Tuesday Press Conference

UGA Sports Communications

Coach Kirby Smart

On areas of emphasis in practice this week…

“Physical contact, healthiness, execution, the same area of focus every week in football, right, you got to out block out tackle out compete, it really hasn't been a unique circumstance because we have a normal protocol we go through Monday we practiced on Tuesday it was a get after it day, we got after it. Kids had great energy, they're excited and they got a lot of respect for Arkansas and, I mean, the same areas you know we got to be explosive and not give up explosives and we got to create turnovers and not turn it over so not a lot of different ways to say that.”

On Darnell Washington and Tykee Smith this week…

“Both up and down, and they both practiced both days. I thought Tykee Smith looked better on Monday. He was quick moving around and we got him on pitch count. You know they're only able to take limited reps from a standpoint of your foot getting sore, as the volume goes up. Darnell Washington struggled a bit yesterday but then he looked good today, I thought he did a good job today. And, you know both of them are, they've got a ways to go, I don't know if they'll be able to play in the game or not but they're working towards it, I can promise you that. It's not just being cleared, you know it's everything else involved in it from being behind, stamina, execution, getting them reps, it’s tough, I'll be honest with you, but I'm still very hopeful that they both can help us.”

On Barry Odom’s defense…

“Ah, well, they've been able to change. They've had some different kinds of opponents this year they've had Rice, they've had Florida Southern which was a little more traditional stuff, and then they've had Texas and Texas A&M. They have multiple packages they can use and Clemson had the same options so you know some of what they do is somewhat of us and some of what they do is not so you have to prepare for more things when you play somebody like that. He does a really good job, you know, of being able to change it up and be multiple. “

On Georgia facing a top 10 opponent…

“It probably says the most about our conference. I guess, I know not all those are conference games because there's probably some bowl games mixed in there but, I mean, that's, that's where Georgia should be, right, it should be playing in marquee games, marquee matchups. I mean there's a lot of good football teams we play against, and a lot of good opportunities, but I like that, you know the prep of the week is a lot more focused, a lot more energy around the game, of course I feel like every SEC games that way, whether it's top 10 or not. But it's great. I mean, I like it.”

On trusting Georgia’s scouting and evaluation of players …

“I guess the answer to that would be yes, I mean I don't know how other organizations it do so it's hard to compare. I do know how we do it and I mean, I don't think any college coach would tell you, they make decisions based on what the rankings in the recruiting rankings say, I mean I really don't think a college coach would say that I think they do it based on the evaluation they see on tape. And that's what we do, because I really have found that if you go off camp, it’s a hell of a lot better accuracy than any ranking or anything, even the tape you see in high school. Um, you know, we didn't love Adonai Mitchell’s high school tape, and we were like man I got question marks, but we loved him in camp and we loved his COVID workouts that he did, and I get a lot more accuracy with information, like to me information removes arrows and we're in a game of not making mistakes right, we're trying to get the right kind of kids, talk about mentally and physically, and we go through a lot of evaluation. I don't think so, and I don't know this for certain, but I don't think a lot of teams do the evaluation process as deep as others. Some people fall in love with a player because it will play, and then they just go recruit them but we don't do that here we watch a lot of tape and I'm on my coaches all the time that, hey, the tape and the camp is gonna speak volumes to who they are, trust your evaluation, and we worry about the ones we get, not the ones we don't. And it's helped us, you know, we've been wrong, we've made mistakes, as much as anybody but I do think that character matters more now than ever. And, you know, guys like Ladd, that do a tremendous job and have speed. I'm like shoot man why would this guy not be a good player, he is. “

On Barry Odom and the offense and defense playing left-handed….

“We try to. Defensively I don’t know that we’re as good at it as Barry Odom and those guys. Barry and them come at you very differently schematically. We’re probably closer to the norm in terms of our league and Barry and them are not. They’re an extremely tough prep because of the way they play. It’s just different, I can’t explain it, you would have to watch the tape. Their kids play extremely hard, extremely physical, the strain is enormous. If you don’t match their strain then you’re gonna have a frustrating day. I got a lot of respect for the way they play. Our main thing is stopping the run and that’s always been an MO of ours. We’ve just been able to affect the pass a little better this year. These guys run the ball really well and Coach Pittman is very involved in that. Coach Briles does a good job of that and so, offensively we obviously try to dictate with some tempo. We try to dictate with our playmaker’s ability getting them to our playmakers. But I can't say that we make people left-handed as much as they do.”

On the importance of JT Daniels’ patience….

“Well, everybody says they drop a lot of players, those same players are the ones tackling people in the backfield. So, you know, that they don't always drop them, they’re aggressive. They know, in order to stop the run, they've got to be great eye control, great run-pass readers. They’re right a lot, their kids understand the game. They trigger on runs and they’re really elite at beating blocks. They run guys to the ball so it's not like they're out there, just dropping on air giving you all kinds of opportunities they can suffocate you with the way they play defense and they do a really good job. We just got to do a great job of making good decisions. That's what forced the quarterbacks they beat into poor decisions they forced them into bad decisions.”

On Kearis Jackson’s injury and his return to the field…

“No, he’s not 100 percent. As a matter of fact, he’s been struggling this week some, so no I felt like he got back. I don’t know what he was last week 90, 95 in the Vanderbilt game. He was out there playing, made a couple of plays, and it’s bothering him some this week. He’s been hindered some and practicing, I think he’s going to be good to go but he’s a little banged up. But Kearis is tough, he loves the game, he wants to get out there, and if anything with Kearis you got to hold him back because he’ll go out there injured.”

On Tykee Smith and Latavious Brini…

“Yeah Tykee brings experience. He played star position in West Virginia and he played with Coach Jahmile Addae, he did a great job playing there. So, once he went in the portal we felt like, you know, that was a perfect addition for us because not only had playing experience, he's a good tackler, He was gonna make our team better, and he's done that. Unfortunately, the injury is putting it behind some and, you know, we felt good about Brini, you know, we felt like Brini played well in the Cincinnati game. He's been around our defense for a long time. He practices really hard, he got more confidence through the Spring, and through these games we played, so they're both really good players and good people, and we're hoping to get Tykee back soon.”

On Treylon Burks’ impact on defense…

“Well, he's a tough matchup because, I mean, first of all, you could put him everywhere. He's in the backfield as a quarterback, he’s a receiver, he's a slot receiver, a tight end, I mean, he does everything. They find ways to get him the ball. He’s been fast, faster than you think he is. He gets out there on the edge and can go on. He’s really tough. So, you know, obviously, when it comes to 50/50, ball size matters. And he's got great length and really good ball skills, so he was a problem for us last year. He's been a problem for the SEC for a while and he's a really good football player.”

On Jalen Carter’s growth as a player…

“He’s more confident in the system, I think, more confident in his ability. Obviously, he's taking more reps so he understands the defense better, but he's playing quicker to me. There was a time where he got a little heavy towards the end of last year and he's really quick now, he's athletic. He can move and disengage blockers. He’s really powerful. This guy was a really good basketball player, he could dunk and do things. He plays with power when he strikes people, so, we're excited about what way he’s playing. He's gotten better and grown as a player and he's got two great role models there in Jordan Davis and Devonte Wyatt.”

On Latavious Brini growing as a leader…

“He's been a pleasure to work with the whole time. He's nice, he’s never truly been a problem. He's a guy that goes to class, does what he's supposed to do, has discipline, is fun to coach, appreciates hard coaching, you know, he's one of the guys that's come up to me before and thanked me and said, ‘Coach, I really appreciate how hard you push me and how hard you coach me.’ Not everybody feels that way and it makes me respect how far he's come, and he's a great young man and he's gotten better from being here and he's a good role model for our players and he's a true example of if you work hard and you learn the defense and you get better than you'll get your opportunity, and he's done that.”

On preparing to play against KJ Jefferson and how playing against DJ Uiagalelei has helped in preparation against Arkansas…

“Yeah, probably helps in terms of wrapping up and finishing because you don't ever get to practice tackling somebody that big, but he's a little different. DJ was not trying to run the ball and they didn't really try to have a quarterback run him much where KJ does do that and KJ is a more physical downhill runner and he throws the ball really well too. He got an extremely strong arm, but he's a true running back runner, they can do those things and I don’t think DJ, that's wasn't what he was, but in the pocket, you know, probably helps that we had to tackle a guy that big.”

On Robert Beal’s maturity off the field…

“Now Beal’s grown up a lot, he's playing good football to us, we think he's done a good job. He's a kid that's worked really hard, he's had some injuries, he's been banged up some, and we just think how long he's been here and really what he's been through. He's a tremendous kid, and I’m very thankful for the growth he's made. He's really helped our team on special teams and I think of all the reps he's taking in practice on those scout kickoff and scout punt return units and now he's out there doing them and he's put us on third down and he's really physical. He gives us something on outside backer, some of the other guys don't get.”

On crediting Coach Pittman while he was on the staff at UGA…

“Yeah it's probably morale and positivity, you know, Sam’s a really, really optimistic, positive guy, especially with his players and his relationship with them. He was always good for me to be around leading up the games, you know, or if you're worried about something, Sam always had a great spin and a great vibe on it and he was great for our staff, you know, staff morale and he's just a phenomenal person. I'd always heard so many good things about him as a coach in Alabama, and we tried to hire him a couple of times and could never get him and then when I got the job (at UGA), he was the number one guy that I targeted and I’m so thankful that he came with us.”

Robert Beal Jr., Senior, Outside Linebacker

On the decision to enter then leave the transfer portal…

“First off, I was not really happy with my playing time and I knew I could play anywhere else in the country. It would have been bad for me to leave honestly. I talked it over with my mother, I talked it over with my dad and I just figured it might work and came back.”

On having experienced players on defense…

“It helps a lot. There are a lot of veteran guys around who have seen a lot and done a lot. I think it helps us out overall. It keeps the new guys in check too.”

On forces fumble and attitude on special teams…

“On that play, it actually wasn’t me that caused the forced fumble, it was Jaylen Johnson. I hit him low and he hit him high and knocked the ball out. But special teams, I think it will get me to the next level.

Latavious Brini, Senior, Defensive Back

On confidence from the Cincinnati game and progress…

“The confidence I got from the Cincinnati game, it has continued building. It is a building process to try and take every week at a time and just keep building that confidence from Cincinnati.”

On having big-game experience…

“Like I said earlier, it just helps my confidence, boosts my confidence.
Every week we go in with a game plan which helps me to say ‘we are getting better every week and lets just do this for the week to come’.”

On Georgia playing top-10 matchups…

“Like I said, week to week, we just come to work. We come to prepare and get the game plan, go hard in practice, study hard and prepare to play every Saturday.”

Monday Press Conference

UGA Sports Communications

Coach Kirby Smart

Opening Statement

“We want to continue to encourage our fans and fan base. I know they’ll turn out and be loud and proud, but really, with “Gameday” there, we want them to get to the stadium as early as we can, especially in the last hour with those guys in there. I would also like to congratulate Nakobe Dean for his national community service award—tremendous job by him. He’s a model player and person and student. For him to get that award is pretty incredible, the job he’s done since getting here. He comes from a great family and it’s a great award for the University of Georgia to get recognized, to have a player of that caliber be put on that team.”

On the play of freshman Broderick Jones at left tackle…

“Broderick’s been playing a good bit. He’s played left and right. He’s not playing in situations where we have leads, he’s playing in normal rotation, and he’s done a good job. He continues to improve, work hard. He can’t make focus errors or focus mistakes; he has a couple of those per game. He’s got to get those out of his repertoire, but he continues to get better. He’s a really good athlete, bends well, and has got a great upside. We want to see him keep practicing well, getting better, adding depth to our team, trying to create options for us on the offensive line. The better he plays, the more options we have.”

On current injuries on the team…

“Darnell Washington and Tykee Smith are back. We did not take them on the 70 for the main purpose of having them work out, so they got a good workout in Friday. They got a good workout Saturday here and they both ran well. They’re back in drills, they’re practicing this week, everything full go, so that hopefully, we have them available. We haven’t seen them physically practice yet, so we still have to see that, but our expectation is they’ll be able to go and play and be able to help us. I think that time off can hurt you, especially if you haven’t played in quite a while, but we’ve got to bring those guys back and be smart about their reps today and work them back in. Dom Blaylock is still nursing a hamstring, hopeful to get him back. Marcus Rosemy is just an ankle–we don’t know how fast it’s going to turn around, but we’re certainly hopeful to get him back. Arian Smith didn’t make the trip. He’s been bothered by a shin contusion that he had prior to the South Carolina game—it happened in the UAB game. He’s been working his way back and we got good recovery by not taking him last week, and we’re hopeful he’s able to go this week.”

On future SEC scheduling with the upcoming expansion…

“I think the conference expanding is going to allow us more opportunities to play more teams. It’s going to depend on what format the presidents and Commissioner Sankey decide to go with, but that’s the least of my concerns right now, I promise you that. I don’t know what they plan to do. I’m certainly in favor of being able to play more SEC games because it’s good for the league.”

On scout team…

“It’s our standard. It’s the expectation. We sell it here really hard. Development is important. How can I develop? I can develop by going on the scout team and getting quality reps. There are a lot of our kids that get better faster on the scout team than they do on the first or second unit because the first and second unit doesn’t go against the quality that the scout team gets to go against. You get better by playing against better competition. I’m a firm believer in that. I’ve seen it in recreational football with my kids growing up. I’ve seen it in high school football with who you play in the regular season. I’ve seen it in college football. When you play better teams you get better, so when you play against a better opponent on the scout team you get better. Our guys have bought into that. We rarely have guys complain because they're not getting reps, they're actually wanting to go get reps. That’s about recruiting the right kind of person into your organization so that they get value out of practice. We take a lot of quality reps on those units.”

On differences between Matt Luke and Sam Pittman…

“I don’t really get into comparisons. I think both of those guys are so good in their individual rights that it is unfair to try and compare them. They both, number one, are incredible people. They are incredible men. They have a strong belief in family. They are everything that epitomizes what you want in an assistant coach/offensive line coach because they care about the team more than themselves. They sell that to their players, and they are both great recruiters.”

On Arkansas’ defense…

“First off, Barry Odom does a very good job. Barry is one of the few people you could say takes what he has and gets what he has to work really well. He's been different at different places. He has not been the same guy everywhere he’s been. He’s morphed. He’s changed. He’s changed with college football. He’s innovative. He goes and looks and studies what other people are doing. He forces your hand to maybe play left-handed. You can’t do some of the things you want to do. He’s really good at it. Not only that, he has some really good players doing it. Make no mistake about it, this is not the Arkansas that we played last year. Those guys up front, he’s got three transfers. Two from Missouri, one from Illinois State, and they play extremely hard. They are extremely physical and they create an immense amount of problems for the people they play. They will not be taken lightly by this group because they are doing an incredible job of creating problems for offenses. Just look at what they’ve done with the two big games that everyone knows about (Texas and Texas A&M), but really they’ve done it in every game.”

On assistants transitioning to head coaches…

“I think you have a President/AD role that may think one thing and you have coaches that may think another, and none of us are necessarily always right. You have agents who think they know. I think everybody has their own opinion of what’s going to work and what’s not going to work. What’s a fit for this place and what’s a fit for that place could be different. They are geographically here and they are geographically here. I think everybody has their own opinion. I love the opinion that a good football coach is willing to sacrifice his own ego and say that if I can go out and hire people smarter than me, and people that are really good coaches, I’m going to have a hell of a staff. Not make it about myself. You have a chance to be successful. You have to recruit and you have to do it well because nobody does really well without good football players. I think that is a big part of that role. Sam (Pittman) fits all of that. He’s a tremendous leader of men, and that’s the number one discipline we are charged with. How do you lead your men and how much do they believe in you? That, he’s got the ultimate going on right now. 100 percent, those men in that locker room believe in Sam Pittman and what he tells them. They believe it and go out and play like it.”

On handling distractions …

“We haven't really even thought about that, because I look at it they’ve had two massive games as well. There’s no kid that is going to say, ‘Oh man, this game is bigger than that game.’ They're all big. I mean they are all tremendously big game and they only get bigger from here. So, I don't think anybody has an advantage when it comes to that. The advantage we can have is can our crowd impact the game at 12:01 p.m. like they could at 8:01 p.m. That’s the challenge that’s issued to our fans to prep for that and to be able to help us because you know we got this game at home. So, that’s supposed to be an advantage and we got to try and make it an advantage because the teams that play at home have across the board this year more than last year, with packed stadiums have some kind of advantage, at least crowd noise wise.”

On the second-year jump …

“Sam had a big jump year one. He had a tremendous jump, right? From every game he won there was one more. So, he did a tremendous job there and continues to grow. I think what’s really helped Sam is the buy in and beliefs that the kids have in him, and that he’s got either eight or nine super seniors. You know eight or nine super seniors makes a big difference. You're talking about those are (Justin) Shaffer’s and Devonte Wyatt’s. Two of our better, more experienced players, you multiply that times four, and they got that. And they have 16 something seniors. They've got seven or eight returners on both sides of the ball. You don't see that in the SEC. I told people before the season started, write it down. Teams with senior leadership, teams with experience, teams with the most seniors always does well in our conference, and no doubt they're doing the same here.”

On Arkansas’ Treylon Burks …

“He was that way last year. He’s a competitor, loves the game. I love the way the guy plays. He’s multipurpose. He can do so many different things. They do a really good job of using his skillset, and Coach Kendal Briles does a great job of making sure that the ball can get to him different ways. He's a football player.”

On stopping explosive plays …

“I would say last year wasn’t a whole lot different. We weren't really explosive the last two years in the run game. Some of that has to do with the way people are playing us, some of it has to do with RPO’s being called and we didn't have a block on more of the perimeter. Some of it has to do with the size of our offensive line. You go back, we were a bigger, more physical team when we had the two first round tackles. Explosive runs are about holds and displacement. If you displace people, you get explosive runs. If you don't displace people, you don't get explosive runs. You got to be run efficient. And we’ve been run efficient. And efficiency to me is as important as explosivity. They're both important. But for our rushing average, and our run efficiency, the way we evaluate it, we've been on par on where we should be. We just haven't been explosive. And I would love to be explosive but it’s not more important than being efficient.”

On having less size on the offensive line...

"I think that we had a run there where we had two really massive, talented tackles, and I think our tackles are good now, but they're probably not first round picks. Those two guys were and we were really big -- Ben was really big, Tate, gave us more size and we lost him. So, it was one of those deals where, I think we continue to improve. The guys we've got are buying in. Every team is different. So, where we might not be as strong, we might be stronger in other areas. We certainly have good depth. We've got tight ends with different skill sets than we've had in the past, so we've got to try to highlight those.

On the distribution of carries for running backs...

"Not at that point. I think it's important to stay healthy, stay fresh, use the hot hand -- whoever that hot hand may be. Those guys are all contributing factors on special teams. Each one of them is a really good special teams player in his own right, has a role and those snaps are really valuable for us. Unless there's a hot hand to the point where a guy is outrushing, making more people miss where there's a considerable difference, we're going to use those guys. That's part of the recruitment. You're not getting 20-25 carries because we're able to share the load. I think that helps us from a turnover standpoint, a stamina standpoint, a health standpoint, a morale standpoint. By all means, if we have a back out there that's making everybody miss, he'll be in the game, but at the end of the day, it's really for us about 'can you rush the ball efficiently? What do you do best? What is your skill set best suited to do to make us successful?'"

On the play of Latavious Brini...

"It depends on how many times he plays and practices. He hasn't had the luxury of practicing or playing. He was practicing with us before, he was rotating with Brini, but neither guy had distanced themselves to the point of being elite or being on top of the position to the point where that person has to play more, they were rolling. We'll see how that goes for these guys. Brini's really smart, very experienced, plays multiple positions. He's doing a good job learning his positions. There's some things Brini can do better, and he'll be the first to tell you that. He's working on those to improve."

On avoiding distractions in Top-10 games...

"I don't know, the main thing -- it's a simple saying, but it's really that simple -- I don't think we lost some of those games because they were big games and they were distracted. It has a lot to do with the players on the field. That's what this will come down to too. It won't be about whether Game Day is here, or how many people are in the stands -- that may impact the crowd noise -- but at the end of the day, it's the players on the field that have to play well. I'm a lot more interested in the prep of that, then I am some secret factor."

On the play of Brock Bowers

“I think he’s been blessed with other tight-ends being out. John FitzPatrick has been hurt, Darnell Washington has been hurt. I think he’s been given opportunity because we’ve had some wideouts down. If you put a lot of those other factors back in—maybe he’s not as productive, maybe we’re not as productive—but he certainly works really hard, and those other guys you just mentioned did too. A lot of being successful as a freshmen is opportunity. He’s taking advantage of this opportunity.”

On the effort to get fans to show up early

“I would just say the opportunity to show the world Georgia. For me, it’s about recruiting—I know that this is the best university on the planet and I want everybody else to know it. So to do that, you need to have an incredible fan base and our fans have been awesome this year. I just want that to continue. We’re going to have an opportunity to play early, we’re going to have tons of great prospects here, and we want to show them the hospitality that we expect at every home game.”

On the impact of noon games on recruiting

“I think it’s all about how your fans handle that. The fact that Game Day is here, I think that helps with recruiting. I think the way our fans handle it, the atmosphere they create, will help, whether it gives us more time at the end of the game, as opposed to guys being gone and jetting out of here for long drives home. We’ll probably have an opportunity to see them more afterwards. It makes it tougher for guys from faraway distances to get here, obviously, with the 12:00 kick. With each good thing, there’s a negative thing, and with all things that’s the case. So we try to make these things positive for us in recruiting this Saturday with a noon kick the best we can.”

Nakobe Dean, Junior, Inside Linebacker

On facing Arkansas…

“They are not the same Arkansas team we faced last year, they are way more physical. This is the kind of game that we here at Georgia look for, a game that we can be physical. We pride ourselves on our toughness and physicality. I am sure everyone on the team is excited for the game as I am.”

On the atmosphere of an early game…

“I feel like as a team we are ready. We just had an early kick-off, it is not like it will be new to us. We are going to prepare, we are going to practice hard throughout the week. We are going to practice like we are going out there and competing for a national championship no matter who we play. For the fans, just like Coach Smart said, ‘challenge the fans to get out there and be loud, be electric, and be elite.’ That is what we push to be as a team.”

Ladd McConkey, Redshirt Freshman, Wide Receiver

On his experience with punt returning…

“In high school I did a little bit of everything, kick-offs punt returns. That is definitely I did in high school…It can be different in practice and in games but our coaches do a good job of making practice harder than games. There are people flying around and stuff like that. It is a little different with the atmosphere, the fans and all the stuff like that. With the respects to the players and a lot of flying around, the way we practice makes it easy.”

On his growth from last season…

“I think really physically going against those other guys every day. I mean just the way they approach the game-their physicality and everything like that. It showed me with the defense and even on offense how I need to approach things and go about it.”

Warren McClendon, Redshirt Sophomore, Offensive Lineman

On big runs…

“Big runs are hard to get. Just the little things we have to work on to get to them, just linebackers and just finishing blocks and stuff like that.”

On the difficulty of embracing a role on the scout team…

“Being young you are like, ‘hey, I am on the scout team, I am not really doing anything for the team.’ But as the season goes on you see all the good stuff and you go, ‘yeah, I kind of like scout team.’ It helps you get better, it helps the defense get better and the offense get better.”

Bowers Named Freshman Of The Week

UGA Sports Communications

Georgia true freshman tight end Brock Bowers has been named the Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week following the Dawgs’ 62-0 rout at Vanderbilt, according to a league announcement.

This marks the sixth weekly honor for the Dawgs this season and the first for Bowers. Junior ILB Nolan Smith (Defensive Player) and WR Adonai Mitchell (Freshman) earned honors following the win over South Carolina. In the win over UAB, senior QB Stetson Bennett (Offensive Player) garnered an SEC honor. Senior S Christopher Smith (Defensive Player) and senior N Jordan Davis (Defensive Lineman) collected a pair of conference accolades after the season-opening victory over No. 3 Clemson.

Bowers, a native of Napa, Calif., led the Dawgs in receiving for the fourth straight game with four catches for 69 yards and two touchdowns against the Commodores. He added his first career rushing touchdown from 12 yards out to open the game.

Bowers is the first Dawg to score three touchdowns in a game since Sony Michel versus Kentucky in 2017. He is leading his team in both catches (18) and yards (272) and has also scored a team-high five touchdowns this season

Dawgs - Auburn Kickoff

The Saturday, October 9th, Southeastern Conference football game between Georgia and Auburn in Auburn will kick off at either 12:00 noon or 3:30 p.m. ET according to an announcement Monday by the SEC office. Game time and televising network will be set following games of October 2nd.

Georgia and Auburn will play at either 12:00 noon on ESPN or 3:30 p.m. on CBS. Arkansas at Ole Miss is the other game under consideration.

Dawgs Slam The 'Dores

UGA Sports Communications

The second-ranked Dawgs started fast and cruised to a 62-0 victory over the Vanderbilt Commodores in front of 32,178 fans at Vanderbilt Stadium and an SEC Network nationally televised audience on Saturday afternoon.

Georgia (4-0, 2-0 SEC) tallied 532 yards of offense: 291 passing and 241 rushing. Junior tailback Zamir White led the Dawgs' runners with 48 yards on nine carries and a touchdown.

Redshirt junior quarterback JT Daniels finished 9-for-10 passing for 121 yards and two touchdowns before senior quarterback Stetson Bennett relieved him in the second quarter. Bennett finished 11-for-15 passing for 151 yards and a touchdown, while freshman tight end Brock Bowers led the team with four receptions for 69 yards and three touchdowns – one rushing and two receiving.

On the defensive front, the Dawgs held the Commodores (1-3, 0-1 SEC) to just 77 yards of total offense, including only 53 on the ground. The Dawgs also racked up two interceptions, a sack, and four tackles for loss. Senior outside linebacker Robert Beall led all tacklers with three solo stops, while a slew of Dawgs totaled three tackles.

“I was proud at how fast the guys started,” said Kirby Smart. “I’m really proud of our fan base. I thought the turnout was incredible, as it normally is when we come up here. Our guys came out here and started fast. That was the goal all week... We talked about starting fast and playing to our standard.”

“Tough atmosphere to play in early on. From warm-ups throughout. We talked about it being early, not letting it be an excuse. If you’re going to be elite as a team, you have to be elite all the time. Not some of the time. That is not how elite teams play. Our guys embraced that and I’m proud of them,” Smart said.

After winning the coin toss and differing to the second half, the Georgia defense immediately made their presence known by forcing back-to-back Vanderbilt three-and-outs. On offense, the Dawgs made quick work. Bowers, a native of Napa, Calif., took an end-around for a 12-yard touchdown before catching a 25-yard touchdown pass on the next Georgia drive.

Back-to-back Commodore turnovers led to the Dawgs' next two scoring drives. First junior Jaylen Johnson forced a fumble on kickoff, which led to White punching one in from the goal line. On the very next play from scrimmage, senior defensive back Christopher Smith recorded his second interception of the year. Two plays later, Daniels found redshirt-freshman Ladd McConkey for a 12-yard touchdown pass, his first career score.

“It felt good to get my first touchdown,” said McConkey. “At the end of the day, the win is all that matters. It was good to have some individual accomplishments, but as long as we win that is my biggest thing.”

After forcing yet another Vanderbilt three-and-out, McConkey found the end zone again. This time on a 24-yard end-around run to give the Dawgs a 35-0 lead in the first quarter. Georgia continued to dominate and cruised to a 62-0 win, in the two teams’ first meeting since 2019. The Dawgs move to 59-20-2 all-time against the Commodores after today’s win.

“The vibe on the sideline is always positive, but we still treat every play likes it’s 0-0,” said junior outside linebacker Nolan Smith. “We try to always cause more turnovers. We have a standard here. We always try to meet that standard every game…We always say that there is no drop-off. If you’re on the field, you’re a starter… We say no one gets in our endzone, and that’s the standard for everybody.”

Post Game Notes

UGA Sports Communications

Another Shutout By The Defense: Georgia posted its sixth shutout in the Kirby Smart era and the fourth in an SEC game with today’s 62-0 victory. Today marked Georgia’s second biggest margin of victory ever in an SEC game, trailing only a record 75-0 win over Florida in 1942. VU finished with 77 yards on 46 plays. At halftime, VU had 50 yards on 25 plays as the Dawgs led 38-0. It marked the third time this year that Georgia has blanked a team in the first half. Coming in today, Georgia ranked second in the SEC, allowing just 7.7 points per game. Today was Georgia’s first shutout since blanking Missouri 27-0 in 2019.

Huge Margin Of Victory: The 62-point margin of victory was the largest since 2014 when Georgia blanked Troy 66-0. The Dawgs have won their last three games by at least 27 points, marking the first time they have done that since the 2017 season when they did it six times.

Pair of Dawgs With Rushing & Receiving TDs: Freshman TE Brock Bowers had four catches for 69 yards with 2 TD receptions plus one TD on the ground. Bowers’ first career rushing TD was a 12-yarder on his first career carry while his TD catches covered 25 and 29 yards. He is the second Dawg to have a rushing and receiving TD in the same game this year, joining James Cook who did it versus USC last week. Then, they were joined by redshirt freshman Ladd McConkey who did it as well today in the first half. He notched his first career TD, a 12-yard catch and then his first career rushing TD, a 24-yarder. McConkey ended up with four catches for 62 yards, both career-highs, all coming in the first half. Also, he had two punt returns for 19 yards today.

Quick Strike For Offense and Day For Daniels: In the first quarter, Georgia QB JT Daniels finished 9-for-10 for 121 yards with 2 TDs to help build a 35-0 lead and was done for the day, improving to 7-0 as a starter at UGA. He had a 25-yard TD pass to freshman Brock Bowers on third down and eight. His lone incompletion was a drop. Georgia’s 35-point outburst in the first quarter was the most points scored in a quarter since tallying 42 in the second quarter against New Mexico State in 2011. Senior QB Stetson Bennett played most of the rest of the game until giving way to Carson Beck. Bennett ended up 11-for-15 for 151 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT. The offense tallied 326 yards on 43 plays in the first half and finished the game with 524 yards on 76 plays.

Points Off Turnovers: Georgia scored 14 points off three turnovers while the Commodores got no points off one Dawg INT. There was a VU fumble on a kickoff forced by Jaylen Johnson, recovered by Daijun Edwards who returned it to the VU 4. Georgia’s Christopher Smith notched his 2nd INT of the year and returned it to the VU 21. Freshman Kamari Lassiter got his first career pick, making a diving catch at the UGA 1.

Special Teams Summary: Senior punter Jake Camarda had two punts for a 35.0 average and handled all but one of the kickoffs. Junior Jack Podlesny was 8-for-8 on PATs to improve to 22-for-22 in PATs this season plus he made two field goals covering 31 and 36 yards and took care of one kickoff. He is 4-for-6 in FG this year.

For Starters & Game Captains: Georgia had one first-time starter today in freshman Kelee Ringo (DB). The captains were senior Jake Camarda (P), junior Nolan Smith (LB) and junior John FitzPatrick (TE). Georgia won the toss and elected to defer the football until the second half.

Series History & Up Next: With the 62-0 win, Georgia now has a 59-20-2 edge in the series history including 28-12-2 in Nashville. Georgia (4-0, 2-0 SEC) returns to action Saturday at home against Arkansas. Kickoff will be at Noon ET (ESPN).

SEC Statement On Education Related Benefits

Following the Supreme Court’s decision in Alston v. NCAA, the Southeastern Conference presidents and chancellors have voted to confirm that each SEC member university now has the discretion to determine criteria and methods to provide education-related benefits and academic achievement awards to their student-athletes, consistent with the Court’s recent decision.

The Alston decision granted universities the opportunity to provide student-athletes with additional education-related benefits such as computers, science equipment and musical instruments, along with direct financial support in the form of academic achievement awards, up to the legally established maximum of $5,980 per year.

While the Alston decision allows individual conferences to set limits on the new educational benefits, the SEC’s presidents and chancellors have elected not to place additional constraints on Conference members in determining how to provide this new support to their student-athletes.

The unanimous vote by the SEC’s presidents and chancellors was an approval of a recommendation from the Conference’s athletics directors.

“The presidents, chancellors and athletics directors of our 14 universities have determined it is appropriate for SEC athletics programs to have discretion and flexibility to provide support for student-athletes in their academic and athletic endeavors,” said SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey. “While the Alston decision invited individual conferences to impose limits on education-related benefits and academic awards, the SEC believes it is in the best interests of our student-athletes for these decisions to be made at the campus level rather than through Conference policy.”

Dawgs Talk About Vanderbilt

UGA Sports Communications

Coach Kirby Smart 

Opening Statement…

"We're excited for this game and trip to Nashville. Our guys are excited for the opportunity. We didn't get to play them last year, so our guys are looking forward to it. We have to get off to an early start with the early kick time."

On playing good defense without some starters…

"The key to that is a good off-season, recruiting well, and playing a lot of players last year. A lot of these guys that are playing now, played some last year. We're playing a lot of people this year. Somebody said 23-24 guys played in one game. That is what we build this defense on. Moral, effort, playing a lot of guys. When you do that it doesn't matter who starts. It doesn't matter how many returning starters you have because a lot of guys have played."

On the defensive front…

"They play hard. They play with effort. They are good football players. I mean UAB ran the ball on us really well. We have to be able to play with a lot more consistency in what we are doing. We have to be able to mix that at a rate that we don't give up explosive passes like we did last week. You can't be good at one thing. You have to be good at both, and we're not. We are functioning at one or the other each week and not both. That is what our goal is."

On the Vanderbilt QB Ken Seals…

"He's a really good athlete. He's very fast. He's been mobile and makes good decisions. Their quarterbacks are capable of running the ball and creating that extra element with the run. I have a lot of respect for the job he's done in the two games he's played."

On the run game…

"Hot and cold. We've done a good job getting a 4-5 yard average. We always talk about being efficient in the run game. That's different than what your average run is. It's your ability to cut the sticks in half. In one game we were efficient and in one game we weren't efficient. To me, it is very important that you are efficient in your run game because it sets up play action. It allows you to manage third downs… I've been pleased at times, and other times disappointed. It's like everything else, it's not ever one way or the other. It's a work in progress. We are trying to go out there today to get better at it. It's what we're going to focus on."

JT Daniels, Junior, Quarterback

On third down conversions…

"Third down is a huge deal for me, personally and I think for quarterbacks everywhere. When you talk about third down conversion and are in third down, there is a lot less to do terms of play action, a lot less to in terms of running the ball, RPO's, a lot of things that make the games easier kind of go away when third down comes. So, a lot of third down is a lot of pure drop back passing, something that I have always prided myself in and something that I am always looking to improve on being the type of quarterback that I am. Drop back passing has got to be a significant attribute of mine. So, third down passing for me is an indicator of how well I am doing and how well our offense is doing in terms of execution and the drop back pass game."

On his health…

 
"You know it is getting better every day. It is something that's been hurt since fall camp. It never really goes away, we played Clemson, and there was a little dip, so we focused on rehabbing, more of that last week. We rehabbed as much as we could but this week, we are still doing the same thing, same plan. It is just going to keep getting better and better."

On starting opportunity at Georgia…

 
"I just, continue to take it day by day. I didn't even realize it has been over a year, obviously it has, but it is not something that I have really thought about. In terms of it, but I think when I look back, I see a lot of growth on my part. Significantly in terms of my leadership, my ability to develop connections with the whole team, I've gotten a lot better with that. I think I have gotten significantly better in terms of understanding the game of football, and it helps coming to a new league. It is very different schematically, offensively, and defensively. But in terms of what is left, I am just going to keep taking it week-by-week. Always have, always will. That is a big emphasis for us, I am fully focused on Vanderbilt. The Vandy game we got on Saturday. I am not worried about what comes after that."

Kenny McIntosh, Junior, Running Back

On JT when he's in the huddle….

"He's a leader. Tells us what we have to get done in the huddle, lets us know all of our assignments. He lets us know to go out there and play as hard as we can and be prepared. He's that type of guy to carry the team in any way he wants to. He's a great leader and he plays that real well."

On the defensive line and who's the most athletic…

"Our whole front seven is very athletic, I feel like all of those guys can definitely go to the next level and play. It's a frustration running against them everyday in practice so I can't really pick one guy out. The whole front seven, the whole defense is just tough to run the ball against and catch the ball. Practices always turn into this competition, we're always going out there to compete so it's hard running against those guys especially Jordan Davis. Everybody on that defense is definitely going to the next level."

On George Pickens recovery….

"I think he's doing well, I think he's getting healthier by the day. Like you said, he's out there running with us now. He's feeling really comfortable, he's getting his comfortability back. I feel like having him around the team is going to allow the wide receiver group to go to the next level like we're capable of doing. But with him around, it's going to bring a lot more excitement to the team, a lot more energy, and stuff like that because that's what he brings as a player. Just him being around there, it shows."

Dawgs 2022 Schedule Announced

 A season opener against Oregon in Atlanta, eight Southeastern Conference games and the annual tilt against Georgia Tech highlight the 2022 Georgia football schedule announced Tuesday by the SEC.

The Dawgs will open the season against Oregon on September 3rd, 2022 in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. This will mark only the second time the two football programs have met. The one previous meeting resulted in a 27-16 home win for the Dawgs in 1977.

Georgia will host SEC contests against Auburn, Vanderbilt and Tennessee and will travel for league matchups against South Carolina, Missouri, Mississippi State and Kentucky. The Georgia-Florida game will take place Oct. 29 in Jacksonville.

2022 Georgia Football Schedule

Sept. 3             vs. Oregon (Atlanta)

Sept. 10           SAMFORD

Sept. 17           *at South Carolina

Sept. 24           KENT STATE

Oct. 1               *at Missouri

Oct. 8               *AUBURN

Oct. 15             *VANDERBILT

Oct. 22             Open Date

Oct. 29             *vs. Florida (Jacksonville)

Nov. 5              *TENNESSEE

Nov. 12            *at Mississippi State

Nov. 19            *at Kentucky

Nov. 26            GEORGIA TECH

 *Southeastern Conference game
   Home games in BOLD. 

Tuesday Press Conference

UGA Sports Communications

Coach Kirby Smart

On finding a way to develop young players…

“It's a continuum... You always play the guy that gives you the best opportunity to win the game. That's what you do, and every decision we make is based on our opportunity to win the game. We don't, I don't know that we look down the road and practice. We say ‘okay, this guy is really talented but he doesn't know our system offense or defense or special teams, but he's talented, so we might put him in a position to get reps and be a two and grow.’ And then ‘hey, we're up in this game let's get him in there and let's get him some experience.’ But we never put him in there before another guy gives a better chance to win, because one play can decide a game. You know the left tackle boxed the wrong guy and the quarterback is hit from the blindside and I would never, I would never put somebody in there before they were the best guy to play the game I guess I don't know if I'm answering your question”

On Darnell Washington and Tykee Smith…

“They both were running and doing cardio yesterday. They did a good job and ran today. They did not do their position work, meaning they didn't go and take reps. But that was just walking off the field and they both ran really good today, they both hit at really good speeds. I talked to both of them walking off the field, they felt really good about where they were and they felt really comfortable. They're not in cleats yet, you know cleats aren't the best thing to run in for that foot injury. But they are in the rubber turf shoes, and they're running really well. They’ve built up their volume so we'll increase that tomorrow and see where they are. They're in a much, much better place, and I'm really pleased. I saw them running with black shirts on today and I thought, ‘who is that guy that looks fast?’ But it was Tykee and Darnell.”

On Broderick Jones…

“Well, he's played, right, or he played in the last two games. He played during the rotation. Number one, I think it helps Jamaree Salyer's conditioning. Number two, he's a good football player. He looks like he's earned the right to play by the way he's practiced through spring ball and through camp. We're not ready to say that he's a starter right now. He still has some mental hiccups and mental busts. He’ll be the first one to tell you he went in during the UAB game and Stetson Bennett threw a touchdown pass and he... completely they completely botched it. They didn’t even block the guy and Stetson got the ball off before the guy could get there, then he blocked the wrong guy on Kendall Milton’s fumble, the guy was unblocked and he didn't block his guy. He to clean those things up and get better. But one thing I like about Broderick is he's always trying to get better. He'll come ask you ‘what can I do better, what can I do here, what can I do there?’ And he's, competing, you know, I mean, we're gonna put the best five out there. Jamaree we also feel like right now is playing better at tackle than he has at guard. So there's a lot more to it than just what everybody thinks. I think you guys just think you just play and play, but we're trying to get the best combination of guys out there and that's the work in progress.”

On elite defenses in the past…

“Yeah I think everyone's different. They have different identities. I've been around some really good ones and they've all been different. I mean some have been good because of the secondary. Some have been good because of the front. Some have been a combination of both. Everyone's different. Everyone has a different personality and identity and that's usually created by the staff that’s been signed with them. I think our defensive staff, the likes of Dan Lanning, Glenn Schumann, Jahmile Addae and Tray Scott and Will Muschamp. They have done a really good job of getting the players to take on their personality, and they bought into that. So it's been a good vibe on defense and those guys have really done a tremendous job but this is a different route. This is a really athletic group. I don't know that I've had an athletic front seven like this. We've been, I've been, much deeper in the secondary. But, I don't know that I've had a group as athletic as this group that can move and twist and in today's college football world that gives you a chance because of all the spread stuff.”

On the difference in Jordan Davis this season…

“Yeah, I'm really excited about Jordan. I think he's a tremendous worker, a tremendous person. I think you're seeing this side of Jordan that we had seen prior. But Tray Scott has done a great job honing in his skill set. You know he initially was a block striker, an anchor. I would say that was the immovable object and that was great. But that only gets you so far. And to get tackles for a loss, you gotta be quick, you gotta stunt step, you gotta add twists, you gotta have gains. And I think that’s where Tray and Dan and Glenn Schumann and all the guys on the defensive staff have done a great job of creating movement. The guys up front can make plays, you know we went a long time without being sack leaders and getting a lot of sacks and getting a lot of TFLs and the whole habit came about. Probably two or three years ago, I guess that word started popping up. And if you want to be a good habit team, you got to move, you gotta stunt people. You got to bring people and that's changed Jordan, because that wasn't Jordan’s expertise, that wasn't what he was great at and he's, he's taken pride in doing that, not necessarily about being lighter because he's not necessarily lighter but he is quicker.”

On Georgia’s representation in the Ryder Cup and on tour…

“Yeah, it's awesome. We got so many Dawgs on tour, it's really incredible what they've been able to do. Harris English stopped by practice, not too long ago and brought his Dad with him and his caddy and it was great to see him out there - really proud of what he's been able to do. He's a great person and he represents the University of Georgia the right way and I love being around him. But we're pulling for me the Ryder Cup. It’s one of the most watched and coolest events there is in all of sports to me, I love it, so I'll be tuning in to see how he does.

On players’ reaction to Vanderbilt game cancelation last season…

“Not really, I think, frustration is a better word, anger is probably not a better term. I mean I just think frustrated with the whole process. It was a long year. And it was at the end of it and, you know, there probably would be some guys that would say they were glad. I hate to say it, but they were probably tired and guys who didn't think they were going to play, then you’ve got a group of guys that want to play every game because it's an opportunity to get better. And it's an opportunity to make a statement about who we are and, for some guys it's the last home game, but not anger I think frustration is the better adjective.”

On Jamaree Salyer’s success at offensive tackle…

“Well, I think it's his athleticism, he's got really good feet. You know he's got an ability to be strong, really strong, so when he stays in front of people, it's hard to get around. You know, he's got a lot of experience playing out there, he played at a high level last year and did a good job against some really good pass rusher so it's not that he can't play guard, because he's played good football at tackle, and that's not an easy place to play in this league, it's probably the most exposed position, there is and I think Coach Monken does a good job, you know, helping him with tight ends helping him with chips and things like that. But I never doubted that he could play it, and in some ways he plays more confidently there than he does inside.”

On Quay Walker’s development…

“Yeah Quay Walker has come a long way. Man, I was kidding Quay today at a walkthrough - he used to get so frustrated when he didn't know something and there were so many little words and nuggets in our defense. Quay would just get so mad and I think he thought at times he would never learn it. He got frustrated, he struggled academically early and there were times that he you know, he's like, ‘I don't want to go to college. I'm tired of it, frustrated, I’m not playing. I was highly rated coming out,” but man, has he made a turn, you know, somewhere, the beginning of last year really last, the spring before last year, he I know he didn't have spring ball, but he made a leadership term, and he committed to be an excellent and doing what he's supposed to off the field, and on the field became much more student of the game. He holds people accountable now is like this is the guy that wouldn't do it, and now he's doing it all. so it's pretty awesome to see how far he's come and I love watching players grow like that because you know I got to sit in his house for a long time and now getting to see him, it’s like a different person.”

On the cancellation of the 2020 Vanderbilt game…

“My emotional disappointment is the players had prepared, you know that already. I think we'd already prepared once. Maybe I can't remember that season, but I know that there was an expectation we were going to play them. It was more about a home game right, it's about our last home game and for the seniors. I wanted it because they had meant so much for our program and so many of them had been through, you know, a turnaround, and I just wanted the game for them and then when the coach called me, the interim coach called me I was hurt, but I understood it was beyond his control, and it is what it is. I really didn't do much to find the game, I mean, I texted a couple of people just hoping but it was too short notice. And I know some of the people upstairs and Josh Brooks tried to call and work some things out, but there was no realistic shot at all like it's never like it was close to anything.”

On George Pickens’ progression…

“I was excited for George, I guess I can't remember what it was two weeks ago maybe? Two weeks ago, Monday or two weeks ago Tuesday... he had a meeting with Dr. Andrews, and he visited with him and, of course, he's the foremost authority, Ron Courson went and his mother went. They all had a sit-down meeting. He felt like he was in a really good spot and cleared him to do some football activity in terms of route running and things on air, you know, not contact. George is running really well, he's a special guy when it comes to coming off of injury. I mean, he's out there running and catching balls. You wouldn't think watching there’s anything wrong with him, but Ron has a protocol, and Ron's following that exactly. George has done a tremendous job of doing what he's supposed to do in rehab, being where he's supposed to be. He works out, you know, during the practice he only gets a little bit of time with us. He's prescribed, like 15-20 minutes at the beginning of practice, and then he goes and does his rehab program and his lifting program. He's done a great job of doing all that. So, what is the prognosis, I don't know. I don't know the timeline on that. I do know that he's working really hard and we've not made it about George's return. That's not what we talked about, we talked about George getting healthy, and that's what we've consistently sold to him.”

On George Pickens’ recovery compared to others…

“I'm not a good judge of that. I mean, you'd have to ask Ron Courson about that, because I don't know. Ron's done thousands of ACLs it seems like since being here and he would tell you better. He does say that George's recovery and his body is just naturally on top of it and it wasn't as bad as some of the others, you know, others had multiple tears in theirs. He was not as bad as Nick Chubb's and some of those guys.”

On Sedrick Van Pran’s performance...

“Well, his character. He’s a leader. He’s smart. He’s very intentional. Just a very serious dude when it comes to his work ethic and his habits. He does a tremendous job.”

On intensity and focus in practice…

“As far as our focus and energy, I think it has been really good. We've tried to change up practice the last two days and do some different things, have some competitions and we've done some more. They’ve got some similarities to our offense and defense, so we've done some more one-on-ones, two-on-twos. We try to change things up just so they don't get bored. But they've been focused and they've handled it the right way and I'll feel a lot better if they do that tomorrow as well.”

Quay Walker, Senior, Inside Linebacker

On Vanderbilt cancelling last season…

“I just remember preparing all week leading up to that Saturday. We were just ready to play, to be honest with you - it was an SEC game - we were just ready to play. I just know that the moment it was canceled we were pretty much upset that it happened, but you know there was a lot that was going on with Covid and how serious it was and how serious it is now. But at that moment, we understood but we just wanted to play football at the end of the day. Peoples’ health was way more important than us wanting to go play football.”

On Jordan Davis…

“The biggest point for me is how he chases after the ball. I think everyone saw that play against UAB. That play surprised me, to be honest with you. I was on the field with him and seeing him run - that's pretty much something he was already doing in practice so I wasn’t surprised, but to see him move that fast - that was the fastest I have seen him move. That would be the biggest thing that surprised me, to be honest, with Jordan Davis this year compared to last year.”

On playing a morning game…

“Not at all when it comes to playing football. At the end of the day, we are in Georgia so we are going to get ready regardless. You already know with Coach Smart and everything and with all of our leaders we are going to have everybody ready. We are going to be ready to play - shouldn't be a problem at all.”

Jordan Davis, Senior, Defensive Lineman

On the Vanderbilt game being cancelled last year…

“I remember it vividly. The only thing I remember about the game is that it was after I got hurt, and it was one of the games that we were planning on shooting for some recovery time, and not being able to play and having to wait another week, it was a little bit of an ‘ehh.’ At that point, you just have to move on. Obviously, for everybody, corona is not something to play with, and I understand completely, being short-staffed or having only a little bit of players. It was one of those things where you have to press on. Nowadays, moving forward, it is just the next game that we have to play, so we just have to take care of business.”

On what he thinks of the defense compared to previous Georgia defenses…

“Over the offseason, we had a lot of time to spend with each other, and we gelled together. That was one of the big positives from this year. People come and go, but the standard is still the same. We want to make sure that we play our ‘lights-out’ defense every week, and we have to get better. It is just one of those things where it is more enjoyable this time around, because you truly know your brother and know who you are playing with, so that is one of the biggest things for this year.”

On his lateral movement this season…

“I have not really been keeping up with it. I just try to make the plays that come to me. The UAB quarterback looked at me, and we locked eyes for a second, and he just ducked his head and took off running. I was like ‘I have to get him at this point. I have to keep going.’ It is fun seeing it in hindsight. It is just one of those things where if you can make it, you can make it. If you can not, a teammate will make it. It is fun watching it.”

Monday Press Conference

UGA Sports Communications

Coach Kirby Smart

Opening statement…

 
"I hope we can continue to do this and looking forward to having you all today. I warn you, be careful today because we're probably having to go inside due to the rain, so it's going to be a very confined space for us, it's really tight out there, so you'd be on your own. I'm excited to get to work on these guys, you know, we didn't get to play them last year with the COVID-19 kind of experience we had. Headed to Nashville where our fan base always does a tremendous job and turns out, so excited about that. We'll have to prepare for an early preparation, because it's very, very different when you have pregame meal at possibly 7,7:30, so that'll be different for us. 

One of the things I forgot to mention is excited about the 'Dawgs On Tour' and the money that our pro golfers are raising—I want to give some awareness to that and those guys are challenging everybody to make pledges for the number of birdies they make—so somebody told me I need to make a pledge, so I'm pledging one dollar per birdie for those guys. You don't think it'd be much, but somebody told me that could get anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000, but those guys are giving back to the university and I think it's great. Anybody that plays here, as an amateur, and then goes on to become a professional and be able to give back, which those pro golfers have done, I think it's a tremendous honor for them to do that and want to help out with that."

On Sedrick Van Pran…

"Sedric is a guy who we've always thought was really talented and we went and recruited him out of New Orleans. He's got a wonderful family and he's got relatives right in the Cobb County area that have come to games. I know his family comes up and stays. So he's an exciting—really a great kid—very, very sharp kid who processes information really well, makes decisions and protections, makes points, does a lot of good things for our team. I think his growth was fast-forwarded through Warren Ericson being injured. He would have gone a lot with the two's anyway, but he got thrown in with the one's, got a lot of good work in, and grew, and got better. His accuracy with snaps has continued to improve and must continue to stay at a high rate because the number one thing to success from an offense is number one, getting the snap, and he's done a nice job of that. He's had a couple, you know, plays in each game that make you go 'What were you thinking there?' He's got to get those out, you can't have—you may get beat physically and then very rarely does he get beat physically, but he can't have mental lapses or, you know, do things on your own, and I think that part he's still a work in progress, but I love his work ethic, I love the way he practices and leads and you can tell he's going to be the kind of guy that leads in the right direction for the future for this team."

On Darnell Washington and Tykee Smith…

"We haven't ruled out this weekend. They are back, they were running at the end of last week, weight-bearing, like running on their own. We've thought all along this would be the target—this week or next—but can't say they're going to be clear for this game. I'll find out a lot more today because they're going to be able to run, do some exercises, not necessarily be in their groups, but they're going to be running and accelerating on their own, not just underwater in what we call the 'Ultra G,' where they have not 100% of their weight—They're on 100% of their weight, so Thursday, Friday, we're moving forward, and we'll see where they are today."

On the depth of Georgia's defense…

"We promote depth and really our whole special teams, we share time on offense. We play a lot of players on defense, so I mean it's not just a defensive thing. We sell that as a team because I personally think that it helps morale. I think it helps conditioning, especially during the hot months we're still playing in, and if you've got players that are good enough to play, they deserve to play. We play a lot of guys, and I don't think that—here's how we practice—if you're a two and you're not going to get enough reps, you go down on the other field and you get them. And when you've got players in your program texting you, 'Coach can I get some good work against Warren McClendon or Jamaree Salyer?' That's when you know you got a good culture, because they're trying to get reps against better people rather than staying down with the defense and getting three of eight, they go down to the other field and get five of eight. And you may think that's minute, but for me, that is everything we're about, that's what our culture is built on—it's built on how you go against better players so that you get better and that's how we get depth because they practice against good people."

On JT Daniels…

"I think JT Daniels came out of the game pretty clean. They had the one sack but he was down before he got hit. I'll know more today as far as his health. I would think he's progressed along and doing a nice job in terms of his health. And that always goes back to how they practice, and how the guys practice. I think he certainly showed that he was healthy enough to play and he played with a high efficiency. Still a couple decisions there that he's got to make better decisions with the ball but you cant argue with how he played on third down. He was efficient with the ball, made good decisions. The one pick was late. He did some good things. So again, it'll be based on day to day, how he practices and how guys practice in practice because practice matters."

On giving up long pass plays…

"My level of concern is the same it was the first day we went out to practice. You don't give up long pass plays and win games. And those same pass plays were prevalent in Clemson, they were just P.I.'s. So it's something that you have to work on and people think that you have to play somebody else to solve those problems. You have to have good technique and you have to play with proper technique and you have to relieve some of that pressure with scheme but I'm a big believer in getting better at what you do. So, every time they throw that ball down the field it's an opportunity for us to catch it. The week before Kelee Ringo went up and caught that ball and you go, 'well you do that a couple times how many of those will you see? And if I'm playing our defense and I'm struggling to run the ball, what's your answer going to be?' I'm not going to continue to just run it. I'm going to find ways to try and get one-on-one matchups and throw the ball. We say it all the time. That ball is just as much yours as it is theirs. We've got to do a good job of not letting people get behind us. And that starts with a lot of technique. It's not a scheme thing. It's not a one-person thing. It's playing your technique and better than the guy across from you.

On Brock Bowers…

"I think it's just based on who the tight end is. Did 'spread' make the tight end position more prevalent? Not necessarily because there's teams that do the same plays with a running back that we do with Brock. There are teams we play that do the same plays we do with Brock that they do with a receiver. I can't comment, because in the NFL there's been more tight ends drafted in recent drafts, but it has nothing to do with the word 'spread'. It has to do with a guy that's a viable blocker that has replaced the fullback in traditional offense and he can also play on special teams. He can run, he can catch, he can run after catch. He can block maybe a little, maybe a lot, depending on who it is."

On the TE position…

"The tight end position has evolved in the NFL therefore it has trickled down to high school and college offenses. But it's really about who the guy is, right? It's not like everybody wants to just say 'well the tight ends are being used more'. Well, if you got a tight end that runs 4.5 (40-yard dash), then you know he presents a viable option. It's a threat in the passing game. If he's physical and tough enough to block and block on the perimeter, you give me any player that 235 pounds and can run 4.5's we'll find a way to use him. I think that has a lot to do with his skill set."

On Clark Leah…

"I think he does a tremendous job. Number one, he's an alumnus of the school, he takes a lot of pride in the school just like I do here. He's been tremendously successful in his career, he's really smart. We've met with him and spent time with him as a coach, he knows and understands football and is trying to build a culture there to be competitive in the SEC. That starts on the road recruiting, which he hasn't gotten a chance to do and it comes with buying in to the culture he creates as a coach. I know he'll do a good job with that. The one thing that you consistently see when you play at Vanderbilt, it's always been a tough, physical game. They've been that way when James Franklin was there and when Derek Mason was there, it's going to be no different. These guys are going to play hard, physical football. We don't get into measuring ourselves against the opponent, we measure ourselves against ourselves and we're going to do that every single day in practice."

On Adam Anderson and Nolan Smith…

"Experience, they both have that. Those guys paid the price of experience in years past and they've got confidence and experience now. When you play in this system, you play under coach Dan Lanning and he's coaching you every day, telling you the 'ins' and 'outs' of formations, stances, everything he can tell you. It helps you as a player and they both are reaping the benefits of having been in the program."

On team leadership…

"It's up and down. There are days it could be better, there's some days it's really good and it's a work in progress. In terms of player led leadership events and conversations, it's never as good as I want it to be. It's never as bad as the worst it's been, so that's a hard measuring stick. It's day-to-day and it's something we are constantly trying to grow. You develop leaders, you develop them on what you do in the off season, how much time you spend on investing in them as a staff, and individually basis with each player, letting them know what's important you get that in return on investment with the time they spend with the team and when they lead the team when you're not around. We're probably not where we need to be in that regard, but it's something we'll always work on."

On Adam Anderson on special teams…

"Adam has always done a tremendous job on special teams. He's perfect for special teams, 6-foot-4, 230, 235 pounds, runs fast, what more could you want than a fast, big guy on special teams? He's always taken a lot of pride in that. Adam has reasserted himself on this team as a person who cares. He used to miss academics, now he doesn't miss academics. He used to miss treatment, now he doesn't. You watch the growth of a player, and I've seen it since being here, year one, they don't have a clue. Year two, they're still trying to figure it out to year three and that's how you're supposed to do it. He's in that year where he understands what he's supposed to do and understands why it's important to do it that way. He's done that on special teams and defense, he doesn't play so many snaps on defense that he can't play special teams. That's part of the value on playing players on offense and defense, not every snap is that you get the value back on special teams."

On the DGD fund…

"It does not surprise me at all. People know how great the University of Georgia is and to have players that feel like, 'hey here is my opportunity to use my platform to get people to give to the DGD Fund so that I can in turn give back to the charity or organization that I take pride in.' I think it says a lot about those guys that they are not trying to put money in their pocket, they're trying to benefit some organization that is greater than themselves and they are doing it through the Georgia name. I don't know anywhere in college football that guys are doing that. They are not trying to benefit themselves, they are trying to benefit others. Anytime you do that I think you should be recognized."

On Dominick Blalock and Kearis Jackson…

"Well Dominick Blaylock is dealing with a little bit of a hamstring. He had it last week, he was really close we thought he was actually ahead of Kearis in terms of return. Then he had a little hamstring thing bother him…I guess it was early last week. He will be out there trying to go again today. Just one of those things when you haven't been back in increased volume you have to be careful. Kearis did a good job in the game. He had two catches, he did a great job. He had one smart intelligent play to declare down when catching the ball because the clock was going to run. If you can't go score get down because we have a timeout and he was very aware of the situation and he is just a good player. You know what Ladd McConkey is doing a great job too. Those guys understand that we have guys playing well and as you work your way back you outwork and outplay the guy in front of you. Kearis is still not 100 percent, I mean he is out there playing at 90 or 95 percent and continues to get better."

On Nolan Smith...

"He had two really big plays and he continues to play with great effort. He practices really hard and he does things the right way in terms of physical toughness - not afraid of contact - and continues to grow and get better. I still think he can show some improvement in his run defense, in the way he strikes and plays blockers, technique and things. But, he's a great closer, he's a great recognition guy of plays coming, and he's a great pass rusher."

On good on good at practice...

"We do more now than we've done in the past, but I'll be honest with you, the portal effect for us has been more at the skill positions - for whatever reason - so the two skill positions, we're down numbers in. We're deficient at receiver and we're deficient at DB in terms of what we need to practice against each other with scout teams. So, what happens is you say, 'what's the best way to get good on good reps? You have to go against each other.' We used to have three or four guys on the scout team, you know, we would have a Matt Landers, a Kearis Jackson, we'd have guys down there that were really good players going against them, and now we're not able to do that because of our depth and our injuries. So, we've chosen to take a route of going good on good more than we have in the past. We still do scout periods, and I still applaud and reward players who give great efforts on scout teams, but our trenches on the scout teams are better than our skills on our scout teams."

On improving Covid trends on campus…

"Our team has done much better since our last spike, but that's day-to-day. It's on a continuum, right. As soon as you say that you'll get a text in a few minutes saying someone isn't feeling well. My big thing is to not assume anything and take as little risk as possible in terms of our team and our exposures. I don't actually know how it's doing on campus though."

On the advantage of having Will Muschamp…

"He has added experience and value. There is no price tag you can put on being a previous head coach at two schools in the SEC, being a defensive coordinator, and winning national championships. Going to coach at Auburn and coaching all over. There is no price tag you can put on the value that he adds in terms of that. That's experience gained on our staff. That's relationships with players. He does a tremendous job of keeping our players confident and improving their skillset. not to mention what he brings to the table in terms of recruiting. He can fill a lot of roles and he's a talent coach. He's very loyal. I appreciate all that he does."

On Rian Davis…

"He has a quad injury. He is going to be out for the season. An unfortunate injury. On Monday last week, he injured his quad and had to have surgery, so he's going to be out. He's battled through some hamstring injuries early in camp and is a guy that has had some bumps and bruises. He was doing really well up until the time he got injured. He started on punt return and was in the top four rotation at inside backer then he got injured. So it will be Spring for him."

On the run game…

"I thought we had a really good run game plan going into the game. Really you can say every run. The thing we emphasized going into the week was IDs, communication, and pad level. That improved tremendously. We had two times where we just didn't block the right people or we didn't block somebody. Those cannot happen. Those moments where it's like 'Oh my God, we didn't even block the guy.' You take those out and it's really good, but to rush for what we rushed for, and get our hats on the right people. I think we're going to have to continue to work really hard on creating movement, displacement, and being creative in our run game. Our guys ran the ball the well. They (South Carolina) have a good defensive line. Good players, a lot of players that we recruited. We've faced better defensive lines, but they have a good defensive line. I thought our guys did a better job with pad level and a better job with IDs and Communication, but nowhere near where it needs to be.

John FitzPatrick, Junior, Tight End

On run game…

"I was very involved. I was blocking for Zamir and James… After the UAB game, you look at the score and you're like wow, but after watching the film there were so many things that we needed to work on. For me, there were things I need to work on. We used the week of practice for South Carolina to work on those things, whether it was foot work or pad level. We were ready."

On early kickoff games…

"I love noon games because you just get up and play. It's the most important game because it's the next game and were ready for it."

Christopher Smith, Senior, Defensive Back

On Adam Anderson…

"Special teams is obviously a big emphasis for our team. We feel like if we can get ahead on special teams we can win a game. You know Adam is obviously a tremendous athlete. He can move fast, he is big and strong, he has all the qualities to be a great special teams player. The emphasis that Coach Smart and the rest of our coaches put on special teams has really helped us build and grow throughout the special teams process. Everyone on the team, not just Adam, me and including a lot of the older and younger guys, really recognized how important special teams is for us to be able to win."

On good-on-good in practice…

"It definitely helps us out a lot. Going against the athletes that we have in our offense it makes the game a little bit easier when you are going against the athletes that we have. It definitely helps us out a lot. I love getting good-on-good periods, even our scout team knows that they give us good looks in and out every week, that is a really big help for us."

Adam Anderson, Senior, Outside Linebacker

On who has impressed him on defense…

"Nolan Smith. My brother. Part of my wolfpack. Just seeing him come in every day with a hot motor. He's young and has so much going for himself. Having that same person in your room. Knowing his why, knowing what he wants to do, and knowing that after school what he wants to do this. Knowing everything. Knowing he's doing it for his mother as well. That just keeps you going. Keeps your drive alive."

On being a five star…

"Honestly you can be a five star, four star, three star. Stars don't mean anything when it comes to the field. Can you produce? Can you actually learn the plays? Can you learn from the meeting room and put it on the field? Jordan Davis was a three star. Look at him now. Strong as an ox. Fast. You can't tell me that's not five star credit. Stars don't mean anything around here."

Smith & Mitchell Claim SEC Honors

UGA Sports Communications

Georgia junior linebacker Nolan Smith and freshman receiver Adonai (AD) Mitchell have earned Southeastern Conference weekly honors, according to a league announcement.

Smith was named the SEC Defensive Player of the Week. He shares this week’s honor with Alabama linebacker Will Anderson. Mitchell was named the SEC Freshman Player of the Week.

This marks the first weekly awards for both Smith and Mitchell. Last week, senior quarterback Stetson Bennett (Offensive Player) garnered an SEC honor following the win over UAB. Senior safety Christopher Smith (Defensive Player) and senior nose tackle Jordan Davis (Defensive Lineman) garnered a pair of the conference accolades after the season-opening victory over No. 3 Clemson.

Smith, a native of Savannah, ignited the Dawg defense with a career-high eight tackles during Georgia’s 40-13 dismantling of South Carolina. He had 1.5 sacks in his performance, including splitting one with Jordan Davis that resulted in a Gamecocks safety before the half.

Smith also forced a fumble in the third quarter that was recovered by the Dawgs and led to Georgia’s fifth touchdown of the game. Thanks in part to Smith’s performance, the Dawg defense has only allowed a single touchdown this year.

Mitchell, a native of Missouri City, Texas, posted career highs of four catches for a team-high 77 yards and his first career touchdown during the victory over the Gamecocks. He hauled in a career-long 38 yarder for a score from JT Daniels to give the Dawgs a 21-6 edge in the second quarter. Mitchell’s other three catches went for first downs, including two on third-and-long situations.

The No. 2 Dawgs (3-0, 1-0 SEC) travel to Nashville, Tenn., to take on Vanderbilt (1-2) on Saturday. SECN will televise the matchup at 12 p.m. ET.

Dawgs / Arkansas Kickoff Set

The Saturday, October 2nd, Southeastern Conference football game between Georgia and Arkansas in Athens will kick off at 12:00 noon ET and be televised by ESPN according to an announcement Monday by the SEC office.

Georgia’s all-time record on ESPN is 54-34-1.

Post Game Quotes

UGA Sports Communications

Coach Kirby Smart 

Opening statement … 

“I would open with what a tremendous night. The weather held off for the honoring of the first five black football players to play at the University of Georgia. They came over and spoke to our team on Thursday, I thought they did a tremendous job. What a tremendous honor to have them and host them. Courtney Gay did an unbelievable job hosting them and she has done an incredible job with our diversity, equity, and inclusion. So, I’m really proud of what they were able to do and what we got as part of our stadium for a long time. 

I would also like to thank David Pollack, he got honored for the College Football Hall of Fame, what a tremendous honor for him. Then our fanbase, our fanbase came out loud and proud, they didn’t take a week off. I think our student section has become very impactful for pre-game warmups all the way through the game. 

Thought the guys played really hard. So many guys played a big role in this game, seemed like the wealth was spread around defensively and offensively. I thought JT Daniels played with a high level of confidence, believed in what our guys could do, and got the ball to our playmakers – did a great job doing that. Jack Podlesny, he’s a great kicker, it was great to get him back on track there late in the second half, and just proud of the hard work our guys have put in. We just have to get better and we’re not where we need to be. We didn’t play as well defensively tonight as we have in the past and we’ll continue to improve.” 

On the end of the first half … 

“Situational football is critical, and we’ve run through those exact same situations every Thursday. I was really proud of the execution. Number one, they stopped us, which can’t happen. We can’t not have an opportunity, and he took the timeout, which told me that he was going to try to use the clock and let it run out. Ameer Speed and Jake Camarda started that whole thing with downing the ball inside the one which is just elite. We practice that really hard all camp, so Ameer made a huge play, Jake made a huge play, and then the defense made a huge play. Then we were able to save our timeouts, and it was really big to get those pass plays to set up the field goal. I just thought that was a really good sequence to steal five points.” 

On the passing game compared to the run game... 

"It's not that they're taking what they give us, I just think we're better right now at timing, throwing the ball, spacing and routes. I actually thought we ran the ball better tonight. We rushed for 184, it didn't seem like a struggle running as much as it did. Statistically, I was proud at our ability to run the ball. I thought our backs made some people miss. So I'm not down on the run game tonight, we improved there. I do think the timing and passing game makes our guys being pretty good passers, but if you're going to be an elite team you've got to be pretty good at both. There's a few teams, LSU didn't have to run it two years ago. I felt like they threw it a lot, they didn't have to run it. We've got to continue to improve and keep guys healthy." 

JT Daniels, Junior, Quarterback

On getting Kearis Jackson back and throwing to many different receivers ... 

“It was great to have Kearis back. We have missed him, and I have missed him. To me, a one-on-one matchup where we can take a chance at a deep ball is taking what they are giving us. If they are going to give us a one-on-one without a safety in the way to make it a two-on-one, that is giving us something. One-on-ones are not 50/50s with Adonai Mitchell and Jermaine Burton. I think they are 80/20s. The biggest thing that they understand with me is that I told them that I will throw it to them four times in a row. I will throw them a jump ball four times in a row, just do not let it get picked. I trust them. I trust that they are not going to let the other team come down with it. When they get one-on-one, to me, you are giving me a chance, and I like that chance with the guys that we have.” 

Nolan Smith, Junior, Outside Linebacker

On his big plays that affect the game’s momentum … 

“I mean 100 percent momentum. Momentum swings, it is a big momentum game. Football is all about momentum swings. When the momentum gets to swinging and we are at home in-between the hedges, it just feels like no one can stop you. Like I said before, you have to be part of that 11 on the field hearing that crowd roaring and yelling. You just have to believe in the call and the confidence of the whole team, the whole 11. Moving as one band, one sound…it is just a beautiful thing.”

Coach Shane Beamer 

Opening statement… 

“Congratulations to Kirby and Georgia. They played great and hats off to them. We knew it was going to be a physical and violent game, and that is what it was no doubt. Proud of our guys. We played physical and we competed. There is a lot that we can take from tonight with the physicality that we played with. That was a war out there tonight. Proud of our guys in the physicality that we showed. We challenged our guys to do that in all three phases, and they did. I thought we competed throughout the game, and I am proud of that. You can’t help a great football team. We certainly helped them in a lot of ways. We have to coach better, myself included. We have to play better. 

I just told the team in the locker room, ‘as bad as we were in a lot of areas tonight, I am more excited about this football team coming out of this game maybe than I was coming into it.” The signs that I saw, some of the things that happened as the game went on and the way that we responded… Jaylan Foster played his rear end off. I thought we tackled well. I know they had 184 yards rushing, but for the most part I thought we did a nice job tackling, controlling their run game for the most part. The plays that our receivers made, Josh Vann, Jalen Brooks -- a lot to build on from that point. So, a lot to improve. We have to get a whole lot better as a football team before next week. But I did see a lot of signs of a team that has a chance to be a good football team. We just have to continue to get better.” 

On Georgia’s defense… 

“They have like 100 five-star football players on their defense. They have a defensive lineman that weighs 340 pounds that runs better than everybody on this Zoom call. They’ve got five-star defensive backs, they’re big, they’re physical and fast. Other than that, they are really freaking good, that is why they have the top defense in the country. They are hard to run the football on, so it wasn’t some magical scheme they came out with tonight. They have five-star recruits everywhere and they played physical.” 

Jaylan Foster, Redshirt Senior, Defensive Back 

On the ability to create turnovers...

“We trust and believe in the coaches plan. They put together a good one every week. We try to trust and believe in it and execute it.” 

On the South Carolina defense… 

“We played physical. We competed the whole game. That is what you want to see, guys compete the whole game no matter what the scoreboard says. That’s what we did tonight.” 

 Jabari Ellis, Redshirt Senior, Defensive Lineman

On the South Carolina defense… 

“To be honest, it’s nothing we didn’t already know. This goes back to training camp and the entire time we’ve been preparing. We have a defense that is going to fight until the end.” On the younger guys competing on defense… “It’s a confidence booster. For guys to get out there and get live reps and make the most of their reps. It’s nothing but a confidence booster. It can only help.”