Kirby Smart, Georgia after offensive improvements after Clemson win

Quarterback J.T. Daniels and the Georgia Bulldogs’ offense may not face a better defense this season than Clemson in last Saturday’s opener. That said, head coach Kirby Smart still wants improvement from what he saw in a huge 10-3 victory.

His team’s only touchdown was scored by the defense — a 74-yard interception return by Christopher Smith in the second quarter — managed 121 rushing yards and 135 passing yards.

“With the receptions, you’ve got to score touchdowns, and we didn’t,” Smart said Monday. “So, we’re a very matter of fact judgement and it’s like ‘okay so we didn’t score but, why? Why did we not?’ You go through the reasons why and you go through each play. A lot of it was attention to detail, not converting on third down, missing a couple of explosives. They played us very different than what you would normally say a Clemson team would play. They prepared for speed breaks and shots and fast balls because that’s what they had given up. They did a good job of defending that.”

An encouraging sign happened late when the ground game sapped the clock against a stout Clemson defense. Zamir White finished with 13 carries for 74 yards, and 32 of those yards came on a 10-play drive that drained the 4 minutes, 49 seconds before Daniels took a knee for the game’s final play.

James Cook had two carries for seven yards, and Kendall Milton had a 4-yard run on that drive.

“To say that we didn’t function or didn’t run the ball well, I mean, we ran the ball well at times,” Smart said. “Any time you can run the ball down someone’s throat in four minutes, it’s pretty obvious that they knew we had to run the ball there and we were still able to, so we did some really good things offensively. Hey, I’m excited to see what our guys can do moving forward. The greatest jump you make is from Game One to Game Two, so we got to find a way to be more explosive.”

The passing game also hopes to better things moving forward, beginning with Saturday’s game against Alabama-Birmingham. Daniels, who entered the season with Heisman Trophy hype, completed 22 of 30 passes for only 135 yards and threw a costly interception.

“All the talk about the weapons that (Daniels) does and doesn’t have is a moot point,” Smart said. “That’s what everyone wants to talk about and you can make excuses for me, for J.T., for Coach (Todd) Monken, but we’ve got good football players. We have to take the football players we have and be explosive. It doesn’t matter who is out there. That’s just pity or something. We have to be explosive. We have to get better at it.

“The way they played us and what our game plan was… Protect J.T. and get the ball out, have some different protections, and some different things. The game plan was to not get in third and longs. We didn’t get in many third and longs. How many sacks did we give up guys, one. Check Clemson’s average (sacks) per game. The game plan was to be efficient and be in manageable down and distances. Get the ball out of J.T.’s hands. I feel like we did a good job of doing that. We didn’t do it consistently enough to score points.”

The lack of points came down to execution, Smart said.

“It frustrates me, because we did that, and we practiced that. We showed that look,” Smart said. “How can you see yourself doing it here and then not do it here. It also excites me, because it is not a lack of ability. Some coaches have to go out, and they could not do any better than they did. That is not the case with us, because we have the ability.”

Meanwhile, Georgia’s defense completely stifled Clemson. The Tigers managed 2 yards on 23 rushing attempts (0.1 per attempt) and quarterback D.J. Uiagaelelei was under constant pressure, completely 19 of 37 passes for 178 yards and the game-deciding interception to Smith.

He was sacked seven times, twice by Nakobe Dean, as Georgia’s defense dominated. Along with a good game from punter Jake Camarda, the Bulldogs controlled field position for a milestone victory that people have compared a 2017 triumph at Notre Dame.

“It means a lot for confidence, okay. Confidence can help,” Smart said. “Can overconfidence hurt? Yes, but there’s a line there. The experience of the environment is what I value. Win, lose or draw the experience of that environment was going to make us better, and that is what I gain from it. Does it give some of the players more confidence? Yes, it gives them more confidence. It does, but it better not give them overconfidence because humility is one week away.

“We’re playing a good (UAB) football team, and I know none of y’all believe me when I say that. I know a good football team, I know a good conference, and I know a well-coached football team when I see one. Watching (UAB) on tape, they are very well-coached. I’m not ready to compare Clemson and Notre Dame as games of the past because there are a lot of different scenarios about that. I don’t see the link as much as previous players do, no disrespect to them. I see it as it is one game. It’s over with. Now we are worried about UAB.”