Kirby Smart reacts after Florida loss: On UGA’s secondary woes, team injuries and more

Georgia’s season isn’t going to end how the Bulldogs thought it would.

There will be no College Football Playoff appearance. There likely won’t even be a fourth straight appearance in the SEC Championship Game, not after the 44-28 loss the Bulldogs suffered at the hands of Florida on Saturday night.

Head coach Kirby Smart offered no excuses after the game. Despite all the injuries his team has suffered, he said the reality is that Florida simply outplayed his team and made more plays when they were presented.

Here’s what else Smart had to say following Georgia’s loss:

Smart frustrated with secondary mixups

Sometimes, defensive backs just get beat.

Smart knows that. He can live with junior cornerback Tyson Campbell playing for a back-shoulder fade on junior Florida tight end Kyle Pitts, only for the Gators’ senior quarterback to throw it over the top. He doesn’t even mind physical mistakes, such as sophomore Tyrique Stevenson slipping and allowing another big play to Pitts.

What is upsetting to him, however, are the mental lapses from his secondary. There were far too many of those in a game where the Bulldogs allowed 474 yards and four touchdowns through the air.

A perfect example is the play Stevenson allowed to Pitts. The Gators ran the same play later in the game, this time directed at defensive back Mark Webb, and the senior gave up a touchdown.

“It’s tough when you give those up because we don’t have a simpler call than what we were in on that play,” Smart said. “He just didn’t see him, he didn’t look at the right thing. That’s very unfortunate.”

That’s just one of several miscues the Bulldogs had. Linebackers struggled to cover running backs out of the backfield. Gator receiver Kadarius Toney, a focus of the defense leading into the game, managed to get free.

Against Florida, there are going to be plays where good defense is trumped by good offense. It’s the breakdowns that lead to losses, and that’s what happened to the Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon.

“We’ve got to do a better job of helping our players get in a position where they don’t get beat defensively,” Smart said. “We can’t give up explosives like that, that’s the bottom line.”

Late-half sequence proves critical

Trailing 31-21, Georgia got the ball back on its own 25 with 1:44 left until halftime. Things weren’t going well, but a score or even just running out the clock would keep things manageable heading into halftime.

Things then went off the rails.

The Bulldogs went three-and-out, stopping the clock with 35 seconds left. Two of those plays were incomplete passes.

“If you’re going to throw the ball, you run the risk of giving them the ability to stop the clock,” Smart said. “I wanted to be aggressive on offense and try to go score because we needed to score, certainly, at the point we were, and we weren’t able to do that.”

Still, a good punt from junior Jake Camarda likely meant a 10-point deficit at halftime. However, one of the best punters in the country delivered a shanked 23-yard boot to give Florida the ball back in Georgia territory.

“I’m counting on what I think is the best punter in America to take care of me and hit a bomb down there, and he didn’t hit a bomb,” Smart said.

The Gators capitalized, utilizing five plays to punch it into the end zone again. A rough end to the first half made Georgia’s second-half mountain much steeper to climb.

Reserve players not an excuse

If ever a game existed where defensive injuries could be used as an excuse, Saturday’s showdown was it.

The Bulldogs entered without starting safety Richard LeCounte and starting defensive lineman Jordan Davis, as well as reserve lineman Julian Rochester. Later in the game, the other starting safety Lewis Cine exited the game due to a targeting foul.

That left Georgia majorly depleted, especially in the secondary. Still, Smart made no excuses after the game.

“I’m not making it about anything,” Smart said. “I’m making it about they beat us, and we’ve got to get better. That starts with me. I’ve got to do a better job, and we’re going to do a better job.”

The Bulldogs ended up playing plenty of reserves on the defensive side of the ball. Junior safety Chris Smith earned his first career start, and freshman Major Burns earned his first extensive playing time after Cine exited.

Smart acknowledged Cine’s departure hurt, calling him a good “eraser” on the back end that could clean up some of the mistakes being made. Still, at the end of the day, the Bulldogs just didn’t play good enough.

“The guys that come in have got to be able to step up and play,” Smart said. “We just made too many silly mistakes on defense. You can’t give people those kinds of points.”

This story was originally published November 7, 2020 at 9:10 PM with the headline "Kirby Smart reacts after Florida loss: On UGA’s secondary woes, team injuries and more."