Kirby Smart details concerns for Bulldogs despite win

Georgia head coach Kirby Smart is not satisfied. The No. 2 Bulldogs picked up an impressive 40-13 win over South Carolina on Saturday in Athens, as quarterback JT Daniels made his return after sitting out against UAB. The quarterback threw three touchdown passes and was 23 of 31 for 303 yards along with an interception.

But Smart sees plenty of room for improvement. His offense turned the ball over three times. And while his defense has piece together an impressive start — they are allowing just 176 yards of total offense per game — they yielded their first touchdown of the season Saturday.

And while the performance was enough to rout the Gamecocks, he knows the execution would have been a problem against Alabama or Florida.

“The execution of players,” he said following the win. “There’s things you work on during the week and there’s things that — they just beat you sometimes. You get beat one-on-one, I’m not going to lose my sleep over that. They threw some one-on-one balls and beat us. But you don’t execute tells you what play is coming on third down and you show them the play, tell them ‘they’re about to run this.’ And you don’t stop it, that’s disheartening.

“On offense, when you turn the ball over three times, we will not be a successful team if we turn the ball over three times. I don’t care if we get three, we can’t throw two interceptions and fumble one and beat good football teams. That’s a fact, that will keep me from being satisfied or pleased.”

The schedule does not get any easier for Georgia, probably why Smart was not letting up in his press conference. The Bulldogs travel to Nashville for their first true road test of the season, then host No. 16 Arkansas before traveling to No. 22 Auburn.

Kirby Smart explains why Georgia pass rush is so effective

Smart knows opposing quarterbacks don’t like facing the Bulldogs pass rush. Following Saturday’s victory, he elaborated on what he believes makes it so dangerous.

“Our guys get off and pass rush and there’s a lot of detail that goes into that,” Smart said. “The amount of time all the defensive guys spend on creating rush — it’s not just one-on-one ‘I beat my guy.’ It’s gains. It’s twists, it’s stunts. It’s knowing when it’s a pass and when it’s a run. When you can take advantage of things. Our linebackers call to our front to get them in pass rush mode.”

The Georgia defense was relentless in the victory as it recorded three sacks and forced two turnovers versus South Carolina. They also held the Gamecocks to only 82 yards rushing on 2.4 yards per carry.