What Kirby Smart said Wednesday on the SEC Coaches Teleconference
By Keith Farner
Published:
As Georgia gets ready to play LSU on Saturday, coach Kirby Smart said Hurricane Michael may cause the team to change plans, but he wasn’t immediately sure how that would unfold.
“We aren’t sure right now, we have looked into it,” he said on the SEC Media Teleconference on Wednesday. “It may affect practice conditions today but obviously, we will have to adjust. We don’t really know what it’s going to do.”
The schedule is one reason why the Georgia-LSU game this week is receiving more hype.
“I think the reason this game is a big deal is because we don’t have a nine-game (SEC) schedule,” Smart said. “Georgia fans travel well, all SEC fans travel well. The more gap there is, the more demand there is on tickets.”
Smart said QB Jake Fromm has improved in confidence in protections are and understanding where the issues and weaknesses are.
“He handles that well,” Smart said.
Smart was asked about facing Nick Saban for the first time, but said he only looked at it as Georgia facing Alabama, and preparing to play a good team. But he said the focus this week is on LSU.
D’Andre Swift has done a good job playing through an injury, but that all the kids have “nicks and bruises.”
Another running back, Elijah Holyfield has matured most in pass protection as his high school didn’t ask him to do that.
“He’s physical, he enjoys contact,” Smart said. “His maturity has also grown. He didn’t know special teams when he got here but now he does a good job on our punt units.”
Finally, Smart said he’s never experienced a staff firing like Wake Forest and Oklahoma have done this season with their defensive coordinators.
“It’s got to be tough,” he said. “I think that’s more about a change in leadership. I thought think anyone is going to take over a unit mid-season and overhaul the system.”
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
