Kirby Smart claps back over Georgia's 'slow starts' on offense

No. 1 Georgia is off to a 6-0 start to the season and though it has perhaps been a little out of sync the past few weeks, the Bulldogs are still right in line to defend their national title. Coach Kirby Smart bristled this week when asked about Georgia’s slow starts on offense recently.

The Bulldogs have failed to score in the first quarter the last two weeks in wins over Missouri and Auburn.

“I think everybody defines slow differently,” Smart said. “I don’t let our guys fall vulnerable maybe to what you think’s slow and what we think’s slow. I think that’s a definition for each party. I think when you play in the SEC you play against really good quality defenses and usually at the start of the game they’re at their best.”

While Georgia has won its last three, the inability to put games away early has led to some nervous moments, most notably on the road at Missouri two weeks ago.

Even last weekend’s game against Auburn, though, was a bit of a struggle into the fourth quarter before quarterback Stetson Bennett IV busted a 64-yard touchdown run to essentially ice things. Bennett even admitted things didn’t quite seem to be clicking early on.

“I don’t know what it is,” Bennett told the CBS broadcast crew on the field after the 42-10 win. “I think we gotta talk and just figure out… we gotta get our moxie back a little bit. But we’ll figure that out this week.”

Smart: Georgia’s slow starts due to missed opportunities

Though Smart disagreed with the notion generally that Georgia’s had slow starts on offense the last couple weeks, he did seem to provide a blueprint for improvement.

Even if he’s not quite sure there’s any singular cause at the moment.

“Not that I can speak of,” Smart said, asked about the issues. “Some missed opportunities, but the opportunity to grow and get better each day in practice. Our guys have kind of adopted the mentality that they’re going to do that each and every day. They get to go against a really good defense in practice.”

The good news for the Bulldogs is there’s still time to iron things out before the back half of the schedule gets significantly more difficult.

A 3:30 p.m. ET kickoff Saturday against Vanderbilt is the final contest before the team’s bye week. After that Georgia will face Florida in Jacksonville, Fla., No. 6 Tennessee, No. 16 Mississippi State in Starkville, Miss., and No. 22 Kentucky in Lexington, Ky.

Smart and the Bulldogs would surely like to have the ‘slow starts’ ironed out by then.