What Was Said: LSU coach Brian Kelly this week on Georgia

You’ve seen everything that Georgia has said this week ahead of the SEC Championship Game, but what did the Bayou Bengals at LSU have to say about the Bulldogs. Here are the words of Tigers’ head coach Brian Kelly.

On the Georgia tight ends

I think ‘lethal’ is a good word. Darnell Washington is a large person, 6’7″. I mean, there’s nobody that really has a favorable matchup against him. Then Bowers, he leads the team I believe in receptions. He’s a Lombardi Award finalist. Coach Monken gets him involved in everything from handoff sweeps to I don’t know if he’s thrown the ball yet, but I’m sure he will. He’s just a versatile player. He’s a guy that can break games open. As talented and as productive as a tandem that you’ll see.

On Georgia offensive coordinator Todd Monken

I’ve known Todd for several years. I think it’s going on close to 30 years. Wherever he’s been he’s been successful. He’s got a great offensive mind. He comes from a family that’s been involved in football, the entire family. He just knows the game, whether he’s been in college as a head coach in Southern Mississippi, working in the NFL. He knows the game. He relates well to his players. Outstanding play-caller. I don’t know of anything at the time I was with him at Grand Valley wore off on him. I think despite the time we were together, he’s overcome all that (laughter). Just great experience and does a great job.

On Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett

Yeah, remarkable. He’s poised. The confidence on film in terms of what he exudes is amazing. I think he’s, like, 26-3 as a starter. He’s in full command of the offense, full command. That goes to his coaching, his teaching, his preparation obviously. It’s apparent in watching him how confident he is as the quarterback.

On the Georgia defense

First of all, the scheme is outstanding. They mix it up, three down and four down. They do a really good job when they get you into third down, they’re going to give you a variety of looks. But obviously Beal and Carter, outstanding D-linemen. I think Dumas-Johnson is a Butkus Award finalist, an outstanding player. The back end is young and athletic, really good ball skills. Coach Smart obviously has his hand on everything that happens in this program, but in particular on defense. You can see that. I’m familiar with their defensive structure having gone against them a few times. They continue to get better each and every week.

On Darnell Washington

Hope they don’t throw it to him; is that what you mean? Yeah, sometimes we break this game down to one player against one. You’re hoping that in some situations that your zone coverage where you have somebody underneath him over the top, because really if you look at it, if it’s just a one-on-one situation, he’s a pretty unique athlete in that he can line up and has lined up at wide receiver. That’s not a great match-up for anybody. You’ve got to take some of those things away. You’ve got to be able to help with underneath coverage, over the top. Sometimes there’s bracket situations where you’ve got a corner with an inside backer and a safety and that triangle kind of takes away throwing lanes because if it’s just as simple as one guy versus one guy, that’s not a favorable situation. But you may get that sometimes, and you’re hoping the pass rush gets there. You’re hoping that Stetson can’t find him, things of that nature, because it is a match-up issue.

More on Stetson Bennett

Yeah, I think when you turn on the film, he just exudes confidence. He’s a guy that has mastered the position, and what Coach Monken and certainly Coach Smart are asking him to do within that offensive structure, he just moves around with confidence. He’s only got very few rushes. He’s not a guy looking to run, although he can run away from you. In the Auburn game you could see him accelerate and separate from some defenders. But he wants to get the ball to his playmakers. He’s just smart, careful with the football. Yeah, I think the confidence level that he brings brings up the level of confidence around him and all the playmakers that he has.

More on the Georgia defense

Well, certainly physical — the defensive tackles are outstanding, Carter and Beal. I think — look, I think it’s pretty clear that what you’ll see is the perimeter players not only are athletic but they’re outstanding tacklers, and that doesn’t surprise me coming from what Kirby does and obviously what he demands from his players. They’re tough-minded. They play physical. They play downhill. They play three down, four down, which we’re obviously seeing a lot of it, but you’ve got to make sure you minimize the negative plays against a defense like this. You could get into some bad plays and now you’re behind the chains. They get you the 3rd down, now there’s a lot of things they can do. 1st and 2nd down and eliminating negative plays against this defense in particular is really big.

On previous matchups against Georgia at Notre Dame

They’re really good and well-coached. Good players. Very competitive games. One of them was home, one of them was away. They were great atmospheres. It’s just really good college football. Look, it’s going to be a similar situation. We’re going to play a physical football team that has the style of its head coach. They’re going to play great defense. They’re going to be physical on both sides of the ball. That’s the nature of a well-coached football team that’s won a national championship and is competing for another. You know what you’re going to get here. I mean, everything’s going to come very difficult. Nothing’s going to be easy. You’re going to have to earn everything. Quite frankly, that’s the exciting part about it. You know what you’re going to get. You’re going to get a really well-coached football team, fundamentally sound, and they’re going to play hard for four quarters and it’s going to challenge your football team to play its very best as well. It doesn’t get any better than this.

On biggest differences between those Georgia teams and this one

I’d say there’s probably more similarities on defense than there are on offense. I think there’s a little bit more wrinkles, if you will, on the offensive side of the ball. Every defense is going to have a little bit of a change in personality. But their three down, four down, they’re going to mix it up on third down, their third down packages are difficult. The personnel is outstanding on the defensive side of the ball, as it is on offense. I think maybe the offensive structure is one where there are more things to defend and make it difficult, especially with both the tight ends. The two tight ends make it very difficult because of personnel-ing it and they take away some of your calls from a defensive perspective.