As player, coach Smart knows LSU SATURDAY’S GAME

ATHENS — There is perhaps no one associated with the Georgia football program that knows more about LSU than coach Kirby Smart.

As a player, Smart led the Bulldogs’ defense with 12 tackles in a 28-27 victory on the road over the Tigers in 1998. He also was part of an Alabama coaching staff that faced LSU every year from 2007-20015, and he even spent 2004 as defensive backs coach in Baton Rouge.

But ever the pragmatic leader, Smart said his expe- riences with and against LSU will have no bearing on this weekend’s game, when the No. 2 Bulldogs (6-0, 4-0 SEC) square off against the No. 13 Tigers (5-1, 2-1) at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.

“I wouldn’t say that there are extra emotions about it,” Smart said Monday. “I mean the emotions come from you want your team to play as well as they can for us. It’s a game, and regardless of who it’s against, that never factors in. For me it doesn’t. I’m personally trying to get our team ready to play. None of these kids care that I coached there. It has no effect on them, so I don’t think that has a bearing on the game.”

However, tight end Isaac Nauta indicated he’ll be all ears if Smart shares his knowledge of heading into the eye of the Tigers, and he said he’s sure those words will be delivered without much in the way of varnish.

“(Smart is) a guy that’s been through it, and he knows what it’s like,” Nauta said. “That’s why he coaches the way he coaches. He’s very fiery and passionate. From the older guys I’ve talked to who played with him, they say he hasn’t changed one bit from when he was a player.

“Just knowing he’s got experience and he’s been through it – he keeps it very black and white for you and you know what you can expect. He doesn’t lie to us about what things are going to be like and he can’t because we know he’s been through it. That’s definitely ■ Georgia at LSU, 3:30 p.m., CBS, AM 750 WSB, News 95.5.

an advantage for us.”

■ Long time, no see: Georgia has not played in Baton Rouge in 10 years (a 52-11 victory for the Bulldogs), so there’s no player on the roster who was even in high school when Georgia had its last Death Valley experience. Although the players haven’t been there, they do have an idea what to expect and they’re ready for the challenge.

“Guys that have played there in previous years have told us it will be a great environment and a hardnosed game, which is what you come to the SEC for,” wide receiver Terry Godwin said. “It’s going to be a great game.”

Injury report: In Saturday’s 41-13 victory over Vanderbilt, left guard Solomon Kindley was carted off the field with about four minutes remaining in the first quarter with what appeared to be a significant knee injury.

On Monday, Smart said that Kindley suffered a “mild MCL sprain” and while he was to practice in the afternoon, there was no definite report about his participation this Saturday.

think he’s going to be able to practice today,” Smart said. “So we’re hopeful that he gets to play, but I won’t really know until I see how he does today. He’s been able to run on the treadmill and do some exercise stuff, but was not as significant as we thought in the beginning.”

Georgia’s offensive line has endured its share of injuries this season, with left tackle Andrew Thomas missing time because of an injured ankle and right guard Ben Cleveland still out with a fractured left fibula he sustained in the Missouri game. Center Lamont Gaillard missed a few plays against Vanderbilt with an injured hand, but X-rays were negative, and he returned to the game.