Kirby Smart: 'You're not just getting checks at our place, we're hitting people'

The fourth quarter has been when Georgia has come alive this season, especially against elite SEC competition. That was certainly the case Saturday night when the ‘Dawgs outscored visiting No. 10 Texas 21-0 over the final 15 minutes of action to secure a dominating 35-10 win inside Sanford Stadium.

No. 5 Georgia (9-1, 7-1 SEC) had a similar late-game outburst in last month’s 43-35 victory over Ole Miss, handing the Playoff-bound Rebels (10-1, 6-1 SEC) their first and only loss this season thanks to an inspired 17-0 fourth-quarter comeback effort.

Following Saturday night’s Top 10 win in primetime, Smart explained how the Bulldogs’ overtly physical nature and Navy SEAL-adopted mantra of forcing opponents to “ring the bell” — or quit — in the face of overwhleming pressure has helped make Georgia one of college football’s best fourth-quarter teams this season. Smart also took the opportunity to make a point about today’s modern generation of players, and what differentiates those recruited to Athens from their SEC peers.

“It’s the approach we take, we’re going to dominate and try to win the fourth quarter. It’s what we do at practice, it’s what we do in the offseason, it’s what we’ve built our core culture around – being the more physical team,” Smart said during Saturday night’s postgame press conference, via DawgsHQ. “You have to recruit physical players and they have to buy into that process. I don’t know that a lot of these kids nowadays, they want a check, they don’t want physicality. And if you have the check and no physicality, you end up with nothing. So you’re not just getting checks at our place, we’re hitting people.”

When asked about Georgia’s “down and dirty” directive this week, and how well his players embraced it Saturday night, Smart — the consummate recruiter — turned it into a recruiting pitch for the next generation of Bulldogs.

“Our kids loved it, because that’s our team, that’s our persona, that’s who we are,” Smart continued. “So if you’re willing to get down and dirty and you want to get down in the weeds, and you want to go in there and hit people, stop people, crack people. If you’re willing to get down and dirty, then we’re going to take you down there and see how long you’re willing to stay down there with us and how long you’re willing to do it.

“We felt like (Texas) would be that kind of game and that kind of game favors us when you make it that kind of game. We’re not a track meet team, we’re a physical team.”