Georgia Football Coach Kirby Smart Shares Insight On Oklahoma Sooners Coach Brent Venables
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ATHENS - For the first time in program history Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs will be hosting the Oklahoma Sooners inside Sanford Stadium.
It should be a game for the ages. Plenty of Sooner fans will be making the trip out to Athens hoping their defense can lead the way to a possible upset.
The Sooners are bringing one of the worst offensives in the league, but Brent Venables has a defense that should truly test this powerful Bulldog offense.
Georgia football head coach Kirby Smart had a lot to say about Vendables and the talented Sooners defense this week during his weekly press conference...
“I’ve got a lot of respect for Coach Venables and the job he's done everywhere he's been,” Smart tole reporters this week. “I have known him for a long time and have the utmost respect for him as a coach and a man and a person. We go way back and he's probably been one of the premier defensive coaches in all of college football for a long time.”
“His defenses are very fundamentally sound, aggressive, and they attack,” Smart added. “They lead country or they're tops in the country every year in tackles for loss and sacks and I don't think people give their coaches and their kids enough credit for how they play.”
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“I mean, they get off blocks. They strike you. They play with unbelievable pad level and an intensity that's kind of unmatched in terms of the way they play. You see it on tape and he's always been that way. He did it at Clemson, and he's just a great defensive coach.”
The Sooners gave up just 263 yards in their loss to Michigan. They were stout on third down overall and gave up just 14 first downs. They lost the game, but it wasn’t because of the defense.
Against New Mexico the Sooners gave up just 185 yards during their tight 14-6 win. They sacked the Lobos six times and forced eight total points.
The Sooners are playing at an elite level defensively and a big reason why is because if their stout play up front. That group is led by defensive lineman David Stone. The 6-foot-3 310-pounder is a force in the trenches who will hope to slow down this impressive Bulldog rushing attack.
However, he’s not the only Sooner defender who can make a major impact.
“I’ve got much respect for him and all of them,” Smart said this week. “I'll be honest with you, there's not a guy on their defense that comes in and doesn't play with great pad level and great effort. When you turn on the tape, they run to the ball like they're in elite shape. They don't get tired. They strike, they knock back, they get off blocks, and he's a leader of that. But I mean, they, they all do.”
The Bulldog offense has not been tested yet this season. Gunner Stockton is making it look easy and the Dawgs are running the ball effectively.
But against the Sooners, Stockton and the Georgia offense could have their toughest test of the entire season. If they’re ready, look for the Dawgs to have a big day.
