Bulldog safety says expectations come with the territory
When you’re the defending national champions, expectations are naturally going to be extremely high.
Although some may call that a burden, senior safety Christopher Smith said Monday that’s a fact he’s come to embrace.
So, when folks outside the walls of the Georgia football facility grumble on social media when certain aspects of the team aren't performing like they believe they should, Smith harbors no ill will.
“I would say it’s fair. The reason I say it’s fair is because we have those same expectations for ourselves. So, it’s no different than when other people hold us to that standard,” Smith said. “The way the world is today, social media age and all that, you see things, but I don’t pay much attention to it.”
The way Smith sees it, he prefers fans to care than those who would not. Still, he knows sometimes they don’t always see the full picture.
For example, when Georgia opened the season against Oregon by scoring the first seven times the offense touched the ball, no doubt many thought this was going to be the norm.
Although the Bulldogs have topped 500 yards of offense in four of their first six contests, it’s the view of some that the offense is not doing as good a job as it should.
Conversely, on defense, when the Bulldogs surrender more points than people think they should, other questions arise.
Head coach Kirby Smart was asked about those expectations and the impact some of the Bulldogs’ earlier games may have had.
“Well, the factors truly are limitless. When you factor in millions of things that come to impact a game, whether it's what they're doing, what we're doing, headspace, the location, time of day, the temperature. I mean, you could factor a million things into that,” Smart said. “At the end of the day, you want to execute at a high level. And sometimes the person on the line across from you does a good job at the point of attack and stops that. And you got to find other ways to attack them where you can win. And in some cases, it has nothing to do with the opponent and has everything to do with us in just executing better.
“But that's nothing to do with our offense or how we started with Oregon or how we did on defense. It's just, to be honest with you, having 11 guys on the same page, executing better, and more consistently. And I think if we get that across the board, you'll always have good results.”
Smith agreed.
“Again, it’s no different than what we hold ourselves to'” Smith said. "We’re going to go out and try to put the best product out on the field that we can every week, but these other teams are good as well. I don’t want anybody to forget that, either.”
Injury update
Smart did not have a lot of information regarding some of his walking wounded Monday.
That includes defensive tackle Jalen Carter, who missed the Auburn game with a knee (MCL sprain).
“Yeah, I don't know. I have to wait and see. I haven't seen them yet,” Smart said. “You know, Jalen, obviously, we'll find out. He's—every day he's getting better, he's rehabbing. I'll see more today.”
Linebacker Smael Mondon, who dressed out but did not play against Auburn, is also a question mark.
"Smael was close to being able to go in the game. Didn't practice last week,” Smart said. "Hopeful to get him back this week.”
Mondon was seen entering the team’s indoor athletic facility Monday wearing a protective boot on his left foot but appeared to be walking fine.
Fellow linebacker Trezman Marshall (knee) also did not play against Auburn. His status for Saturday’s game against Vanderbilt is unclear. If either is unable to play, look for Xavian Sorey to receive more reps, as he did last week.
Smart also hopes Kendall Milton (groin) and wide receiver AD Mitchell (ankle/thumb) will be ready to go.
Question causes Smart to roll his eyes
There was a play in last week’s win over Auburn in which Stetson Bennett attempted to get the football to Brock Bowers with three defenders nearby. The pass was incomplete. But when asked Monday why Bennett would throw into “triple coverage,” Smart shook his head.
“Well, I'm going to be honest with you. I love you media guys, but if you think somebody's triple-covering somebody, please send me video of that so I can see that,” Smart said. “Because that means we've got somebody else wide open. Okay? Now, he may have thrown it in the vicinity of somebody and they broke on it, but there's no football player known to man that's going to draw triple coverage. Okay?"
The target was one of six on the day for Bowers, who caught just two passes for 36 yards.
“I don't think we can force the ball to Brock. We have to have touches for Brock. And if you go back and chart our games, when he touches the ball, usually good things happen,” Smart said. “But Brock also does a really good job when he doesn't get the ball—go look at Kenny McIntosh's run. Go look at the frog play where we ran Darnell and Brock on the perimeter for Kenny to set up a score. There's a lot of weapons that Brock does. Because Brock and Darnell are both really good point-of-attack blockers, it makes him really good in the play action, as well.”
Branson Robinson SEC Freshman of the Week
Bulldog first-year running back Branson Robinson has been named the Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week following his performance versus Auburn, according to an announcement Monday.
“He was able to do it because of a really good game plan in the run game and our offensive line moving their defensive line. But he was given the opportunity to do it, and he seized that opportunity. He created that opportunity for himself through his work habits, how hard he's worked since arriving,” Smart said. “I think he continues to grow, have attention to detail in terms of pickups on checks and protection, and protecting the ball and making good run reads. And he's done a lot of those things. And we certainly felt strongly enough about him in the job he's done in practice to get him some in-game carries.”
Robinson had career highs of 12 carries for 98 yards, including a career long 30-yard run, and scored his first touchdown during the rout of the Tigers. Thanks in part to Robinson’s day, the Bulldogs tallied 292 yards on the ground and 208 through the air to average 7.0 yards per play.
More from Kirby Smart
…On De’Nylon Morrissette and other young receivers: “Doing well. De'Nylon has gotten better each week. He was thrown into a little more action a couple of weeks ago. You know, he went a long time in camp without practicing,” Smart said. “So, he's still maybe 15/20 practices behind the other guys. But I'll tell you what, when we've asked him to show toughness and make some plays, he's done it. Dillon Bell continues to do that. C.J. Smith has gotten better with every practice. I hope I'm not leaving anybody out. But I feel like those guys were betting better.”
… Smart said he’s been a fan of second-year Vandy coach Clark Lea and has picked up aspects of his defense to apply to his own: “Really, more studying scheme. They did a tremendous job at Notre Dame,” Smart said. “If you remember, we played Notre Dame those years and his defenses had elite tackling, really physical, disguised things really well. And he was the architect of that. Those are things we copied in the off-seasons.”
…Smart said he was pleased with linebacker Rian Davis who made his first career start due to injuries last Saturday: “I thought Rian stepped up. I mean, his maturity showed in terms of having composure and play. We had to play Sorey more than maybe he's played in the past in first and second downs. And we have to continue to work on that position,” Smart said. “Because it's not a position that we have tremendous depth at. And we've got to look and always find ways to get our best guys on the field. I was proud of Rian, though, because he's not a guy who's played a lot of snaps. He's had a lot of injuries. He's been dinged up even in recent weeks, but he went out and pushed through and played well for his team.”
