WATCH: Georgia players preview matchup with Tennessee

ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia-Tennessee is as big as they get this weekend around the College Football world. The Bulldogs and Volunteers meet between the hedges at Sanford Stadium with College Football Playoff hopes on the line. UGA needs to win to avoid a third regular loss in a single season for the first time since Kirby Smart’s first season while UT is looking to stay alive in the SEC Championship Game race and pick up a resume boosting victory.

DawgsHQ has had you covered all week with what’s been said in Athens ahead of this game. We’ve been boots on the ground to hear from Kirby Smart twice and tuned in to his teleconference as well. Below provide a full transcript and video of everything three Georgia players had to say about Tennessee…

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

#53 Dylan Fairchild | R-Jr. | OL

On Georgia’s blocking performance…

“Yeah, I mean, really with zone, you’re on a track. You kind of want to just stay on track and not let anything knock you off. Yeah, I mean, just really trying to emphasize staying on track, you know, versus movement in zone plays is pretty much how we try to attack it.”

On assessing the run game…

“We just need to get better. I mean, it’s plain and simple as that. You know, we need to just attack this week of practice and clean up some footwork and some things that just trouble most offensive lines and just really just attack this week in practice and just get better with the fundamentals.”

On chance to prove something, bounce back…

“Yeah, it’s a huge opportunity, and in this league you’ve got to move forward. You’ve got to bury things, and that’s what we’ve done. We’re moving forward, and we’re looking forward to attacking this week and just getting better at this week of practice.”

On helping an o-line against an elite defensive front…

“I would just say trust the fundamentals, you know. I mean, that’s really what it comes down to, is how good are your fundamentals. Kind of just go back to the basics. Just try to focus on that.”

On film session…

“Yeah, I mean, like I’m saying, it’s a fundamentals thing. I think offensive line play is a lot of habitual. Fundamentals are key in offensive line play, and when you don’t, when you lack fundamentals and when you lack those habits that are going to keep you on the right course during the game, you know, it’s not what you want. You’ve got to go back to work. You’ve got to get better. You’ve got to go back to fundamentals and the basics of things and just get better.”

On Smael Mondon…

“Yeah, he’s so positive. Smael’s had a couple of injuries, and it’s easy to let that, get you down and discourage you, and I just think he’s been real positive. Every time I see him, he’s got a smile on his face. He’s just attacked everything at rehab and everything that he’s got to do to get back out there and do what he does.”

On playoff elimination…

“I would just say it’s a game for us that we have to execute in and perform well. I mean, I wouldn’t say desperation. I would just say, it’s a game we want to win. I mean, I think every game we want to win. Every game, every year we’re striving to go to the playoffs. We’re trying to get in those big championship games, and to do that, you’ve got to win.”

On urgency to correct stuff…

“Yeah, I think the urgency is in practice and in the preparation now. I mean, I think all of us wish we could go back and do at least one thing different. I think that’s just a human thought when you have a loss. I would just say the urgency is spiked in practice, it’s spiked in the preparation and, you know, all the things that we do to try to win.”

On Earnest Greene…

“Yeah, I mean, he’s struggling with some injury right now, and he’s a very hard player. Like, he is personally one of my best friends, and I know he wants to perform up to our standard, and we all want to perform up to our standard, and we can all perform better. He’s attacking his rehab. We’re getting some things figured out with just where he is along the lines of injury, and he’s trying to figure his body out. He’s just got to get his body back into it, and once he does, he’s going to be back in business.”

On Georgia-Tennessee rivalry…

“I wouldn’t say they mean more. Maybe brings a little bit more, in the fans and in the environment, but for us, it’s a game, We take every game as serious as the last and the next, and every game is serious, you know. Every game we want to win.”

On Carson Beck’s sideline demeanor…

“Yeah, I mean, he’s positive. I mean, you can’t, this is football. Everything’s not going to go your way. Everything’s not going to go the way that we want it to, and you got to stay positive. You know, you can’t mope around. I mean, I don’t know what people want him to do, mope around, but, you got to stay positive. I mean, that’s the thing is you got to keep going. The wood’s got to be chopped. You got to keep chopping. So, I mean, I’m happy that he’s positive. I know our team’s happy he’s positive. We’re looking forward to getting after it this week in practice and just getting better.”

On night game routine, back at home…

“Oh, yeah, of course, always excited to be back home. And I would just say kind of try to relax, watch some football, wake up. I don’t want to rush into my day, you know. Kind of just, you don’t want to completely relax your mind, but you kind of just want to just, you don’t want to play the game before it’s played, you know. Yeah, just watch some football, kind of hang out, talk to teammates, talk to friends, maybe call mom. Just hang out, you know. And then as the game gets closer, just kind of start to amp it up a little bit, get to thinking more and more about the game, you know, what we’re going to see, the top fronts, all that.”

On run game assessment…

“Yeah, I mean, obviously the stats aren’t what we want them to be. Again, I would just go back to Coach Smart’s point, you know. We’ve played a lot of really good defenses that stop the run and to our benefit, that helps us, you know. That helps us in harder games. That helps us in future games. It helps us get better and we’ve just tried to get better from week to week. I think that’s the biggest thing is just keeping it going. You know, we’ve dealt with injuries all across the offense. So there’s a lot of factors that kind of go into the stats. Stats don’t necessarily tell a story. So we kind of just keep chopping wood and keep going.”

#11 Jalon Walker | Jr. | ILB

On Nico Iamaleava…

“Right, and I’ve been seeing him all throughout the year. He’s a well-talented quarterback. Being able to throw the ball, being able to use his legs. That’s what you see in a modern quarterback at this point in time. A dual quarterback, so he’s very talented.”

On Smael Mondon… 

“Right, Smael’s a resilient person, player. It was just a great opportunity to see him go out there and actually share his first snap with him. It was just a full circle moment. Me coming in as a freshman, him being the guy who was starting, and him finally getting back on his feet, getting the opportunity to play. Which is great to see him back out there.”

On being process-oriented… 

“Right, we move on and just get ready for our next game. Like you said, we’re very process-oriented. That’s part of the process, just getting over that hump and moving on to the next week and what’s important at hand.”

On getting comfortable playing at pace…

“Right, being, like you said, there’s a lot of teams that have pace. And the way we practice the pace, we do get comfortable in that situation, making sure we practice enough and prepare enough that when we get to the game, that it’s just very normal for us to get ready and get lined up to play.”

On if playing with desperation would help… 

“Right, for our mindset for Tennessee is just playing Tennessee. We’re not moving further in the future. We’re just going out there and playing football like it’s normal to do. That’s important for us and that’s our goal for this week.”

On playing at home…

“Right, just a great crowd energy, bring that energy forth in the stadium for us to bring the energy out for a big game. We have  College GameDay there as well, just a lot of things going on. And of course, our stadium’s always there to bring the electrifying energy and juice we need, so.”

On the Tennessee rush offense…

“Right, just being able to stop the run. Their explosive offense, well, offense as a passing offense and rushing offense. Just things like that, honing into our craft and executing what we need to do. So eliminating the rush plan, that’s what we’ll have to do. And then, of course, there goes their passing game as well. So doing that, and vice versa, just eliminating those explosives.”

On the rivalry with Tennessee…

“Right, I’m not familiar being (from) North Carolina, but I mean, there is a rivalry, I guess you say, for this game. But for us, to me, it’s just another SEC football game. We play great SEC schools throughout the year, and there’s just another opportunity for us to go out there and play football.”

On the Georgia offensive line…

“Right, it’s a hardworking group we have in our line room. They’re doing the best that they can to be able to be healthy and support for our offense, and they’re doing their best, their ability to perform each Saturday. And I appreciate them greatly for what they do week in, week out.

On his reaction to the Jake Pope viral video as a team leader…

 “Right, and I’m just saying (it’s) a mistake, but I mean, that’s just for Coach Smart’s hands. It’s not that I can really comment and speak about all of it.”

On the Ole Miss passing offense… 

“Right, there’s a lot of things that the Ole Miss offense had prepared, and what we needed to have answers to. Sometimes we just didn’t have the answer for it. But I feel that communication and things like that are part of our end. Comes with that as well, but I mean, just having better communication and being able to execute well at a high level to prevent those things happening.”

#7 Lawson Luckie | So. TE

On practice this week…

“I think so far it’s been a really good week of practice. I think coming into this week, we had a choice to make, whether to dwell on this past weekend or look ahead and bounce back. And I think we’ve done a great job of that. And I love how our team’s attacked the practice so far this week. I thought we just had a great Tuesday. Gotta go over here on Wednesday now.”

On the Tennessee defense…

“Yeah, I think they do a great job of firing off the ball. Resetting the line of scrimmage. They’re really good at that and being real disruptive in the interior. So that’s one thing we’re preparing for them. We gotta beat them at pad level.”

On being back at home… 

“Yeah, it’s great to be back home. The night game, the atmosphere is electric. I mean, it’s not the best waiting around all day in the hotel. But when you get out there, it’s worth it. It gets the fans extra riled up.”

On player leadership… 

“Yeah, our big thing now has just been we can’t let Ole Miss beat us twice. They already beat us last week. If we sit on and dwell on it, they’ll, I mean, we can’t sit back on what happened already. We gotta bounce back and move on from it. 

On the Georgia-Tennessee game in 2022…

“Yeah, so last time I was there, I was there as a recruit. And it was just, I remember it was so loud. I remember when it was raining, I feel like the team got better. You know what I mean? I feel like it was so loud. It was electric. That was the best home atmosphere I’ve ever seen. So I thought it was amazing last time.”

On being positioned for the College Football Playoff… 

“I mean, we’re just focused on this week. We know we gotta win this game.” 

On the offensive line…

“Yeah, they’re just tough. I mean, everyone is banged up this time of year, but I mean, they’re never tapping out. They’re all practicing. None of them are in black jerseys. Everyone’s just going out every single day, and you never hear a peep from them. You see them come out with different bumps and bruises and braces every day, but you never would know it just from the way they talk and the way they attack practice, and their tone of intensity towards practice. So I respect them for that.” 

On protecting Carson Beck… 

“I have more faith in them than ever. I think we have the best unit in the country. That didn’t show on Saturday, but I know what we’re capable of, so I’m not worried about it at all.” 

On how the tight ends can help in pass pro… 

“Yeah, I mean, obviously, we have to be more explosive. We gotta have more explosive plays, and then when we’re in on pass protection, we just all gotta be on the same page. I think that was some struggles on last Saturday. It was more execution than just flat-out potential and being able to do protection. It was just we weren’t on the same page at times, and that’s a fix that we can definitely make happen.”