Kirby Smart talked to the media on a 10-minute teleconference Sunday afternoon. He gave a preliminary preview of the Sugar Bowl and discussed the lessons he learned from last year’s loss to Texas. 

Sweet as Sugar

For the second consecutive year, Georgia will represent the SEC in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. Both times, the Bulldogs head to the Big Easy after a loss in the SEC championship game. Last January, Georgia lost 28-21 to Texas.

No. 5 Georgia faces No. 7 Baylor on Jan. 1, 2020, and Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said his team is once again excited for the opportunity.

“We have a lot of guys who want to get the bad taste out of their mouths from last year, from the loss,” Smart said. “So we’re excited for the opportunity and we have a lot of respect for the Baylor football team. … We got to watch them play several times this year and have tremendous respect for the way they compete.”

Baylor is led by Matt Rhule, who in his third season has taken the Bears from 1-11 in 2017 to an 11-2 record and runner-up finish in the Big 12 this year.

“Phenomenal,” Smart said. “I mean, it’s just incredible. You can tell the passion and the energy he coaches with.”

Smart said the Bulldog staff have Waco, Texas, on its list of offseason visits, and it was a coincidence that the two teams will square off. He wanted to go check in with Rhule and pick his brain to get some ‘fresh new ideas.’

Changes are coming

Late Sunday afternoon, former Georgia offensive line coach Sam Pittman emerged as the lead candidate for the head coaching vacancy at Arkansas before he was officially hired a few hours later. Prior to his tenure at Georgia, Pittman was on the Razorback staff from 2013-2015.

Smart didn’t directly address Pittman’s departure in the teleconference.

Other than Pittman, the Bulldogs have several draft-eligible prospects who could sit out the Sugar Bowl if they choose. Junior running back D’Andre Swift headlines that group. Swift nursed a shoulder injury during the SEC championship game and was not 100 percent. Smart hasn’t had that conversation with the players yet.

“Obviously, it’s a fluid situation,” Smart said. “I think we’ll find out more, in terms of our guys, they really haven’t had time to observe where they are and get information and things like that.”

Taking notes from 2019

The Sugar Bowl wasn’t pretty for Georgia last season. The Longhorns had their way with the Bulldogs for most of the game. The Bulldogs weren’t competitive against the Longhorns and Smart is ready to make sure that doesn’t happen again.

“The bottom line is it’s your job to go play in a football game,” he said. “You get a great opportunity. There’s a lot of teams, all across the country, that would be dying to play in a game like this, and we’re going to sell it that way. It’s a one-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be Sugar Bowl champs. None of the kids on our team have ever been Sugar Bowl champs and they’re going to get an opportunity to do that.”

Motivation was an issue against Texas. Smart said his staff will emphasize it in the few weeks of practice. At the end of the day, that responsibility falls on the players. 

“We’re going to take the ones that want to do that and want to play well,” he said. “What I found out last year was, for a lot of kids, it was the most important game of their season. It meant so much to them. And maybe for some others, it didn’t. You have to take the guys that are engaged and excited about playing because that matters a whole lot more than how good they are.”

Printed with permission from the Red & Black independent student media organization based in Athens, Georgia; redandblack.com/sports