Post Game Quotes

UGA Sports Communications

Coach Kirby Smart 

On posting another shutout … 

“Our defense takes a lot of pride. I’m happy with our coaching staff and they deserve a lot of credit. The kids have bought in, too, thinking, ‘You’re not running it in.’ They made some big stops on second, third, and fourth down on the final drive. … That’s hard to do in this day and age of college football. And we don’t leave our starters in. We rotate players. If they score, they score. We take a lot of pride in our defense. … I thought the defense rose up. They played really hard during the game.”

On Georgia’s offense … 

“I have a lot of respect for our offense. That Missouri defense is really good; they’re big and physical. … We made more plays than they did. Our quarterback made some throws. They didn’t make explosive throws and we did.”

On kicker Rodrigo Blankenship … 

“Rod is so clutch, so consistent, it makes you want to rely on him. When you play good defense and have a guy who is as high percentage as he is, you take the points.”

On receiver George Pickens … 

“George is a talented young man. We’ve got to continue to get him better to give him an opportunity to be explosive.”

On facing tough competition each week … 

“Teams have quality players across the SEC. The best recruiting teams are in our conference. You can expect a physical game any time you play in our conference.”

On facing Auburn next week … 

“I have a lot of respect for the job Gus Malzahn does. He has a great team that is physical. That is one of the toughest places to go and play in the country. It will be a big game, and our players have an opportunity to be at their best when their best is needed.”

Jake Fromm, Junior, Quarterback

On the cold being a factor… 

“For us, I really don’t think it was a factor. I stayed pretty warm all game and the heaters are pretty good there on the sideline. I think the guys did a good job of still trying to play fast. Definitely, I think when it’s a little bit colder the game’s a little bit slower for the skill guys, but for us, I think it had no factor at all.”

On playing with three different centers in the game… 

“That’s tough. That can kind of get on you mentally. I was a little bit worried there, but our guys did a good job. Really, we’ve been working with Cade Mays a little bit, and then for Jamaree Salyer to come in and do a really good job… Jamaree’s a lefty--unlike the other two--which is a little bit scary. I think it just comes down to work and the reps we’ve done throughout camp and throughout this fall. It’s all coming together for us.”

Tyson Campbell, Sophomore, Defensive Back 

On his adrenaline for getting back out on the field for the first time since the Arkansas State game... 

“It was pumping today, it was pumping. It being a night game, just seeing the lights flashing and being back in ‘The Hedges’ in this type of environment, it was just great to be back.”

On what he adds to the secondary being back… 

“A shutdown corner. That’s all I want to be: just preventing passes and punishing quarterbacks for throwing my way."

Missouri Head Coach Barry Odom 

 Opening statement… 

“I’d like to give Kirby Smart and his entire organization a lot of credit. Georgia is a solid and really good football team in every area. Looking at our game plan going into this game, we knew that we would have some struggles moving the ball in certain situations. But Georgia is better up close and in person. I knew they were good, but I think they're a little bit better than they may get credit for nationally. Georgia is as good and as solid as a team as I've gone against in a long time. I thought our defense — gave up two touchdowns, played a lot of snaps, put in some adverse situations— I thought they did some good things. We held them to four field goals. If we would have given up touchdowns instead of field goals in those type of situations, then there would never have been a game. Defensively, they hung in there, and they fought, and they competed. I was proud of the way that they played at times. 

Offensively, we've got to get some things figured out, because we're going to need to score some points in the last three weeks to have a chance, in each one of the games. We've got enough playmakers to go do that, and we've got to find answers and get it fixed. I thought Taylor Powell went in, and battled, and made some decisions that were right. He made some that were not, but to step in the way that he did…I thought he did some things to try to manage the game in the short passing areas that gave us a chance. We didn’t t win many one-on-one matchups there. When we had an opportunity to make catches on the ball, we didn't make many. Connor Bazelak came in in the second half and did some nice things in the two drives he was in there. Both Powell and Bazelak have unique and different skillsets than maybe what we've seen so far this year, and they're going to continue to grow, and they're going to be good players. I’m certain we’ll get Kelly Bryant back and ready to go. I think he'll get really close to 100 percent. We're going to need him. We’ll have Jonathan Johnson back next week, it looks like, which would be nice. We've got to do a great job on finding ways to score points. Defensively, going into the next week, we'll have a challenge. I know Florida’s defense is really good, as well. The positives that I look at right now are I’ve got three opportunities now— two at home and one away at a neutral site— and I'm going to focus on those. I'm going to coach and pour into the guys, and I know we're anxious to get back home and get back on track.” 

On the reasoning for Kelly Bryant sitting out tonight’s game... 

 "It's a fine line there, and Kelly's such a great kid and a tremendous competitor. He wanted to play and felt like that he could. But the percentage of being able to run and function and do the things that you need to at that position— I don't know that it would have been wise to put him out there. He’s frustrated but, thankfully, he’s working with our docs in sports medicine. If he gets out in the third play and re-injures it somewhat, then it could be that he's out for the rest of the year, and that's not something that I think is smart.”

On how he makes decisions on when to play injured players… 

"As we make a decision on looking at our team, and the decisions you have to make in the injury world— that's why we have a great team of doctors. They assist in those areas, and I don't know that [Bryant] would have been able to function the way he needed to, to be able to play the game at the level he needed to."

Taylor Powell, Sophomore, Quarterback

On having your first start on the road against a really good defense… 

“We didn’t get the job done. A lot of things that we can improve on. I thought we did a lot of things good, but it seemed like every time we got a drive going something would happen. I put a lot of that on me and I have to be a lot better. It was a great experience and a great first start, but obviously not happy with the result.”

On what it was like trying to run an offense in that environment… 

“It definitely had a lot of noise but I don’t think we ever had trouble communicating to the offensive line. It was a cool environment.”

Barrett Banister, Redshirt Sophomore, Wide Receiver 

On your message to Taylor Powell before the game… 

“Just to do his thing. I’ve played with him since the eighth grade and he’s done a lot of things quarterback wise very well. I think he did things really well tonight as well. I just told him to be him and not to try and be anyone else.”