Georgia Head Coach Kirby Smart
Thoughts on the game…
“We played sloppy and I was disappointed with the way we played. It’s sad when you have undisciplined penalties. We’re trying to teach our team a lesson – you don’t beat good football teams having those errors. We did a few good things, too, and I don’t want to overshadow that. We ran the ball against a team that said, ‘You’re not going to run on us.’ But we’ve got to continue to improve.”
On how to fix penalties …
On how to fix penalties …
“It starts with discipline. It starts with tying your shoes before practice, being on time for practice, being dressed properly, following the rules and regulations. When you do those things, you don’t have penalties.”
On quarterbacks Jake Fromm and Justin Fields…
“Both kids continue to grow. For our offense, they add dimensions that we need. They’re both good players.”
On LSU …
“LSU has a great program and a physical team. They are coming off a tough loss to Florida, so they will be ready to bounce back. Their season will be at stake. We’ll have to bow our back and be ready to play a good football team. It’s always physical when you play LSU.”
On performing better in the second half …
“They were a little more tired. When you start the game, their cleats are buried in the dirt and they’re harder to move. We also didn’t execute as well, so were they stopping us or were we stopping us?”
Terry Godwin, Senior, Wide Receiver
On the offensive performance, which included his first touchdown catch of 2018, a 75-yard strike from Jake Fromm in the first quarter...
“As a receiver it felt good to get your first touchdown, especially being in Sanford Stadium. It wasn’t our best game, but we got more things to improve on.”
On offensive tempo, particularly the two-minute drill to score at the end of the first half...
“That drive was big because that was our first chance tonight that we got to work on our two-minute drill, and it paid off. We practice that every day after practice, and we finally got it tonight. Every guy was on their p’s and q’s. That helped us out.”
Jonathan Ledbetter, Senior, Defensive End
On the excitement for the LSU game...
“We just talked about that, too. I’m really excited. I’ve never been down there and I don’t think anybody on this team has had the opportunity to go in their stadium and play a good game of football. We’re going to go in tomorrow, break down the film, start on them and just keep putting our feet in the right direction.”
Riley Ridley, Junior, Wide Receiver
On the keys for preparing to play Vanderbilt…
“It was composure. It was discipline. It was toughness. That’s what this team is made of: those three things. We’ve got a lot of things to work on and we just look forward to doing it.”
On the emphasis on passing with 341 net yards through the air…
“As a receiver, it’s always good to have the passing game going, but you’ve got to have the run game to be balanced and beat the teams down the trail. We’ve got a lot to work on.”
Opening statement …
“First I want to congratulate Georgia. They’re a strong team in all phases. They play hard, they don’t make a lot of mistakes. I thought tonight, things really had more to do with us than with Georgia. I thought we did a solid job in the first half. …
For us, we knew the margin for error was slim. …
I told some people, I believe that this football team has got some good players. We’ve got some ones and some threes but right now, we don’t quite have a two unit. That shows at times.
As I looked at the first half, I thought we allowed Jake Fromm to get hot just before half. I thought we played a good quarter and 12 minutes of football and then we take maybe three minutes and allow him to get hot. I thought our defense just wore down in the second half. I think we started it right, but we just didn’t have enough juice or enough energy. As I look at it, I learned a lot about this football team. They came out and competed the right way. It’s not what we wanted. We know where we have to go from here.
Really sloppy football on both sides tonight. 14 penalties by us, 15 penalties by them. That’s not the type of football we want to play and it’s not winning football when you’re on the road. The winning team can do that, the losing team cannot do that so with that being the case, we have to fix that.
Overall, I’m not worried or deterred. I’ve been here before. What I do know, is I’ve got something to work with. I just have to make sure I can fine-tune it as we get ready to move past this game and move on to Florida.
Again, my hat off to Georgia. They’re a really good football team. They made plays when they needed to. …
I told them in the locker room, we’ve got to turn around fast and clean it up and not let this one affect us next week. We’ve got to play our best ball next week."
On QB Kyle Shurmur’s play on the night…
“A bright spot is he didn’t turn the ball over. Obviously, you think you have a chance to stay in the game if you don’t turn the ball over and that’s partially why we were in the game for the first half because we didn’t turn the ball over. A lot is on his plate, he’s got to get it right. … I thought Kyle handled himself the right way. I know frustration set in late but for the most part, he did exactly what we needed.”
Kyle Shurmur, Senior, Quarterback
On not finishing in the end zone...
"You know I think there were some times where we moved the ball pretty well. But we have to finish and it doesn't mean anything unless you finish with points. Seven is better than three but we have to do a better job of finishing there. That definitely impacted the game.”
On the game...
"I think there's a lot of good and we're going to take the good and move forward. Bottom line we have the privilege to be out here and play the game and compete and go out and try and win. We're not going to sit around and feel sorry for ourselves that we lost. The fact of the matter is we have six games guaranteed left to play football. We're going to get back work and move forward."
Jordan Griffin, Senior, Linebacker
On the defensive injuries...
"We never talk about injuries as a defense. It's always 'next person step up' mentality. Those guys get the same amount of reps so we're not using injuries as any type of excuse for this game."
LaDarius Wiley, Graduate, Safety
On the defensive injury concerns...
"We recruit guys so they can play and we believe in our guys on defense. If we put them on the field we know that they're prepared to play. That's our mentality."
On having half the season over...
"It's a new season, that's all there is to it. Next week we start the season over."
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