'Mission, team, me' motto epitomized by different look in Georgia secondary

ATHENS, Ga. — “Mission, team, me.” That’s been the motto for the Georgia Bulldogs the last couple of weeks, and no two players have exemplified that more than Kamari Lassiter and Tykee Smith.

The veteran defensive backs took on different roles this past Saturday in Georgia’s 30-21 win over Missouri as Lassiter moved from his traditional outside corner spot to play STAR for the Bulldogs while Smith took a little bit of a backseat role to help the team.

“As we watched him during the week, we felt like we needed to have a weapon and some answers in the slot,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said about the decision to take Smith off of the field, move Lassiter in and leave Julian Humphrey and Daylen Everette on islands on the outside. “To do that, you’ve got to have guys that go out from outside. You know, Daylen and Julian had to go out there and play, and they made some good plays. They had some really close PI’s that were tough calls, and they had some really tough back-shoulder throws. But when you take Kamari off that boundary spot, you open yourself to those things. We think we have good corners that can play, and Kamari allows us — we’re lucky that we have defensive players versatile enough to try to match up to some things they do.”

As for Smith, who leads the team in interceptions on the season with four, Smart said he is unselfish and understands his role on the team. The end result of his move away from STAR for the day not only was Georgia’s better coverage of Missouri receiver Luther Burden but also Smith finishing tied for the team-high in tackles on the day with seven stops.

“He does what’s asked, and he has an appreciation for his role and what he does because he didn’t have that role last year,” Smart said of Smith. “You have a greater appreciation when you don’t have it and get an opportunity to earn it and keep it and do it. He’s appreciated that more this year.”

“Yeah, me and Coach Smart never really had that conversation,” Smith said when asked about the changes Georgia made and the delivery of the news to him last week. “Me, Javon (Bullard), Malaki (Starks), Kamari all met for an early meeting on Monday or something like that, and they just talked about putting in a new package with him (Lassiter) moving to STAR at that package. We talk about mission, team, me, so I wasn’t really worried about my role this week. This game probably wasn’t necessarily for me with how I expected to be used but I think Kamari played extremely well.”

Smith added that he made it his mission to help make sure Lassiter knew all the different checks and calls that come with the STAR position. And while Smart said that those were things Lassiter didn’t have to learn in the week because he had previous experience in practice situations in that same spot, Smith made sure to point out that Lassiter’s ability to adapt shows just how special of a player he is.

“I think he played extremely well with what they asked him to do in playing a new position and him being able to step in on only a week prep,” Smith said. “Because I think learning STAR in a week, if you can do that you’re special because there’s a lot of thinking and knowing where to line up at.”

“He didn’t learn it in three days. He didn’t go out there never having played it,” Smart countered. “There are concepts in a meeting room that don’t revolve around your position. We go do drill circuits all offseason and say, ‘This is how you play this. It doesn’t matter what position you play, you have to be able to play this.’ He did those things. He’s very bright, very conscientious. He didn’t learn to play it within a week. That wouldn’t be realistic. He only had to do so many things, and he’s done those things in walk throughs and was able to execute them in the game.”

Whether Georgia will throw out similar looks on defense in the future remains to be seen. There aren’t many threats like the three Missouri threw at them with Burden, Theo Wease and Mookie Cooper, but if there is another monster similar to it, it would be the Ole Miss tandem coming to town. The Rebels have three of the league’s top 11 receivers in Tre Harris, Jordan Watkins and Dayton Wade, combining for an average of 230.2 yards per game. However, if the Dawgs do decide to go with more of the changed roles for Lassiter, Smith and company, Smart said he feels confident and comfortable.

Kickoff time for Saturday’s game is set for 7:00 p.m. ET on ESPN. The network’s premier pregame show College GameDay will also be on campus this weekend to feature the top-10 matchup on Saturday morning starting at 9:00 a.m. ET.