The Georgia Bulldogs have won six straight games against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. The 2023 edition of Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate featured a lot of subpar run defense and a pair of Georgia turnovers.
The Bulldogs did well on third down once again and leaned on senior running back Kendall Milton to move the ball against Georgia Tech. Georgia nearly opened up a large lead, but a Carson Beck interception gave Georgia Tech an opportunity to claw its way back into the game.
What did Georgia football coach Kirby Smart have to say following Georgia’s narrow 31-23 victory on the road against Georgia Tech?
Smart on the atmosphere at Georgia Tech
Georgia fans continue to take over opposing stadiums. A ton of Bulldog fans cheered on UGA in Atlanta.
Great atmosphere for college football. I tell you what, it was a lot of fun having that kind of atmosphere. I think our kids really enjoyed it. I thought our fans showed up and did a great job, made it feel like it was like 50/50 with our fans out there.
Smart on Georgia Tech's performance
Georgia’s rushing defense allowed over 200 yards to Georgia Tech. The Bulldogs will need to defend the run better against Alabama in the SEC championship.
A lot of credit to Georgia Tech. They did a really good job, played hard, played physical. I thought Buster and his staff did a great job with the run plan. We expected to get a lot of quarterback run. They did a good job of that.
Smart on Kendall Milton's performance
Georgia running back Kendall Milton was the Dawgs’ player of the game. Milton took 18 carries for 156 yards and scored two touchdowns.
Really physical. He’s getting his pads down, running through contact. He breaks a lot of arm tackles. You know, I saw two or three of their guys have to go out from having to tackle him cause he’s really physical and downhill.
On Georgia's record-setting 29 game win streak
Georgia football has the longest winning streak in SEC history at 29 games. The Bulldogs have not lost since the 2021 SEC championship against Alabama. It is an impressive accomplishment, but Kirby Smart emphasizes that Georgia is focused on learning for its mistakes against Georgia Tech ahead of a must-win game in the SEC championship against Alabama.
It says we’ve got a tough one next week. I mean, humility is a week away. That’s what we say around our place. It’s a great honor. I mean, it’s something we’ll look back on. It’s not one person. You know, if I’m thinking right, that’s three different teams, right?
On tight end Brock Bowers
Georgia tight end Brock Bowers tweaked his ankle against Tennessee and was not able to play against Georgia Tech. The Bulldogs missed Bowers’ presence, but will hope to get him back for the SEC title game.
Yeah, he was more sore this week than he’s been. He was not able to do much during the week. He tried to go, he wanted to go, but it just, I mean, he’s sore. He’s got to be honest with us and tell us.
Smart on Georgia's injuries
Georgia was without wide receivers Rara Thomas and Ladd McConkey. Additionally, the Bulldogs missed offensive guard Tate Ratledge, who was out with a knee injury.
If they could play, they would have played, 100 percent… They wanted to play, all of them wanted to play. But guys, we’re beat up.
Georgia has also been without Jamon Dumas-Johnson, who fractured his forearm against Ole Miss.
We’ve got two freshman linebackers out there playing, I don’t know, 50 percent of the snaps. Smael’s out there fighting his tail off, he’s hurt and beat up. Everybody does, we’re not going to whine and cry about it. We’ve just got to get the next man up and got to continue to make plays with the other guys.
Smart on Georgia's interception
Quarterback Carson Beck threw an interception as Georgia was about to put the game out of reach. Georgia Tech went down and scored a touchdown to make things interesting at the end of the game.
We’re not going to play for a field goal. We called a play to score a touchdown. Unfortunately, I think they dropped eight and the ball either got tipped or richotted, I’m not really sure, off of our guy or their guy. Unfortunate. That happens in the game.
On Georgia's run defense
Georgia’s run defense has struggled more this season than in the past. The Bulldogs allowed over 200 rushing yards against Georgia Tech.
There’s quarterback runs and gap runs which are really hard to defend if you have a good quarterback who can run the ball. I’ve seen it all over the country. We’re pretty good at stopping a lot of runs, but we’re still working on stopping some of those runs. We’ve got to do a better job.
