Kirby Smart on Georgia's defense: 'We've got better players than Missouri'

Before coming to Georgia, Kirby Smart made a name for himself on the defensive side of the ball. Once he got to Georgia, he helped make the Bulldogs one of the best defensive teams in the country. He knows it too, pointing out that his team is simply better on defense than Missouri is on offense.

While speaking to the media, Kirby Smart was asked about how the defense kept Georgia in the game through offensive struggles.

“I mean, let’s be honest, we’ve got better players than Missouri up front on our defense,” Kirby Smart said. “I hate to say it, but we do and Eli [Drinkwitz] knows that.”

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At the same time, Kirby Smart did praise Eli Drinkwitz for how he prepared for the game and the choices that Missouri made during the game.

“He did a great job running the ball, managing the clock. He shrunk the game. I thought he did a phenomenal job attacking us, taking shots. But our defense rose up.”

Importantly for Kirby Smart and Georgia, the defensive staff was prepared for what Missouri planned out. Even with numerous injuries, the Bulldogs could handle them.

“You know, give [Glenn] Schumann, [Will] Muschamp, the defensive staff a lot of credit. They stayed aggressive. There’s a lot of players hurt out there. You know, Jalen Carter went down. We got guys dinged up. Warren Brinson dealing with a groin. Smael [Mondon] was out for a while. I don’t know how long he was out, but there was a series of plays he’s out. I mean, we got Trezmen [Marshall] out there. It feels like he’s on one knee and he’s struggling. He doesn’t get to practice much during the week, so we just–they fought, and the biggest play of the night is probably the Malaki Starks tackle on the one-yard line, you know, or whatever it was–one foot–because it allowed us to stop them and we have played good red zone defense. I’ll give those guys credit.”

Kirby Smart on Jalen Carter’s injury

One of the biggest injuries that Georgia’s defense suffered was losing Jalen Carter. He went down with a knee injury after a low block from one of Missouri’s linemen.

“It’s a knee, but I don’t know how bad it is yet. He tried to go back, he couldn’t,” Kirby Smart said. “We think it’s an MCL strain, which is probably good news. Tough, too, because it was a tough block, a tough, tough cut block that they do well. He wanted to go back, but he couldn’t go back.”