Post Game Quotes

UGA Sports Communications

Coach Kirby Smart

On the win over Auburn… 

“We didn’t play a perfect game. It was physical and we shot ourselves in the foot too much. We’re a work in progress. We’re fighting tooth and nail and we don’t panic. … It was a physical game. We played a ton of guys on defense. I’m proud of the way the guys competed.” 

On D’Andre Swift… 

“If we feed him, he does well. He’s got a great offensive line in front of him, he’s explosive and he makes guys miss on the second level. The wideouts deserve credit for some big-time downfield blocking too.” 

On the team…

“We’re working hard and getting better. The guys are buying into what we’re selling. If we can keep improving as a team, if the guys keep buying in, we’ve got a good shot.” 

On next week’s game… 

“UMass presents a good offensive unit. We’ve got to get better this week and work on us.” 

On Georgia’s fans… 

“The fans were awesome. The students were packed in there. The fans represented well and impacted the game. We love that, and the recruits fall in love with it.”

Eric Stokes, RS-Freshman, Defensive Back 

On what changed with the defensive effort in the second half … 

“It was just figuring out what they we’re going to do and then how we were going to finally adjust to adjust to it.” 

On his pass breakup on a critical third down inside the red zone... 

“We had our call and basically I knew I had him man-to-man, so I just had to lock on him. Luckily, I was able to break it up and just keep him out of the end zone.” 

Jonathan Ledbetter, Senior, Defensive Lineman 

On the defensive goals for this game…

“We wanted to hold them to under 100 yards rushing, whether that’s any running back or anybody rushing, no 100-yard rushers. We wanted to hold them to 3 points, so technically we didn’t meet our goal, but they didn’t score in the second half. We’ve still got some work to do. We set a standard and we go get it, and we didn’t do that but we played well. Not saying we that we didn’t have a good win, but you don’t want to celebrate too much. We’re going to enjoy it tonight with our friends, family and our teammates. We’re going to come to the drawing board and start working again.” 

On Georgia’s third-straight top 25 win… 

“It feels great right now. I’m excited to look at the tape and see what I can correct and what the team can correct. Everybody has a job to do, and if we’re doing it to the best of our ability then we can’t be stopped.” 

Tyler Simmons, Junior, Wide Receiver 

On Jake Fromm’s performance on third downs, with 8 conversions on third down… 

“That’s something we really emphasize at practice. We have a day of the week where we emphasize third down and it shows on the field … We always put ourselves in that situation in practice, so when we get to the game it’s easy.” 

On his first career touchdown reception, a 14-yarder with 2:47 to go in the first half… 

“It just gave us a lot of momentum going forward in the game. Of course it feels good for me to get into the end zone, but it felt for the team to get some momentum going.

Auburn Head Coach Gus Malzahn 

Opening Statement 

“Disappointing loss. First of all, give credit to Georgia. They’ve got a complete team. They outplayed us in all three phases. You know, we really wanted to get off to a solid start, and I thought we did a good job of that. Right before the half, I think the momentum of the game changed. The offense went three and out. I think it was two minutes left and they went down and scored and it was kind of uphill after that. Second half we still had a couple of opportunities, got across midfield a couple of times. Needed to really put points on the board and we didn’t. And then the fourth quarter got away from us. Third downs, we weren’t very good on offense, weren’t very good on defense. They were able to run the football. Disappointing loss. I really thought we’d play better and we didn’t. Give Georgia credit. They’ve got a good football team.”

On the dropoff of Stidham’s performance as game went on … 

“I think it was the entire offense kind of tailed off in the second half. The disappointing thing is, we got across midfield a couple of times and needed to put points on the board and weren’t able to convert third downs. I think a couple of them were third down-and-three, and they weren’t capable of picking up.”

On the running game… 

“That’s disappointing. What’d we run it, 20 times? We’ve gotta run the football better. Really felt like, starting out, our plan was to get some 10 personnel. We thought we had some possession throws to get us in pace. That was the plan early on. Sometimes maybe we should have kept the same personnel in there. You get certain plays, certain things you like versus certain personnel. But obviously, anytime you come up short, especially in the fourth quarter, and you’re not putting any points on the board, that’s disappointing.”

On defense allowing 200-yard rushing games vs. SEC teams … 

“Tonight, like I said, you’ve got to give them credit. They did a good job, and we didn’t do a very good job. They had that long run and had some other runs. We just didn’t play well in all three phases. We didn’t get off the field on third downs. I think that’s really the key to the deal.” 

On Ryan Davis’ breaking Auburn reception record… 

“Ryan Davis is a special player. He has meant so much to us during his time here. That is a big record. He deserves it. He is a great player and great person. He is electric with the ball in his hands."

Jarrett Stidham, Junior, Quarterback 

On the start of the game... 

"I thought we had a really good game plan going in getting the ball in a space for our guys. I thought we did a really good job of that for the most part all night. We didn't capitalize on some things and made some questionable plays."

On getting in the play call... 

"Whenever you're backed up on your one yard line and you end up having to change the play and there's two seconds on the clock, we have to do a better job of getting into the play and getting it called. It's not on anybody, just trying to make some plays."

Deshaun Davis, Senior, Linebacker 

On the zone... 

"They stuck with their game plan and did what they've been doing all year. We just had some mistakes and we had some guys not in the right spot. Sometimes we were in the right spot but they have some great backs and they busted our side and picked up about eight yards."

On the fourth and two play... 

"We were in the pressure, we manned up in that situation and made the play. If we don't make it we need to at least get the guy on the ground. We did neither."