Kirby Smart on Missouri's defensive line: One of the most physical fronts we play

Georgia coach Kirby Smart has been highly impressed with the Missouri defensive line in his matchups with the Tigers over the years, and this season is no different.

The coach had high praise for the the Tigers in a recent press conference, saying they have “always” been “one of the most physical fronts” the Bulldogs have faced. As the two teams prepare to meet again at 7:30 p.m. ET Saturday in Columbia, he expects the same.

“They’re really physical,” Smart said. “They’re big up front. They did a good job stopping the run last year against us. Their size up front, athleticism up front. They’re really aggressive. They played all of them really aggressive in terms of the box count they were in.

“Some of the run stunts they run are some of the ones we run and they were getting after it. They’re challenging you to do something outside of that. They don’t have to have that many and they still stop rushes because they’re physical up front. You just watch our game last year and a lot of the same people are playing on both sides. I feel like Missouri has always been just massive and one of the most physical fronts we’ve played against.”

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So far this season, Missouri is allowing just 108.5 rushing yards per game, which ranks sixth in the SEC. The Bulldogs will try to combat that with a combination of Kendall Milton and Dajun Edwards, who have combined for 361 yards rushing and three touchdowns. Even tight end Brock Bowers (three rushing touchdowns in the past two games) will get involved.

Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs were able to handle Missouri last season, handing them a 43-6 loss. They seemed to have no trouble moving the ball on the defense then, finishing with 505 yards of total offense (168 rushing). They averaged 5.1 yards per carry in that win, but Smart is pushing them to be even better this time around.

“We’ve got the same guys up,” he said. “Always just trying to clean up and play better. When you don’t punt, it’s hard to say you played poorly. If you got 500 yards of offense, it’s hard to say you played poorly. But I always want to play better. There’s not a guy out there (who can’t play better). You can point the finger at the quarterback, the center, the guards, the receivers. Everybody out there can play better. And we can coach better too.”