What Was Said: Kirby Smart after Georgia win over Kentucky

LEXINGTON, Kent. — Georgia got it done on the road Saturday afternoon, taking down Kentucky 16-6 in what wasn’t a pretty game by any means. The Bulldogs were able to grind out a win despite only throwing for 116 yards by running for 247 on the ground. Afterwards, head coach Kirby Smart shared his thoughts on how his team was able to do it. Here’s what he had to say…

Kirby Smart Opening Statement

“I was really proud of our guys tonight with the resiliency and composure and the toughness they showed. We knew it would be this kind of game. We talked about it all week. We actually showed clips from the last time we came up here in terms of the number of snaps played and the shrinking of the game which I think was smart by Mark to keep the game tight and lower the number of possessions. Under those conditions, you’re going to play games like this. Really proud of when our guys backs were against the wall, how they came out fighting in what they do. Certainly could have played better in the red area. We could have stopped some drives defensively where we gave them a couple of conversions and penalties and things. I give Kentucky a lot of credit for bouncing back and being a really physical football team. We won the line of scrimmage tonight which we had to do.”

Smart on the message when there’s not many possessions…

“Yeah, we had three possessions in the first half and they had only three. We talked about the limited number of plays that we carry being really good at what we do and be efficient. The efficiency was there other than the red area. It was tough in the red area. They do a good job. They jam pack you down there. They don’t pressure a lot and they have lots of levels in their defense. Our inability to probably run it in the red area probably hurt us more than anything. It gave Pod a chance to be clutch and he was. Those are not easy kicks when you’ve got 16, 17 mile an hour wind.”

Smart on going for it on fourth-and-goal…

“I feel like to win the game, you need to be able to run it on fourth-and-1. If you don’t get it, they’ve got to go 99 yards. Those decisions I get to make.”

Kirby Smart on Kenny McIntosh and his first career 100-yard game….

“Awesome. Kenny ran the ball really well tonight, physical. He tucked the ball up. I thought the offensive line was really physical, did a really good job in the run game to be able to get the ball out of there a couple of times. For him to hit one 40 (yards), what’d he hit? 43? Awesome. Probably could have had more but he shared the load with some other guys and Kendall (Milton) did a good job when he came in. I thought all those guys ran the ball well.”

Smart on being 8-0 in the SEC in back to back years…

“Hard to do. Last 40 years there has only been two and it’s hard to win on the road in the SEC. Look across the country today. You see the environments these people are playing in. You see that it’s different. You find out real quick who wants to play football and who’s just a football fan. You have to be able to win in games like that, especially in November.”

Smart on giving up no points on two late Kentucky possessions…

“Well, it was, again, it was bend but don’t break. We didn’t stop them. They ended up getting down in the red area and the wins on fourth down were the difference in the game, you know? Our ability to stop them on fourth down was big but our inability on some of the third downs to get off the field hurt some. Our offense was six of 12 on third down, so they continue to be one of the most efficient third-down teams in the country.”

Kirby Smart on the wind’s impact on the game, how windy it was on the field…

“It was 16 to 18 (mph) with gusts of 25, so it was windy but it was more about what you can and can’t do in those conditions. Again, I think it affected Kentucky. It affected us. The wind is blowing one way, you got to figure out out when you’re passing it, when you’re throwing it. We do studies all the time about how it affects games when the wind gets up around 20 miles per hour. It’s very different in the way you play the game. You’ve got to be methodical. You’ve got to be smart. You’re not going to get many possession.”

Smart on Stetson Bennett’s play a result of Kentucky’s defense and conditions…

“Again, where he’s good is loose play, being about to get out in space and do things. There wasn’t a lot of that tonight. There wasn’t a lot of opportunity for that. Their defense is also pretty good. He has played against their defense a couple of times. I know two years ago up here. I know they do a great job because we get to watch them week in and week out. So they do a great job.”

Smart on Tate Ratledge and De’Nylon Morrissette…

“De’Nylon has got a little bit of a hamstring, knee bothering him, so he went some during the week. We didn’t think he’d be able to go so we brought (Mekhi) Mews down. Tate had a sublux (subluxation) last week. he practiced most of the week, he tried to go, but we didn’t feel like he could go in the game so Devin (Willock) went in there.”

Kirby Smart on the inability to run the ball in crowded boxes…

“To get one yard, you should be able to get one yard. You’ve got to be able to get those. We got eight, nine yards a lot of times. We rushed for 250, so getting one shouldn’t be the end of the world. But we didn’t in those situations, we’ve got to be better in situational football, and we didn’t.”

Smart on the struggles against Kentucky’s passing game…

“You call them issues, but he (Will Levis) hit a couple of shots. You’ve got to play them different. If they’re going to be methodical and run the ball then that’s what you’re playing for. They’ve got a good back, they’re physical. No issues, just one on ones. They made some plays, we had a PI (pass interference), they had a nice double move on Chris (Smith) where I think we hit him late. People are going to make plays in this league. We gave up six points.”

Smart on Kelee Ringo’s interception…

“I can’t remember whether that was the possession after the hands to the face, but we should have been off the field I thought. Then it was like, ‘Okay, we just extended this drive. We just shrunk this game one more possession for us.’ But that stole one back because it was a turnover. We ended up one to one in the turnover game which is crucial with Kentucky. The turnovers are magnified when the game is shrunk.”

Kirby Smart on the two goal line plays…

“We didn’t get much movement. The first time we got blew up at guard when we down at the end where we come out. And then the quarter change over, we came back out and didn’t get much movement. It’s a play that’s a statement play, it’s an identity play. You got to be more physical than them and they were more physical than us. Kentucky does a good job. They know how to stop the run and they’ve got good players, too.”

Smart on getting ready for a situation like Saturday…

“You get them ready in the offseason. It’s physical, it’s lifting weights it’s moving people, it’s the way we practice. Our kids know, every older player we’ve got tell’s kids all the time ‘when you play Kentucky, you better strap it on.’ And we talked about that. We talked about that. You aren’t playing the same Kentucky Vanderbilt played, you’re going to play a different Kentucky. They did a good job and the conditions limited themselves to a limited number of positions.”

Smart on limiting the Kentucky running game, Chris Rodriguez…

“He went 17 for 52. He is one of the most physical backs I have seen in all my years in the SEC, with Benny Snell being right there with him. He really does seek contact. It’s hard to get them behind the sticks. So if you don’t get a team behind the sticks that is willing to go for it on fourth down, you can play a lot of snaps. I thought we did a good job containing him. I thought we could’ve wrapped up better and knocked him back a couple of times.”

Kirby Smart on if he was expecting Will Levis to pass more…

 “I really wasn’t expecting anything. I was expecting to react to whatever they did. I don’t think it was our job to decide whether they were going to run and pass it. It was our job to stop whatever they do and that’s what we tried to do.”

Smart on going for it on fourth and 1…

“That’s my decision. ….That’s really relative to us. We talk about things on the head phones every play. That (timeout) just gave us more time to talk about it. I don’t have to share with you, do I? What’s said on the headphones stays on the headphones, I’m sorry you’re not privy to those. Y’all start paying a lot of money, maybe y’all will get some access on those phones. That was a decision that was made by me, and I wanted to show confidence in our players. If I had a chance to go out there and do it again, I’d say let’s go out there and do it again, because that’s what I believe in. That decision was made 15 years ago, my philosophy.”

Smart on Georgia Tech…. 

“I don’t know a lot of about them. Obviously, we broke them down a lot in the offseason. I’ve got a lot of respect for Brent. I know Brent well, I’ve known him for a long time. I respect the rivalry. I look forward to going and preparing for them. I look forward to honoring these seniors in the class, one that has a chance to be the winningest class that’s ever had a chance to play at Georgia, and they had a COVID year.”

Kirby Smart on Georgia winning ugly tonight…

“Look, I was proud, but we got lucky tonight, too. They had some drops, they had some missed throws but [I’m] looking back like, did we stop them or did they stop themselves, right? And we’ve got to continue getting better. I don’t want to say it was a lethargic win, but it was very ho hum. 

I feel like everybody across the league — including us — are at a point where we just had four games in a row, three on the road that were really tough and really physically. We knew this gauntlet was coming, and our guys put their heads down and worked really hard. Regardless who we’ve faced, we stood up to the test that we’ve been asked to and am proud of what they’ve done. But we’re not where we need to be. We’ve got to improve on both sides of the ball.”

Smart on Georgia going through that gauntlet and win each of those games by double digits…

“Hellified leadership. I mean, the leaders on this team stand up — I asked them before we left to come here in the team meeting, ‘What makes you different than last year’s team?’ And they said, ‘Our response to adversity.’ I put 15, 16, 17 seniors in front of the room and said, ‘Each one of you, tell me what this game means to you.’ You could say what they’re playing for. They’re playing for a chance to be the winningest team, one of the first teams to ever do the two undefeated [regular seasons], the chance to dominate on the road, the chance to win on a four-game stretch that I don’t know that I’ve seen a four-game stretch quite like that one in our league. They did it — like, they owned it and I’m proud of them.”

Smart on the character of this year’s team being that they respond to adversity…

“I think they really believe in that. I think we’ve built some of those DNA muscles that maybe last year’s team never got to flex. And this year’s team — I had several kids come over and bring me a composure card today. I was, you know, upset on one of the calls, and they flashed their composure card and I immediately [said], ‘You know what? They’re right. Nothing you can do about it now. Go play the next play.’ They really believe in those things, and they have responded to some adverse situations and been in some tough situations.’

Kirby Smart on how he gets your team so player-led…

“I don’t know if last year’s group probably rubbed off on this year’s group. We’re reaping the blessings of having watched those guys do it, and they want to emulate what those guys did. There are some really good examples of wanting to do it right and wanting to be successful and following those other guys’ footsteps because so many of these guys were first-time, second-year players.”

Georgia Players (Stetson Bennett, Kelee Ringo, Kenny McIntosh)