Monday News and Notes

The question was inevitable, but you might as well have dangled a steak over the tiger cage at the zoo. You knew what the response was going to be.

Such was the case during Monday’s Kirby Smart press conference when Georgia’s head coach was asked his thoughts on being the nation’s new top-ranked team.

“It’s just a number, right?” Smart said. “The goal is to be No. 1 at the end of the season; you always know that.”

Speaking for the players, senior linebacker Adam Anderson said the Bulldogs will not be affected by where they currently stand.

“Honestly, at first, it excited me,” Anderson said. “You don’t want to get overwhelmed, thinking about that one position, or whatever. At the end of the day, you’ve got to remember what got you here now.”

Smart feels confident his team will be able to do exactly that.

“We’re not going to get caught up in that, unless you guys write about it,” Smart said. “That’s not a burden we carry. The burden we carry is how we play.”

Quarterback JT Daniels’ injured lat muscle continues to heal, but Smart was not about to get drawn into any potential scenarios regarding Saturday’s game against 11th-ranked Kentucky (3:30 p.m., CBS).

“You know how I feel about hypotheticals,” Smart said. “We’re trying to get JT back. He's much improved this last week, the end of the week. He had a really productive throwing session, I guess it was Thursday. For the game, he was able to throw more before the game than he was the previous week. We’re going to let him throw some today, although we're going light in practice.”

Daniels has not played since the first quarter of Georgia’s win at Vanderbilt. With Stetson Bennett playing as well, Daniels’ will not be rushed, although Smart wants to have him back as soon as he can.

“We’ll look to see how he is, see where he is, and see what he can do, which is always the case,” Smart said. “But I’m not getting into hypotheticals like that right now. I just want to make sure we’ve got a healthy quarterback and keep our quarterbacks healthy by keeping them upright. That’s the objective.”

Georgia’s defensive front has dominated all comers six games into the season, but Smart said the offensive line his Bulldogs are about to see Saturday will be the best his team has seen all year.

“For sure. They’ve got four draftable prospects, guys that go high in their transfer; their center is a really good player,” Smart said. “They’ve always had a good offensive line. They had a good offensive line last year, and they’ve got three or four back, plus the transfer from LSU.”

The Wildcats’ starting offensive line consists of 6-7, 327-pound left tackle Dare Rosenthal (LSU transfer), with Kenneth Horsey (6-3, 302) at left guard.

Center is Luke Fortner (6-6, 297), with Eli Cox (6-4, 301) at right guard and Darian Kinnard at right tackle (6-5, 338).

The group has given up 10 sacks.

“They’re committed to the run game in what they do, and they’re very physical,” Smart said. “I’ve got a lot of respect for how they play.”

… Smart on the play of Zamir White and James Cook: "He (Zamir) is an extremely physical runner. He is 100 percent for probably the first time where he feels really good. He had an incredible off-season after the interruption of COVID, coming off a knee. You feel like he's hitting his stride where his acceleration, his burst, his pass protection, his breaking of tackles, his yards after contact have been really good. I feel the same way about James. Those two guys are the heart and soul of at least our offense. How they go is sometimes how we go, and there's not always a bunch of big holes. They manufacture runs and keep us on schedule. Their leadership, more than their play, has been a key component to this team."

… Smart on the Auburn win and what the Bulldogs can do better: “There's so many things we can do better. People look at the game and think of it as a blowout. The game wasn't indicative of the score; it was a physical, tough, hard-fought game that if a couple plays in the red zone go different, it's a different ball game. We've got a lot of places we can improve on."

… Smart on Dan Jackson: "Dan practices very well. He's a guy you can count on, because you are going to get from Dan in practice what you are going to get in the game, because he puts everything into every practice. That's what allows him to be successful because Dan is a really tough, hard-nosed player. He understands our defense, and he can play multiple positions. I was really proud of the way he went in and played on Saturday. He plays better than the people in front of him play. It puts a lot more burden on our front seven to play at a high level, to make sure that Dan plays well."

… Smart on if Tykee Smith can also play safety if Christopher Smith is out: "Well, he's a starter that we rep at safety when we go regular and there's no nickel on the field, so he knows some of the safety stuff, but it wouldn't be fair to say coming off injury, 'You'll learn this new position.' (Latavious) Brini is cross-trained and Brini works at safety, so both Brini and (Javon) Bullard give us flexibility, because we think Bullard is a really good football player, and he's growing up day by day. He was playing a good bit, and we're going to be able to work Brini and Bullard both at safety with Tykee (Smith) repping and starting as well. But that doesn't mean that Tykee's going to be the only star, because right now Dan (Jackson) is playing safety. So, we have to cross-train. We got four safeties we feel like can go in the game and play, and we feel like we got two or three stars."

… Redshirt freshman Ladd McConkey was named the SEC Freshman of the Week for the first time Monday. He became the eighth Bulldog to be honored with a weekly award by the league office this year. McConkey posted career highs of five catches for 135 yards and a touchdown to pace the Bulldogs’ offense during their sixth win of the year. His performance included a career-long 60-yard touchdown in the third quarter that put the game out of reach for the Tigers at 24-3.

… Former Bulldog head coach Vince Dooley attended Monday’s press conference and was acknowledged by Smart at the beginning.

… Georgia leads the series with Kentucky 60-12-2.

… Saturday is homecoming for the Bulldogs.