Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart, unsurprisingly, has found a gimmick to motivate his team for this weekend’s road matchup against the Tennessee Vols.

Smart is no stranger to being dramatic to motivate his team (such as the times he’s tried to suggest that no one believes in Georgia, even though that couldn’t be further from the truth).

For the upcoming matchup against the Vols, Smart is leaning into the fact that Bulldogs’ first road game of the season is against an SEC program.

Georgia’s Kirby Smart may not understand how stats actually work

Smart told reporters after Georgia’s win against Austin Peay this past weekend that they should “study the stats” on SEC teams who play their first road game against a conference opponent.

“We’ll find out. That’s for sure. You know what I mean? It’s a different demeanor when you go on the road in the SEC, especially when you have not been on the road,” said Smart when asked about opening SEC play on the road against the Vols. “Study the stats on that — you ain’t been on the road and your first road game’s in the SEC.

“We had that a couple years ago at Auburn. It’s always an adventure. We’ve been preparing for that, knowing that all along it’s going to be different when you go up there. You’ve got to be prepared for it. You’ve got to have confidence in your plan. You’ve got to go execute as a unit. It’s not you against 100,000. It’s you against 11.”

It’s never easy to play on the road in the SEC.

But Smart’s program has fared pretty well in the scenario he pointed out.

In fact, the Bulldogs have been perfect.

In every year since Smart was hired except for one (2017 against Notre Dame), Georgia’ first road game has been against an SEC team. Six of those games were also Georgia’s first SEC game of the season.

Here are the stats (make sure to study them) on how things have gone for Georgia in their first road game of the season during the Smart era.

2016: Georgia 28 Missouri 27 (first road game and first SEC game) 
2017: Georgia 20 Notre Dame 19 (first road game) 
2018: Georgia 41 South Carolina 17 (first road game and first SEC game) 
2019: Georgia 30 Vanderbilt 6 (first road game and first SEC game) 
2020: Georgia 37 Arkansas 10 (first road game and first SEC game) 
2021: Georgia 62 Vanderbilt 0 (first road game) 
2022: Georgia 48 South Carolina 7 (first road game and first SEC game) 
2023: Georgia 27 Auburn 20 (first road game) 
2024: Georgia 13 Kentucky 12 (first road game and first SEC game)

There have certainly been some tough games for Georgia in the scenario that Smart mentioned, but the Bulldogs are undefeated in those matchups.

I don’t blame Smart for trying to find creative ways to motivate his team — that’s an important part of coaching. And ultimately, the only thing that matters is if the motivation tactic works.

But just so we’re ahead of things here, Smart’s insinuation that Georgia is facing a scenario that they’ve had major trouble with in recent seasons is nonsense. No one is buying it, Kirby.

Tennessee Volunteers News

‘It’ll be interesting to see’ – Kirby Smart essentially challenged the Vols’ defense ahead of showdown between Georgia and Tennessee

The Georgia Bulldogs’ offense wasn’t very explosive on Saturday in a 28-6 win against Austin Peay. Georgia’s biggest play of the game was a 23-yard completion to sophomore running back Dwight Phillips Jr. After the win against Austin Peay, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart met with reporters and he essentially issued a challenge to the […]

Zach Ragan