weather

Yeah, not good. I mean, look, they don't, they don't, they don't play to a standard. They don't, they-- And you know what? I don't know if they should, 'cause they're, they're 17 and 18 years old. They're not third-year portal transfers. They're guys out there busting that were, you know, they, they just got here midyear last year.

And, um, if they're gonna play, then they've gotta play to a standard, and they, they have not. We have not. Now, you know, us more than other people, we put 'em in. We put guys in earlier than other people. We don't try to pad guys' stats and, and risk injury. We, we play people, and it, it came out in the scoreboard

Yeah, none I could single out. I don't, I don't think any of our guys were in game shape, to be honest. And, uh, we worked really hard at that in season to, uh, maintain that and push that. Time for one more question. Coach Kirby? Well, I saw it on all sides today, uh, and then saw a sack right after it. So Gabe's worked really hard.

He's dealing with a, a toe, you know, and when you come back from that, sometimes you get stepped on, you, you, you can have setbacks. He's had some pain in that thing sometimes that he's had to overcome, but he's worked really hard on his conditioning level. Um, he's very violent physical player and, uh, he's practiced really hard to, to get back where he is.

So I, I was happy he got that, uh, sack today. Thank you.