In response to a question during last week’s SEC Teleconference, head coach Kirby Smart used the phrase “play our brand of football” when asked what he learned from his team’s 41-24 loss to Alabama.
During Monday’s Zoom press conference to preview Saturday’s game at Kentucky (Noon, SEC Network), Smart was asked to clarify exactly what he meant and what he considers Georgia’s brand of football to be.
“It's what the defense gives you. If they're playing man-to-man, then we have to be able to take shots and make plays,” Smart said. “If they’re playing off-coverage and giving us RPOs, we have to be able to take it. If (defenses are) taking chances on the run and we have to play-action them to get on top, you have to be able to do it. It never changes.”
Smart’s explanation did not stop there.
“I think you guys want a perfect answer. It's really a lot more of what are you good at and what can we do better than they do. Balance is always important, but balance is not always 50/50,” he said. “When you look across the league, the teams that are able to run the ball and play-action pass and do those things are the ones that are most successful, regardless of the total number of points and the total number of yards and all the differences in statistics.”
Smart’s comments came on the heels of a recent statement by Alabama head coach Nick Saban about defenses no longer being able to stop great offenses, and how, if a team wants to win a national championship, it better be ready to score a lot of points.
The Bulldogs’ head coach was asked whether or not he agreed.
“I think if you look at recent history, elite offenses have certainly done well in the playoff and have really won most of the championships,” Smart said. “If you look across the board at the biggest offensive numbers and the output of those offensive numbers, whether it be Clemson, whether it be Alabama, whether it be LSU, I would argue that each one of those teams had pretty good defenses, so it’s not a clear-cut question. It’s not a clear-cut answer. It's not easy to say this or that.”
Nevertheless, Smart acknowledges that really good offenses appear to be ahead of really good defenses, something the Bulldogs learned in last year’s SEC Championship loss to LSU and in their recent defeat in Tuscaloosa.
“I don’t disagree with that. But, if you look across the board, there are some teams that have really dynamic offenses and do not have defenses—they struggle when they go play really good teams,” Smart said. “You’re really looking to have both, but I do respect that Clemson’s won championships with good defenses, and Alabama, when they won and beat us, they had a dynamic offense. But they had good defense. Then, when you go to LSU last year, nobody even talks about their defense, but they obviously had a good defense, because they’ve got players playing all over the NFL.”
For Georgia, the question is, do the Bulldogs have enough offense to ultimately make a playoff run?
Entering their game at Kentucky, Georgia is ranked fifth in the SEC on scoring offense at 33 points per game, well behind the likes of Alabama (48.4), Florida (42.3), and LSU (42).
The Bulldogs are sixth in the league in total offense, averaging 418.5 yards per game, including a 162.5 average on the ground.
“Nowadays, the league is changing, there's more passing and stuff. But running is going to be there,” Bulldog running back Zamir White said. “You’ll always be able to get a good run game on.”
Smart mentioned third-down conversion when asked what aspect of his offense was working particularly well.
The Bulldogs are converting 45.5 percent of their third-down attempts, although that number is still eighth in the SEC.
“That's been a point of emphasis for us in practices, to convert third downs, put together a good third-down plan, play-action passes—a lot of those shots and overs and different things off the run-game we've been able to hit,” Smart said. “If you're going to do those, you have to be committed to the run. You have to show the presence. It's not that you have to always be successful at the run—you have to be committed enough at the run game to be able to hit shots off those play-actions.”
Ultimately, Smart said Georgia’s offensive identity will be forged by several factors.
“I think It’s a little bit based on the defenses we play. I don't think you solely control what your identity is just by yourself. Some of that is created through playing games, who’s healthy, what you are capable of, what they play against you,” Smart said. “How defenses play us sometimes determines how, where we run the ball, which run plays we run, how much we run. A lot of that is determined by that. I think the identity you want to have is, you want to be balanced. You want to be able to throw the ball when you want to throw the ball, run the ball when you want to run the ball. Those things are important to being successful, just like on defense.”
