Although it has just been two games, Georgia’s defense has certainly lived up to its preseason accolades.

The Bulldogs rank first in the SEC in four very important categories – total defense (248), scoring defense (8.0), rushing defense (58) and pass defense (190).

Who gets the credit?

Kirby Smart built his reputation as a defensive guru during his eight years as defensive coordinator at Alabama, and in the five years he has now been at Georgia, his reputation as being a “defensive” head coach has continued.

However, when asked who should get the credit for his team’s early success, Smart deflected the credit.

“First of all, it is not my defense—it is the University of Georgia’s defense. It’s Coach (Dan) Lanning and the defensive staff and the defensive player’s defense,” Smart said. “I’m not sitting here trying to take credit for something those guys have done. I certainly put blood, sweat, and tears in with the rest of them, but those guys put a lot of hard work into making decisions. If the players do not buy into what you do defensively, it is not good. I think Dan and his staff do a tremendous job selling who we are to the players.”

As the statistics above indicate, they seem to be paying attention.

Georgia’s five sacks tie the team for third in the conference, while its four interceptions are tied for first with Arkansas and LSU.

“Dan imparts his personality on that, and I think the players appreciate that. I do not think it is a one-person gig. If you had to define a great defense it would be relentless effort. It would be reckless abandon. It would be constant pressure and pursuit—not giving up explosives,” Smart said. “We’ve done a good job of that.”

Smart said freshmen offensive linemen Tate Ratledge and Broderick Jones are still playing catchup due to respective injuries they suffered during minicamp.

“They are getting better. Each one of them has a long way to go. Broderick missed a lot of the minicamp time with a foot injury—really hurt him as far as getting caught up to speed and not getting to go during that learning phase,” Smart said. “Tate has missed a little bit of time as well. I think if either one of them had not missed time they would be further along.”

Ratledge saw action in last Saturday’s win over Auburn, while Jones, who dressed out Saturday, has yet to play. Fellow freshman Sedrick Van Pran, like Ratledge, took his first collegiate reps against the Tigers.

“I don’t know if they would be contributing right now. They are going to be good players, and we are trying to catch them up as fast as we can. Look, if there was a pill you could take to speed up, expedite these guys development we would do it. You can’t get enough reps fast enough,” Smart said. “Once season starts their reps really get minimized because you are focused on the other guys. I am very meticulous about the number of reps they get day-to-day, and whether they spend more time on the scout team to get better reps. I have seen Isaiah Wilson, Elijah Holyfield—I have seen a lot of players, Tae Crowder, go from being on scout team to being really good players.”

Redshirt freshman Warren McClendon and junior Owen Condon continue to compete for the starting job at right tackle.

“Yeah, it’s a good battle. We get to see a lot more of it than you guys do. They get to go against good people every day. So, we see it up close and personal. I guess you guys only get to go off what you see in games,” Smart said. “I’ve seen a lot of it. I think both of them are good players. They are different kind of players. They play with toughness. .... It has been a tight battle.”

Both players have seen action at the position their first two games, with Condon starting at Arkansas and McClendon starting against Auburn.

Smart said tight end Tre McKitty (knee) hopes to play against Tennessee.

“I’m hopeful that Tre’ is going to be able to go. He practiced today and did a good job,” Smart said. “We thought he was going to be ready for last week and didn’t want to have to play him unless we had to."

McKitty has yet to play for the Bulldogs, despite dressing out last Saturday.

Smart said Stetson Bennett’s maturity is one of the biggest reasons he is jumped to the top of the pecking order at quarterback.

“He’s wiser, smarter, more experienced. He is more seasoned. He probably forced the ball and made some mistakes early on,” Smart said. “I don’t know if the scout team is always good for you because we are always screaming and yelling for him to throw the ball over there. Sometimes it is not good to throw the ball. On scout team, we want to play the ball. He had some bad habits from times when he was down there early in his career.”

So far, that has not been a problem.

Much to the pleasure of Smart, Bennett has yet to throw a pick in 57 attempts.

“He got to go to Mississippi [Jones County Junior College] and play in a really tough league. Then he got to come back here and get a ton of reps as a two and go every day and prepare like he is going to be the second guy,” Smart said. “He’s gotten a large amount of experience, so it allows him to understand what’s going on around him and make good decisions.”

Smart on what jumped out about Jalen Carter during his recruitment: “He had a bunch of dunks—he had a bunch of basketball dunks that were pretty incredible. Then, he had a one-handed catch at tight end, caught passes as a fullback in his offense. [He is] a really athletic, big man."

Mark Webb on the difference in this year’s defense from last season: "As a player, I feel like I got more knowledgeable about the game. Spend a little more time in the film room, being able to read offenses and things like that. That has been a big change. I would say as a whole we just hone in. We just want to be better than we were last year. Just keep attacking on the things that we messed up on before and coming out and capitalizing on Saturday.”

Smart on the development of John FitzPatrick: “He’s developing well. He is doing a good job. He plays with good toughness, understands the game, understands leverage. He had to battle some injuries in camp, otherwise he would be further along. He was having a really good camp and got dinged up and missed a quite a bit of time. He is really just coming back. He is really just coming back since the Arkansas game, so he is just kind of in week two. He is developing well. He is getting better with his blocking, catches the ball well. If we can get Tre’ (McKitty) back to one hundred percent. We will have three really experienced tight ends there.”

Smart on whether he knows what Tennessee offensive coordinator Jim Chaney likes to do and what he expects this weekend: “I worked with him for a while here and got a lot of respect for the job he did and what he built here. He did a really good job. He had some really good game plans. He put some good packages together. He continues to do that. He has got a lot of stuff. It is not like he can run it all against us. We are certainly trying to defend it all. So, you go out to practice and try to prepare for it, but you have to be careful that you do not do too much defensively, and I am sure he is the same way. You can do too much offensively, and not do anything well. It’s a lot about, ‘What is he going to do, and what is he going to do off of it? What is he going to carry this game? and How well we can adjust to it, fast.”