WATCH: Georgia players ready for battle of the Bulldogs against Mississippi State

ATHENS, Ga. — The hay is in the barn when it comes to Georgia players talking about this week’s matchup. Media availabilities with UGA players Chaz Chambliss, Dylan Fairchild, Malaki Starks and Lawson Luckie occurred on Monday and Tuesday before the Bulldogs take on Mississippi State, and DawgsHQ was on hand. We’ve got partial transcripts and full video of the interactions with players to share with you below…

#32 Chaz Chambliss | OLB | Sr.

On his history with Mississippi State…

“Both of my parents went to Mississippi State. Half of my family either cheers or went or graduated from Mississippi State.”

On being close to “cutting it lose”…

“It means trusting in your preparation, trusting your teammates, and knowing that you can just go full out speed without having to worry about if you did his job or that I needed to do this or that. It is all about the preparation and trust in your preparation or teammates.”

On peaking at the end…

“We’re only five games in right now, going on six, and I feel like the more we play, the more you connect as a defense and trust in each other.”

#53 Dylan Fairchild | OL | R-Jr.

On adjusting to Georgia offensive line injuries…

“I would just say next man up mentality. I think our whole team has got injuries all over the board and you just have to approach it with the next man up mentality and just keep rolling.”

On Drew Bobo starting at center…

“I’m so proud of Drew, he did such a good job stepping up. I told him this offseason I was like Drew there’s going to be a day like you’re going to have to, I’m telling you I just knew it. I don’t know how I knew it; I knew it in my heart. I just knew that he was going to have to step up and he did, and he did a great job and all of us are so proud of him. Me and Jared were talking about it yesterday, just so proud of him for stepping up and doing a great job.”

On the Georgia offensive line’s current status…

“I wouldn’t say we’ve hit our full stride. You want to hit your stride like midway through the year, you know. You want to really start to pick it up right now, as these games go on. That’s our goal is to just keep chopping, keep rolling, keep getting better, so that we can hit our stride right now in these upcoming games.”

#7 Lawson Luckie | So. TE

On what Coach Smart means by calling him an “alpha” …

“I really like to think of myself as a leader. I like to try my best to carry myself as a leader. That was one of my biggest goals, coming into my sophomore year. To make a jump as a leader.”

On practicing against Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins…

“Ty’s just big and relentless. He’s one of the best players we have on our defense. He has taken such a jump this year. He’s getting back and he’s healthy. He’s so competitive. Him and I go at it every single day. I love going against him.”

On practicing against Malaki Starks at the STAR position…

“It’s the best competition you can get. I think he’s one of the best cover guys in the nation. Going against him every single day is an opportunity to get better. Like I was saying about T.I.D., Malaki and I go against each other every day. We’re always talking, and it’s just fun to go against him. He’s a guy who always brings the energy, and he always has a smile on his face.”

On his evaluation of the Georgia tight end room…

“I think that we all would like a little more production from each other. We’re playing great, giving great effort, but we’re not frustrated. The catches are going to come, and we know that. We’ve just got to keep doing our job and going harder in practice. That’s one of the biggest improvements we’ve been talking about with Coach Hartley. We’ve got to practice better, but I think we’re at a really good spot.”

#24 Malaki Starks | Jr. DB

On what stands out to him about the Mississippi State offense…

“I think the biggest thing is that they’re playing their best ball. I think records and numbers can be deceiving. They’re a really good team, very explosive, and very well-coached. They’re coming off a bye week, and they’re last two games they played their best ball. So, they’re coming into this week with a really good head of steam. You’ve got to watch out for a team. Like I said they’re really explosive, very well coached, and they’ve got a good wave going for them.”

On how he and other Georgia players react to top programs’ results every weekend…

“It’s always good to play an early game because you can go watch the games that are going on. After the game, I got home and rewatched it just because I wanted to see what was going on and what happened. It’s funny to watch it because I can’t really watch it as a fan anymore. It’s kind of like I’m dissecting film all the time. But it’s really cool just to sit back and watch it. You never want to underestimate anybody. Any team can win on any Saturday or weekend. If you come out with the right mindset and attack it with the same mindset you do every week, the rest will take care of itself.”

On playing the STAR position…

“Really just being able to know the defense, being able to move down and play STAR for a little bit while being at safety in the drive. Just having to trust other coaches and my teammates putting me at STAR. I think that’s huge. When I’m at STAR, I have to just think about STAR. Sometimes I catch myself thinking about safety and that will mess me up while I’m at STAR. When I’m at STAR I might have the same job but just in a different area while I’m at safety. Just kind of thinking about where I’m at – being where my feet are. I think that’s the biggest challenge.”

On how he has developed at the STAR position…

“I think I’ve improved a lot. When you look at it going back to fall camp, I got a few reps and stuff. But I really had to think about what I was doing. During game day it was a third down and they just kind of threw me in there last second. I think it’s becoming second nature to me.”