Kirby Smart, Georgia on to bigger things after clinching SEC East
Three years ago when Georgia beat Auburn on the road to clinch the SEC East, Kirby Smart was asked what he said to the team to celebrate. “How ’bout them f****n Dawgs?! That’s what I told them,” is what Smart told media members after the game. This go around though after a 45-19 win over Mississippi State on the road to clinch the SEC East, it was a much more toned down attitude from Smart. There may have been a sign handed to players by a fan, but Smart and several Georgia players didn’t really care to celebrate on Saturday night. Instead, the focus was immediately turned to Kentucky, Georgia’s next opponent.
“We didn’t really talk about it in the locker room. That’s wasn’t our goal, our intention in coming over here. We came over here to beat Mississippi State and we’re going to go and try and beat Kentucky next week,” Smart said. “Those are things that come from it and we acknowledge that, it’s one step at a time. You can’t get ahead of yourself in this league. You look across this league and playing on the road, it’s difficult and hard. This is a tough place to play. And really it’s a tough offense to play. For the third week, we’ve had no overlap in our calls. We’ve had Florida, Tennessee and Mississippi State. I don’t want to minimize what our team is doing right now in terms of commitment to practice and toughness and doing things the right way. I’m really proud of them. I think people take it for granted sometimes. It’s hard to do what they’ve been doing.”
Georgia players take that same approach. Ladd McConkey compared it to turning the page from Tennessee. It was a big win, but ultimately one that counts the same as any other on the road to glory. Christopher Smith added that there was no celebration in the locker room. Anything that there may have been was likely more about beating Mississippi State and moving to 10-0 on the season than locking down the date in Atlanta for the SEC Championship Game. After all, it’s nothing new to them; the Bulldogs have been in the SEC Championship Game five out of the last six years including the upcoming matchup with LSU.
Speaking of the Tigers, Smart was asked if any of the attention is going to be dedicated to preparing for that game that’s just under three weeks away now. However, as you’d expect with Smart, in no way shape or form does he want his players thinking about that game. They’ve got two more in the regular season to get through before LSU is on their minds.
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“You know what the answer to that question is. We’ve gotta focus on Kentucky,” Smart said. “Why would anybody think that we’re going to talk or even think about them (LSU)? We have two games to play, right? That’s the furtherest thing from my thought process. All I can think about is how fast I can get on that plane to get rest so I can ready for Kentucky tomorrow because they were done at 12. They played at 12 today. They played at home at 12.”
Kickoff time for next Saturday’s showdown between Georgia and Kentucky from Kroger Field in Lexington is set for 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS. The Wildcats are 6-4 on the season but coming off of a tough loss to Vanderbilt over the weekend.
