In an expected win against former colleague Chris Hatcher and the Samford Bulldogs, Coach Smart wasn’t remised to express his disappointment in the offense’s lack of execution, saying, “It just wasn’t crisp.”

Just watching the game, it didn’t feel as electric as the offensive performance against Oregon, and the fact of that matter is it wasn’t. There were a couple of deep passes over the middle to tight ends and some runs that went over 10 yards, but the Dawgs were playing on the conservative side of things anyways. The offense was nickel and diming down the field to start the game, which wound up putting the team in a lot of redzone situations, and that’s where the team found the most issues.

In the post-game interview, Kirby Smart said, “In red zone, offense didn’t score the touchdowns they needed to…we’ll have to go back and watch the tape, and we got to get better with that because you can’t win games just kicking field goals.”

Stetson Bennett also spoke on the offense’s inability to play to their standard. He admitted they got off to a slow start and got the hang of things later in the game. Their lack of success in the red zone is worrisome heading into SEC play next week against South Carolina, but Coach Smart added that it’s just a matter of execution and should be an easy fix.

The defense didn’t leave unscathed either. Second-year linebacker Jamon Dumas-Johnson didn’t believe his guys pulled through on the opposite of the ball. Dumas-Johnson, otherwise known as “Pop,” was disappointed in the defense’s ability to create turnovers against Samford. He emphasized the importance of the turnover battle, saying, “I’d say the takeaways. If you get takeaways, it’s hard for a (opposing) team to win.”

A positive takeaway from all of this (other than the fact that Georgia won the game) is that the team on both of sides of the ball is actively combatting complacency. The team knows once you get complacent, you get comfortable, and that’s something they can’t afford with a championship mindset.

Though the Dawgs did well, they could do better, and both the team and Coach Smart know that.