Kirby Smart trusted his gut in the wake of Georgia's narrow win at Auburn.
He felt his defense needed a bit of a positive boost. So instead of harping on numerous mistakes, Smart and the defensive staff chose to highlight some of the positives.
Those included reminding the defense of their success on third downs and showing examples of good run defense from a game in which the Bulldogs allowed over 200 yards rushing.
"The first thing we did on Monday after the Auburn game was, we showed them 10 clips of unbelievable run defense against Auburn," Smart said after Georgia's 51-13 win over Kentucky on Saturday. "We had some unbelievable strikes and blow delivery and getting off blocks. That's what playing run defense is. We were really positive with them and showed them doing it right, and they responded to that."
Smart elaborated on his thought process during his Monday press conference following the win over the Wildcats.
"They have to understand the truth of what’s on tape, and the tape says, strike, block and play well against the run on certain plays," Smart said. "Not playing well on certain plays, some of that’s by lack of repetition. We didn’t practice it. Some of it we didn’t play physical to our standards. If you show that you can do it, we’re going to show you can’t do it. We don’t try to overthink it, we just try to show them what the truth is."
The Bulldogs certainly responded to the positive reinforcement in the win over Kentucky.
Georgia limited the Wildcats to 183 yards of total offense, including just 55 yards rushing. Star running back Ray Davis picked up just 59 yards on 15 carries after rushing for 280 yards against Florida the week before.
The positivity isn't a tactic Smart breaks out all the time. But the win over Kentucky showed just how effective it can be moving forward.
"Just not trying to hold our heads down over one performance," defensive back Tykee Smith said. "I think the gameplan the coaches put together for this past game was real good, well all the game plans are really good. But I think we really dialed in on this game plan and were able to go out there and execute."
