‘The first thing I thought about was the Hail Mary game’ – Kirby Smart drops quote about beating Vols that Tennessee fans won’t like
The Tennessee Vols nearly took down the Georgia Bulldogs earlier this month. But a fourth-down conversion that resulted in a touchdown — on a play Georgia hadn’t even practiced — combined with a missed field goal at the end of regulation, allowed the Bulldogs to pull out the win in overtime. After the game, Georgia […]
The Tennessee Vols nearly took down the Georgia Bulldogs earlier this month.
But a fourth-down conversion that resulted in a touchdown — on a play Georgia hadn’t even practiced — combined with a missed field goal at the end of regulation, allowed the Bulldogs to pull out the win in overtime.
After the game, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said in a post-game interview with ESPN that Tennessee deserved to win the game.
“I’m really proud of this team,” said Smart. “Tennessee deserved to win this game. We didn’t play our best game. I got a lot of respect for the way [Tennessee] played. But these kids never quit…..we didn’t play really well defensively, but gotta give Tennessee a lot of credit.”
Kirby Smart said Georgia’s win against Tennessee made him think of the Hail Mary in Athens in 2016
Smart was asked during an appearance The Paul Finebaum Show this week about saying that Tennessee deserved to win the game.
The veteran head coach said that the outcome of this year’s Georgia vs Tennessee game made him think of the Vols’ win in Athens in 2016 when Josh Dobbs connected with Jauan Jennings for a game-winning Hail Mary as time expired (which is still UT’s only win against Smart).
“In the heat of the moment, I feel like we as coaches, sometimes you walk out feeling you stole a game,” said Smart. “I’ve been in those games. I also feel like I lost some I shouldn’t have and it kind of evens out. The first thing I thought about was the Hail Mary game that I thought we outplayed them and should’ve won the game and didn’t. So it goes both ways.”
I’m not sure Vols fans will agree with Smart’s suggestion that Georgia outplayed Tennessee in that game.
But at the same time, it was a very similar game as this year’s matchup. Georgia was in control for most of the game in 2016 until the Vols battled back and took the lead in the fourth quarter for the first time in the game.
Ultimately, though, I think Smart is right. Sometimes you win games you should lose, and sometimes you lose games you should win. Sometimes, it’s not that either coach did anything “right” or “wrong”, it just comes down to how the ball bounces that day.
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