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Kirby Smart discusses defending Georgia Tech’s triple option, updates Georgia’s injury report
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“Discipline” was the word of the day during Kirby Smart’s Monday press conference.
Georgia’s coach brought it up multiple times while breaking down Georgia Tech’s triple option offense, which the No. 5 Bulldogs (10-1) will attempt to slow down when the teams meet at noon ET on Saturday in Athens. The Yellow Jackets (7-4) have averaged 36 points per game over their four-game winning streak, prompting Smart to call them “one of the hottest teams in the country.”
Smart was asked specifically what “discipline” meant against a team like Georgia Tech rather than a misdirection offense like Auburn’s.
“There’s no similarities,” Smart said. “You have to have discipline in all of football, whether it’s against a team like Auburn or Florida or Tech. … But when I talk about discipline in this, it’s eye control, patience, doing your job over and over again and doing it exactly right. It’s repetition.
“You can’t get enough reps to get really good at it, and we’re trying to get enough reps for it in a short amount of time. … You have to have kids that buy into it and love playing against it and care about it.”
Smart also updated his team’s lengthy injury report, which featured three offensive lineman.
Sophomore Ben Cleveland is cleared to play but still trying to get back to 100 percent after suffering a minor ankle injury on top of the fractured fibula he had been rehabbing, Smart said. Senior Kendall Baker is doubtful for Saturday’s game, and Smart is unsure of freshman Cade Mays’ status.
A pair of sophomore linebackers are also banged up, though one appears more likely to play against the Yellow Jackets than the other. Monty Rice is “doubtful” for this weekend’s rivalry game, Smart said, while Walter Grant is dealing with an “ongoing” ankle issue.
Aside from injury talk, the majority of questions Smart fielded were about defending Georgia Tech’s triple option. You can read his responses to a few of those below.
On the offense potentially panicking if Tech is holding the ball for long stretches of the game:
- “I don’t think you ever panic. You take advantage of the opportunities, you just may have less opportunities. Panic comes from within, pressing, doing tings you don’t do normally. The opportunities or number of series series or drives may be less. We probably have less than most people anyway because we’re a ball-control, time-of-possession offense, but maybe not to the extent of Tech. Every possession is significant, but when is it not?”
On the battle of in-game adjustments between him and Tech coach Paul Johnson:
- “A lot. It’s always moving parts. You’re trying to adapt quicker than they do. They do probably as good a job as anybody in the country of taking advantage of your weakness. … He’s as far up there as you can be in the option world. … If you make a mistake, he’ll may you pay on maybe the next player or the next drive. He knows the complements of it. … If we don’t have something right, we better get it fixed quick.”
On if the goal is to put Tech’s offense down by multiple scores, does the offensive approach change?
- “I always want to put people down by multiple scores, don’t you? I don’t know a game where you go in and say, ‘Well, let’s keep this one tight for a while.’ … It doesn’t put any more pressure to say we’ve got to have it. You’ve got to play the game you’re given, whether you’re behind or ahead. You’ve got to do a good job of managing the game.”
Marcus covers SEC football for Saturday Down South.
