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Friday, November 13, 2026Nov 13

Smart’s Bulldogs not resting on Clemson performance

University of Georgia photo by Conor Dillon / Junior defensive back Malaki Starks had an acrobatic interception and played multiple positions during Georgia's 34-3 rout of Clemson on Saturday.
University of Georgia photo by Conor Dillon / Junior defensive back Malaki Starks had an acrobatic interception and played multiple positions during Georgia's 34-3 rout of Clemson on Saturday. University of Georgia photo by Conor Dillon / Junior defensive back Malaki Starks had an acrobatic interception and played multiple positions during Georgia's 34-3 rout of Clemson on Saturday.

The adage that college football teams typically make their most improvement between their first and second games of a season could be a difficult dissect this week at Georgia.

After all, Kirby Smart’s Bulldogs looked every bit the part of the nation’s top-ranked team during Saturday afternoon’s 34-3 thrashing of No. 14 Clemson inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium. There is also the fact this week’s Sanford Stadium opener takes place against Tennessee Tech, the one Championship Subdivision opponent on this year’s slate.

Yet Smart is Smart for a reason, and he is at the very back of the line in terms of those heaping praise for what the Bulldogs did to Dabo Swinney’s Tigers.

“There are so many things that we’ve got to do better,” Smart said during Monday’s news conference. “There is just a lot there that we want to improve on, and some of what you’re doing is dictated by who you play. People just think it’s a stat game. It’s not a stat game.

“It’s who you’re lining up across from and how good that football player is because the matchups do dictate things.”