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Kirby Smart on his animated talk with Kelee Ringo in Georgia win vs. Florida

Wade-Peeryby:Wade Peery•10/30/21
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(Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images)

Georgia throttled Florida on Saturday 34-7, but it wasn’t without a moment of drama between Georgia head coach Kirby Smart and his prized redshirt freshman corner, Kelee Ringo. Ringo got upset on a play and head coach Kirby Smart let him know he wasn’t happy about it and pulled him out of the game.

After the win, Smart talked about what happened when he got upset with the talented corner.

“Kelee was actually right,” he began. “Kelee did the right thing. Kelee had smash rule, so when they run the smash rule, you’ve got to take the next guy. He did the right thing. He just didn’t respond the right way to it and he was upset at the guy that did wrong.”

Smart continued.

“I’m not gonna let him get on other players. That’s our coaches’ job to do that. Kelee’s great. He handles criticism well. He understands he did the right thing. He just handled it the wrong way. He’s very smart. He’s gonna be a good football player. He made some good plays today.”

Ringo was a five-star prospect coming out of Saguaro High School (Arizona), so big things were expected of him when he committed to the Bulldogs before a nationally televised audience. He was a selection for the 2020 U.S. Army All-American Bowl. The Washington native redshirted his freshman year at Georgia after he had to recover from shoulder surgery.

Early in his college football career, Ringo has showed the potential and promise at Georgia that earned him five-star status coming out of high school. He’s blessed with elite ball skills and a 4.35 40-yard dash time. When you combine those things with a 6-2, 205-pound frame, well, it’s a rare specimen that’s hard to find.

Thus far in 2021, Ringo has racked up 20 tackles, five pass breakups, one tackle for loss, and one sack for the Georgia defense. His five pass breakups are currently tied for the team lead, and he’s just a redshirt freshman.

He experienced his growing pains early in the 2021 season, but the uber-talented corner has developed and he’s caught the attention of many people across the country, including PFF.

Check out the graphic from PFF’s Anthony Treash.

Georgia defense

The Georgia defense continues to dominate each and every week of the college football season. Simply put, they’re on a march towards historic things, and it’s tough to see any team in college football impeding that path.

Check out the interception they forced by Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson today.

The Gators‘ offense had three turnovers on Saturday, one of which was a costly pick-six to Georgia’s all-world linebacker, Nakobe Dean. The pick six extinguished all hope for Florida in the game and gave Georgia a healthy 24-0 lead that would put the game out of reach for good.

Next up for the top-ranked Georgia Bulldogs, are the Missouri Tigers on Saturday, Nov. 6th.