Kirby Smart warned Georgia players about Kentucky taking shots at them

Kentucky was not doing itself any favors in the first half against Georgia. Nothing ever really got going because of the constant penalties called against them. Some were typical calls you see in every single football game. Others were boneheaded mistakes, resulting in 15-yard personal foul calls.

Head coach Kirby Smart said Georgia was ready for Kentucky to come out firing a bit, warning his team about some shots they would take. He wanted to make sure his team was going to keep a level head and not retaliate in any fashion.

“Our team had great discipline tonight to not get cheap penalties,” Smart said during his postgame press conference. “We told them. We said ‘Hey, look. Kentucky is going to have some penalties. They’ll have guys push you or shove you.’ I just said ‘Don’t respond.’ I thought our guys were really good.”

There was one drive, in particular, Smart remembers. Kentucky had come up with a third down stop but due to a penalty, Georgia got to keep their drive alive. It was an avoidable one too, just hitting a player after the whistle was blown.

Georgia capitalized and was able to score a touchdown, just adding to what was a first-half beatdown.

“It really cost them on the drive,” Smart said. “They stopped us and then they had a kid hit Sed(rick Van Pran). That converts the third down we didn’t convert. And we go down and score on that drive.”

Whenever Kentucky took a shot, you never saw a Georgia player ferociously step in and try to retaliate. Instead, they were there to help their teammate up and let the official make the call. Keeping drives alive and letting the Wildcats hurt themselves was the goal.

Smart believes it proves the kind of discipline his team has — something not everybody talks about. Most teams are trying to get into Georgia’s head, attempting to make them do something dumb. The coaching staff has done a good job making sure it does not happen.

“People don’t ever talk about the discipline our team has,” Smart said. “I respect our guys for not retaliating or taking shots when people do things to take shots at you.”

When you win back-to-back national championships, your team becomes quite level-headed. Not making those kinds of mistakes can change the momentum of a game in a big moment, just ask the Kentucky players.