What Georgia Bulldog coach Kirby Smart said after the G-Day spring football game
Kirby Smart is head coach of a team coming off a second straight national championship and entering his eighth season running the Georgia football program.
Saturday's G-Day game at Sanford Stadium marked the end of spring practices and an announced crowd of 54,458 was on hand to watch the third and final intrasquad scrimmage.
Here's some of what Smart said afterwards.
Georgia football G-Day 2023: What we saw during the Bulldogs annual scrimmage game
Georgia Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart opening statement after G-Day
"Well first off as always, I like to thank the fans for turning out. Turned out to be a warm day. A lot warmer than our scrimmages. We had one scrimmage where we had rain, and then we had another scrimmage where it was nice and cool. That was warm. We needed that for all the other scrimmages we've had to push through, find out a lot about guys, physical and mental toughness when you have heat, how you respond. A lot of guys had to play more snaps than they're used to, but I was really pleased with the effort. I thought it was the tale of two halves. The first half we kind of lit it up on offense and didn't seem like we could stop anybody defensively. And then, flip that over in the second half, we couldn't score any points. So, obviously we've got to improve in both of those areas, but there's some positive things that came out of it too. Some guys played really well. I thought we did some good things on both sides of the ball. Got to continue to do that to get better. Came out relatively healthy which was big for today. We've got some guys that were injured coming into today, but we didn't really lose anybody today which is big when you play tackle football."
On what Kirby Smart learned about the Georgia football team this spring
"I'm excited. I've always said, we're built to sustain here. That's my motto. Gunner (Stockton) did some really good things. I mean, I'm really pleased with all three quarterbacks. What you saw today was similar to what we've seen all spring. We have three really good quarterbacks that can make the throws and did a really good job."
On Mike Bobo's offense putting the talents of Carson Beck, Brock Vandagriff and Gunner Stockton on display
"Well, you do what each one does well, you know? They all have mobility. There's not one of them that doesn't have mobility, so the first thing you do is you want to move the pocket and be creative. You know, I think they'll all three be benefitted by hopefully a better run game come fall because we'll be healthier at back. We're not completely healthy at running back today, and we had to address that by how we played. But, you know, our offensive line is one of our strong suits with really four guys coming back to play a lot of football, so we need the backs to help the quarterbacks and set up play action with a strong run game."
On how accurate spring is a barometer for the season ahead
"I don't know. I mean, I haven't thought we've had a bad spring, so maybe I'm just an optimist now. I don't know. We've had good springs, and our kids practice hard. Our coaches work hard. People in the organization work hard, and I'm very thankful that they buy in and believe in what we're doing. So I'm happy with the spring we had."
On getting walk-on RB Cash Jones to Georgia
Dell McGee did that, did a great job. Dell recruited him, talked to him, met him, felt like he was a good player. He can run, he was fast. He wanted to come to Georgia, which is unique. He didn’t shy away from competition. He’s been in that room with some really good backs. Cash has gotten better and better and better. The guy catches the ball out of the backfield really well.”
(Jones had 4 catches for 34 yards and 4 catches for 24 to lead the Red team.)
More from G-Day: How Georgia football honored Devin Willock, Chandler LeCroy during G-Day spring game
On honoring Devin Willock and Chandler LeCroy on the first play and what Kirby Smart was thinking then
“Just thinking about both of them and wishing they were here with us. The players wanted to do something to remember those two, and we felt that was a good to honor them. It was a good way to honor them, love them and that’s what we did.”
On what he thought of Uga XI taking over for Uga X
“Not much. I know the name, Boom, I don’t know where that came from. I don’t know how long X was there. I should. It’s an honor to be part of and maybe outlast one of them. Hopefully, I can be here as long as Boom. I know I need water like they do. It’s hot out there.”
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Here's what Georgia Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart said on the QBs & more
