Kirby Smart shares what he expects to see from Jake Fromm, Georgia WRs against Vanderbilt
By Andrew Olson
Published:
In the last two seasons, it has been Georgia and everybody else in the SEC East. Kirby Smart’s squad has done the heavy lifting in changing the conversation about the balance of power between the SEC’s two divisions by taking Alabama to the wire in two epic championship clashes.
Once again, the Bulldogs are favored to win the division. There are plenty of experts saying this could be Georgia’s year to win not only the SEC East, but a conference championship and a national championship. Unlike some teams, UGA is getting started with a conference game in Week 1. The Dawgs travel to Vanderbilt to start the season, a game set for a 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff from Nashville and broadcast on the SEC Network.
Wednesday, on the weekly SEC media teleconference, Smart shared the latest on his team and previewed the Vanderbilt game:
- On the unknowns entering the season: Most of the time, practice is a good indicator of how they will play… you rarely see a player stand out [in a game] that didn’t stand out in practice. We only get so many practices, players have to stand out during those opportunities.
- Update on junior ILB Monty Rice: Monty is a leader, exceptional effort, works hard in the classroom and the meeting room. I’m really proud of him. It’s important to him to be a leader. He did have an injury last year, but other than that, he’s been healthy – especially for a linebacker.
- On Commodores coach Derek Mason: His players play hard and tackle well. His teams create odd and even fronts, pressure the QB, have great corners… that comes from (Mason’s) background in the NFL and at Stanford.
- On QB Jake Fromm and his experience facing Vanderbilt’s defense: I don’t think we know what we are going to see due to offseason wrinkles… no one stays the same. The adversity comes from the unknown and that’s where his experience comes in handy.
- On what he wants to see against Vanderbilt: Special teams, I want to see the young kids play well… I want to see the habits of our offense and defense, I want to see how we tackle… We haven’t done a good job there in the scrimmages we have had.
- On Georgia’s new-look receiving corps: I’m excited to see those guys play, hopefully they have success. They will be targetted, they know people are talking about them, but they will have some opportunities given our running game.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
