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Kirby Smart’s SEC Championship Sunday Presser

Q. Kirby, just wanted to see if you had any further
update on Drew?
KIRBY SMART: No, no more update. We’re still looking
into things with him.

Q. A couple days removed from Friday, how did you
evaluate how Gunner played in that game against
Georgia Tech?
KIRBY SMART: He did some good things, made some
good decisions. A couple times he had some pressure in
his face where we probably missed some guys that were
open. He’s got to navigate the pocket a little better or just
get rid of it, try to take a sack. I thought he forced the one
ball for the interception. That’s not like him.
He probably played better than I actually thought after the
game. The ability of the offensive line, the run game, really
helped set the tone for the first half. Second half wasn’t as
good. They did some different things to hurt us.

Q. I know the first Alabama game was a long time ago.
If I were to ask you maybe some of the biggest
changes in your Georgia football team since you last
met Alabama, where would you start?
KIRBY SMART: Man, I don’t know. Seems like ages ago.
Well, we improved in some areas. We’ve gone full circle in
other areas. We’ve been dealing with different injuries now
than we probably were then.
But the growth of Gunner would be one thing. He’s played
in more games. He’s played in a lot of tough
environments.
Defensively we’ve got guys a little more experienced.
That’s probably the biggest difference probably is that the
guys that were young when we played them last time,
they’re a little more grown up now. They played more
games. Their guys would be the same way.
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As the year goes on, you get more comfortable with who
you are. You tweak some things. We’ve moved some
things around and tried to make things better.

Q. We talked about the calendar with early signing
day. Of course the portal. Could there be a more
challenging time to be changing head coaches than
right now when you look at all you have on your plate?
How demanding would that be?
KIRBY SMART: I mean, if you’re not playing a game, it’s
not that demanding. I think it’s playing the game,
everything we’ve got going on. You put this game and you
put the Playoffs along with any conference championship,
along with the signing class and the portal, that’s really
hard.
When you talk about someone coming in taking over a
program, if all they’re doing is managing the roster, they’re
probably ahead of the rest of us that are playing. You only
have so many candles in the fire that you can burn. You
can’t do everything at once.
You know you have to be really careful and prioritize your
time right now because there’s a lot going on right now,
including an SEC Championship.
I guess you’re asking about schools that are hiring people.
That wouldn’t be this conversation because the schools
that are playing in conference championships aren’t doing
that.

Q. What did you make of how Malachi Toliver played
in the second half of your game on Friday?
KIRBY SMART: Yeah, like I said the other day, he did
some good things. He’s got to continue to work and
improve on some others. Really glad he got to go in the
Charlotte game, played as much as he did, got the
experience, continue to grow and get better.

Q. What have you seen out ever Cortez Smith this
season? Is he able to help you this week?
KIRBY SMART: Yeah, he’s working. He worked last
week. He’ll continue to progress and get better. He’s been
banged up. He’s been able to practice.

Q. You always get asked about your feelings about
Alabama due to your history there. You were asked
Friday about your seniors’ record against their top
rivals. You mentioned that record didn’t include
everybody. I had to think you were thinking about
Alabama. What do you think this game means for your
guys, especially the seniors?

KIRBY SMART: It’s a chance to win an SEC
Championship. That’s a very rare thing. The history of
Georgia, I don’t know what that total number is, 14, 15? I
think it’s 15 or something. These opportunities are hard to
come by.
The SEC we’re talking about now was not the SEC we
were talking about for the last, I don’t know, almost a
hundred years. It’s a challenge to win that trophy. It’s a
mark of toughness, of battle scars. The team that wins it
has been through a gauntlet and it has been tough. I think
it’s a great chance to win a championship.

Q. You had a lot of good things to say last week about
Haynes King, the toughness, dual-threat skills. Does
Ty Simpson feel like the same kind of challenge again?
KIRBY SMART: Oh, yeah. He’s a very talented passer.
Very intelligent. Great mobility. Athlete in the pocket. He
made some huge plays in the last couple games with his
legs. They’ve been in some really tight games like we
have. Fourth quarter games he’s made a lot of big-time
plays with his leg. A little different than Haynes King, but
similar.

Q. Anybody else behind Cortez and Malachi you could
give a look to at that position or just not enough time
to do that?
KIRBY SMART: We’ve had other guys snap during the
year. During training camp, we always do multiple guys
playing. We’ve had other guys repping there, Glover,
Malachi. Micah has been in there and done some things.
So has Glover.
We feel good about the guys that we have there that have
played the most. It’s not a position you want to be
changing out a lot.

Q. Whoever winds up playing is going to have to deal
with Tim Keenan of Alabama. The challenge of that?
KIRBY SMART: Yeah, he’s really strong, stout, physical
player. Does a great job. Always has. He’s a force to be
reckoned with. Really good football player.
I mean, regardless of who’s there, Drew, whether it’s him,
Cortez, Malachi, whoever it is, we’ve got to block the
people in front of us.
A lot of times on the offensive line, it’s not a single block all
the time. So there’s guys that can help you there.

Q. Curious if any chance that Kyron Jones or Talyn
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Taylor will be available for you guys this week?
KIRBY SMART: Not sure yet. Still working through that.
We haven’t practiced, done anything since Friday.

Q. Through your initial film study, what are the biggest
differences between this Alabama team and the one
you saw a couple months ago?
KIRBY SMART: That’s a hard question (smiling). I mean, I
haven’t had enough time to do film study. We’ve been
working on them today, working on ourselves. That’s one
of those that I think I’d be better suited to answer that
question when I get to watch more tape.

Q. You mentioned the gauntlet both these teams have
gone through already. Do you think both teams have
done enough to earn a Playoff spot regardless of the
SEC title game?
KIRBY SMART: Yeah, I certainly feel that way. It’s not
something I like to comment on and judge. The eyes of the
beholder are people that have seen people across the
country. I don’t get into speculation, hypotheticals. I don’t
get to truly sit back and view that.
I don’t know how someone that does view it can measure it
when… It’s hard to be objective on that and see the whole
thing, the whole picture.
I certainly know the level of talent of this conference, the
schedules that both these two teams played.

Q. Something you mentioned a couple weeks ago
about in the moving forward that the lack of
experience, teams are not going to be as old as they
have been on your roster. How have you dealt with
that? This year in particular, how much have you seen
your team grow throughout this year?
KIRBY SMART: Yeah, you just have to be ready to play
more young guys. You have to have a little more patience
for anxiety mistakes. I mean, young guys don’t always play
with great conviction and without mistakes. There may be
talent there. They have to get through those. The best
way to get through them is to play through them.
I think the teams and staffs that do the best job, if they’re a
youth program, if they’re going through high school ranks,
they’ve got to do a good job getting those guys ready to
play quicker. The team that does that, avoids injury, may
have a competitive advantage to get those guys out there
and get them experience earlier.

Q. Did you get a chance to watch the Iron Bowl at all
last night?
KIRBY SMART: Yes.

Q. A thought or two on what you saw there in Auburn.
KIRBY SMART: Good Iron Bowl. I mean, they’ve been
that way. Extremely physical, extremely well-coached.
Hard-fought rivalry game, which it’s been that way for a
long time.

Q. Obviously Nate started out really well the other
night. Was there any reason that he didn’t get the ball
as much in the second half? What makes him such a
good guy to set the tone early in ball games?
KIRBY SMART: No, other than there was no reason. I
thought he did a good job both halves. I thought he ran
really hard, really physical. A few times that the other guys’
numbers were called. It was just rotation or third down.
He’s done a good job. Sometimes you get to be the
beneficiary of the good blocking, as well. Sometimes the
other guys don’t get the beneficiary of the good blocking.
That’s just the way it goes. Sometimes the plays fit. I think
everybody makes it about the runner and not about the
play call and how it was blocked. But certainly us being
explosive or efficient in the run game is important to our
offense.

Q. The Texas A&M and Texas game. What was the
reaction from the players, from you guys, an important
opportunity for you guys?
KIRBY SMART: Yeah, not a lot. I mean, I watch a lot of
football games. I was tuned into a lot of high school games
that night across our state when we got back to Athens.
Obviously saw the score, knew we would be in the game,
but didn’t know who we would play.
Not a real huge reaction either way. Just felt like we would
be playing in this game because one of those two things
would probably happen, and it did.

Q. You’ve made your feelings for the game clear. I
want to ask you about the historical note. This is your
fifth straight SEC Championship game appearance.
Only Steve Spurrier accomplished that at Florida.
Coach Saban didn’t manage that. In terms of coaching
achievements, things that you’ve done, what does that
say to make five in a row and match Spurrier on this
mark?
KIRBY SMART: Yeah, it’s a credit to having a really good
administration, a really supportive athletic department and
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some incredible players. We’re very demanding of the
players in our program. A lot of those guys that played in
those five games are playing in the National Football
League. They earned that right. They bought into what we
preached and what we sold. It was important to them to
get to that game. They achieved it through their hard work.
We’ve had really good coaching staffs here. I think the
best thing you could say about our program over those
years, the time we’ve been here, is consistency. We are
going to be physical, we’re going to be tough. We’re a
tough out. We play consistently. That’s important. If you
do that, then you give yourself a chance if you’ve got good
players. And we’ve got good players.

Q. Personally, mean anything extra to you?
KIRBY SMART: As far as what? Making five in a row?
Q. Yes.

KIRBY SMART: No. I mean, if we didn’t make it in some
of those years, I mean, we still had successful seasons
and played well. It’s the goal that we want to achieve.
I don’t look back on it personally and reflect about any of
that because it’s obviously in the moment we got to
prepare for this game.

Q. Daniel Harris announced he’s going to be entering
the transfer portal today. Is it fair to assume he won’t
be with you for the rest of the season?
KIRBY SMART: You know as much as I know about that.
I’m worried about the guys that are here with us, and they
are going to be with us through Sunday right now.

Q. Specifically on the defense, what are the biggest
strides you think that unit has made compared to when
you first played Alabama?
KIRBY SMART: I don’t know. We’re playing a little more
together in terms of execution. We got more experienced
players.
Biggest thing to me is we got young guys who have had to
grow up while playing together. They’re playing with a little
more confidence. We call it the cumulative effect. We do
a lot defensively actually throughout the year. The
cumulative reps of hard things get easier. There’s enough
overlap between those offenses and carryover of our
defenses that allows repetitions to mount up and help us.
Humility is a week away.

WBB: Georgia Starts 9-0 for the First Time Since 2014

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Junior guard Enjulina Gonzalez scored a season-high 15 points – one of five players in double figures – to lead the Georgia Lady Bulldog basketball team to an 80-54 win against the Butler Bulldogs Saturday evening in the final game of the Fort Myers Tip-Off. 

• With the win, Georgia improves to 9-0 for the first time since 2014 and for just the 10th occasion in program history. 
• Georgia came out strong, using a 15-0 run to build a 24-14 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Lady Bulldogs nailed 10-of-15 shots from the field (67 percent) and were led by 11 points and a 5-for-5 shooting effort from Gonzalez in the first frame. 
• The Lady Bulldogs maintained the lead the rest of the way and outscored the Butler Bulldogs 24-8 in the fourth quarter.
• Georgia committed a season-low eight turnovers and forced 16 Butler miscues. 
• Five players scored in double figures, marking the sixth time in nine games that four or more Georgia players have reached double digits. 

Individual Notes

• Gonzalez posted a season-high effort of 15 points and a career-high seven assists. She hit 7-of-8 from the field
• Sophomore guard Dani Carnegie recorded her ninth consecutive game in double digits, with 11 points and a trio of 3-pointers. 
• Freshman guard Zhen Craft posted her third double-figure scoring game of the season with 10 points. 
• Sophomore forward Mia Woolfolk added 14 points and six boards, while sophomore guard Trinity Turner scored 11. 
• Freshman guard Aubrey Beckham saw her first action of the season. 

What’s Next

• The Georgia Lady Bulldogs travel to Tallahassee, Fla. on Wednesday, December 3 to take on Florida State in the ACC/SEC Challenge at 5 p.m. live on ESPNU. 

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