I’m not sure I have ever looked forward to a Kirby Smart post game press conference as much as I looked forward to this one. And the top dog did not disappoint.
Kirby Smart met the assembled media before leaving Austin and he had some thoughts on the night events:
On the Bulldog fans who made the trip: “I thought we had an incredible showing from our fans. It was an incredible atmosphere, but anytime you play on the road in the SEC it is.”
On the chip his team carried into Darrel K. Royal on their shoulders: “Our whole program was being doubted. Did you watch the show (College Gameday, presumably) this morning? I didn’t, because I was in meetings, but I got 8000 texts about it….but we were able to win this game because of what we done before going to Kentucky and playing, going to Alabama and playing, and we didn’t flinch.”
On his receivers’ repeated drops: “A lot of resilience with our team, in terms of overcoming many obstacles, including some self-inflicted. Our inability to catch a ball is almost comical. But I was proud of our guys.”
On reaching the 100 win plateau as the head coach at his alma mater: “a lot of credit for that goes to a lot of different people, Sam Pittman, (Jim) Cheney, Del McGee, Todd Monken, and a lot of players Kamari Lassiter, D’Andre Swift, (Deandre) Baker here tonight, I mean, they just flooded the sidelines here, and so many other people had an involvement in those 100 wins….when I started, I thought that was unreachable and unattainable.”
On the reversed pass interference call following Texas fans’ bottle-throwing temper tantrum: “He (presumably head official ) just said the guy got it wrong, he called it on the wrong guy. Which, it took him a long time to realize that, you know? It’s one of those things, I don’t know what I’m allowed to say and not say with respect to the wishes of the SEC office.
Now, I will say, you’ve set a precedent that if you throw a bunch of stuff on the field and endanger athletes, that you got a chance to get your call reversed. And that’s unfortunate, because to me, that’s dangerous. That’s not criticizing officials. That’s just what happened.”
On the curious squib kick to open the second half: “The kick was
On the controversial decision to go for it on 4th down from his own side of the field late. “They needed two scores and we needed a yard. If I ever get the chance to end the game with less than a yard, I’m going to count on the offense to do it. I wouldn’t say it’s aggressive, it’s just intelligent.”
On what made the UGA pass rush so effective tonight: “ I think the biggest thing was the quarterback holding onto the ball. And I think not knowing what we were in every play and affecting the routes. When for good pass rushers when they can go (presumably due to injuries).”
On what really made the defense effective against the vaunted Longhorn offense: “ the bigger factor in the game was the inability to run the ball. Because we felt like if they could run the ball, it was going to be tough. But they were never really able to establish the run, and that’s what you’ve got to do in this league.”
Defending Carson Beck when a reporter said that the signal caller had “not his best night:” “ I don’t agree with that. He had probably eight or nine drops, and that’s hard on a quarterback, psychologically. I’m not saying he played perfect, but I saw an 3rd and 4 scramble where he put his life and body on the line to make an incredible play. I saw a guy in third down back up, lose all momentum, then step up and then throw a missile to Arian to change the course of the game. I think he played pretty good. But everyone wants to look at stats.”
On Beck’s 3 interceptions, and how he might not be throwing them if Ladd McConkey or Brock Bowers were there to get in the way: “We don’t have a lot of the same guys and he’s carrying a lot of that burden.”
You can see the whole conference below. As always, our sincere thanks to our good friends at Bulldawg Illustrated for the use of their video. Hit them up for all of your Bulldog News and lifestyle reading. I make it a point to do so every day. Have a great morning, don’t litter, and….
Go ‘Dawgs!!!