WATCH: Kirby Smart and Georgia players' comments after win
Kirby Smart
On the onside kick…
“It made the decision for us, there were a couple things working there. We were 21-10, we just took the lead to an eleven-point game. I’m looking at it since we’ve got the best returner in the country. If you kick it to him there’s a chance he houses it, there’s a chance he gets it to the 50-yard line. We felt like we had about an 80% chance on the onside based on our rate. We thought it was there, we worked it, we prepared for it. The hardest thing to do is call that call after a scored touchdown because you could theoretically lose momentum but it was executed well by two players who on Monday in 20-degree weather and 20 miles per hour wind, they were practicing it.”
On the offense…
“Gunner [Stockton] is a winner, he’s tough. He and Mike [Bobo] make a great pair. Mike is more and more comfortable with him, aggressive, trusting, a good decision maker, plays with his legs, puts us on the right run. He’s operating at a 80/90 percent success rate on decision making. When you do that with great players, you’re going to be really successful. Mike and them executed really well on offense tonight.”
On the defense…
“First, we had a lead. Second, we stopped the run. If you stop the run and take the lead, you get in passing situations. We felt like we could rush the passer once we controlled the run game. And we were able to do that and that’s a big part of who we are. We work on first and second down to get to third and long, we’ve always done “rush the passer.” I don’t worry about what other people say, it’s a matter of getting the opportunity to do that and once you get a lead in the game, which we haven’t had a lot of, we can rush the passer.”
Gunner Stockton
On going for it on fourth down…
“It was a big part. Whenever Coach Smart decides to go for it, I am like ‘heck yeah, let’s go!’ I am glad he made that decision.”
On receivers stepping up after Colbie Young injury…
“They have done awesome. They just attack practice, they just see the way they are doing it. Colbie has been at every away game and every practice. It is good to have him there, he is just a good guy.”
On him getting stronger in the second half of the season…
“I am getting better at situational football, just managing the game. Also, the confidence has grown as the season has gone on.”