Georgia Football: Four Lessons Learned from UGA’s Victory
"Georgia Football Kirby Smart (Photo by Mike Zarrilli/Getty Images)"
The Georgia football team prevailed in their second SEC East road test, winning 43-29 over the Missouri Tigers. Here are four things that caught my eye in win.
Kirby Smart Always Expects Excellence
Georgia Football Head Coach Kirby Smart expects his team to play Smart at all times. Gone are the days of excusing metal errors. Gone are the days of a coach clapping and saying good job after an interception, fumble or missed field goal.
Good isn’t good enough for Georgia Football Coach Kirby Smart. He expects his team to play intelligent and composed at all times. When they don’t display composure, Smart chews his team out.
Georgia Football coaches will certainly have drills concerning what to do after crossing the goal line. The Dawgs have been fortunate. For the second time this season, a UGA player appeared to drop the ball in a premature celebration, after scoring a touchdown.
Jerimiah Holloman made a terrific play in the third quarter. He caught a back shoulder fade near the left sideline, and did a pirouette away from the defender. He then tight roped the sideline, and raced 61 yards for the touchdown.
The problem with Holloman’s play is he appeared to drop the ball a centimeter before crossing the goal line. A Missouri defender picked the ball up and raced the other direction. The Bulldogs dodged a bullet, as replay wasn’t conclusive enough to over turn the touchdown.
The scare for Georgia Football came, after Deandre Baker lost a touchdown to on a pick six in the South Carolina game. The Dawgs escaped disaster in that scenario as well. Baker’s teammate Juwon Taylor recovered the fumble for a touchdown.
These type of mental mistakes, drive Coach Smart insane, and are certain to be addressed in practice. Coach also fell flat on his face, after a roughing the passer penalty that extended a drive for Mizzou. Jonathan Ledbetter clearly pushed Tiger’s quarterback Drew Lock after the ball was away.
Another instance that drew the ire of Coach Smart was an incident as the two teams headed to the locker room before halftime. Safety Richard Lecount and Cornerback Deandre Baker got involved in a verbal altercation with some Missouri players.
Despite the fact that the Bulldogs were winning 20-7 at halftime, coach Smart was visibly upset with his teams lack of discipline. In the post game interview posted by Bulldog Illustrated on their youtube page Smart was quoted as saying:
"“We didn’t play with the discipline, composure and really that much physicality when you look at the run game for us, and stopping the run defensively.” – Georgia Football Coach Kirby Smart"
The press conference posted by Bulldog Illustrated can be viewed below:
Discipline, composure and physicality is the Georgia way under coach Smart. It’s clear that he won’t be satisfied until he gets 100 percent of all three every game.