Post Game Quotes

UGA Sports Communications

Georgia head coach Kirby Smart   

Thoughts on the game: 

“That’s how games are in the SEC – physical. South Carolina has a really good football team.”

On opening with an onside kick: 

“The defense saved the ol’ ball coach there. But we said all week we were going to be aggressive. We saw something and felt it was there and felt it was the right thing to do. South Carolina made a heck of a play. Thankfully our defense stopped them and they missed a field goal. That was a good stop.” 

On South Carolina’s third-down conversions: 

“We’ve got to find some answers on third down. We just couldn’t get off the field. Their coaches put them in good situations. We’ve got to do a better job of affecting the quarterback and getting off the field.”

On the Offensive Balance: 

“We always want to be balanced. Sometimes the other team dictates what you do with the RPOs. Jake Fromm does a good job managing that.”

On what it takes to win: 

“It takes what it takes. If you want to be great, there’s a certain criteria you have to do.”

On shutting out the external noise:

“The team has done a good job. We’ll have to continue to do that. The noise will get louder and the teams will get better and everyone will give us their best shot. It’s about how we prepare, so we’ve got to focus on that first. … It makes the game easier on Saturday if we make it difficult on them during the week.”

On what he told Will Muschamp after the game: 

“Will is a really good football coach. He knows how to manage the game and the clock. He has a tough, physical team, and I told him that. I expect them to win out.”

On Mecole Hardman: 

“He’s grown up and he has more confidence. That touchdown was a huge play in the game, probably the play of the game. He’s improving. He’s a great competitor.”

Senior TB Sony Michel

On the score being closer than usual late in the game: 

“We expect games like this. Every game we go into, we expect a fourth quarter game and we also want to be in games like this. We know we’re not invincible. We’ve gotta keep going. We’ve gotta keep chopping. We’ve gotta be able to play those fourth-quarter games.”

On South Carolina as a team: 

“They brought what I expected. Those guys came out here and played some good football. We knew they were gonna play physical, they were gonna be fast, and that’s exactly what they did.”

On Jake Fromm’s block that freed him to score his 1st-quarter TD: 

“That block, that was a key block right there. I needed that block. As soon as he made that block, I knew I was gonna score. He does that [blocks] all the time. If he doesn’t have the ball in his hands, he’s running down field trying to make plays.”

Senior WR Javon Wims

On his confidence in Jake Fromm and the passing game: 

“I knew he [Fromm] could throw the ball. We throw as much as we run in practice. We all know he can throw the ball.”

On waiting for his TD catch to be confirmed by replay: 

“I just had to wait for them to confirm it. I was telling all my guys, ‘I was in and I caught it.’”

On patience in trusting the offensive game plan:

“We just keep pounding the rock, receivers we just keep blocking. If there are plays to be made, we try to make those plays.

Redshirt soph. DB J.R. Reed 

On the defense holding firm in a tight game: 

“Whether it’s a big lead or not a big lead, we go out there and we want to stop a team every time.’’

On Third Downs: 

“We try to get teams to 3rd and long and attack them there. They’re a good team and they made some plays early on, but I thought we responded in stopping them.”

On fourth-quarter confidence and composure:

“We always have the same confidence through the whole game. Our confidence in our motto is: we’re gonna go out and stop any team, create turnovers and get after those guys.”
 
USC head coach Will Muschamp

General thoughts on the game: 

"Georgia's got a really good football team. Kirby's done a fantastic job. I'm really proud of our team, the way we competed and fought. At the end of the day, the difference in the game was their running backs and third downs."

On Georgia quarterback Jake Fromm:

"We made Jake Fromm play quarterback. And I compliment Jake, he played extremely well tonight. He was very accurate with the football."

On South Carolina’s third-down defense:

"[Fromm] made a couple nice throws in tight coverage. They made plays, they made some plays. I thought we were in position at times, and he made some throws in tight coverage. They made some plays. To win these types of games, those are the types of plays you have to make."

On UGA running backs Nick Chubb and Sony Michel: 

"They had way too many yards. At the end of the day, we didn't make some tackles. Good backs make you miss. We've got bring our feet a little better at times and we've got to finish on the ball carrier better at times. But again, when you don't get off the field on third downs, that'll be an issue."

On Georgia’s onside kick to start the game: 

"That was an aggressive play on their part, and obviously they've got great confidence in their defense, if they were willing to put the ball at midfield and play good defense and get out of it."

On Georgia’s defense: 

"We had trouble running the ball consistently, but we did get some things in the second half. Jake [Bentley] was under duress, but we gave up [a couple sacks] to a team that does a really good job of rushing the pass. And they've got a lot of veteran players on defense. Those guys have been playing for a long time, so credit to that football team. 

Quarterback Jake Bentley 

General thoughts on the game: 

"Their defense, there’s not many teams that can run the ball and we knew that coming in. We knew we had to be efficient in the pass game to give us a chance. We could have executed a lot of things better but it’s hard when the ball gets away from you.’’

Positives from the game: 

“We competed hard and you didn’t see anyone give up or backing down. We really came out and we played hard and if you look at the game there’s a couple plays here and there and the game would have been different. A lot of stuff could have happened and if it had happened for us maybe it would have been different. Just the way we competed, we competed really hard.”

On having two safeties up high:

“It’s not necessary hard as far as a normal defense. They just played what we saw on film. That;s what they did. They’re good and they didn’t try to mix it up really much at all. They’re a great defense. We go against two safeties all the time at practice.”

Wide Receiver Bryan Edwards 

General thoughts on the game: 

“It’s always tough losing a game but we don’t get down on ourselves. We stay together as a team and we’re not going to repeat mistakes twice.”

Linebacker Skai Moore

On Georgia’s running backs: 

“They run their feet and they’re tough runners. I just feel like we definitely should have just tackled better and it wasn’t anything special but we should have tackled better.”

On fatigue as a factor:

“It plays a factor but we just have to get on the field faster. We can’t have those moments because it just kills our momentum.  Our main focus is getting on the field and getting the opportunity to be out there.”

On Georgia’s running backs bouncing outside: 

‘’That’s what they were really doing all game. Not necessarily bouncing off the side but finding an open gape whenever and it seemed closed up there. They’re patient backs and what they do, they’re going to sit back there and wait for someone to get there head out of the gap. That’s the main thing we have to stay on our gaps.”