Everything Georgia Football coach Kirby Smart Said After UGA's 20-17 Win Over Alabama

Opening Statement

“What a great college football game, great atmosphere. I've been in a bunch of those with them, and they all seem similar. Just a physical game back and forth. Critical calls, critical situations. You could go back and look at hundreds of them on there. At the end of the day, our quarterback played well enough for us to win. We scored enough points to win, but it was a really extremely physical football game. I have a lot of respect for Alabama. I have a lot of respect for Coach [Kalen] DeBoer, a lot of respect for their team, how they play. Another week in the SEC because humility is a week away, as you saw today. It's going to be physical. It’s going be tough.”

On RB Dwight Phillips…

“What a great kid, man. This Dwight Phillips, man, y'all don't know how special this kid is. He hasn’t complained one time since being here, and he's so tough for his size. [Mike] Bobo came to me before the game and said, ‘Hey, Nate isn't going to go.’ I said, ‘We have to give it to Peanut [Dwight Phillips Jr.]. He said, ‘[Do] you remember that game when we were at Georgia, and they gave the ball to Torin Kirtsey, and he weighed about 175.’ I don't know how many times Torin carried, maybe 30. I said, ‘If we have to give it to Dwight that many times, he can do it. He and Bo [Walker] stepped
up big, even the young kid [Nick Peal]. This kid was in high school six months ago, Peal. He's a really good football player, and he's going to get better. We're a beat-up football team right now, guys. We have guys out left and right, and to have both those backs out and Isiah [Canion] out at receiver - tough deal, but we responded.”

On QB Gunner Stockton on the game-winning offensive drive…

“It's a deal that you get better with experience. He had a couple plays that, hey, they didn't work out. He didn't let them affect him. He had the pick that was kind of batted, and then he had a boot that we thought could have been a big play that he underthrew. He doesn't let things fester and affect him. When he has to stand in there and throw a bullet and make a play, he was
able to do it tonight in really critical situations. The one conversion to Craig [Dandridge Jr.] over on our sideline on their best corner, he threw a hitch over there, and we just got enough for a first, and then the big conversion on third and whatever it was, seven or eight. I told Mike [Bobo], be aggressive. We're not playing to run it and punt. We're going to try to win the game right now.”

On Alabama QB Keelon Russell…

“There's no such thing as containing Russell. When a guy runs 10, 400 meters, you don't have a 260-pound end that can contain him. You're better off getting out of there and then go get him and maybe cover half the field because there is no containing Russell. That kid's an elite athlete, an elite player. Hopefully we affected him some tonight, and he didn't have some of the numbers he's had. He's a really good football player, and he's going to be hell in this league for two years.”

On the defensive mindset in the fourth quarter….

“Told [Glenn] Schumann to be aggressive. If we're aggressive, then we lose swinging, and we get the ball back, and we get a chance to win. We didn't come here to play to lose. I didn't come here to play to go to overtime. I came here to win. He called up a timely blitz that knocked him out of field goal. I knew when they punted that our offense had started to take the anaconda
effect, and it was wearing him down. We had a chance to run it out, and that happened.”

On winning in Tuscaloosa for the first time since 2007…

“We hadn't played here much, you know? 2007, I was here on the other side, so I don't get into all the whole first win in a long time here. I don't know how many times we’ve played here since then, three? I don't know. So, we're one and two. What is everybody else? It's a hard place to play. I don't judge my happiness or success on how we play ‘Bama.’ I have a lot of respect for
this place. Nick taught me a lot. Watching that show the other night, the first opening one, and I have so much respect for him. We run our program a lot like that. I tell those kids, y'all need to tune in and watch the show because the stuff going on in that show is in Athens right now. It's going on over there all the time. It's physical, it's tough, and it's accountability. That's what he taught me, and it's what we're trying to do.”

On the offensive line…

“Tough. They love it. We had two kids out there that were committed to Alabama, right? It was important to them that they knew who they were by the end of it.”

On what this win means to him…

“It was the sacrifices they all make. It wasn't about Alabama. It was about SEC road win, top 10 team. That, to me, is what we work for. Our guys grind. Our guys work hard. We practiced hard last week. We didn't take the pads off. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, we're thirsty, and they bought into that. They wanted to do that. They felt it was important to do that, so I celebrate
that. Celebrate it with Mary Beth [Smart] because she sacrifices a ton for our family and deals with my frustrated self all the time. She deserves a kiss every now and then.”