Kirby Smart passionately defends his fourth down decisions in the Tennessee win
By Keith Farner
Published:
Georgia coach Kirby Smart’s decision, and the Bulldogs’ inability to convert those plays were a topic of discussion among Georgia fans and the media Saturday night following the win over Tennessee.
Smart explained how he reached the decisions in the second quarter, particularly the closing play of the first half.
“If you don’t go for it on fourth and one at the goal, what are you telling your team,” Smart said. “That decision was made long, long, long ago. So fourth and inside the one on the last play of the half, that decision was made for me, probably 20 years ago. It’s just who I am, what I believe and philosophically, I don’t really care what the score is, that’s just what I believe.”
He looks at it like Georgia will gain more than if it didn’t go for it, and he’s more frustrated with the first one, which came with about seven minutes to go in the first half from the Bulldogs’ 36-yard line.
“You look at fourth-and-1 as appetite for risk, I don’t,” Smart said. “I look at it as law of percentages say you’re going to make more than you don’t, and it’s disappointing we didn’t. … But I still feel like with our offensive line, we should be able to get a foot. They did, against a pretty good defensive line, they got a foot. They got a foot twice. … I’m not second-guessing the decision, I’ll leave that to you guys. If I can go out there today, I’d do it again.”
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
