Georgia doesn’t have to win every game, but Kirby Smart believes the Bulldogs could still succeed.
Even after leading Clemson 34-3 in the Aflac Kickoff Game, Kirby Smart is pragmatic about the new college football landscape.
Following No. 1 Georgia’s 34-3 victory over No. 14 Clemson at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta for the Aflac Kickoff Game, Kirby Smart was open about the new era of college football that his
Bulldogs have just arrived and they want to rule.
In his postgame press conference, Smart stated, “You no longer have to win every game, but you do have to figure out when you’re going to be playing your best. You want to be playing at your best toward the end of the year, and getting quality wins is one of the best barometers.”
Since taking over in 2016, Smart has enjoyed putting his talented Georgia squad to the test in preseason exhibition games. This was just another game, and Smart’s team won handily. This one was against an established non-conference opponent.
The Dawgs scored 447 yards thanks to 278 passing yards and two touchdowns from quarterback Carson Beck, while Georgia limited Clemson to only 188 total yards. Cade Klubnik, Beck’s opponent, completed 18/29 for 142 yards and one interception.
The coaching staff at Georgia is aware that despite their tough SEC schedule, they can still qualify for the enlarged 12-team CFP with one, two, or even three losses. However, it didn’t seem like Smart conveyed this message to his players on Saturday.
The defense led by Glenn Schumann and Smart appeared outstanding right from the outset, but without Trevor Etienne or Roderick Robinson II in the backfield, Beck and offensive coordinator Mike Bobo had a rough start. Still, Smart was naturally buoyed by the Bulldogs’ seeming invincibility in the second half of their game.
Smart compared this game to Georgia’s 10-3 victory over Clemson in Week 1 of 2021. “I think Mike and his staff did a good job at halftime looking at pictures, seeing what was there, capitalizing on some explosive plays,” Smart said.
“We had good perimeter blocking, and that second-half drive kind of opened things up.” It probably helped them relax. We think we’re a tremendously well-conditioned squad, and that helped us to be more explosive. I also thought that juice from Nate’s quickness added some energy and that Arien and Dillon made some plays on the perimeter.
Nate Frazier, a true freshman running back who carried Georgia in the second half, will be difficult to contain when Etienne returns from his one-game ban the following week.
The amount of time it took Smart’s staff to get things going on the ground caught him off guard.
We didn’t think we could operate it inside as well as we could have. Some of their defensive linemen are large. On the edges, they are large. They are large in the center. They will, on the defensive, present issues to people. They have my utmost regard.
ACC opponents will have difficulties from Clemson, but Dabo Swinney’s team had no issues against Georgia. In Week No. 1, the Bulldogs performed in line with their No. 1 rating.
