Kirby Smart Runs Out of Patience With Georgia Football Players After Repeated Blunders: “We Can’t Play Them”

The No. 2 Georgia Bulldogs strolled out of Fayetteville with a 45-17 win over Arkansas on Saturday, but head coach Kirby Smart looked far from pleased. Most coaches would take a 28-point SEC road win and head home happy. Smart, however, was visibly furious about how his team closed out the game. For him, winning is not enough if the guys on the field are making silly mistakes.

Kirby expects both his units to perform at their best; there is no space for mediocrity, especially when it becomes a pattern. The 50-year-old was visibly done with a few performances that have consistently let him down repeatedly, leaving him questioning their capabilities. 

“We did it last game, and they didn’t play good,” he told a reporter in a post-game press conference. “We did it the game before that, and they didn’t play good. And we did it this game, and they didn’t play good. So, tells me we can’t play them.” 

For Georgia, this depth issue isn’t just a minor headache; it can ruin their national title hopes. In a long SEC season, secondary defenders and rotational players get thrown into high-stakes playoff games when starters get tired or hurt. If the backup unit keeps giving away easy late-game yardage against weak opponents, Smart knows better teams will exploit those same gaps and blow up their postseason run.

Kirby’s thoughts on the game’s outcome are no less than a warning alarm for his players to get themselves together. An easy, predictable victory against the Razorbacks, ranked 120th nationally with “worst scoring offense and defense,” as highlighted by CBS, is no cause to celebrate. Not when the snaps in the last quarter that should’ve counted for something didn’t. 

Smart was once again disappointed with his defenders, who could’ve controlled the Razorbacks’ passing, which dictated most of their game, better. Arkansas benched KJ Jackson twice, reinserting him twice. He completed 20 of 27 passes for 212 yards. AJ Hill went 8 of 14 for 76 yards, and the duo combined to lose 16 yards rushing, mostly on sacks.

On the Bulldogs’ side, Nick Frazier scored their first touchdown, topping a six-play and a 62-yard drive on the team’s first possession. He amassed 75 yards on 14 carries while Bowens ran for 39 yards on 11 carries. Star quarterback Gunner Stockton had to make up for both rushing and passing in the game. He racked up 97 rushing yards. 

“I mean, it’s the only bottom line. I’m not going to let it ruin my day like I did last time,” Smart added further. “I’m happy for the rest of the guys, but just poor performance by the guys that went in.” 

Smart was not exaggerating about the pattern either. The same late-game slipping happened on September 5 during their 63-3 blowout over Tennessee State, and again on September 12 in the 70-20 win against Western Kentucky. Three straight weeks of reserves giving up easy plays forced Smart to call them out publicly.

“If they’re going to play, then they’ve got to play to a standard, and they have not. We have not,” he said, as reported by Sports Illustrated. “Now, us, more than other people, we put them in. We put guys in earlier than other people. We don’t try to pad guys’ stats and risk injury. We play people, and it came out in the scoreboard.”

For Kirby Smart, blowout wins mean nothing if the depth chart is weak. As Georgia pushes deeper into the regular season, bench players who keep blowing their assignments might find themselves watching the game entirely from the sidelines.

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