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Kirby Smart discusses his confidence heading into Texas week

Even though Texas has looked nearly unbeatable, Georgia football should have a lot of confidence heading into this showdown.

By Trevor Michael

Oct 12, 2024; Athens, Georgia, USA; Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart on the sideline against the Mississippi State Bulldogs in the third quarter at Sanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images
Oct 12, 2024; Athens, Georgia, USA; Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart on the sideline against the Mississippi State Bulldogs in the third quarter at Sanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images / Brett Davis-Imagn Images
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Georgia football is coming off their second straight victory after losing to Alabama, this time with a 41-31 win over Mississippi State.

A win is a win at the end of the day, but this win probably hurt the fanbases confidence moving forward. Especially with No. 1 Texas waiting for Georgia, I think we all wanted to see a more dominant victory against Mississippi State.

Kirby Smart was asked about his confidence heading into the week of preparation for Texas, and you can tell he was very careful when choosing his words.

"Well, it depends on what area. You know, throwing the ball or catching the ball. And, you know, Texas is not – Texas is a different team than Mississippi State. They have different structure, they have a different quarterback, different wideouts. I mean, it’s not the same offense or defense."

- Kirby Smart

You can tell that Smart was careful not to give the Longhorns any bulletin board material with his answer here. Smart gave as bland of an answer as possible which kind of avoided the question altogether. But where should Smart’s confidence be heading into this showdown?

As the head coach his confidence should be very high, but I don’t think Smart would be crazy for being confident in his team. Two games stand out that show why he, and the rest of the fanbase for that matter, should be confident against Texas.

The first is UGA’s season opening win against Clemson. Georgia destroyed the Tigers 34-3 and made everyone think Clemson didn’t belong in the top 25. But what has Clemson done since then? They’ve rattled off five straight wins and are back in the top 10 of the AP Poll. So that win over Clemson is potentially the best win in the country yet this season.

Then we have the Alabama game which Georgia did lose 41-34. However, I still think the Bulldogs can take some positives away from that game. Georgia gave themselves every chance to win this game on the road, in a wild environment, and after going down 21-0 to the Tide. So even though this loss still upsets the fanbase, there are still ways to look at the game where you can find some confidence going into this matchup against Texas.

I’m glad Smart didn’t say anything to help motivate Texas any more than they already will be. The last thing anyone needs to do is poke the bear that is Texas. But there are a lot of reasons Georgia and Smart should be confident heading into this game.

The Bulldogs have a massive opportunity in a top five matchup with College Gameday in town to show the college football world that they belong. A win over Texas in Austin would prove that Georgia are legit national title contenders, and I think we all should have confidence that UGA will be able to do just that.

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