Kirby Smart gives rave review of Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker

Georgia, still the top team in the country, is getting set to take on Tennessee this week. Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart had some kind words for Volunteers quarterback Hendon Hooker ahead of the matchup.

Hooker is one of the top quarterbacks in the SEC. His 210 passing yards per game rank sixth in the league, and he ranks 18th with 50.89 rushing yards per game, as well. It’ll be another solid test for the Georgia defense — the nation’s best scoring defense.

Smart had some high praise for Hooker in his weekly press conference on Monday.

“Hendon Hooker’s a tremendous athlete,” Smart told reporters on Monday. “He’s really hard to tackle. He’s big, physical [and has a] strong arm.”

Hooker is coming off his best game of the year against Kentucky last week. The senior threw for 316 yards and four touchdowns as the Volunteers defeated the Wildcats 45-42 to pull off the upset. He also had 11 carries for 41 yards on the ground.

Stopping him is going to be quite a task for Georgia. But the Bulldogs are coming off one of their best performances of the season, so they have some momentum.

Georgia held Missouri to just six points and 273 total yards of offense as part of a 43-6 drubbing in Athens last week. But unlike the previous week against Florida, the Bulldogs didn’t force a turnover. Then again, they didn’t really need to since they were up so much.

Kickoff between Georgia and Tennessee is coming up Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS.

Kirby Smart discusses how Georgia is preparing for Tennessee’s high-powered offense

Despite leading college football in several key defensive metrics, allowing no more than 13 points to any opponent, Kirby Smart recognizes the challenge Tennessee’s offense presents.

“When you look at it and you talk to people – because everybody talks across the country and league – trying to defend it’s just so fast,” Smart told reporters during his Monday press conference. “You can’t really simulate that in your practice, so you’re always trying to find a creative way to practice for it. It’s so different than the triple option – I’m not trying to compare the triple option – but it’s so different that it’s hard to prepare for. You can’t simulate it with your team unless you do it. And we don’t do that as well as they do it. It makes it tough to prepare for.”

He continued to issue high praise, calling for his entire team to buy into stopping the Tennessee offense.

“Your players really have to buy in,” said Smart. “They have to say, ‘this is really important we know that it’s important to play this way and play against tempo.’ You’ve got to work really hard at it. So it’s hard to simulate, and the challenge will be there this week for both offense and defense and special teams because what they do doesn’t just affect the defense. It affects your offense, it affects your special teams.”