ATHENS — If you tuned into Georgia coach Kirby Smart’s opening week press conference Monday looking for some answers as to who will start at quarterback for the Bulldogs against North Carolina on Saturday in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Classic at the Georgia Dome, you actually went to the wrong place.
Well, wrong may not be the right phrasing, but Smart gave up little new information to the gathered reporters at the Butts-Mehre Football Complex.
“No, no real update (on that),” Smart said. “We’re still evaluating all three of the guys. We probably will be right up to game time.”
Needless to say it was somewhat anti-climactic. However, when asked whether age and/or experience would be a determining factor in naming the Bulldogs’ starter, Smart didn’t flinch.
Reports have it that the battle has come down to senior Grayson Lambert, who has 28 collegiate starts, and true freshman Jacob Eason. Reports also said Smart was ready to name his guy.
“Not really. We’re going to play the best guy who gives us the best chance to win, regardless of age or any other factor,” he said. “We have no reservations about that. If you’re old enough to play, you’re old enough to start.
“It was more about what Grayson and Jacob did than anything (junior) Brice (Ramsey) didn’t do to distance themselves some. We’ll see how it goes on playing multiple guys. Our main focus right now is on who will take that first snap of the game.”
Oh, well. I guess we really will have to wait until the 5:30 p.m. kickoff to see who trots out first.
Of course, Smart also addressed several other key issues during the 27-minutes he spent at the podium in the team’s meeting room:
On running back Nick Chubb and his availability:
“Nick has been cleared to play and he has practiced every day. He’s ready to go. We will not have a ‘pitch count’ on him as far as the number of carries.”
On running back Sony Michel and his availability:
“He has not been cleared yet. He’s been at practice every day but he has not participated in any live-tackling drills. I don’t know if he’ll be a game-time decision or not because, like I said, they have not cleared him to play.”
On the defensive line and its depth, and quality:
“We’re a little closer to being set. We’re going to play a lot of guys. (Like the quarterbacks), year doesn’t matter. We expect all of them to compete. We’re very comfortable with who we have. We’re just not real comfortable with the depth, but no coach ever really is. But, we feel better now than we did in the spring.”
On a defensive note, he discussed North Carolina’s use of an uptempo offense:
“They like go fast, they like to use tempo to control things. We know they’re going to try and use that so we’re going to have to be ready for it. We will have our hands full for sure.”
On new Tar Heels quarterback Mitch Trubisky, a junior, who is taking over for Marquise Williams:
“He can run and throw. He saw some playing time last year. He’s probably one of the best quarterbacks in the country that no one knows about.”
On Smart’s first game as head coach:
“I don’t really feel nervous. It’s different from being a coordinator in that I’ve been watching things from the perspective of seeing everything, especially on offense. Before I would be looking at things strictly from one point of view and now I have to look all things and whether a play is being run properly, whether it’s offense or defense, so that’s been different. But as far as things like that I feel there will be less decisions to make. Before I had to call 70 defenses if there were 70 plays. Now I’ll be making different decisions but only on selected things, like timeouts and stuff, so I don’t feel any more nervous. Maybe less, actually.”
On where the Bulldogs are just five days from their opener compared to the spring:
“I feel like there are a lot of areas on the team that have made strides. If I had to pick one I would say the offensive line has really progressed from where they were back then with all the changes in that group. But we’ve challenged every group and every player to improve.”
http://accesswdun.com/article/2016/8/439431/smart-gives-little-away-in-first-pre-game-press-conference