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Georgia kept its record unblemished with a win over Vanderbilt Saturday, taking down the Commodores 37-20.
It wasn’t the prettiest or most dominant win the Bulldogs have gotten this season, but Kirby Smart liked the way his team fought through some adversity to get the win.
“I was really proud of players for being resilient, fighting through some turnovers and adversity and some sloppy play, some injuries,” Smart said in his postgame press conference. “But at the end of the day, they responded and got up and played on the road in the SEC. I’m proud of them for that.”
Now Smart and Georgia will get a week off, but the Bulldogs’ head coach is looking to use it as a chance to get better and nurse some players with injuries back to health.
“I’ve never had a bye week that came at the wrong time. I feel great about the bye week,” Smart said. “I’m glad it’s here and we’ll try to get better. People don’t really understand what the bye week is. It’s an opportunity for a growth week.”
Ladd McConkey played in just his third game of the season Saturday, and Smart believes he’s making some progress in his limited reps, but he’s still not at 100%.
“He felt much better today, but it’s just day-to-day,” Smart said. “He doesn’t get to practice during the week, so we’re trying to find what that rhythm is. Is it a midweek one practice and then recover, how much does it set him back when he plays, we won’t know that till tomorrow.”
Smart didn’t shy away from criticizing Carson Beck, who had a far from perfect day with an interception.
“I was frustrated with some decisions, taking a sack, almost knocked us out of field goal, Payton went out and drilled it,” Smart said. “That was just not smart. If it’s not there, throw it away. I think everything for him has to be, ‘I want to get a completion, I want to run for it.'”
