WATCH: Carson Beck, Georgia Bulldogs react to disappointment of second loss

OXFORD, Miss. — Georgia fell in ugly fashion Saturday in the Magnolia State as Ole Miss handed the Bulldogs a 28-10 loss that wasn’t quite as close as the score might indicate. UGA was out done on both sides of the ball and outside of a first-drive interception and the ensuing touchdown, there really never was much momentum going its way. As for the Rebels, Lane Kiffin had his team ready to play, fighting to keep alive its College Football Playoff hopes and dreams. It was a strategy that worked to say the least…

After the game, DawgsHQ was on hand to hear from three Georgia players, plus Kirby Smart. Our video/transcript for the press conference with Smart can be found here, but if you’re looking for what the players had to say, you’re in the right place!

For more Georgia Football coverage, be sure to check out the DawgsHQ YouTube channel where you can find press conferences, player interviews, podcasts and more!

QB Carson Beck | No. 15 | Sr. (5th)

On Georgia offense in the first half…

“Yeah, I mean, you look at their defense, they played a hell of a game. You know, we struggled to move the ball there after that first touchdown after the defense was able to get a turnover and we found some momentum. 

We started to move the ball better in the second half. It just seemed like we stalled out at times and didn’t finish drives whenever we were moving the ball. You know, just a couple of costly mistakes, but I mean, their defense played really well. I mean, I felt good out there.”

On if he was more confident…

“I felt good out there.  I thought we had some really good plays. Being able to extend the ball or extend plays and, you know, pass the ball efficiently at times. We just, like I said, we just were stalling out and it’s really not about how I play, but how we play and, you know, we just tried to go 1-0 every week and we obviously weren’t able to accomplish that.”

On the 12-team playoff… 

“Yeah, definitely. I mean, it does. Obviously, with the outcome of tonight, we can’t go back and change it. It is what it is and, well, guess what? Being in the SEC means next week we’re, I mean, we’ve got a big game, you know, so we’re going to put this to bed and give ourselves 24 hours. Go lock in tomorrow and see what, you know, we did wrong, go watch the film and then we’re moving on to Tennessee because we’ve got a really big week next week.”

On the Ole Miss pass rush…

“Yeah, well, whenever you start to go down and the game starts to get late and, I mean, I think we were able to drive the ball methodically in the second half, but once they know you’re passing the ball and they can, you know, rear their heads back and they’re coming at you, you know, maybe we need to mix up the snap count a little bit, you know, they’re jumping the snap a little bit, but, I mean, they’ve got good, talented guys and, I mean, we knew this going into it. And when you’re behind against a team, you know, like that, that has that front four that they have and with good DBs to match it in the secondary, it’s going to make moving the ball really difficult.”

On the offensive line being banged up… 

“Yeah, I mean, they have good players, you know, it is what it is at the end of the day. They came out and they played better than us. I mean, their defense was able to stop our offense and their offense was able to score on our defense and that’s as simple as it gets. But no, I mean, a lot of credit to them. I mean, their front four played really well tonight.”

On only having 59 yards rushing… 

“Well, yeah, I mean, that’s always difficult. Our identity here for so long has been to run the ball and we just weren’t able to  that tonight. And maybe whenever that happens, I got to step up and we got to make some explosive plays in the pass game or maybe I got to start making some plays on the ground. I tried to start extending plays and, you know, running a little bit more in the second half. But, you know, we just got to be explosive and someone’s got to step up and make a play whenever we’re not able to run the ball comfortably.”

On what goes through his mind after a loss…

“Well, yeah, I mean, we are not defined by one game. We still have three games left and a really big game next week. But, I mean, in that situation, I mean, yeah, they’re whatever. They’re more protecting me when people are coming onto the field, you know, because you don’t know what people are trying to do whenever they’re running on the field. People have phones out.I mean, they’re trying to go run into you, hit you, all that type of stuff. But no, they were just kind of like huddled around me trying to protect me. So no, I appreciate them doing that.

But it’s obviously it’s a difficult loss. It’s not going to be easy, but we’re going to come in tomorrow and we’re going to watch a film and we’re going to fix our mistakes and we’re going to come back next week and we’re going to play our hearts out.”

DB Malaki Starks | No. 24 | Jr.

On the vibe of the Georgia team after the loss

“It sucks losing. Nobody wants to lose. I think we just realized that we have to get back to work. We have to look at ourselves in the mirror and go get back to work on Monday.”

On Jaxson Dart having so many explosives

“I think at the end of the day, they executed better than we did, on defense, on offense, for them at least. And I think they just played better than we did, and we just got to come out and play better.”

On Kirby Smart’s message after the game

“Just saying, we got to be better, and we got to execute better. And don’t point fingers, you don’t need to point fingers. :ook yourself in the mirror and realize what you got to do better. But I think that’s something that we all can do, and that we got to go back to work on Monday.”

On Georgia’s ability to hold Ole Miss to field goals despite allowing explosives…

“Yeah, they’re a really good offense. Probably one of the best offense in the country, and I think we play really well sometimes, and sometimes we didn’t. I think we showed glimpses of what we can do, and we just got to execute better at the end of the day. We got to be able to help our offense out when they need it, and vice versa.”

On whether the field conditions affected the Georgia defenses’s ability to be aggressive…

“Yeah, I think if you worry about it and it happens, if you don’t, it’s less likely to happen. Just got to go out there and be aggressive, and don’t be afraid to play your game.”

On being on the other end of the field being stormed…

“Yeah, it’s a little different. That’s never happened to me before. I ran into a few people, I guess they ran into me, but it sucks, man. It sucks being on the other side, it really does. It’s something you don’t ever want to feel. I don’t ever want to feel again. And like I said, we just got to go back to work, and we got to be better all around the board.”

On what it feels like to lose a second game for the first time…

“Yeah, man, I mean, I don’t even know how to explain it. I guess it is a different world. In college football, the way it’s set up this year. I think the teams that can handle that the best will move on, and they’ll be the teams that end, and we just want to be one of those.”

On whether winning out gives them a chance to be in the CFP…

” Yeah, we, I don’t know, it might sound cliche, but we’re not really focused on it. No, we really just want to put this game to bed and focus on Tennessee on Monday.”

On having three straight home games after all the road games…

“Yeah, I mean, I feel like everything we want is still in front of us. It’s always good to be at home. There’s nothing like being at home, so I’m excited. And I’m excited to get back to work with my guys.”

DL Nazir Stackhouse | No. 78 | Sr. (5th)

On Georgia responding to a loss… 

“I feel like we’re gonna respond really well. No one likes to lose a game, and I feel like after this we’re gonna bounce back really well, offensively, defensive-wise. We played a hard game, and every week’s a hard game for us. But we always have that mentality that we have to go to the doctor’s office, that’s what we need to fix, and prepare for next week.

On Jaxson Dart… 

“Jaxson Dart is a great quarterback, and he always keeps us honest, especially with his footwork and how he can scramble out of there.

I feel like, yes, we were inconsistent on the pass rush. Just a couple of things, we just need to work on our defense. I feel as though we’ve done a decent job throughout this whole season. A couple of guys probably feel like they didn’t have their best game, but that’s okay, because we know once we start off next week, we’re gonna find out what we can do best to help the team out. Especially in the pass game.”

On if the offensive struggles impact the pass game…

“Nothing at all, they do their job, we do our job. If the other team’s defense gets a turnover we go right out there and do what we know. We’re not a point-the-finger type of team. We know some guys can struggle, but that’s why we’re a team. We keep each other up, and we got each other’s back.

So offense got our back, defense got their back. It’s never a mentality that we have when the offense isn’t really speeding up with their game or anything like that. But as a defense, we just know we gotta go out there and do our jobs, can’t really point any fingers because that’s what we go out there to do. That’s why we came to play in the defense.”

On playing against the tempo… 

“I’ve seen it so many times. I had it last year at Georgia Tech, Tennessee, and them as well. It’s nothing that I haven’t seen before. I would say it was just a couple of times that we kinda had ourselves a little bit confused, especially when it was fastball. But we caught up eventually, but it’s something that we train for every time. Not a lot of teams can do what they can do, and I give just props for that as well.”

On what comes next for Georgia…

“Like I said, come next week, or yeah, come next week, we get into the doctor’s office. We see what we can do on the defensive side and offensive side. But games like that, we just have to look back at it and like I said before, no one likes to lose.

And so what we do great is helping ourselves, especially in the doctor’s office, looking at things we can do. Like I said, look at things we can do on both offensive and defensive sides, because that’s all you can do, really.”

On digesting a second loss with a 12-team playoff…

“You win or lose games, it’s just how it is. I know guys in the locker room, they know how it feels to lose. Obviously, losing early in the season against Alabama, but we really can’t do anything about it. That’s a good team, and we walked into this stadium knowing that. And there’s a couple of things that we just didn’t stick to doing, and we don’t reap the benefits of it as well as they do. But congrats to them.”

On what he’s expecting being back at home…

“I’m going to be biased when I say it, but there’s nothing like Athens, Georgia, and Sanford Stadium. It’s definitely going to be a great environment, I can already anticipate. I’m sure a lot of guys are going to be hyped to play back at home after all these road games that we’ve played, or these few road games that we’ve played. But yeah, playing Tennessee at Sanford Stadium, couldn’t be any better than that, so.”

On the opponent storming the field…

“It was definitely a funny experience for me. I’m used to just talking to the guys after the game, especially, either win or loss, I’m always used to talking to the other team and just saying good game, this and that, just chopping it up. So it was just hard for me to communicate with some of the guys after they started storming the field. So the only thing I thought in my mind was just go to the locker room. It’s a good game for them, but you know how fans get, and so you’ve got to hurry up and get to the locker room, stay safe.”

On Ole Miss throwing the ball out of the end zone when backed up…

“Hey, we never get surprised by what any team does. Just as a defense, we just like to react in the best way possible for us to help our offense get the ball back. Yeah, that was gutsy for them to do that because we’re known to be an aggressive defense. But yeah, that coming out period that they had is something that we pride ourselves of, trying to win those first three downs so they can punt the ball out of the end zone and then we work our way, and I give them props for that too as well. And Jaxson Dart is just, he’s a good guy, great quarterback for doing that. Very confident in that way as well.”