What Kirby Smart said after Georgia’s shocking loss to South Carolina
By Andrew Olson
Published:
Ahead of the 2019 season, many expected to potentially be challenged by Notre Dame, Florida, Texas A&M or Auburn, but the South Carolina game did not get hyped. During the season, it didn’t help that Will Muschamp’s Gamecocks got off a 1-3 start, falling to North Carolina, Alabama and Missouri.
What was expected to be a comfortable W for the Bulldogs ended up being a shocking L. After the game, UGA coach Kirby Smart talked about turnovers, offensive line play, play-calling and more.
“Any time you get ready to play a football game, you have to set your jaw and go play physical. We didn’t do that. They played physical and attacked us. We’ve got to go out and help our players, and that starts with me.”
On the turnovers …
“You can’t go 4-0. Four is astronomical. And when one goes for a touchdown, that’s a back breaker. You can’t turn the ball over in this league and win. It’s that simple.”
On execution …
“We didn’t execute real well. We didn’t play clean. We didn’t do a good job protecting the ball. If you turn the ball over, you will get your butt beat. … Every time we got something going and rolling, we stubbed our time in some area.”
On Rodrigo Blankenship …
“I hate that for him. He’s been so consistent and we’ve relied on him so many times. It’s tough, but you’re not going to make them all.”
On moving forward …
“This is when you find out about yourself. You look in the mirror and say, ‘What can I do better?’ As coaches and leaders of the team, we’ve got to do what helps our guys. … We’ll learn from it. If you let it linger, South Carolina beats you twice. Everything we want to achieve is still in front of us. We’ll work to get better. … It’s about getting better, and we’ve got to help get them get better. We’ve got to look at ourselves and what situations we need to be in to be successful.”
Here’s some of what Smart told reporters on hand in Athens:
Georgia coach Kirby Smart "They outplayed us up front." #Gamecocks
— Lou Bezjak (@LouatTheState) October 12, 2019
Kirby Smart in @GeorgiaFootball postgame press conference is strikingly calm, citing 4 turnovers as key to upset loss to South Carolina @GamecockFB @WSBTVsports pic.twitter.com/7rBgWrWZCh
— Terence Moore (@TMooreSports) October 12, 2019
Kirby on his O Line ? I wanna talk about them. I wanna talk about them being the best in the country. But they gotta go out there and do it. pic.twitter.com/tX56vJb1gN
— 960 The Ref (@960theref) October 12, 2019
Kirby Smart: “You’re not going to win when you have four turnovers.”
— Anthony Dasher (@AnthonyDasher1) October 12, 2019
Kirby Smart had high praise for Dakereon Joyner's play after coming in for Hilinski
— Lou Bezjak (@LouatTheState) October 12, 2019
Smart: “We’ve all got to look at each other in the middle.”
— Anthony Dasher (@AnthonyDasher1) October 12, 2019
Kirby on Hot Rod ? O man, that guy has made soo many big kicks for us. We love Hot Rod. Got to get better though. We’ll put our arm around him and encourage him.
— 960 The Ref (@960theref) October 12, 2019
“We were gonna work the sideline and get him 5 more yards. The penalty killed us. We lost the play and the yards.”
-Kirby Smart on end of regulation decisions
Rod told us postgame he told coaches pregame the 35 yard line was his threshold on that side. Had the wind. @WJBFSports pic.twitter.com/zXJWykyAve— Brendan Robertson (@BrendanWJBF) October 12, 2019
Kirby on running on 1st and 2nd down several times ? It’s easy to come in after the fact and say o you shouldn’t have done that. When the strength of your team is your RBs and O Line, you try to pound it. pic.twitter.com/1DRwPtTBQH
— 960 The Ref (@960theref) October 12, 2019
More Kirby Smart : I believe in Jake Fromm #Gamecocks
— Lou Bezjak (@LouatTheState) October 12, 2019
Kirby on losing ? It’s about the next game. Everybody we play has good players. I’m disappointed in the way we performed. pic.twitter.com/NXvPyjdEFA
— 960 The Ref (@960theref) October 12, 2019
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaign of Fred Taylor.
