ATHENS, Ga. – As someone who traded in a crimson and white wardrobe for red and black during the offseason, Kirby Smart sure knows his orange.
Georgia’s first-year head football coach is cramming for Saturday’s showdown between his No. 25 Bulldogs (3-1, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) and No. 11 Tennessee (4-0, 1-0) in Sanford Stadium. Studying the Volunteers is nothing new for Smart, who prepared for them the past nine seasons as an Alabama defensive assistant, including the last eight as coordinator.
SEC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
OFFENSE: Tennessee quarterback Josh Dobbs, who passed for 319 yards, rushed for 80 and accounted for five total touchdowns in the 38-28 comeback win over Florida. DEFENSE: Texas A&M defensive back Armani Watts, who had nine tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and recovered a fumble he forced during the 45-24 defeat of Arkansas. SPECIAL TEAMS: Auburn kicker Daniel Carlson, who tied a school and conference record with six field goals in the 18-13 win over LSU. His longest was 51 yards. FRESHMAN: Texas A&M tailback Trayveon Williams, who rushed 12 times for 153 yards (12.8 yards per carry) and two scores against Arkansas. He also had three catches. OFFENSIVE LINEMAN: Ole Miss guard Jordan Sims, who led a Rebels line that allowed one sack as part of an offense that racked up 510 yards and was 4-for-4 in the red zone. DEFENSIVE LINEMAN: Tennessee defensive end Derek Barnett, who had five tackles, three tackles for loss and two sacks to help hold Florida to 102 second-half yards. DEFENSIVE LINEMAN: Kentucky defensive end Denzil Ware, who had five tackles and two sacks in a 17-10 win against South Carolina, which went 3-of-13 on third-down tries. – David Paschall
“They were probably the most physical team we played last year as far as just coming right off the ball and hitting you in the mouth,” Smart said Monday. “We’ve got a great challenge in front of us. This is a good football team, and we’ve got to show improvement at pretty much every position.”
The Crimson Tide went 9-0 against Tennessee with Smart on Nick Saban’s staff, including four consecutive wins by 31 or more points from 2010 to 2013. Alabama’s 45-10 rout in 2013 occurred when Butch Jones was in his first season as Vols coach, but the Crimson Tide won just 34-20 two years ago in Knoxville and survived 19-14 last year in Tuscaloosa.