The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia eager for challenges after big victory
Smart pleased with Bulldogs’ conditioning, but not mistakes.
COLUMBIA, S.C. — It was a lesson learned for the younger members of the Georgia football team, but coach Kirby Smart said there are plenty of tests still ahead after the No. 3-ranked Bulldogs’ 41-17 rout of No. 24 South Carolina on Saturday at Williams-Brice Stadium.
“We had a lot of young guys who haven’t had an opportunity to come into this type of environment, and we talked to them about trust your training, trust the fact you worked out all summer in the heat,” Smart said. “Trust the fact that we make it very demanding in practice so the game is easier.
“There will be highs and lows in the games, and ebbs and flows, but we’re just going to keep on chopping.”
Georgia jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first four minutes and never appeared in jeopardy of losing.
Bulldogs QB Jake Fromm was 6 for 6 passing for 115 yards in the third quarter.
The Gamecocks defense appeared overwhelmed, unable to stretch wide enough to contain the speed on the perimeter while minding Georgia’s run game between the tackles.
“We thought that if we were able to run the ball earlier it would find a way to take its toll in the second half, and I think that showed through,” Smart said, referencing the Bulldogs’ conservative approach in the first half. “At the end of the day, they just wore down.”
Smart has pushed his players through a sweltering Athens August, practicing in the afternoon and rarely working inside the climate-con- trolled indoor facility. Temperatures at field level at South Carolina reached the 100-degree area.
“We didn’t say it publicly, but we certainly felt the hotter it was, the better off we’d be,” Smart said. “We practice at 3:30 every day, 4 o’clock, it’s hot. We don’t run from it. The hotter it is, the deeper we are, the more guys we play, it takes a toll.”
Georgia, however, was not without its faults as a trip to pass-happy Missouri looms just two weeks away, and the Tigers now become the biggest roadblock to a return trip to the SEC Championship Game for the Bulldogs.
Missouri accumulated 601 yards of total offense (398 through the air) in a 40-13 win over Wyoming.
“When we play a better team, we will struggle, so that’s the goal for us, to get better,” Smart said.