UGA Football: Smart, Bulldogs Preview Kentucky Game
University of Georgia head football coach Kirby Smart offered the following comments on Monday.
Head Coach Kirby Smart
Opening statement …Â
“Our guys are coming off an off-weekend, and we are looking forward to preparing for Kentucky. We got to get a little bit of a jumpstart on some of our future opponents last week as well as one day spent on preparation for Kentucky. Coach [Mark] Stoops has done a tremendous job with their program. They play with great physical toughness across the offensive and defensive lines. They are really big and stout. I thought they did a really good job against us last year in terms of their defense, and their defense is one of the best in our conference. They’ve done an excellent job of preparing for teams. We’ve got a lot of respect for them in the kicking game — one of the best punters in the country that’s able to flip the field and do a lot with that. With that, we will open it up.”
On his assessment of Zamir White’s performance so far and an update on Kenny McIntosh …Â
“I won’t know much on Kenny until I get back out there today. He was not able to practice last week in terms of rehab, but we are hopeful that he we will be able to go today. We will find out more.
“In terms of Zamir, I think his leadership qualities have taken a major step forward in terms of his energy, his enthusiasm and just the way he prepares himself. You look across our games — some of our best special teams plays have come about because of Zamir. No. 1 — he is the off-returner on kick-off return. He does a tremendous job of selecting who to block to spring Kenny [McIntosh] and Kearis [Jackson] on a lot of their returns. He blocked a punt. He’s been one of our most consistent players on punt return in terms of making sure his man does not make the tackle and kind of control him. He’s also been a backup on our punt unit. I think Zamir has been very productive, he’s better conditioned. We are fortunate we were able to play a lot of backs, so he doesn’t get probably as many carries, but that never seems to frustrate him. He does a really good job of knowing his role and helping our team.”
