Kirby Smart offers high praise for Graham Mertz, especially recently
Ahead of Georgia’s bout with Florida on Saturday, Kirby Smart had high praise for the Gators’ quarterback.
Graham Mertz has emerged as a top quarterback in the SEC this season after transferring from Wisconsin. He’s notched 1,897 yards, 12 touchdowns and has thrown just 2 interceptions, leading Florida to a 5-2 start with a couple of big wins already. In his last game against South Carolina, Mertz had 423 yards and 3 touchdowns.
As the Bulldogs prepare to take on Mertz, Smart knows he’ll be facing one of the hottest arms in the country.
“They’ve played their best football, probably the last 2 weeks or so,” Smart said in his press conference Monday. “You look at the statistics on their quarterback, he’s probably maybe the No. 1 quarterback in the country for 2 games, in terms of the way he’s played. You can tell he’s got a lot of confidence in their offense and their system. They’re able to execute, do a lot of things with him, he handles it well, he makes a lot of good run checks for them. Has done a good job of not putting them in harm’s way in his decision-making process, so they’re playing at a really high level right now, and doing a great job with it.”
Georgia will have its hands full containing Florida’s offense. The Gators are coming off 2 wins and a bye week, and are gunning for an upset. The Bulldogs will also have the challenge of playing in the Swamp on Saturday.