Georgia made a big splash Monday morning by announcing it had agreed to future home-and-home series against Clemson and Texas within the next 12 years.

During his weekly press conference Monday, Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart expressed his satisfaction with the school locking up top-tier Power 5 opponents.

“I’m excited,” Smart said. “I think when you come to the University of Georgia, you want to play against the best. I’ve always believed in playing Power 5 opponents. Our fanbase will follow us anywhere. They want to go. We proved that last year, proven it over the history of time that Georgia people travel. They want great games, they want home-and-homes.

“The CFP committee has proven they want strength of schedule, good opponents. Who knows what the system will be 10 years from now. It’s going to change. I’d argue that still having a good schedule will be good. It’s beneficial to play a tougher schedule.”

No. 5 Georgia already faces a tough slate every season by virtue of playing in the SEC, as evidenced by four consecutive games against top-25 conference opponents over the past month. The Bulldogs (9-1), however, will finally get a respite from that grind when they host UMass (4-7) at 4 p.m. ET on Saturday.

Smart briefly previewed Georgia’s non-conference showdown Monday while also updating his team’s injury report.

Senior offensive lineman Kendall Baker and freshman positionmate Cade Mays are both “day-to-day,” Smart said. Freshman linebacker Brenton Cox, meanwhile, should return after sitting out last Saturday’s win against Auburn with a minor ankle sprain.

Here are a few other relevant topics Smart discussed Monday:

On the recent success of Georgia’s 2-minute offense:

  • “I think the tempo of play sometimes speeds up. The defense, in a couple of the games your referencing, sometimes plays us defensively. … They know pass is imminent, but when you’ve got the threat of run and pass, it makes us harder to defend. Jake has done a good job of managing the clock. … Jake’s strength is being able to move quickly and operate efficiently with the ball.”

On staying focused against a non-conference opponent like UMass:

  • “It’s leadership. We’ll find out a lot about our team this week. It’s never about who we’re playing. For you guys, it is. I’ve told y’all every week that it’s never about who we’re playing. Not about Florida, not about Auburn. … So when we get to this week, it’s not a big deal. We focus on us.”