Kirby Smart critical of offense, defense after disappointing first half vs. Kent State

No. 1 Georgia leads Kent State 26-13 at halftime after scoring just before going to the locker room, but it hasn’t been nearly as clean a performance from the Bulldogs as fans grew accustomed to seeing over the first three weeks of the season.

For coach Kirby Smart it’s as simple as avoiding silly mistakes that were costly in the first half.

“Well we haven’t punted yet and we’ve got three turnovers and when you turn the ball over three times and you don’t get any it’s not a good recipe,” Smart told the ESPN broadcast crew at halftime. “So it’s not that we’ve got to change how we’re calling the game or what we’re doing, we’ve got to protect the ball a little better.”

Georgia scored just two plays into the game when tight end Brock Bowers housed a 75-yard jet sweep for a touchdown, outracing the defense down the right sideline.

But the Bulldogs struggled to pull away from the Golden Flashes in the first half thanks to a slew of self-inflicted mistakes.

Wide receiver Ladd McConkey had a rough first half, muffing a punt and then fumbling following a catch a few minutes later. Quarterback Stetson Bennett IV also threw a first-half interception. The sloppiness left Kirby Smart disappointed going into the locker room.

Kirby Smart disappointed with defense vs. Kent State

While the turnovers on offense and special teams were certainly problematic, Georgia compounded it with a bit of a lackadaisical effort in the first half defensively.

Kent State scored a touchdown on a 56-yard catch-and-run score up the left sideline, when sophomore Devontez Walker sprinted in for a touchdown that cut the Georgia lead to 12-10 midway through the second quarter.

“Well we’ve got to tackle,” Smart said. “It’s not that they’re throwing it over our heads, they caught it and ran with it and we’ve got to tackle a little better and do a good job. We’ll get some things fixed.”

The good news for the Bulldogs is they were able to extend the lead back to double-digits just before the half, despite calling things relatively conservatively on the half’s final drive.

Bowers scored a pair of touchdowns in the first half, both on rushing attempts. Meanwhile, Bennett added a touchdown run from a yard out with eight seconds to play in the half to make it 26-13 going into the break.