Kirby Smart attributes half of Georgia’s offensive struggles to bad weather against Kentucky
By Dave Holcomb
Published:
Georgia has struggled to move the ball offensively the last two weeks, but head coach Kirby Smart doesn’t sound overly concerned. During his weekly teleconference Wednesday, he blamed half of Georgia’s offensive struggles on the conditions against Kentucky in Week 8.
“It was tough to palm the ball, throw the ball, catch the ball,” Smart said of the rainy and windy night in Athens last Saturday.
The previous week, though, it was perfectly sunny in Athens when Georgia lost to South Carolina in double overtime, 20-17. Bulldogs quarterback Jake Fromm threw three interceptions in the loss.
On Wednesday, Smart attributed poor route running, accuracy and pass protection to the poor offensive performance that week.
One other potential issue could be offensive coordinator James Coley, who is in his first season as play-caller. Fans have criticized the Georgia offense for being too conservative at times this season.
Smart deflected blame away from Coley on Wednesday, saying “there have not been any overall major changes” and that “there’s no huge adjustment.” He also added changing coordinators “can be good for kids” sometimes because it “challenges them.”
Here’s what else Smart said on Wednesday:
- Thoughts on Kyle Trask: He’s a good QB. He’s more athletic than you think he is… to be honest with you, I haven’t looked at them exclusively. They have a veteran WR group, including the TE in there, in the country. Kyle has come in and has not skipped a beat.
- On Georgia’s recent struggles on offense: I think 50% of that is conditions against Kentucky, it was tough to palm the ball, throw the ball, catch the ball… vs. SC, there were a lot of opportunities to pass it… some of it was route running, some of it was receiver route running… some of it accuracy, some of it pass protection.
- Sense of urgency from Jake Fromm? Yeah, I think our whole team is looking forward to playing a top 10 team in Jacksonville…. you always look forward to playing a top 10 team, we are just trying to get better… we are working on Georgia to get fundamentally better.
- On Alabama’s 88-win streak vs. unranked teams, what’s the key to that? I couldn’t tell you, I’m so focused on us. Obviously having good players, a level of consistency… we are all trying to do it.
on Tay Crowder’s progression: I knew him, he came to camp at Alabama, he was a prospect there. He started as a WR but moved to RB as he got bigger… We challenged him to create a role on SPTs and he has done that… - How much responsibly does he have each week? We put a lot on our ILBs to make calls. the offenses we face now are very exotic, they do a good job of putting us in the right position, they are the glue and he does a good job of that.
- On not having staff continuity, pros and cons? Fresh ideas, fresh identity. Even when you promote from within, you still bring in new people to fill former roles… one of the tougher things is familiarity with kids, with what the coordinator wants from their position… Changing coaches can be good for kids, it refocuses them and challenges them.
Dave covers SEC football for Saturday Down South.
