Kirby Smart shares his fiery pregame Orange Bowl message to team

Georgia coach Kirby Smart might not have been competing for a national championship, but you wouldn’t have noticed from the way his team played Saturday in the Orange Bowl. The Bulldogs were dominant from start to finish, never giving Florida State a glimmer of hope in a 63-3 victory.

After the game, Smart explained his pregame message to his team to get them motivated coming off of a 27-24 loss in the SEC Championship to Alabama. Georgia had been a favorite to make the College Football Playoff as the top seed before that loss with hopes of claiming its third straight national title.

Since the inception of the CFP in 2014, tradition-rich New Year’s Six games such as the Orange Bowl have felt like consolation prizes for some teams. That’s why Smart made a point to explain to the Bulldogs why being here still mattered.

“Why the game matters is because we’re playing a game,” he said. “As long as winning matters, we’re gonna compete like hell at Georgia and it doesn’t matter what it is. No. 2, we gave them about five things and we looked at them each day before practice. One of them was the senior class turning 49 to 50. …They’re tremendous parts of our culture and all games matter if you’re playing a game.”

Florida State was similarly left out of the College Football Playoff but in even more heartbreaking fashion. The Seminoles finished the season undefeated and won the ACC Championship, but fell from No. 4 to No. 5 in the final rankings after an injury to quarterback Jordan Travis.

A total of 29 Florida State players opted out of the bowl game. Georgia did not have any players officially opt out, though several did not play due to injury. Running back Kendall Milton was one of a number of Georgia seniors who chose to play through the bowl game, and led the team with 104 yards and two touchdowns.

His future and that of many more Bulldogs players is still up in the air for next season, but he explained that he wanted to play with this group one more time.

“Just being able to go out there with the guys,” Milton said. “This was a team that, after this game, it’s not gonna be the same next year. People are gonna go to the league. Some to the portal. Some might not even play football. This team might not ever be the same, so I feel like you have to take advantage of every opportunity.

“Being here for going on my fourth year, I’ve seen teams change. I’ve seen 13-18 people leave. The locker room is very different. So I feel like you have to take advantage of every opportunity because you don’t get too many opportunities.”

It was clear from the start that the Bulldogs were much closer to full strength. They jumped out to a 42-3 lead by halftime and rested many of their starters for the entire second half. The 60-point victory was the largest margin in bowl game history, and Georgia’s 673 yards were an Orange Bowl record.

Cornerback Kamari Lassiter is also still debating whether he will go pro or return for another season. In fact, it’s even been reported that Smart has encouraged him to leave for the NFL.

Even so, the choice to play in the Orange Bowl was a no-brainer for the talented defensive back. He’s glad that he did as he can now focus on the future while also being a part of history with his teammates for at least one last time.

“I think the game mattered because if you’re a competitor every game matters,” Lassiter said. “Every opportunity you get to play the sport you love in front of the people you love. It’s second to none. You can’t take it for granted, the opportunity to come out here and play with guys like this, coaches like this. Just being able to go out there with the guys one last time this season, it meant the world.”