Georgia defense that has been one of the best in the country so far,<\/a> albeit against limited competition. <\/p>\nStill, Kirby Smart knows it\u2019s best to say little about the Sooners and their offense at this point in time. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not my job to evaluate and criticize and talk about,\u201d Smart said. \u201cI have to get our guys ready to play. I think that\u2019s a hard job each week in our conference because so many kids and teams live through perception of what\u2019s said.\u201d <\/p>\n
Smart spoke in much greater detail about his own team ahead of Saturday\u2019s SEC contest. <\/p>\n
Below are Smart\u2019s full remarks from his Monday news conference. Georgia\u2019s game against Oklahoma is set for a 3:30 p.m. start, with ESPN broadcasting the game. <\/p>\n
Kirby Smart explains why this is a very different Oklahoma team from 2018 Rose Bowl<\/p>\n
Opening statement…<\/p>\n
\u201cExcited to continue, the continuation of SEC play this week at home. I know our crowd will be fired up and ready for a great matchup. A lot of respect for Coach Venables and the job he\u2019s done everywhere he\u2019s been. I have known him for a long time and have the utmost respect for him as a coach and a man and a person. We go way back. He\u2019s probably been one of the premier defensive coaches in all of college football for a long time. So they have a really good football team, and it\u2019s a great matchup. It seems like the conference is going to be full of them all year in terms of that. We\u2019ll be getting ready to play those guys today.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Brent Venables\u2019 defensive traits…<\/p>\n
\u201cVery fundamentally sound, aggressive, attacking. They lead the country, or tops in the country every year in tackles for a loss and sacks. I don\u2019t think people give their coaches and their kids enough credit for how they play. They get off blocks. They strike you. They play with unbelievable pad level, and really an intensity that\u2019s unmatched in terms of the way they play. You see it on tape. He\u2019s always been that way. He did it at Clemson, and he\u2019s just a great defensive coach.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Nate Frazier\u2019s health…<\/p>\n
\u201cNate, I think is going to be fine. He\u2019s day-to-day. We expect him to be able to play.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Oklahoma wide receiver Isaiah Sategna…<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s really explosive. That usually comes from speed. It comes from confidence. He can accelerate from point A to point B really fast. He\u2019s a great returner. He\u2019s got great hands. They find schemes, find ways to get him touches. He has to touch the ball to be explosive, and they\u2019ve done a good job with that. You look at the history at what he\u2019s been able to do in the return game and being able to touch the ball. He is a very good playmaker.\u201d<\/p>\n
On challenges from John Mateer…<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously his athleticism pops out at you. He\u2019s hard to tackle. He breaks a lot of tackles. He\u2019s tough. You talk about the run game. He runs inside. He runs outside. He runs to pass. He scrambles to throw. He\u2019s made explosives with his legs. I think back to last year, his growth because we didn\u2019t play them. You saw his highlights and you saw the things he\u2019s done. He\u2019s become even more that way this year in terms of understanding our conference, when to run, when not to. He\u2019s done a good job of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
On importance of first game against Oklahoma in Rose Bowl…<\/p>\n
\u201cIt got us to the national championship.\u201d<\/p>\n
On what he remembered from the Rose Bowl and what looks different about this team from 2017…<\/p>\n
\u201cMan, that\u2019s a long time ago. I really was not thinking of that game coming in here today because the staff\u2019s were almost entirely different, even ours for the most part has changed. I think we\u2019ve got a couple guys leftover from that staff. I know they probably don\u2019t have any. If they do, I don\u2019t know who they were in terms of overlap. It was an iconic game because of what it meant and what it led to and where it was played. Some great players in the game. You look back at Baker, who\u2019s a good friend of mine now, and then Nick and Sony being a part of it. So it was a great game.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Gentry Williams coming from Oklahoma…<\/p>\n
\u201cGentry\u2019s a great kid, man. He is quiet. He works hard. He\u2019s a good tackler. He competes every day out there for us. He\u2019s made us a better team. Hoping that he can continue to work to carve out a role.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Oklahoma creating havoc…<\/p>\n
\u201cThe way they go about their business, they are violent. They play hard. They play with a purpose. They are very intelligent. They know what they\u2019re doing as well as you know what you\u2019re doing. They do a great job of formationing things and understanding what your tendencies are. They play really hard. When you get good talented players playing with fundamentals, they don\u2019t get blocked. They might get blocked, but they don\u2019t stay blocked. They get off blocks. They\u2019re hard to block.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Tyriq Green, Chase Linton and Isiah Canion health…<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ll all be back soon.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Oklahoma\u2019s physicality being similar to Georgia…<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not a different matchup than we have every week. Every week in the SEC is intense, tough, physical, line of scrimmage. That\u2019s not any disregard to Oklahoma. They\u2019ve got a tremendous team. But we\u2019ve got eight of those in a row, so I\u2019m worried about us. I\u2019m worried about how we prepare. I\u2019m worried about what we can do to make our team better. What allows you to have consistency in performance that\u2019s maybe unmatched? What can we do better than the opponent and get our players in a better position to be successful? Whether it\u2019s what we show them, whether it\u2019s what we teach them, whether it\u2019s how we do things. You\u2019re constantly looking for a better way. When you look across college football, it\u2019s going to be one of those kind of year beacuse there\u2019s a lot of parity out there.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Ekene Ogboko\u2019s early experience…<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s only as valuable as he learns from them. I would argue the practices he\u2019s had 36 times are more valuable than those games, but I know that\u2019s not what the book says. I can promise you he\u2019s working just as hard or harder in practice to grow and advance as he is in those games. I get it. There\u2019s a certainly level of anxiety that comes from playing in a game, and he\u2019s gone in there and played in them.\u201d<\/p>\n
On what you see from David Stone on Oklahoma defense…<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve got much respect for him and all of them. To be honest with you, there\u2019s not a guy on their defense that comes in \u2014 and they rotate guys \u2014 that doesn\u2019t play with great pad level and great effort. When you turn on the tape, they run to the ball like they\u2019re in elite shape. They don\u2019t get tired. They strike. They knock back. They get off blocks, and he\u2019s the leader of that, but they all do.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Justin Williams\u2019 growth…<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, he\u2019s been able to maintain and keep his weight. That\u2019s one thing. That\u2019s helped him. He\u2019s stayed healthy, which has helped him. He\u2019s always been really smart, intelligent. He plays hard, like a leader. Very positive, upbeat attitude, loves practice every day, so I was happy to see him have success, but it doesn\u2019t shock me because of the way he works.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Oklahoma\u2019s offense, turnovers from quarterback and struggles running football…<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not my job to evaluate and criticize and talk about. I have to get our guys ready to play. I think that\u2019s a hard job each week in our conference because so many kids and teams live through perception of what\u2019s said. Whereas coaches, we\u2019re going off what\u2019s on tape. There\u2019s a lot of times those two don\u2019t match. I know the players. We recruited almost every one of them. The quarterback has tremendous athleticism. I know the backs, the receivers, know the coaches. They\u2019ve got a good team, and we\u2019ve gotta prepare to play against those guys.\u201d<\/p>\n
On what makes Brent Venables a great defensive coach…<\/p>\n
\u201cTechnique and fundamentals. They have great scheme. They have awesome scheme. They\u2019ve got an answer for everything you do. But that ain\u2019t what does it for them. They strike people. They get off blocks. They attack the ball. They play downhill. They don\u2019t play passive. They have technique and fundamentals. You can see when people go to block them, they can strike and get off the block. That\u2019s what football is. Defensive football is, are you hard to block? When you turn on the tape, they\u2019ve got a bunch of hard to block guys. When you\u2019re hard to block, you\u2019re good. Then you put some size and talent with it, and then you get what you\u2019ve got in Oklahoma, which, you can ask anybody in our conference. They\u2019re year-in, year-out, one of the best defenses.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Ja\u2019Marley Riddle\u2019s progression and thoughts on the secondary…<\/p>\n
\u201cGetting better. He\u2019s getting better. We\u2019re getting better. Work in progress with each of those guys. A lot of things we can do better and clean up on technique and fundamental-wise. We need to. But I\u2019m proud of where Ja\u2019Marley is. I\u2019m proud of his work ethic. He\u2019s coming off a signficant injury that most people don\u2019t associate him with that injury because he wasn\u2019t here when it happened, but his last game there at ECU, he had a really tough injury, and he\u2019s bouncing back from that.\u201d<\/p>\n
On free-roaming safeties and if that\u2019s changed…<\/p>\n
\u201cSafeties could never roam. They have a job. Their job is either the middle of the field or half of the field or a quarter of the field. But they could never roam and do what they wanted. I think people think that\u2019s a perception. They can\u2019t do what they want. They\u2019ve got a job to do. But certainly the evolution of football has become more spread. With more spread, tighter coverage results in less interceptions \u2014 believe it or not \u2014 because there\u2019s less zone. Zone leads to more interceptions than man does. Teams force you nowadays with running quarterbacks, RPOs, run game, variations of things, pressure, trying to get negatives, to play more man, and it probably results in less interceptions.\u201d<\/p>\n
On similar paths to Venables as DCs turned HC…<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know that because I don\u2019t know his program. I\u2019m not going to sit here and profess that we\u2019re like them or they\u2019re like us. I don\u2019t know that. I know he\u2019s a defensive-minded guy. I know he\u2019s built on physical toughness and the way you play the game. It\u2019s important. But I don\u2019t really know how he runs his program, and would be remiss to comment on that.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Drew Bobo through three games with club on his hand…<\/p>\n
\u201cEffort and toughness is what Drew embodies. He\u2019s a captain. What have I seen from him? Effort and toughness. He plays with elite effort. You won\u2019t find a play that he doesn\u2019t cover down. He\u2019s by the pile. He\u2019s knocking people off the pile. I don\u2019t know what it is, but he has elite stamina to run and play and just keep playing. He can play every snap and not get tired. His toughness, he playing with an injury that\u2019s been significant. I know he\u2019s excited that he\u2019ll be out of the club this week. He\u2019s cleared to get out of that, so I\u2019m just proud of what he\u2019s done, what he\u2019s meant to our program. People don\u2019t realize how many years he spent down there on the scout team, taking reps and just going against older D-linemen and improving. He\u2019s improved himself to be the player he is, but he\u2019s even better as a person and character in terms of carrying the mantra of our team, which is effort and toughness.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Rasean Dinkins\u2019 role at safety…<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a physical tackler. He had a really good hit on kickoff last week. He\u2019s a knock-back tackler. He\u2019s a thumper. He\u2019s got really good ball skills. He plays the ball well in the deep part of the field. He can play multiple positions. He\u2019s hard to block. We talked about it earlier, if you\u2019re hard to block, you can be a really good defensive player. I\u2019m very pleased with his growth, and he\u2019s continuing to improve. He\u2019s a good football player.\u201d<\/p>\n
On next steps for Talyn Taylor…<\/p>\n
\u201cTalyn\u2019s worked great. The next step is continuing doing what he\u2019s doing. He didn\u2019t get many opportunities on Saturday, not by his choice. There was a PI that he\u2019s probably going to catch a touchdown on. He ran a couple great routes on plays that protection broke down. He\u2019s done a great job. He\u2019s improved on his physicality and blocking. That\u2019s always a big asset for him. But he runs good routes. I think he\u2019s gotta continue to get better and improve, but it\u2019s on little things that he continues to grow and get more confidence in.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Elyiss Williams and Ethan Barbour\u2019s roles…<\/p>\n
\u201cI would argue all four of those guys. I mean, Lawson had two huge blocks in the game. Reddell had a huge block on a outside pin-pull play. They\u2019re all doing a good job in that room. Elyiss and Ethan, as well as the other two, continue to be assets and finding ways to incorporate their physicality and how they help the team. They\u2019ve all helped us on special teams with those four guys taking a lot of snaps.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ATHENS \u2014 Oklahoma has scored just 24 points in its last two games, as the Sooners have struggled…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":856326,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[399,6606,398,396,397,99],"class_list":["post-856325","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ncaa-football","tag-football","tag-georgia-football","tag-ncaa","tag-ncaa-football","tag-ncaafootball","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/856325","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=856325"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/856325\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/856326"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=856325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=856325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=856325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}