Kirby Smart assesses the difference for Georgia offense in win

ATHENS, Ga. — Kirby Smart came out of the gate in his postgame press conference firing facts. After remaining adamant that Georgia’s low-scoring starts to games was not a “slow starting problem,” rather an execution issue, Smart made clear what the difference was on Saturday night in a 49-21 win over UAB.

The Bulldogs turned all six of their trips to the red zone into touchdowns, jumping its national ranking in that statistical category up 41 spots from No. 91 to No. 50. Furthermore, their percentage on the season a third of the way through the regular season (68.18%) is not all too far off from where they were last season (68.67%), finishing No. 30 nationally.

“I think it just happens like that sometimes. I’d love to say it was a perfect call or perfect play, but you don’t ever really control it early in the year,” Smart said. “There’s not enough opportunities to really measure it early in the year. I told the players, look guys, all it takes is 3-for-4, a 6-for-10 on third downs and then you flip the script because there’s not a lot of data. I thought we did that on offense tonight. 10-of-13 on third downs, six for six in the red area, that’ll get you well quick.”

“Proud of the hunger the team showed. I thought we were really aggressive and played faster, especially on offense,” he added on a separate occasion. “Just looked to be in rhythm a lot better. Proud of those guys, six for six in the red area, did a lot of things better.”

Georgia got in a rhythm early on. Offensive coordinator Mike Bobo designed a deep shot to Dominic Lovett on the first play of the game, picking up 33 yards from scrimmage to get going. Then the Bulldogs used tempo and got quarterback Carson Beck in a rhythm, completing fix of six attempts on the first drive including a 12-yard score to Arian Smith on a screen.

Beck had other opportunities to push the ball downfield. While he didn’t quite connect with Jackson Meeks or Smith on shot plays, Georgia put together 10 plays of 15+ yards passing, eight of which came under Beck’s watch.

“I think it’s great. It was awesome. I wish that we had hit the other ones that were there. You know, we had several others that we left on the field. We work really hard on those plays, and you know? It’s going to come together. It’s just a matter of when,” Smart said. “We work really hard on those explosives. Right now in the SEC the most unique stat there is is plus-or-minus ratio on explosives versus plus-or-minus ratio on turnovers. You would think turnovers are a greater indicators, but explosives are greater indicators of win-loss — of how much more you’re explosive than your opponent. So we’ve got to find ways to be explosive.”

Being explosive is exactly what Smart wants as the Georgia offensive identity. He said so after the game. He also said that they thinks that the Bulldogs already have that identity but haven’t been able to do it consistently enough missing key players due to injury and still getting used to playing without those that are off to the NFL.

“Explosive. Get after it. The ability to run and pass. The ability to move the pocket. I feel like we are,” Smart said. “I told y’all all along I’m very pleased with the practice the organization, the plans, what they do, it’s been good. It’s been great. I got no complaints, I just wish we were healthier. I don’t think people acknowledge the difference in Darnell, Kenny, Broderick. There’s a lot of dudes, Ladd, Kendall, not out there. There’s a lot people missing. These guys they don’t stop and complain and whine about it. They find a way. As a coach, you have to be agile, mobile and flexible. And that’s what we had to do.”

Georgia offensive players agree with their coach. Beck, who finished 22-of-32 for a career-high 337 yards with two touchdowns, said that he’s happy with the direction that the offense is going, still with a ways to go to nail down that identity completely. He said however that the Bulldogs are “picking up steam and starting to build chemistry.”

“It was definitely a start,” Beck said when asked whether Georgia got closer to finding its identity in the win. “On the road next week in the SEC at Auburn, excited about that. I think it’ll be a good test for us, and another chance for us to find our identity … New OC, new quarterback, we’re trying to find that gel and find that mesh between the two of us, figure out things I like, what he likes. We’ll continue to go through the season and hopefully continue to improve.”

Kickoff time for next Saturday in the 128th meeting between Georgia and Auburn is set for 3:30 p.m. ET, 2:30 p.m. locally at Jordan-Hare Stadium, on CBS.