After suffering its first loss of the season last weekend at Auburn, the big concern surrounding Kirby Smart’s program was how the Bulldogs would respond to losing. Needless to say, Georgia passed the test Saturday in Athens with a resounding 42-13 win over Kentucky.

Here’s what Georgia’s coach had to say about the big win in his postgame press conference.

On the win:

“What a great way for these seniors to go out – winning the SEC East by going undefeated against the East. Our seniors have given us tremendous leadership, and I’m happy and proud of them. Our seniors have set the standard and our young players have bought in. It helps to have such great leadership.”

On running the ball:

“We want to be able to do that on a consistent basis. We want to throw it too, but those 3- and 4-yard runs wear on people.”

On going undefeated against the SEC East:

“People don’t understand in the SEC, it’s a challenge every week. There are no easy games. No one can walk out and destroy a team in the first half. You just don’t do that.”

On playing Georgia Tech:

“Tech has a unique offense that you don’t get to play but once a year. It’s very different and you work on it and you try to simulate it. You have to do your job. And we need to do a good job of controlling the ball on offense. … Our scouts will have to be prepared this week to give us the best picture they can.”

On this week’s schedule:

“We’ll have more time this week with no school. We’ll meet with them and have walkthroughs and help them prepare. We’ll focus on giving thanks and on preparing for Tech.”

On the Georgia fans:

“Our fans showed out for our seniors. These guys deserved that and I appreciate our fan base for that. … Recruiting is affected immensely by the atmosphere of home games. We want to be the best we can be. Our job is to put a good product out there.”