WATCH: Kirby Smart, Bulldogs speak on 45-0 win over Georgia Tech

Georgia defeated in-state rival Georgia Tech 45-0 on Saturday, completing the first 12-0 regular season in school history and first undefeated regular season in general since 1982. Afterwards, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart, along with quarterback Stetson Bennett and linebacker Nakobe Dean, spoke on the Bulldogs’ performance, the return of George Pickens and much more.

Kirby Smart

Opening Statement

“I’d open with our fan base. What an incredible turnout. It felt like a home game when you looked up in the stands and saw all the red. I expected it to be that way but maybe not as much as it was. I thought our guys started fast, and we challenged them to start fast, I was pleased with that. I was pleased with no penalties. We had some sloppy series offensively and defensively. But all in all the guys came out and executed to a standard, and they didn’t play the scoreboard they played to our scoreboard, and I was proud of what they were able to do.”

Finishing with three shutouts, what does that mean to you

“Well a third shutout is hard to come by. I’ve coached a lot of seasons in the SEC, I feel like I’ve been around the league for 20-something years, and three shutouts is hard to come by. I’m really proud of those guys, especially the twos that were able to come in there late in the third quarter and the whole fourth quarter, and hold that standard. I was really proud of them for doing that.”

Turning attention to Alabama, how much can you enjoy this

“Yeah I think we embrace it. We get the Governor’s Trophy which is a great honor. Our expectation was to come in here and win this game. And that’s the enjoyment, is enjoying the game, and the second half, and seeing the other guys playing. So it makes it easier to transition where it’s not so emotional. You’re not invested emotionally when the game is kind of finished and over in the fourth quarter. So that probably helped in terms of not wasting emotion. But we know it’s a big one coming up. Everyone’s kind of hard it circled and seen it out there. We’ve really tried to work hard on getting better. That’s been the emphasis, is what can we improve on. The last two weeks we’ve been trying to be ascending. We’ve tried to get some guys back healthy. And that’s going to be the focus this week, is nobody trying to do more than they should. We just need to be at our best and we need to play one of our best football teams. They’ve got a really talented, talented football team.”

On sustaining the level of play throughout the season

“It helps with our depth because you get to play different guys. I constantly worry about conditioning and four-quarter games. The Clemson game was the first game of the year and I thought we were a little tired, we had to play the whole time. But we’ve worked really hard on Monday’s and Tuesday’s, running guys, trying to make sure we’re keeping our stamina up. We hold each other accountable, they’re up for the task, they’ve answered the bell, and they’ve done the right things. But we also haven’t played a team the caliber of Alabama. So, that’s the important thing. We’ve got to be able to execute for four quarters and do it at a high level.”

On the health of Jamaree Salyer and Chris Smith

“It was not precautionary, we tried to get both of them ready to go. They were both fighting back. We thought Jamaree was back and he had a little setback, I don’t know if it was Tuesday or Wednesday. It wasn’t the same injury he had before, it was some scar tissue. But we’re hoping we’ll be able to get him back, and hopeful for Chris, too.”

On no penalties (first time since 2019 against Tech) 

“I don’t know that I’ve ever really looked at it. You only look at it when it’s bad, right? If it’s a bunch of them, you’re oh man, that’s a lot of penalties, but I didn’t even know it. Somebody came over and told me after the game, and said we didn’t have any penalties. I was like ‘Wow.’ That can be good and bad. That’s one of those are you being aggressive enough, are you blocking aggressive enough. You want to press the limits of what you can do. But I’m very pleased with that. We count them and watch them in practice and we harp on not being penalized. However, we certainly want to be aggressive.” 

On George Pickens 

“First, I’m just proud of the work that George has put in to get back. We’ve known guys on the team who have had ACLs, it’s a mental injury as much as it is a  physical injury. It’s taxing; it’s draining to sit there and watch all your friends go out and play in the spring, play in the spring game, play in the fall and you’re sitting there doing rehab all the time. George loves football, he’s always wanted to get back and have the opportunity to get out there. We were able to integrate him a little bit more in practice and try to get him some confidence in his legs and some things and he’s done a really good job. He’s had good GPS numbers, he’s worked really hard at what he’s doing and he needs to continue to do that. It’s one thing to catch the ball, it’s another to get the signal, get lined up, know who I block, know what I do on my conversions, and he’s still getting that back getting in the flow of things.” 

On if this team is playing its best football right now

“I think they’re hungrier to play their best, you know? We’re still getting better. What excites me is the strength of our team is our team. That is what excites me. It’s not like the strength of our team is this or that, it’s the leaders. The players on the team are the strength of our team. They came in and said the things that needed to be said to the players about this week and how it’s going to go. When they speak, people listen. I think we’re getting better. I think you’re also getting towards the end of the year when sometimes things get sloppy. I’m talking about tackling, wrapping up, blocking on the perimeter. You’ve got to really stay locked into those things.”

On Kearis Jackson, injury update

“Don’t. I thought he was going to be able to go back. IT’s a little bit of a rib injury. I don’t know how different it is from the one he had from a while back. I asked him and he said it was pretty painful and didn’t think he could go so held him out at that point.”

On Pickens coming back and roar from crowd, what it meant for him since many thought he wasn’t going to play again at Georgia

“I thought it meant a lot for him to hear that. He’s very charismatic. He has a great personality and football in practice for the last three weeks I guess, four weeks, I don’t know how long it’s been, he’s a joy to have out there because he’s like an energy ball. You never know what he’s going to do. He goes up and catches ball and competes and brings juice to practice like he always has. He’s made some really good plays in practice. He hasn’t really been cleared for contact until the end of this past week. I just thought it meant a lot for him to go out there and gain some confidence. There’s things he could have done better that he wasn’t perfect at and he’s got to continue to get involved in some things. He’s still not, he’s safe and he’s cleared but he’s not 100 percent right now. He’s got the knee brace on and I think he’s pushing that, but we’re proud of the GPS numbers he’s hit.”

On finishing the regular season 12-0

“I had to just demean it. It’s a big deal. It’s an honor. It’s great but it’s the next step in the process for this group. This group has had a single-minded focus. It never said, ‘hey, let’s go 12-0.’ It just said, ‘hey, let’s beat everybody we play,’ and let’s focus one game at a time and try to dominate who we play and they’ve done that. Our prep has been better some weeks than others but I can’t say that we’ve had a down week of practice. If there’s anything close, it was probably Charleston Southern and I feel like this week they had good focus and good energy and the same will be required. I think it’s something we’ll look back on and be really proud of, but a lot more is going to be judged based on what we do in the future.”

On beating the in-state rival and shutting them out

“It’s awesome. It’s great for the kids. There’s so many guys from Atlanta. I think it’s good for recruiting. Our recruits, they text and say, ‘man, look at all the Georgia fans that have taken over the stadium.’ A lot of my friends are like, it’s convenient, you know? They live in Atlanta. They get to come to the game and watch the Dawgs play in Atlanta and I know that atmosphere was great. Seemed like the weather was great.”

On Stetson’s first nine completions being to different receivers, what it says about the UGA WRs and their potential with return of Pickens

“Well, I mean, with or without George coming back I think the group has come a long way. They’ve done a tremendous job. Other guys, AD (Mitchell) has developed and is playing really good football right now. Jermaine (Burton) is come on and is healthy. Ladd (McConkey) is playing well. You look at the things guys are doing, Brock (Bowers), the things people don’t talk about on Brock is the perimeter blocking he’s been able to do. Darnell (Washington) is a big target. I think coach (Todd) Monken deserves and the offensive staff deserves some credit for using the skill sets of the players that we have.”

On playing Alabama next week

The SEC Championship is one of the greatest environments in all of college sports. Like all of college sports. Compares with the Final Four, compares with the College World Series. It’s one of the greatest events.  You go back to one of the Bama-Georgia games, you got one of the most viewed games in the whole season, even over the national championship. what commissioner Sankey and leadership has created is value on a game when a lot of championship games don’t have the same value. And the stage and the television audience and the national audience you get, it’s tremendous for our school, for recruiting, for everything. It’s one of the greatest events in a great location. Where football is king, all across the South.”

On Ladd McConkey

“Just incredible. I just go back to the decision to sign him and it’s one of the better decisions we’ve made. So many people doubt that he could make it, that he could play. He’s so consistent, he gives you the same effort every day. He’s tough as nails, smart, dependable, fast. Everything you would want in a football player. I wish we had more like him.”

On playing a clean football game

“It’s big. It’s one of the big things that we’ve been focused on. We don’t focus much on the penalties, we focus on the no turnovers. I thought Tech was ripping and tearing at the ball on our ball carries, who protected it well. Stet had one or two that were dangerous. That’s a big part of the decision-making. Going with to the right place with the ball and when it’s not there, tuck it and run and get what you can get and try to keep us out of long-yardage situations. I was proud that we did not turn it over.”

Stetson Bennett

On the focus of this team, not looking ahead to Alabama

“We were just focused on doing the duty that lies nearest. We knew what this game meant for us and for the history of this program and that if we slipped up anything could happen. So, we were just real focused.

It means a lot. First 12-0 season, first undefeated season since 1982. You know, it’s a big accomplishment. But, you know, now the real fun starts.”

On the return of George Pickens

“Yeah, I just wanted to get the ball in his hands on that play just to shake the rust off. And, you know, it’s good. He’s a great player. We’ve got to get some of the chemistry back that comes with being out that long. But he was extremely happy to be back on the field and we’re all happy to have him.”

On carrying the momentum into Alabama

“There will be some things to fix. Those two drives right before the end of the half were not good enough. Once we watch the film we’ll have a better idea of what those mistakes were. It’s always good to go out there and score like we did today. Hopefully we can carry that momentum into next week.”

More on Pickens’ return

“First of all, the people that thought he was just going to rehab and go to the league don’t know George at all. It’s kind of funny to hear those people talk because they don’t know how much he loves football and loves his teammates and how hard he’s attacked every day, rehab-wise, to get back to play with us. Not to go to the NFL. He’s going to do what he’s going to do and he’s going to have a long career like he is. So I’m happy for him. I know how hard he’s worked to get that knee right and how difficult it’s been for him. And he’s done that job pretty well.”

On Brock Bowers

“First of all, he’s one heck of an athlete, and I think that what his body can do is special. The game just moves so slow for him. As a freshman, that’s impressive to see. It’s easy to trust somebody like that where you know where he’s going to be and how he’s going to run his routes. And then obviously he’s a freak athlete, just took that ball and ran with it 77 yards. That was pretty cool to watch.”

On significance of 12-0, if it’s something they celebrate

“We hadn’t been undefeated since the 1980s, but I think this is the first 12-0 season we’ve had just because of the amount of games they played back then, in the regular season. Right now, like you said, we’ve got some more business to take care of. It’s cool to look at, and hopefully 20 years from now we’ll be able to look back and say we went undefeated through the regular season, but for right now, we’re going to take what this game gave us and move forward.”

On how special it is to win in Atlanta as a Georgia native

“It’s cool, I think I played better than I did last time. I remember a play where I pulled the ball and tripped and flew, I jumped sideways like two yards last time we were here. But it’s cool winning the Governors Cup. All the history with the Children’s Hospital and all the years that we’ve played together. It’s a historic rivalry and today we came out on top. It felt pretty good.”

Nakobe Dean

On third shutout of the season

“We talk about getting better week and ascending. This is just the next step as we try to get better every week.”

On George Pickens playing

“It meant a lot. It meant a lot, just seeing him. The work he put in the offseason, in rehab, and everything he’s been through, he’s just been so positive. A lot of guys can look up to the type of attitude he had and the way he attacked his rehab to get back. So, it meant a lot to see him be able to get out there and play.”

On shutout

“I love seeing that goose egg go up on the other side. If they can’t score they can’t win. So that’s always great for the defense to shut out a team, especially when that team is Georgia Tech.”

On the run defense

“Yeah, it was definitely shaky at times. We had to go make some adjustments and people had to wake up a little bit and play ball. We just had to get started. It was definitely rough at times and we’re definitely going to go back and look at it. As I always say, we’re going to go to the doctor and look at it and critique what we did and find out what’s the problem and fix it and get better.”

On the SEC Championship

“Knowing what’s ahead, we only play one game at a time. You ask me after every game and it was always, ‘job not done, job not done.’ So now we’re on to the next challenge of this season. We’re working to accomplish the goals that we set going into the season. So, you know, we’re just working on ascending and getting better every week. That’s basically the biggest message.”

On the atmosphere with Georgia fans showing out on the road

“The atmosphere was crazy. The fans came out and supported us as always. I love it. I love UGA fans. It wasn’t really like a rivalry atmosphere. It wasn’t just us battling on the field. You could feel the crowd going back and forth. It was definitely an exciting experience.”

On going 12-0 in the regular season

“It’s a step in the right direction. It’s a step in the right direction as far as we’re on top. But so what? What I keep reiterating is ascending and getting better every week. I feel like I’ve said it several times before, but what we have done during this regular season is all good, but it don’t matter because it’s always about how we finish the season. If we don’t finish the right way, none of this really matters. You know what I’m saying? So, for me, it’s always about how we finish and I’m thinking about the next one right now.”