Kirby Smart, in his post game presser said he felt that they should have lost the game against Tennessee. But the team pulled through with a miraculous comeback for the ages. After a season of getting bogged down with QB inconsistency, Georgia finally got momentum this year. Kirk Herbstreit spoke to Smart before the game to get his thoughts on his locker room. Georgia fans could be looking at a successful year ahead.

Herbstreit spoke about this conversation on IG “Kirby told me on Friday, we’re on a Zoom talking about the game. He said, You know, I don’t know. I really don’t know yet how my team’s going to respond to this. I can just tell you this: I like the makeup of my team. We are more of a team than we were a year ago. And then to see a team get down 21 to 7, and then to just, kind of like it was like a heavyweight boxing match, just take some hits, throw a few hits back and forth.” Seems to be that there is no regrets anymore for Carson Beck leaving them for Miami.

The game itself was a shootout. Tennessee came out swinging, finding the end zone on their first three drives. Joey Aguilar was red-hot, completing his first 14 passes, and Braylon Staley’s 32-yard touchdown catch put the Volunteers up 21-7. At that moment everyone thought Josh Heupel’s offense had finally cracked Kirby Smart’s defense. But that’s when they hit them back with Zachariah Branch’s 37-yard touchdown catch-and-run, closing the gap to 21-14. So, that’s the turning point Herbstreit’s talking about.

After that, Georgia’s pass rush improved, halting Tennessee’s flow. And at the end Tennessee struggled to protect Aguilar, which hampered their drives. Two interceptions from the Vols. made it easy for the Bulldogs to stay in contention. By the end, despite all the early struggles, Georgia played up to their competition and sneaked an overtime win. Gunner Stockton shined like a true star. As Herbstreit praised him, “Gunner Stockton grew up. All those new faces grew up.”

Stockton threw for 304 yards, with 38 rushing yards, and above all delivered a clutch game-tying touchdown in the fourth quarter. So, Kirby Smart isn’t wrong in trusting his team this season. Neyland Stadium was electric as Tennessee battled Georgia down to the wire, but the turning point occurred when the Vols missed a crucial 43-yard field goal late in the game which sent it to overtime. The Bulldogs were able to close out the win in dramatic fashion with a short touchdown by Josh McCray.

Kirby Smart gets called out online after Tennessee win

Georgia further extended their winning streak against Tennessee to 9 straight. And after the game during media interaction, Kirby Smart made sure he praised both sides. “A lot of respect for Tennessee and the atmosphere that was created here today… I’m really proud of our guys. We talked about coming in here and conquering this place, which is not easy to do.” Smart said. “I don’t think I had any idea how many blows we would have to absorb, but we did, and we got a resilient group.” 

But later on Smart’s on-field behavior sparked controversy online. As a video went viral of him sticking out his tongue at Tennessee fans as he left the field. It quickly spread online, getting half a million views on X. The worst part? By Sunday morning, reactions were flooding in, with some fans labeling the gesture “immature” and “cringe,” while others criticized Smart for not being a good role model for his players.

The incident drew considerable criticism, a stark contrast to the praise he’d received after his post-game interview. But whatever the situation might be, Kirby Smart won that match, and he’s ready to take Georgia to even greater heights this season.

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