Bulldogs turn the page
Although the pain from Saturday night’s loss to Alabama still lingers for many in Georgia’s fan base, the Bulldogs themselves have only one choice.
Move on.
With Auburn up Saturday afternoon (3:45 p.m., ABC), they have to.
"We’ve got a lot of older guys on the team, like Carson, like me, Tate (Ratledge) and a few other guys who have been here from like 2021 and on. I feel confident about that. I don’t think they’re going to let it linger,” linebacker Smael Mondon said. “We’ve got confidence. We know what we can do as a team. It’s a new week. We’ve just got to learn from the mistakes at Alabama and move on.”
Mondon’s words were echoed by left tackle Earnest Greene III.
Like his Bulldog teammate, he wants to make sure the mistakes that occurred against Alabama do not happen anymore moving forward.
“We’ve just got to learn from it. Just looking back and seeing what we can and can’t do,” he said. “It was a road test, a tough environment. It will definitely be a good learning experience. I’m looking forward to turning the page.”
Head coach Kirby Smart spoke to the media on Monday before the team’s first practice but said he hasn’t noticed any lingering effects from Saturday night’s loss.
From what he can tell, the focus is where it needs to be – on Auburn.
“I visited with a lot of guys, and they've been in good spirits. They're excited for an opportunity to go play,” Smart said. “They know what's at stake with Auburn. It's a huge, historic rivalry. This game has always been that way.”
Still, Smart knows several aspects of his team’s play against Alabama will need to be cleaned up against a Tiger team that’s 2-3 and 0-2 in conference play.
Georgia’s series of slow starts have been well-documented.
Though he continues to espouse confidence in his offense, Smart also knows his offense needs to do a better job after scoring a combined 16 points in the first half against Clemson, Kentucky, and Alabama.
Another area Smart wants to see improve is his defense’s ability to contain outside runs.
Against Alabama, the Bulldogs struggled, although Smart said there were several reason the mistakes occurred.
“Some of that is scheme, some of that's player. It's shared. Improvement of what we're calling based on where they're attacking and how we're playing it technique-wise is a combination of things you can improve on those,” Smart said. “ The common fan likes to talk about contain but contain is built on the call and a lot of things outside of just keep contain. It's not that simple. There are defenses where you're built to go underneath, defenses where you're built to keep it with the secondary. Sometimes it's a corner, sometimes it's a linebacker, sometimes it's a defensive end. It's a shared responsibility that we all have to get better at.”
Smart isn’t taking old rival Hugh Freeze for granted, either.
Though the Tigers are struggling, Smart said there’s plenty about Auburn that concerns him.
“They've got good players. They've got good wideouts. Quarterback’s playing better and better, and they've gone back and forth between them. But the focus for us is on them because I know what they can do. I know what kind of coach Hugh Freeze is,” Smart said. “I know what kind of offense they've got. I know their defensive coordinator. They're going to have a good team and be ready to play.”
Per Mondon, that’s the message the players have heard loud and clear.
“Again, we just need to learn from the mistakes we made Saturday, improving on it in practice and just moving on,” Mondon said. “We’ve gone on to Auburn.”
