{"id":43970,"date":"2025-11-11T00:08:07","date_gmt":"2025-11-11T00:08:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/43970\/"},"modified":"2025-11-11T00:08:07","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T00:08:07","slug":"everything-kirby-smart-said-as-georgia-prepares-for-tremendous-texas-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/43970\/","title":{"rendered":"Everything Kirby Smart said as Georgia prepares for \u2018tremendous\u2019 Texas program"},"content":{"rendered":"

ATHENS \u2014 Kirby Smart and this Georgia team have played in plenty of big games this season. It should prepare them well for a Texas team that enters Saturday\u2019s game as the No. 10 team in the country.<\/a><\/p>\n

Led by quarterback Arch Manning and defensive end Colin Simmons, Texas is more than capable of coming away with a win. <\/p>\n

Which is why Smart wants his No. 5 Georgia team playing its best this Saturday. <\/p>\n

Smart spoke to reporters on Monday to preview the game. Below is everything Smart said during his press conference. <\/p>\n

Everything Kirby Smart said as Georgia prepares for \u2018tremendous\u2019 Texas program<\/p>\n

Opening statement<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, a\u00a0big basketball game Friday night. Our basketball team will be hosting Georgia Tech, so you can buy those tickets now in Stegeman Coliseum. They\u2019ve been off to a great start. Friday night at 9. And then also it\u2019s Dawgs for Pups Season of Giving food drive.\u00a0That\u2019s an initiative our players started years ago and have followed up on. So as part of the Dog for Pups community engagement, we\u2019re encouraging Dawg nation to join us by giving to the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia.\u00a0Non-perishable items will be accepted there here at Butts-Mehre through November 21st. Our players really appreciate the Dogs for Pups Season of Giving food drive, which will be going on until the 21st of November.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWith that, we\u2019ll move on to Texas. We\u2019ve got a big matchup. A lot of respect for Sark. He\u2019s become a good friend of mine. He does a tremendous job.\u00a0He\u2019s at one of the premier programs in the country. He\u2019s been successful everywhere he\u2019s been. He\u2019s done a great job, and I enjoy his friendship and look forward to another great matchup on Saturday night.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the competition with Texas on the recruiting trail and the ramifications of these games…<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I don\u2019t know how the games tie [in]. I mean, the recruiting they do, they recruit nationally. I mean, a lot of coaches have gone to Texas and just recruited the state of Texas.\u00a0I think Sark and his staff have reached out both West Coast to California all the way down to Florida. They\u2019ve gotten some guys, and they\u2019ve gotten some guys from Georgia. We\u2019ve gotten some guys from Texas that we think are good players.\u00a0It\u2019s all in the eye of the beholder in terms of who you go after and with who you win. Certainly recruiting wins tie into the future of your program and the success of your program.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the Texas offense\u2019s revitalization in the last few weeks and how Arch Manning has played during it…\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, he\u2019s playing with more confidence.\u00a0Number one, he\u2019s getting better protection. He\u2019s seeing things well. He\u2019s making good decisions.\u00a0He\u2019s getting the ball out of his hand quickly. I mean, he\u2019s maturing. He\u2019s had an opportunity to play and grow, and you don\u2019t really get that until you get out there and play. He played a good bit last year, but the kind of games he\u2019s had to play in this year, just a different stature in terms of the SEC gauntlet.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd you watch game by game.\u00a0I watched yesterday each game throughout the year and watched him just grow and play and play better. He\u2019s extending plays, he\u2019s doing really well with scrambles, keeps his eyes downfield, doesn\u2019t look at the rush. He\u2019s made some really impressive wow throws, and they\u2019re playing better offensively.\u201d<\/p>\n

On what stood out about Manning in the recruiting process and what Smart remembers given the celebrity nature of that recruitment…\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, it really wasn\u2019t about the celebrity nature or the last name. It was about the tape. You know, I have a good relationship with their family.\u00a0I\u2019ve known his dad for a while, his uncle for a long time, and his grandfather. They\u2019ve got a wonderful family, but it has nothing to do with his recruitment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHis recruitment was based on he\u2019s athletic, he\u2019s fast, he\u2019s tall, he\u2019s intelligent, he\u2019s got composure, he\u2019s got arm. I mean, he can do it all.\u00a0He can run the ball, he can throw the ball. In this day and age, you\u2019ve got to have a quarterback that can do both. He can, and I think he\u2019s got great composure. You know,\u00a0He\u2019s not really affected by not many things, even the way he\u2019s managed the hype and expectations of what he was supposed to be this year. None of that was\u00a0\u2014\u00a0he didn\u2019t call on any of that to come to him. It\u2019s just what the outside sources did, and it doesn\u2019t seem to have affected him.\u00a0He knows he\u2019s gotta grow and get better, and I think Sark\u2019s done a great job kind of bringing him up and allowing him to develop and get better.”<\/p>\n

On the recruiting pitch to Manning to come to Georgia…\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t really know about a pitch. I mean, it was relationships. I mean, right? I got to know him, our staff got to know him.\u00a0He came over here a lot. He was very honest and had his thoughts about both programs. He liked both programs.\u00a0He had to pick one. I mean, there\u2019s no, like, sales pitch in terms of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Texas\u2019 run defense…\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, they were really effective in that area last year. They\u2019re built on the line of scrimmage. They\u2019re built to be physical.\u00a0They fit things really well. Pete [Kwiatkowski]\u00a0does a great job as a defensive coordinator. They\u2019re very disruptive, they create turnovers, aggressive. They\u2019ve got good players. I mean, at the end of the day they\u2019ve got big, physical, good players on the line of scrimmage, which allows you to stop the run.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the challenge of slowing down Colin Simmons and the Longhorns\u2019 pass rushers…<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re tremendous. They\u2019ve got great effort.\u00a0They rush really hard. They\u2019re leaders. They\u2019ve got stars all over their defense.\u00a0I mean, they\u2019re very talented. When you watch that defense play, they play hard, they get after the quarterback, they disguise things well. Very disruptive. There\u2019s a lot of challenges when it comes to dropping back, throwing the ball, and trying to run the ball. When you want to be balanced, they\u2019re really good at making you not be balanced.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the secondary\u2019s play since the second bye week…\u201cI mean, we\u2019ve played good in spurts and we\u2019ve played poor. It\u2019s kind of like everything. I mean, there\u2019s things that I would like to see done better, and there\u2019s things that were improved on.\u00a0So it kind of depends on what quarter or what play you\u2019re talking about.\u201d<\/p>\n

On if he looks for core traits in a QB or just tries to get the best player available\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I think the best player available every cycle does have\u00a0core qualities or core characteristics.\u00a0You\u2019re going to be a quarterback, you\u2019ve got to be a leader.\u00a0It\u2019s 80, 90 percent between the years, and\u00a0I think people get enamored with just physical traits.\u00a0How big is he?\u00a0How tall is he?\u00a0What does he run?\u00a0How far does he throw the ball?\u00a0How fast does he run?\u00a0A lot of those things, they matter, but they don\u2019t matter as much as,\u00a0what does he do when there\u2019s a guy free running at him?\u00a0What does he do when the shot clock\u2019s got three seconds left and\u00a0he\u2019s got to make a decision on which way to slide the protection?\u00a0I mean, there is so much that goes into playing that position\u00a0that is not talked about.\u00a0A\u00a0lot of them aren\u2019t really qualities we can measure without having them in\u00a0our program.\u00a0So we don\u2019t have a cookie cutter,\u00a0like this is what we\u2019re going after.\u00a0We want to go after people that can lead our team.\u00a0If they have a skill set that\u2019s unique and that we think can make us better,\u00a0then we want to enroll them within our program.\u00a0They\u2019re going to be the face of your organization, so\u00a0you want to go after the right kind of person. They\u2019re probably the sole person that makes the most decisions\u00a0outside of the offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator during a game.\u00a0So you want to get the right guy for the mental makeup.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

On what Gunner has brought to the offense as a first-year starter…<\/p>\n

\u201cToughness. He\u2019s brought wisdom, he\u2019s brought consistency.\u00a0He\u2019s made good decisions with the ball in terms of keeping us out of bad situations.\u00a0I mean, you look at it, he\u2019s avoided quite a bit of sacks.\u00a0He\u2019s avoided catastrophic things like turnovers.\u00a0He\u2019s made plays with his legs, and he\u2019s made plays with his arm.\u00a0So I think he\u2019s improved throughout the season and continues to do that.\u00a0And it\u2019s going to make us very hard to defend when he plays well.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

On KJ Bolden\u2019s biggest area of growth since arriving on campus…<\/p>\n

\u201cProbably leadership.\u00a0I mean, if you say this year, I would say, his growth has been in leadership.\u00a0I\u2019d say his freshman year was probably in adding some bulk and some size.\u00a0He\u2019s done a really good job of that in the offseason.\u00a0He\u2019s fighting to maintain that throughout the season.\u00a0We like for him to play in that 195 range.\u00a0He works really hard at that.\u00a0But his biggest growth this year is in being in a room\u00a0where he has to step to the forefront and be a leader and communicate more.\u00a0Where he relied on other guys to communicate in the past,\u00a0he is the lead communicator on the back end now.\u00a0He\u2019s done a nice job with that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

On what defenses have done to force offenses to include the QB in the run game…<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I just think defenses are harder to run on without the extra element.\u00a0I don\u2019t know that they\u2019ve done, they\u2019ve taken more chances.\u00a0Offenses can become more predictable\u00a0when they\u2019re not using their quarterback\u2019s legs.\u00a0But I don\u2019t know that there\u2019s a team we\u2019ve played this year that hasn\u2019t\u00a0used their quarterback\u2019s legs like everybody does.\u00a0You say, well, that quarterback can\u2019t run, they still use him.\u00a0They still get him out of the pocket and use him to run the ball.\u00a0So that advent has come about because rushing the ball matters.\u00a0I don\u2019t think that advent has come along because defenses have evolved to the point\u00a0they stop people from doing it. It\u2019s just we have to be able to get some\u00a0situational runs, red area, third down, goal line, whatever you call it.\u00a0You need creative ways to run the ball to stay ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the latest on Lawson Luckie\/Drew Bobo injuries…<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, Drew had a pretty bad laceration on his finger.\u00a0He\u2019s patched up and ready to go with practice today.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cLawson is doing well. I think he\u2019s going make a good quick turn, but we\u2019ll see.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

On how the defensive line played in its first game without Jordan Hall…<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, they did a good job.\u00a0I think they played kind of inspired about him not being there and\u00a0wanting to play well, because he wasn\u2019t there.\u00a0It\u2019s tough on Jordan, and he\u2019s a leader in that room.\u00a0Guys missed him, and we had to increase the snaps to some other guys.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

On if last year\u2019s wins over Texas affect this week at all in terms of tendencies or confidence…<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, this team didn\u2019t beat Texas.\u00a0Texas hasn\u2019t played this team of ours.\u00a0So two completely different teams, in my opinion.\u00a0So it has zero effect on them.\u201d<\/p>\n

On pressuring\u00a0Arch Manning…<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, it\u2019s a challenge every play. There\u2019s six gaps, sometimes seven gaps up there. You gotta fill, you can\u2019t fill them all. So you gotta rush intelligently and violently, and those two don\u2019t always mix. So it\u2019s hard to do that and contain the quarterback. We\u2019ve had some opportunities to get sacks that we\u2019ve capitalized on. We had a couple chances on normal down stuff the last week with Mississippi State\u2019s style of play. But it\u2019ll be key this week for sure, because Arch is really good. They\u2019re really good at protection. They know what they\u2019re doing. They\u2019ve got different protections, and it\u2019s a challenge every week for our defense to try to affect the quarterback.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the biggest improvement in the team recently…\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know if I can specify one area. I think I\u2019ve been really proud of the consistency in practice. So I don\u2019t know that that\u2019s an improvement. I think that is a staple of this team. They have committed to practicing the right way and improving in a time when some teams are going the other way.\u201d<\/p>\n

On freshmen getting more snaps…<\/p>\n

\u201cI think some of it\u2019s opportunity. Injuries in some of those cases have brought that about. Confidence, cumulative reps we\u2019re big on here. Meaning the cumulative reps that each one of those guys have taken has grown. I mentioned CJ Wiley in that with Landon and Elyiss, Zayden and there\u2019s other guys. Some people\u2019s progression is just different than others. But as they grow and get better, and they get put in these tough situations in practice, they grow confidence. And honestly, we can\u2019t make it through the year without a number of guys. And those guys are more ready to play now than they were earlier in the year.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

On if it was maybe Georgia\u2019s best blocking game against Miss State…\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, we got hat on the hat, but I mean, we try to do that every game. So I don\u2019t know if this game was more outstanding in terms of blocking. There were more explosive plays, so it probably brought to light a lot of those. But some of that comes around as missed tackles. We might be blocking the same guys in the same game, but one guy makes a tackle, it\u2019s not an explosive. One guy breaks a tackle, it is an explosive. So I\u2019m definitely pleased with the effort they played with.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Quintavius Johnson…<\/p>\n

\u201cMuch better leader. He was forced into a role last year that he didn\u2019t play a lot, but he played. And with the guys we\u2019ve had leave at that position or go to the NFL, he\u2019s grown up a lot and he grew up quickly and really proud of the way he owns his responsibility to the team and his leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0On what the players from the state of Texas have brought to the team…\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, each one\u2019s different. Dillon\u2019s been here a long time, qw know what he\u2019s brought. He\u2019s brought an ability to play multiple positions, toughness, special teams. We\u2019re still cracking the surface of those other two guys, but they\u2019re tremendous leaders. Dillon\u2019s a captain this week, he\u2019s a joy to be around. They all work really hard, I think they come from great programs. I think Texas high school programs are similar to Georgia and they have great support structures, community involvement. High school football still matters in that state and I think that made those guys better football players.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Oscar Delp and Elyiss Williams…\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think both those guys are playing well. I think (Todd) Hartley and (John) Lilly, those guys have done a great job with the development of Elyiss, but also with Oscar. I mean, he was not a completed player last year and he came back with a purpose of getting better. And I think he just loves Georgia and loves the team. He\u2019s so fired up every game in whatever role we ask him to do. I mean, he\u2019s just as excited about his downfield block for a touchdown as he is his catch for a touchdown. The guy\u2019s never complained one time since being here about touches in the ball and making that a priority. He does whatever the team asks him to do. He\u2019s very selfless, all those guys in that room are. And I think he should take some ownership in Elyiss\u2019 growth, because he and Lawson both show him how to work, how to do things, what the standard is at Georgia. And they compete with each other to make each other better.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the offensive line…<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, we\u2019ve gotten more continuity, but I mean, that\u2019s by way of getting guys back from injuries. I don\u2019t think we\u2019ve played our best game yet. Still think we\u2019ve got a level of conditioning we can improve on, in terms of playing hard and running down the field and covering down. I\u2019d like to see more guys in that front group do that. Some of them do, and some of them can improve on it. But I like the depth piece we have. And if we stay healthy, we\u2019ve got ability to play up to seven or eight guys. It\u2019s just you don\u2019t control the health part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the DNA traits of a Steve Sarkisian offense…<\/p>\n

\u201cExplosive, attacking, window dressing. They\u2019ve got a lot of shift motions. They employ tempo, and they\u2019ll go fast on you. And they do a really good job of mixing things up and creating a lot to work on defensively.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ATHENS \u2014 Kirby Smart and this Georgia team have played in plenty of big games this season. It…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":43971,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[25887,27,29,28],"class_list":["post-43970","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-georgia-football","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43970","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43970"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43970\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43970"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43970"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}