As Georgia looks to bounce back from the loss at Auburn, coach Kirby Smart said he didn’t need to remind any of his players about the upcoming opponent in Kentucky.

“The focus has to be on a team that could very easily be 9-1, really should be 9-1 rolling in here,” Smart said as a guest Friday on The Paul Finebaum Show. “Our team, luckily, played them last year and they thought it was the most physical game that we had played. They get in Wildcat and they pound you. So our guys immediately had the attention of Kentucky and the respect.”

The Auburn loss was a fresh reminder of Smart’s slogan he repeats often to keep players — and the fan base — grounded.

“The beauty of me saying that humility is only a week away is that it still applies after a loss,” Smart said, and added that the previous No. 1 ranking didn’t have a negative effect on Georgia. “Not just after a win, it’s after every game.”

As the Georgia schedule falls, the Bulldogs play host to Kentucky this week, then travel to Georgia Tech next week before the SEC Championship Game. But the conference title game in Atlanta is down the list of priorities for the Georgia coach.

“Absolutely, you’ve got to move it out of the way,” Smart said. “If you want to keep your name to stay in the talks, you’ve got to win. We’ve made it about Kentucky and these seniors who’ve given so much to this program. It’s really about those guys and everybody on the team buying in to support those guys.”

“… We know that in order to get where we need to go, the road goes through Kentucky, and that’s where we’ve got to play, and we’ve got to play well.”