Kirby Smart Preparing for Physical "Bloodbath" against Kentucky

Kirby Smart has always generously praised Mark Stoops’ Kentucky football program. Despite the recent loss to Vanderbilt, that is not changing before the top-ranked Georgia Bulldogs come to Kroger Field this Saturday.

“I think there’s a major league respect for Kentucky in our program because the kids that have played against Kentucky, it’s been a bloodbath, man,” Smart said at his weekly press conference. “The game last year was so physical, so tough, rugged and they run a lot of physical runs, we like to run a lot of physical runs, and you end up just clanging against each other. When you come out of the game, you’re really sore. So, that was that way that 14-3, or whatever game it was, maybe up there in 2020. Man, we had guys dropping like flies, it was just really physical. So, our guys respect Kentucky, I respect Coach Stoops and what they did last week has no relevance to what they’ll do this week.”

There is truth behind Kirby’s coach-speak. One pundit referred to the Wildcats as “Georgia Light” early in the season. Mark Stoops’ teams want to win the same way Kirby Smart wins. Kentucky just does not have the same level of talent on its roster.

There also may be ulterior motives behind Smart’s praise, aside from obviously wanting to keep his players on their toes. The kind words feel similar to the way John Calipari talked about former Georgia basketball coach Mark Fox. He loved the way Fox’s teams played, because they always played worse than Kentucky.

Kirby Smart Showing Georgia Defense NFL Tape to Prepare for Kentucky Offense

To keep his players engaged this week, instead of showing his defense film of Kentucky, Kirby Smart is inspiring the Georgia defense by showing tape from NFL teams. The Cats run similar concepts, they just aren’t executing them like the San Francisco 49ers.

“They enjoy it more when we get to show clips of the 49ers and NFL teams. That intrigues the players a lot more, playing against an NFL style offense,” Kirby Smart said. “It motivates them a little more because they know that a lot of teams look at those tapes. With their coordinator coming from the NFL, it’s more the kind of style of what they’ll play against at the next level. So, that part excites them.”

If the Georgia defense wants to use Kentucky to put out good NFL tape, it’s going to be a LONG day at Kroger Field. Kickoff is at 3:30 pm ET on CBS.