A video showing reserve safety Jake Pope celebrating with Ole Miss fans in the post-game scrum after the Rebels’ 28-10 win in Oxford went viral on Monday.

Bulldog head coach Kirby Smart was anything but pleased.

When asked if he had seen the video, Smart was quick to respond.

“What an idiot. Just stupid. I didn't see it until today, but he's embarrassed about it. He's upset about it. That's obviously a childhood friend of his that he grew up and played with there at Buford and he knows him, hadn't seen him in forever, but just not real smart,” Smart said. “To be honest with you, I don't have time to waste energy on that. My focus is on Tennessee. I'm not worried about that.”

Bulldog linebacker Jalon Walker didn’t have much to say, simply stating “Right, a mistake, but I mean, that’s just from Coach Smart’s answer.”

Pope issued an apology on X Monday morning.

Pope has appeared in just three games for Georgia, the last one two weeks ago against Florida.

Georgia is in a must-win situation if the Bulldogs want to earn a spot in the 12-team College Football Playoff.

However, Smart is not looking at Saturday night’s game at Tennessee quite that way.

“I don't ever take those approaches. I don't think they're the right way to go about things,” Smart said. “I think you're trying to win your conference all the time, and to do that you've got to win your games at home. You've got to play well on the road, which we have and haven't. We've done both, but I like making it about who we play and how we play, and less about just outcomes.”

…Smart on Saturday night’s game: “They've got a tremendous team; Josh [Heupel] has done an unbelievable job with this team. They're playing at a high level, just got through watching a bunch of their special teams. I always say you can tell the character of a team and how good a team is, how hard they play by their special teams. They play really hard, defense, offense,” Smart said. “I think they're top in the conference, maybe top three, top two, in almost every category on offense and defense. Which, as you know, that was what we faced last week, they were pretty high in both. But this team is playing defense at an extremely high level, and they have an extremely explosive offense and extremely physical offense.”

…On his players playing with nagging injuries: “Well, you go with what the medical people give you, you know what I mean? If a guy's healthy enough to practice, he practices. If he's not, then he doesn't. So, I go with the recommendation of the tremendous training staff we have. Those kids want to practice. They want to go out there and do it, and sometimes they can,” Smart said. “Sometimes they can do certain things, and they can't do others. I defer to those guys. And most of the time, especially on your offensive line, it's like the toughest unit you have. So, they're going to give you everything they've got, and they want to go out there and practice and play. But in some cases, they can, in some cases they can't.”

…Smart on Earnest Greene III’s development and injuries he’s dealing with: “No. 1, he plays the hardest position in all of football, which is the left tackle position. I think he's done really well. We've rolled some there, and Monroe (Freeling) spells him sometimes. Earnest has been dealing with an injury, a really tough injury to manage. He has burners. He's gotten some stingers and burners over there on his shoulder,” Smart said. “So even last week he was limited in how many reps he could get in practice. He’s frustrated because right now he's trying to improve and get better, and sometimes you can't do that when you can't practice every single day, and you can't go out there and maybe bang and compete like you want to. But for a guy that's played left tackle for really two years in major college football, and he's been part of an offensive line that has done a great job protecting the quarterback over the course of two years.”

…Smart on any similarities between the offenses of Ole Miss and Tennessee: “Not real similar. Two different offenses,” Smart said.

…Smart on Tennessee’s defensive front: “They're extremely disruptive with four people. They don't have to add in. They do pressure, and they pressure well, but they don't have to,” Smart said. “They get after people with four guys rushing. They two-platoon, play a lot of guys. They've got elite rushers on the edge, which we all know about, but nobody talks about how hard they play internally. I think Coach (Rodney) Garner's done a tremendous job with the physicality they play with across the board on the defensive line is tremendous, and they play really hard.”