Kirby Smart explains viral outburst before halftime of big Georgia win
ATHENS — Kirby Smart was furious at the end of the first half for Georgia.
The Bulldogs gave up a long touchdown drive to Missouri. The offense had back-to-back three-and-outs. Even punter Drew Miller drew scorn after mishitting a punt.
Never mind that Georgia was up 31-7 and well on its way to a 48-21 victory. Smart wanted more from his team.
“We just didn’t manage it well, right?” Smart said. “We had one of our worst drives we’ve had defensively. We wanted to be aggressive after the return, I guess we had, we had something to set us up to be aggressive before the half. We wanted to be aggressive before the half. We didn’t make real good decisions. Not indicative of who we were for that moment.”
Smart had plenty of positive things to say aside from the second quarter.
Below are Smart’s full comments following the win over Missouri.
Opening statement …
“Yeah, great atmosphere. Felt like a night game. It got dark soon enough. But our fans did a great job. I thought the energy early in the game was big, and we seized momentum with the kickoff and then the turnover. And any time you turn it over early, you can lose momentum. Our offense did a great job being aggressive.
“A lot of guys got to play tonight. Proud of our guys. Proud of Isiah Canion coming back, getting a chance to play. Proud of Cortez (Smith) for stepping up and having an opportunity to play. He works his tail off every day to get those opportunities. I thought Gunner (Stockton) played well, he led, he was efficient. Defensively, we did some nice things, got some three-and-outs to get our guys the ball. Didn’t always control the game like we’d like to, but that’s a good football team, too.
“So, proud of our group, proud of what they’re able to do, and we’ll get ready for the next one.”
On Raylen Wilson’s INT on the first play from scrimmage …
“Yeah, it was huge. I mean, when you play on the road, I think you try to seize momentum. They were probably trying to seize it taking a shot the first play. He made a nice play, you know? There were some other opportunities we had that we didn’t make that we had interception opportunities and we didn’t capitalize on. We made that one, and that gave the offense great starting field position, and they capitalized on that.
“So, when we’re efficient and we play complementary football, we’ve got a good football team, but it’s not about where we are now. It’s really, where we can go and can this team get better? I mean, I think they can.”
On Isiah Canion coming back from injury …
“Yeah, he’s a great kid. He works really hard. It’s important to him. Nobody’s been more frustrated with the injury than him. He had a very similar injury to some other guys in our conference that have had to deal with this, and it’s one of these ones that you gotta be really patient with. And I think it frustrated him. He didn’t ever lose confidence, but he tried to come back, tried to come back, tried to come back, and couldn’t really get to be himself.
“And then tonight, he came out of the brace, played without it, played with confidence, and was proud of him.”
On how much the team has grown since the start of the season and after the Auburn loss …
“I don’t know. You know, we learned some things that the Dawgs can’t beat the Dawgs. And we’ve done a good job of not doing that, right? Not turning the ball over, and not getting stupid penalties.
“At one point in time, every drive that we had been scored on (on) defense was either an explosive or a penalty. And when you take out explosives and you take out penalties, nobody hadn’t scored on us until late in the Ole Miss game. And when you’re efficient offensively, don’t give up, you know, tackles for a loss, stay ahead of the sticks, operate well on third down, you know, you’re hard to beat because so many teams just beat themselves, and we’ve avoided that.
“We’ve grown as a team, because with Isiah out, it was thrust in to get more balls to tight ends, to Talyn (Taylor), to Craig (Dandridge). And now we’re operating with some guys that are out there playing efficiently, and you can see that it’s helping Gunner.”
On Drew Bobo being out …
“He’s dealing with a little minor issue he had during the week, and he’s dealt with it all year. He’s frustrated, and hopeful he’ll get him back.”
On what Canion can provide to the offense …
“Yeah, a physical presence. He’s heavy, he’s strong, he’s fast. He’s a good 50-50 guy. He’s hard to cover. I don’t think we’ve seen his best yet, so I think his best is still ahead.
“He’s gonna gain more confidence, and he’s different than the other guys. Craig and Talyn are certainly very talented, and when they’re all on the field, it makes us a better team.”
On how the offensive line blocked in the run game without Bobo …
“They did a great job. They did a great job. Gunner did a nice job putting them in the right runs. I thought Nate (Frazier) and Dwight (Phillips) did a great job of hitting holes and getting vertical. Dwight had a couple really nice runs, Nate had a couple really nice runs. That was good to get him in rhythm.”
On Talyn Taylor’s acrobatic catch …
“Yeah, he does that every day. When you see those kinds of catches out of him, I thought the adjustment to the ball was really good. It was very similar to a play he got hurt on last year in practice where he turned backwards and dove to catch the ball and then he landed on it. He made that play then, and he made that play tonight. He got the foot down as well. Very talented young man.”
On the mentality of this team handling being No. 1 …
“Yeah, I don’t know how to compare. I think about those ones I had that were so dominant and we were so dominant defensively and Stetson (Bennett) and so efficient. I don’t know how to answer that yet because this team hasn’t been ranked No. 1 really long enough to know. In one of the spots we were No. 1, we didn’t handle it very well. We handled it better this time. I don’t think many of our teams care about that. It’s more about how is this team dominant like the other teams, not necessarily the rankings. The dominance we have or don’t have is not contingent on the ranking we have. We don’t really care about that. I think teams aim for you more and there’s more incentive for somebody to beat the No. 1 team. Like I said, this team is player-led. This team has done a good job buying into what we’ve asked of them. They just can’t get tired of doing the little things. That’s what I see in college football right now. Like, I just can’t keep doing it. I can’t keep doing it Week 10, 11, 12. I don’t even know what we’re on. They run out of juice, and this team’s got to keep getting better.”
On the passing of Marcellus Young Casario …
“One of the toughest calls I’ve ever gotten, right there with one other call. It was heartbreaking because I know his mom, his dad, his family. He’s been down here for, like, every game. It’s really not a hard drive. My mom lives a block away from that school. I love coach (Derek) White. He’s a good coach. I love Marcellus. It’s just tragic to have lost a life at that age. Can you imagine if that’s your child? He was such a great kid. He was always smiling, always positive. He had a great future in front of him. It puts things in perspective for me. You start getting nervous, you start worrying. I’m like, what good does worrying do? You think about relative to what they’re going through. What this team did tonight, it just makes it irrelevant compared to what that family’s going through. I have a lot of respect for him and his family. We’re praying for them.”
On how his team can keep ascending …
“They have to keep getting better. They have to keep getting better. We’re going to go play a really, really, really good, hot team on the road. Then who knows what else we’ve got ahead of us in terms of playing. You’re only going to play better teams. The teams that tend to go the longest are the teams that stay the hottest or get the hottest. We’ve done a lot of good things in November, but this team will be measured by November and months afterwards. We have to stay levelheaded and get better. That is harder than ever because the noise gets louder. They’re closer to decisions that impact them the rest of their life and distractions just mount up.”
On if him being frustrated on the sideline helps the team be player-led …
“I don’t know if that helps them be player-led. The players need to do it. The best teams I’ve been on, they have guys ready to kick somebody’s ass from the sideline because of the same things I saw. The player-led version I’m seeing now is like a millennial player-led. Ten years ago, it would have been player-led, I wouldn’t have had to. They would have been pissed off at some of the things that happened late, and they would not have accepted. I don’t think in this day and age more kids want to confront and demand each other. So, if they’re not willing to, I’ll volunteer.”
On his biggest frustration at the end of the first half …
“We just didn’t manage it well. We just didn’t manage it well, right? We had one of our worst drives we’ve had defensively. We wanted to be aggressive after the return, I guess we had, we had something to set us up to be aggressive before the half. We wanted to be aggressive before the half. We didn’t make real good decisions. Not indicative of who we were for that moment.”
On what Cortez Smith did this week to set himself up to be the center …
“He snapped. Just like all of them, he goes out, he works, he competes. People only see the five linemen, right? There’s 12 other linemen that are out there going against the defense, the offense, getting better, and they don’t get an opportunity to play. He was one of those guys. He did everything that he had to do to put himself in position to go play, but he’s not the only one doing that. There’s a bunch of guys out there that practice every day that don’t get to play.”
On what he’s seeing with the fast starts on defense …
“Good preparation, good intentions, dominating the line of scrimmage. Good looks, good defensive plan by Schu (defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann) and the staff. That’s how you start fast. Maybe, I don’t know, I think we get a really good look in practice, and maybe the team we’re playing doesn’t get the same look we do. Strive for a little competitive advantage certainly helps.”
On Ethan Barbour …
“He’s physical at the point (of attack). There’s a couple plays early in the game, thought he had really good blocks. He’s tough. He’s proven to us he can do things with the ball in his hands. Almost got out of a tackle on a screen play that we had. But I mean, really, all those guys in the tight end room, they’re unselfish. Because any one of them could be the 1 at a lot of schools. But they all buy into the fact that we have packages built around them here and they grow and develop. Look you get better by who you compete against each day? Because you’re the 1 at some other school does not get you more prepared for the National Football League. What gets you prepared for the National Football League is what you do each day and when you go out there each day and say I got outcompete this guy this guy and this guy. It drives you to greatness, and that we’ve seen that work in that room.
On how this team handled success …
“I learned that humility is a week away.”
On Sacovie White-Helton’s big plays on special teams …
“Happy for him. Nobody works harder at the return a game than he does. It’s important to him. He asked questions. He competes. He loves the guys that block for him, and I thought he hit both those vertically and was able to hit a seam.
On Peyton Woodring …
“No, I didn’t diagnose anything. I don’t know the first thing about kicking. I know that I got a lot of confidence in him and the team’s got a lot of confidence in him and he is a great young man that wanted it just as bad as all you fans do and just the best coaches do. He wants it just as bad. So I’m proud of him for sticking those through.”
On where Georgia is after completing an eighth SEC game …
“I mean, we’re banged up. Everybody is. I don’t know that we are any more banged up than we have been in years past. I think that the sign that will tell the tale will be the end of the year after we play South Carolina and (Georgia) Tech. Because there’s two more really tough physical weeks left, where in most years there’s usually a nonconference and a tough one with Tech. But, you know, we’re staring down … we could have three more, I mean, we don’t know. But I don’t think people can really measure that. I mean, we’re trying to measure something. … I don’t think you can quantitatively measure the injury thing. You just look at stats and say what are they. But people are practicing less so that could be the reason for less injuries too because they’re just doing less. I mean, we got some guys back. So it actually was kind of weird as we got guys back, we lost guys and that’s just football.”
On Chauncey Bowens …
“Yeah, he pushes every day. I thought he had a better week of practice. I think he will tell you that he’s not 100%. He’s pushing to go and get better. He brings a physicality to us that we really don’t have, you know, that size back. But we keep wanting to get him more healthy and getting back to his old self. And he was much closer this week than he was in previous weeks.”