Georgia's Kirby Smart calls out concerning area in 38-point blowout of Massachusetts

Yesterday at 10:21 PM

Not everything felt dominant about Georgia football rolling to the 59-21 trouncing of Massachusetts Saturday. Head coach Kirby Smart delivered a blunt assessment of one critical area.

Even after surrendering the low number of points, the Minutemen managed to score more than Tennessee last Saturday in Georgia’s 21-17 win. Smart, who’s known as a defensive mind, got honest about defensive issues he witnessed.

“I don’t know that it was just tackling. We did not tackle well, but it was more than just tackling,” Smart began postgame, per Dawgs247Sports reporter Benjamin Wolk.

In looking beyond the tackling lapses, Smart also observed the energy levels on both sidelines.

“It was — like, I hate to say it, I just don’t think that our guys were ready to play and energized to play as their guys were,” Smart said. “Their guys wanted it more than us, and it’s very rare that I could sit up here and say that. Like, they were playing harder, they were moving us, they were playing physical.”

Smart had to coach against some aggressive play-calling on the side of the Minutemen. Still, he spoke about “the biggest thing” he saw that raised caution for him.

“They had some nice RPOs and some nice play designs, but it wasn’t about that. It’s, I want to — like, desire. That’s the biggest thing,” Smart said.

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Massachusetts went straight to testing Georgia right away. The Minutemen turned to bully ball.

Nine of the Minutemen’s first 10 plays were runs. Ahmad Haston busted through the heart of the Bulldogs’ defense on a 38-yard scamper. CJ Hester capped the opening drive by scoring from one-yard out. Suddenly, the massive underdog Minutemen jumped on top of Georgia right away 7-0.

Georgia eventually adjusted from there. The Bulldogs’ defense forced a punt after a 10-play UMass drive. Raylen Wilson pounced on a loose football for the fumble recovery on Georgia’s next defensive possession. Massachusetts, however, put together a 14-play, 75-yard drive that ate up 7:01 during the second quarter. The Minutemen again went with the ground-and-pound approach — as 10 of those plays were designed runs. Jalen John scored from three yards to dissect the lead to 21-14.

The Bulldogs eventually put the game on ice. Smart got Georgia to outscore the visitors 38-7 the rest of the day. Smart still discussed the mental errors. His defense surrendered 351 total yards, with 226 of that yardage coming via handoffs and averaging 5.7 yards per carry.

Tennessee happened to have its own way against Georgia through the rushing game. The Volunteers racked up 152 ground-based yards and scored both touchdowns off the rushing approach. Ole Miss, two weeks prior, piled 134 running yardage in its 28-10 upset of Georgia.

Still, a mid-major program in UMass compiled more than 200 yards against Smart’s run defensive unit. That drew concern from the veteran head coach — especially one who still has the Bulldogs in the Southeastern Conference title race.

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