8/30/24: Coach Kirby Smart Post Game vs. Clemson Part I

we'll have Coach smart first and a couple players coach you can start with a opening statement yeah I always open with um thanking our fans but I also want to thank um afflac as a title sponsor for this event what incredible venue atmosphere um any time you play in Atlanta in this facility and it's part of a title sponsor game where you're playing another know top 15 top 20 match up to me it it feels like a playoff game and it's a great way to um try to assess where you are as a team no longer do you have to win every game but you do have to find out when you're going to be playing your best and you want to be playing your best towards the end of the year and one of the best barometers is to get U quality wins and I got a lot of respect for Clemson dbo um the way they play the way they coach but this event's special to me and every chance we get to play in it we want to play in it so Gary stoken and his staff do a tremendous job and so has affle we got Mike holders on mikers raise your hands please INF with the Atlanta Voice coach Mala Stars a few years ago as a freshman in this game he made a big catch I mean interception made another huge interception in this game today and then freshman KJ Balden he's a freshman had a pretty good game what do you attest the credit to got to starts growth in this game and being able to put freshman in games like this and they have a great performance yeah I think coach Schuman and his defensive staff have done a tremendous job of making our defense uh adjustable um complex without being complex and you can play more players that way so uh you know we we we feel freshman all the time we had Maliki playing this game two years ago KJ played the game today Michel played the game two years ago you know if you're a talented freshman and you can learn then you can play and Malachi's growth is a credit to his humbleness or his humility and he is a great kid from a great family and um that's that's what makes Mali special coach tell to how that first half looked a lot like that game in Charlotte a few years ago uh just what kind of adjustments or was there anything you saw at halftime or what would you owe that the offense getting a loose in the second half I think that Mike and the staff did a good job at halftime looking at pictures seeing what was there um capitalizing on some explosive plays um we blocked well on the perimeter and that that drive of the second half kind of opened things up it loosened them up uh and allowed us to be more explosive and um we use some Tempo to help us and uh we think we're a really well- conditioned team and I thought that juice between you know Nate's quickness rossing energy and Aran and Dylan making some play perimeter yeah Michael goes down in the third quarter looks like Jaylen wer comes in an outside linebacker he gets back toback tackles for loss on one drive next Drive gets back toback sacks what sort of allows him to come in and play both inside and outside and make an impact like that like he did today yeah he wasn't really playing for Michael he he was playing outside lineer before Michael went down that's I mean they both they don't really play the same position there's there's packages there where jayen plays inside there's packages where jayen play outside uh we've had to get uncomfortable as coaches to uh use his skill set and I think you know shim in the defensive staff have done a great job of finding ways that he can be successful so Mel and him both are really good football players and they both need to be on the field they don't need to to share time coach I think during the game B tweeted that Malachi's the best DB in the country um do you think you got Javon Bo during the game do you feel that way about Malachi you think he's the best I don't know I can I judge I had seen him it's easier for bull to say that because he's seen the things that Malachi's done in practice I do think the play I saw him make today maybe one of the best defensive football plays I've ever seen live in person CH a lot of M TV but that one you know he twisted Andor his body and and how he can find the ability to go find that ball and get it is um is pretty special hey coach over here um obviously the first half it was a little bit difficult to get the running game going uh how did Nate Fraser help you guys open up the offense a little bit and get the offense going I don't know that Nate opened up that I mean we we we we hit some prent runs to start the game you know and you try to mix and mingle and and and U try to catch people out balance um we thought that we could run in a little better inside than we did they have some U some big defensive linemen they're big on their edges they're big up the middle they're they're going to give people you know problems defensively have a lot of respect them uh I think Nate brought a little juice and a little energy there it's cashed it too and and Branson Bron hasn't played football in a year so Bron's going to be fine he's he's he's a really good back and we're going to continue to get better and look forward to using all those guys skill set we we've got a really good dynamic in that running back room in terms of the players we have