UGA Football: Zamir White, Jermaine Johnson, Lewis Cine, and John FitzPatrick Speak With the Media

The Georgia Bulldogs continued bye week practice Wednesday, Oct. 21.
Georgia’s next contest will be in Lexington, Ky., at 12:00 p.m., ET on the SEC Network versus the Wildcats. Before practice, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart provided an update on the Bulldogs during the SEC Football Weekly Media Teleconference. Following practice, Jake Camarda and Justin Shaffer offered these comments.
Selected comments from Smart and the student-athletes follow:
Head Coach Kirby Smart
Opening Statement
“We got some good work done yesterday. We had a really good practice. I thought that there was good energy and enthusiasm out there, especially for an off week. The weather was great, and I thought the kids really competed. We haven’t been able to really rep a lot of our younger players having just played a conference schedule, a tough schedule so far. We got some extra reps for our twos and threes, and tried to work on some really specific things for our ones, and give each kid kind of a goal and objective for the week that they could improve on. We’re going to go back out there today and try to get better today.”
On Kendall Milton’s performance so far this season…
“Yeah, he is earning some playing time. I think you saw that probably at the last game. He played a little earlier than he has been playing. He makes really good cuts, has good vision. Every opportunity he has gotten he’s taken advantage of it and grown with it. It’s really unfortunate that he hasn’t been able to contribute more until now because he had a two hamstring [injuries]. He had a hamstring [injury] early in camp then when he came back he pulled it again. He’s such a intense worker that a couple of times we had to slow him down because we felt like that’s why the hamstring bothered him. We would be trying to do walkthroughs, and he would be going full speed and pulled it. I have been really pleased with what he has been able to do. He is a physical, downhill runner. He is really trying to protect the ball better, and that is something all freshmen have to get used to. Obviously, the protections in the last games is something he has improved on as well. But, I have been proud of him. We have asked him to do some things with special teams that he had never done, and he learned them really quick—between punt return, kickoff return. He is learning how to compete in those drills and that is carrying over to his confidence at running back.”
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Check out the Top 5 plays from our #DawgsInTheNFL in Week 6 ‼️
📺 The action continues this weekend – watch all the @NFL Dawgs in Week 7 this Sunday on FOX, CBS, & NBC / Monday on NFL Network & ESPN pic.twitter.com/Qz4Z8y6ev7
— Georgia Football (@GeorgiaFootball) October 20, 2020
University of Georgia head football coach Kirby Smart offered the following comments on Tuesday.
Head Coach Kirby Smart
Opening statement …
“I will open with we are starting our third Dawgs for Pups initiative. A lot of our kids started this and they have done a tremendous job. Several of them have kind of grabbed the bull by the horns — they did a wifi, food drive, and then also they are starting a coat drive for winter months for kids in the local area who do not have coats. I encourage people who want to get involved in that to do it. I know it is important to our players and they have done a good job. Cortez Hankton has kind of been spearheading some of those, so it’s been a tremendous initiative those kids have taken part in.
“It’s an off week this week. We are a beat up football team. We’ve got some guys who’ve got to get well, but we’ve also got a lot of guys that have got to get better. So we are taking this week, working Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday trying to get fundamentally better, trying to focus on us, not really on opponents, things we can get better at. That starts today. I am excited to see the kids go out and work. We’ve got a lot of guys who probably haven’t gotten to play the number of snaps that we would like in terms of the teams we played and the tight games we have had to play, and we’ve got to get those guys better. It starts today and they will get to work on it today.”
On JT Daniels and if this week gives them time to give him an extra look …
How the Bulldogs in the NFL fared in Week 6:
Giants 20, Washington 19
Tae Crowder, LB: Crowder returned a fumble 43 yards for a touchdown and notched 10 tackles for New York.
Andrew Thomas, OL: Thomas logged 22 offensive plays at tackle and helped the Giants accumulate 240 total yards.
Thomas Davis, LB: Davis was on Washington’s inactive list.
Lions 34, Jaguars 16
Matthew Stafford, QB: Stafford went 19-for-31 for 223 yards and a touchdown for the Lions. He added five carries for 14 yards.
D’Andre Swift, RB: Swift had 14 carries for 116 yards and two touchdowns for Detroit. Swift became the first Lions rookie since Barry Sanders in 1989 to rush for at least 100 yards and score two touchdowns in a game. Swift added three catches for seven yards.
Isaac Nauta, TE: Nauta made his 2020 Lions debut with 18 offensive snaps but he did not have any stats.
Chris Conley, WR: Conley had a 6-yard reception for Jacksonville.
Abry Jones, DL: Jones was on the Jaguars’ inactive list.
Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | F |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
7 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 24 | |
7 | 13 | 14 | 7 | 41 |
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs suffered their first loss of the 2020 season to the No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide, 41-24 Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium in front of a crowd of 19,424 and a national-televised audience on CBS.
“I was really pleased with the way our guys competed,” head coach Kirby Smart said. “Frustrated that we couldn’t get anything going in the second half, especially on that opening drive. I thought we would have been able to run down, but we stalled out and lost some momentum.”
Smart added, “Give them [Alabama] credit. We have to get back to the drawing boards because we still have a really good football team and we control what is in front of us by how we play.”
The Bulldogs (3-1) compiled 414 yards on offense, 269 through the air, and 145 on the ground. The defense forced one interception and sacked Alabama quarterback Mac Jones three times.
Bennett Directs The Offense: Junior Stetson Bennett (18-for-40, 269 yards, 2 TDs, 3 INTs) directed No. 3 Georgia to a 24-20 half-time advantage but No. 2 UA outscored Georgia 21-0 in the second half for a 41-24 win. The Bulldogs finished with 414 yards of offense on 70 plays. Down 7-0, Bennett led an 8-play, 57-yard TD drive in 2:40 capped by a 10-yard rush by Zamir White, his fifth of the year and eighth of career. Bennett connected on an 82-yard TD to James Cook, career-highs for both, and it makred the longest TD pass by the Bulldogs since a school record 98-yarder in 2013 from Aaron Murray to Reggie Davis versus North Texas. Following the PAT, it made it 14-7 Georgia. With the scored tied at 17, Bennett led a 12 play, 66-yard TD drive in 2:43, converting a 3rd-and-goal to freshman Jermaine Burton with a five-yard TD pass.
A Look At The Defense: Coming in, Georgia led the SEC and ranked fifth nationally in Scoring Defense at 12.3 points per game while Alabama led the nation in Scoring Offense at 51.0 points per game. In the first half today, Georgia held No. 2 Alabama to 20 points on 298 yards of total offense on 41 plays. However in the second half, UA scored 21 points including getting 14 off turnovers and finished the game with 564 yards of total offense on 76 plays. UA hit a 90-yard TD pass to Jaylen Waddle for a 27-24 lead with 4:00 left in the 3rd quarter.
Georgia | 2020 Averages | Alabama |
36.0 | Scoring Offense | 51.0 |
12.3 | Scoring Defense | 30.3 |
+3 | Turnover Margin | +1 |
420.0 | Total Offense | 560.3 |
172.0 | Rushing Offense | 175.3 |
248.0 | Passing Offense | 385.0 |
7.1 | Punt Returns | 11.0 |
42.8 | Kickoff Returns | 13.4 |
On Saturday, Georgia will make its second of at least three scheduled appearances on CBS this season. The network televised the Bulldogs’ 44-21 win over #14 Tennessee last weekend in Athens. The Bulldogs’ alltime record on CBS is 62-42-1. The Florida contest (Nov. 7, 3:30 p.m.) is also slated to be on the network.
No. 3 Georgia goes on the road to face No. 2 Alabama this Saturday at 8 p.m. ET in a matchup of the SEC division leaders. Under Kirby Smart, the Bulldogs are 9-4 in Top-10 showdowns. Georgia’s last win over a team ranked as high as No. 2 came in the 2018 College Football Playoff Semifinal when the Bulldogs defeated No. 2 Oklahoma 54-48 in overtime in the Rose Bowl Game.
Georgia has faced Alabama twice in the Smart era with the Crimson Tide rallying back both times. No. 4 Alabama won the 2018 CFP National Championship Game 26-23 over No. 3 Georgia in overtime. Then, No. 1 Alabama edged No. 4 Georgia 35-28 during the 2018 SEC Championship Game.
The Bulldogs went 3-1 versus Top-10 teams in 2019. Georgia beat No. 7 Notre Dame in Athens, No. 6 Florida in Jacksonville, Fla., and No. 7 Baylor in the Sugar Bowl. The lone loss came to then No. 2 LSU in the SEC Championship Game.
This Saturday, the Bulldogs will be facing their third Top-15 foe in a row. Georgia dominated No. 7 Auburn 27-6 in Athens on Oct. 3 and then beat No. 14 Tennessee 44-21 at home last weekend. The last time the Bulldogs faced three Top-25 teams in a row in three consecutive weeks came in 2018 when Georgia reeled off victories over No. 9 Florida, No. 9 Kentucky and No. 24 Auburn.
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama — The SEC is adjusting its football schedule following the postponement of two games originally scheduled for October 17 due to positive tests and quarantine of individuals related to COVID-19.
One of the adjustments will move the Saturday, Oct. 24 Georgia-Kentucky game in Lexington to Saturday, Oct. 31. Kickoff for that game will be 12:00 noon ET on the SEC Network. The Bulldogs will now be off on Oct. 24.
On Monday it was announced that, due to positive tests and quarantine in the Vanderbilt football program, the Vanderbilt at Missouri game of Oct. 17 is rescheduled for Dec. 12.
On Wednesday it was announced that, due to positive tests and quarantine in the Florida football program, the LSU at Florida game of Oct. 17 is rescheduled for Dec. 12. In addition, due to an extended pause of team activities for the Florida football program at the advice of health officials, the Missouri at Florida game originally scheduled for Oct. 24 is rescheduled for Oct. 31 and will be televised on the SEC Network Alternate channel at 7:30 pm ET/6:30 pm CT.
Also, the Kentucky at Missouri game of Oct. 31 is rescheduled for Oct. 24 at 4 pm ET / 3 pm CT on the SEC Network and the Georgia at Kentucky game of Oct. 24 is rescheduled for Oct. 31 at Noon ET / 11 am CT on the SEC Network.
In addition, the South Carolina at LSU game of October 24 will change game times and is now scheduled for 7 pm ET / 6 pm CT on ESPN.
SEC Football Schedule Adjustments:
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"Today, we create HAVOC." 💯#GoDawgs #ATD pic.twitter.com/uAUYIBFdK0
— Georgia Football (@GeorgiaFootball) October 14, 2020
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Game 4 Trailer | Light it Up pic.twitter.com/Um2pu7X5eG
— Georgia Football (@GeorgiaFootball) October 15, 2020