Georgia dismantled Western Kentucky 70-20 on Saturday. College football fans might assume that Kirby Smart would be over the moon about a 50-point win, but Georgia fans knew that wouldn't be the case.
Kirby Smart is a perfectionist at heart. He is never 100 percent satisfied even after the most dominant victories, and that was the case after Saturday's win when it came to the sloppy play from Georgia's backups.
Kirby Smart didn't hold back despite the 70-20 win, where he saw players show their lack of readiness to play in the SEC. pic.twitter.com/7MAbwZYXEm
— UGASports.com (@ugasportscom) September 12, 2026
Georgia's fast start was spoiled by careless play from the Bulldogs' backups
Midway through the second quarter Georgia extended their lead to 42-0 after Gunner Stockton's fifth touchdown pass of the day. A few minutes later Georgia capitalized on a turnover and scored again to take a 49-point lead with six minutes to go in the second quarter. It was at this point that Kirby Smart began taking the starters out and when Georgia started playing much worse.
For the rest of the game Georgia only scored one more touchdown on offense. Even though Georgia's backups only being able to score seven points on offense in the final 36 minutes of the game isn't good enough. Georgia's offense also turned the ball over twice with their backups in as well.
Georgia's defense wasn't much better either. They did score a touchdown of their own courtesy of Tyriq Green, but they gave up 20 points and multiple drives where Western Kentucky was able to find sustained success to move the ball down the field.
Kirby Smart wasn't happy with how Georgia's backups played on Saturday. He likely has very little concerns about how the starters played, but the performance from Georgia's backups wasn't good enough and could present some challenges with SEC play set to begin next week.
Georgia's cakewalk ends with the start of SEC play
The start of Georgia’s season was about as easy as it can get. An FCS opponent followed by a Group of Six team made for two gimme wins to start the year, but from here on out it gets much more challenging.
Georgia begins their nine game SEC season next week at Arkansas. The Razorbacks might end up being the easiest game left on Georgia’s schedule, but they will still be a step up in competition compared to who they’ve played the first two weeks of the season.
After Arkansas is when Georgia’s schedule will get even more interesting. Week four they welcome Oklahoma to Athens which is two weeks before they play at Alabama, Auburn, Florida and at Ole Miss in consecutive weeks. This is when fans will learn far more about this Georgia team compared to what they learned over the past two games.
So far Georgia has looked the part. No one should celebrate too much after their first two wins because of the level of competition, but Georgia handled their business which they deserve credit for. Smart knows that Georgia’s backups need to improve before SEC play, but overall Georgia looks like a team that is more than capable of competing for a championship this year.
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