Post Game Quotes

UGA Sports Communications

Georgia Head Coach Kirby Smart 

On Saturday's win over Tennessee… 

"Our guys played hard; we just didn't always play smart. We had too many undisciplined penalties. We picked up a fumble for a touchdown. It bounced up lucky. If not for that, it would've been an even tighter game. ... You can't make excuses. We need to execute. Lack of execution gets you beat. We've worked hard in practice the last two weeks. There were no practices where we took time off. We just want better execution in game moments. ... We struggled at times. We didn't hit some of the plays we thought we could have. We must execute at a higher level to be successful. There were times when we didn't have much movement up front. But when we had to play well in the second half, we challenged them and they did so. It's big when you answer a challenge, but it shouldn't have to come to that. We preach good habits, competitiveness, physicality."

On Vanderbilt… 

"Vanderbilt is well coached, they have a good defensive coach, they have a physical football team. I have respect for Vanderbilt. Their kids play hard. We need to prepare, but it's not about Vanderbilt, it's about us. We need to go out and improve."

On the fans… 

"The fans helped us on third down. They had great energy. Early on, they were loud and proud. They helped us get off to a good start."

Monty Rice, Sophomore, Linebacker 

On what was said among the defense after Tennessee cut the lead to 24-12... 

“Keep choppin'. They made a play, but there’s nothing you can do about it once it already happened. You can just go ahead and play the next snap. We did, and Juwan Taylor recovered the fumble.” 

On the offense’s 13-play, 75-yard touchdown drive over a span of 7:39 in the fourth quarter … 

“They (the offense) did what they’re supposed to do. Even if they didn’t do that, we just had to go back out there and stop them.” 

Jake Fromm, Sophomore, Quarterback 

On whether he liked the balance of production offensively among Georgia’s playmakers… 

“It just depends on the game. Today was just a more ‘ground and pound’ kind of game. That’s what we needed from up front. The outside guys, you won’t ever necessarily see this on the stat sheet, but they were working hard on the outside with blocks and transitioning to get in front of somebody and blocking somebody. I thought they did a really good job today, and when we were throwing the ball, they were there. Just needed to make a couple more plays.” 

On Isaac Nauta’s 31-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown... 

“I had no idea. I got hit, I think I fell down. I stood up and heard the crowd cheer and was like, ‘What the heck is going on?’ He broke a tackle and I still couldn’t believe it when I was coming off the sideline. I had to look up at the board and see what the heck happened. Really thankful the ball fell our way on that one … No, we didn’t practice that one.” 

Isaac Nauta, Junior, Tightend

On his fumble recovery for a touchdown… 

“As fun of a play as it ended up being, it’s probably going to be a minus on the old grade sheet.” 

On whether that is the longest rush he’s ever had… 

“Yeah, that’s the longest rush. Might need to let me get the ball a little bit more in the backfield. Actually, let’s not do that … I’ve never seen a play like that happen before. It was kind of fun to be a part of something like that, but not the way you want it to happen.”

Tennessee Head Coach Jeremy Pruitt 

Opening statement … 

“To start with, Georgia’s got a really good football team. They’re very sound. They’re good on both sides of the line of scrimmage. They have speed, skilled positions on both sides, have a very good quarterback, two really good quarterbacks, good runners, their tight ends are physical, they can also get out on the perimeter, got good linebackers, got guys that can rush the quarterback, got guys that can play man-to-man in the backend. So, when you take the culmination of those types of athletes, it makes you good on special teams. 

They’ve got good returners, Mecole Hardman’s a good returner, Terry Godwin’s a good returner. I thought our guys did a fantastic job today, kicking the ball away from them. Then you talk about how they’re well coached. They have an experienced team, you know. Coming off the field, there’s so many guys, my last year was 2015, some of these guys I got to see for the first time in a long time. But I’ll say this about our football team. I said it last week, there were a lot of guys who played their best game last week for us and it was hard to tell that because we turned the football over. I said I thought I saw the right look in some of the guys’ eyes and I wasn’t wrong. Those same guys came out here today, they practiced this week hard and they didn’t let up.”

On what he learned about his team today… 

“I learned we’ve got fight in us, that we’re not going to quit, it kind of gets me excited. … I’m proud of them and the way they fought. … It isn’t easy. That team in red today tried to change the way we fought. That’s the way they’re coached, that’s the way they play. They play the right way. Our guys kept fighting which means we’re headed in the right direction and that excites me. That’s why I’m getting a little bit emotional.” 

On Tennessee’s performance in the second half… 

“I thought offensively we finally got going and made some plays. We converted a couple of third downs and created some explosive plays. We made three first downs the first half, you can’t do that. You can’t put the defense out there that much. We’ve got to make some first downs, you may not score, these guys have a good football team. What’s the difference in the second half from the first half? We put some scoring drives together and had a couple other ones going. Defensively, we’ve got to find a way to get some stops. I don’t think we were good today on third down.”

Ty Chandler, Sophomore, Running Back

On the game... 

"Second half I think we came out better than we did in the first half. Our first half we did not move the ball well. Second half I feel like we did that better. It comes down to execution. We just have to sustain jobs and execute and we just weren't able to do that in the first half. Credit to them.”

On halftime motivation... 

"No specific [message] it's just all about us. Going out and doing our job and doing the work. Like I said, execute. It comes down to the little things and details, just doing your assignment."

Darrell Taylor, Red-shirt Junior, Linebacker  

On the fumbles... 

"I think it was maybe a little bit of bad luck but I think we just have to be more aware when the ball is out and the ball is on the ground. We have to be more aware calling it out and where we are on the field."