Kirby Smart, Georgia players celebrate Arik Gilbert's success

ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia tight end Arik Gilbert made a pair of catches on Saturday in the Bulldogs’ 55-0 win over Vanderbilt. The first of those was his first reception since arriving at Georgia. The second was his first score in red and black. After the game, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart described it as something for him to celebrate. Gilbert’s been through a lot during his time in Athens – stepping away from football for the entirety of the 2021 season – and instead of focusing on the tough times, the attention was on him having success.

“Super proud for both those guys,” Smart said on Tuesday of Georgia’s bye week when asked about the touchdown grabs for Gilbert as well as Dominick Blaylock, his first since having a pair of ACL injuries. “For Dominick to get that catch and for Arik to get that catch is really incredible for both.”

“For me, especially a guy from Georgia, I was excited for him to score his touchdown,” Georgia senior Nolan Smith added. “We all wanted him to do the Griddy because he came from LSU. Man, I was just excited to see him get out there and see him get in there knowing what he’s been through, all his struggles and stuff, just being able to for him to get refocused and logged back in on something he loves.”

Like Smith, Georgia tight end Brock Bowers was excited. He certainly has established himself as the main figure in the tight end room but enjoys when others have success just as much as when he has it himself.

“I feel like in our tight ends room, everybody wants to see everyone else succeed. When I see Darnell out there making plays, I’m just jacked up on the sideline or celebrating with him. It’s always good to see our other tight ends do good,” Bowers said. “It was awesome. We were all fired up on the sideline. We were all screaming and yelling. It was really awesome to see him (Arik Gilbert) score.”

While the celebration for his success on Saturday certainly was refreshing, the attention quickly turns to, ‘What can he do for this football team?’ Smart has been hopeful all along that Gilbert would be able to get back and be a contributor this season. He shared a similar message when asked if the bye week would be an opportunity for Gilbert to get caught up.

“I hope so. I think it gives him time to practice, get more reps, and get an opportunity to get out and compete, even on special teams to get out and compete,” Smart said.

“Thirteen gives you a chance to do some things, but sometimes having similar bodies doesn’t cause problems for a defense. It just sounds good. Everybody likes it because it sounds good,” he continued when asked if Gilbert getting more involved would mean more 13 (one running back, three tight ends) personnel. “In addition, you have to have space players to create space. Some of our best plays have been space plays … You have to have space players to play. I’m not saying that tight ends aren’t, but you kind of start playing in a phone booth when you start doing thirteen. Really Darnell (Washington’s) greatest attribute is size and ability to do things in the run game and play-action off of it. (Arik Gilbert) AG’s kind of similar in that regard. Brock (Bowers) is a little bit more space. I don’t know whether there would have been any more or not. And Oscar (Delp’s) come along well. He gives us that luxury to do that too. We just do it more based on how the other defense will play it.”

Georgia is off this week, a much needed bye for the beat up Bulldogs. Then it’s back to business in a big way with a stretch of four tough games remaining on the SEC schedule. Rival Florida awaits on October 29th before a battle against Tennessee (November 5th) that’s expected to go a long way towards deciding the SEC East. Finally, it’s a pair of games away from home for the Bulldogs as they travel to Mississippi State (November 12th) and Kentucky (November 19th), both of whom are ranked, to finish out the SEC slate and Georgia Tech (November 26th) to wrap up the regular season.