Kirby Smart assesses the play of Georgia inside linebackers in Week 1 win vs. Oregon

Georgia was firing on all cylinders in Week 1 of its title defense. The Bulldogs flew past Oregon 49-3, and Kirby Smart had plenty of reason to be happy.

However, that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for improvement.

Smart discussed the inside linebackers’ performance in that season-opening blowout and said they did a good job keeping up with Bo Nix and the Oregon offense. Even though they had their moments, the Bulldogs headman came away happy with the group’s showing.

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“I think those guys had some ‘WTFs’ and they have to improve on those,” Smart said. “They can’t have those in order to be elite players. But they played with confidence. We call it, ‘Being loud and wrong is better than quiet and right.’ They had some moments they were loud and wrong, but they were confident in what they called.

“When you go [against] a team that plays with some tempo and some hurry-up, it creates a little chaos. I thought those guys managed that well. They managed the leadership position well. Physically, there’s things we can improve on in terms of toughness, tackling. All the guys can. We didn’t tackle the man with the ball real well.”

Kirby Smart explains how he knew Kamari Lassiter was locked in vs Oregon

As Kirby Smart looks to replace some of his best talent after most of his title-winning defense took their talents to the NFL, he’s going to be asking more out of some new faces. One of those players Smart has turned to is defensive back Kamari Lassiter, who made a start for the Bulldogs against Oregon in Week 1.

Evidently, Smart has been impressed with Lassiter leading up to the 2022 season, as he explained how he knew the defensive back was laser focused for last Saturday’s matchup.

“He’s very mature. He’s very intelligent. He was dialed in,” Smart said. “Sent me a text a couple of nights before the game, said, ‘Coach, I’m really locked in.’ I could see it in meetings by the questions he asked. You know when somebody’s ready to play because of the way they practice. He was very intentional about his practices. When you looked at him, his eyes were in the right spot. He asked the right questions.

“Kamari’s a kid you’re going to have to just beat, because he’s not going to beat himself. He’s a great kid.”