What Georgia's Kirby Smart Said About Missouri on Monday

A full transcript of everything No. 1 Georgia head coach Kirby Smart had to say about No. 14 Missouri.

No. 1 Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart spoke with the media on Monday about Saturday's matchup against head coach Eli Drinkwitz and No. 14 Missouri.

Here's a full transcript of the media availability:

Opening Statement:

"Eli has done a tremendous job with this team. We thought they were really good last year when we went to play them, which proved to be true, and they’ve gotten better. Their quarterback is very experienced, which is the No. 1 quality you look for. How many games has he played in, what experience has he had, has he played on the road in our conference? He’s done all those things and he’s done them really well. They’re using him, his legs and his ability to run really well. He’s a competitor, he’s fast on tape and he’s playing at a high level. He’s doing it with some weapons offensively.

Defensively, they’re extremely aggressive, one of the best defenses we’ve played against since we’ve been here. Even last year, they were just dominant and just love the style of play they have. They’re aggressive, they’ll get after you and they’re doing the same things this year. All in all, they’re a very well-coached team. They do a great job, they could easily be undefeated. That game was back-and-forth with LSU, and coming off a week off, we’ll need to get ourselves prepared for a battle at home."

On Missouri's Recruiting Ability, Especially With 5-Star WR Luther Burden:

"Luther is a great player. Everybody in the country wanted him, it wasn’t just us. They’ve got a very fertile recruiting ground. They’ve got some very good players in their state. Eli does a really good job of taking that circle, say a five-hour radius, and because of where they are geographically, they don’t cross with a lot of SEC schools like maybe we do with each other. So, he comes into Georgia, I think he has six or seven kids on the roster from Georgia, six or seven from Florida, and they’re able to get guys from that 5-to-6-hour radius.

Eli's done a great job. I mean, you've got a great program to sell when you create environments like we played in last year at their place, when you play on national TV and you play the style of play they played. They played really well on the road against Kentucky, so he's got a product to put out there and sell to kids to come play there."

On How Last Year's Comeback Win Against Missouri Helped Georgia the Rest of the Season:

"Yeah, it helped. Being down in a game or not playing well maybe because of them playing well and you not playing well, it makes you question yourself. There's a lot of things they did to help us and a lot of things that we did to help them, but at the end of the day, we didn't play very well until the fourth quarter and a lot of that had to do with them. I give them credit for the way they played. Last year's team, in retrospect, it helped build the resiliency of that team."

On Missouri Quarterback Brady Cook:

"He's very bright, sharp, athletic, gets the ball out in something like 2.3 seconds, 2.2 seconds. He knows where he's going with the ball, he understands coverages. I mean, it's like all the quarterbacks you've played that have experience: they make good decisions, they don't make many mistakes. I mean, maybe he broke a record for number of consecutive passes without an interception or something? The guy doesn't make very many mistakes, and he's accurate and he's athletic. So I don't know what else you can ask a quarterback to be than those things."

On Missouri Running Back Cody Schrader:

"Toughness. It's just incredible toughness. He doesn't get tackled by the first guy. He's another guy that seems like he's been there forever. I've seen this kid playing forever and ever for them. People bounce off of him when he hits them. He plays on special teams. He embodies what a football player should be and what a committed-to-his-university football player he is. He's had games early in his career where he was the feature back, but then he wasn't. But he stayed the course, and is extremely physical."

On What Makes Luther Stand Out:

"Size and speed. He looks like a running back. He's explosive, fast, he's different. They move him around. They do a great job using his skillset."

On Luther Burden's Versatility:

"I think it depends on the coverage. We've got a lot of variance in our defense in terms of multiple ways to play the slot and do things and they've got multiple ways to move him around. They can make him slot, they can make him a running back, the X, the Z. They're very unique in their ability to slide guys to spots, and they don't do it just based on plays. They ask guys to run multiple different routes from different positions. In terms of what they do, they're very varied and so are we. It should be a good matchup."

On Missouri's Defense:

"They're physical, they're fast, they're aggressive. Played well. I think they're coming together with what they do. They've had some extra guys come from last year but they've got a lot of returning starters. I don't think anybody has played real well defensively against LSU. So when you say tighten things up, LSU is all over the explosive sheet in terms of the number of explosive passes and runs."

On Missouri Contending for the SEC East Division Title:

"They've got good players. Eli would tell you it starts with good players. It starts with quarterback play. You look across the league and you say, 'Man, who's playing good in the country?' They've got good quarterbacks, and they've got a good quarterback. When you've got a good quarterback, you've got a chance. He makes too many decisions throughout the game that if he is not making the right decision, you're not going to be in the game. They've got a quarterback matched with great skill and a really aggressive, sound, tough defense. That's the recipe for winning. He's accumulated that talent through the portal and high school. He's a talent evaluator and trying to get guys on the team to buy in. Eli does a great job, and I have a lot of respect for him."

On Missouri's Run Style:

"No, a lot of people use it. It's not unique to them. They're good at what they do. They have their run style and the way they coach their guys to do it. They do a good job in the run game. We prepare for what every team does. It's just a different team this week."

On Eli Drinkwitz's Mindset:

"Eli's got his personality. He'll tell you. He doesn't seem to stress and worry about things a lot. He takes it as it comes and enjoys it and I try to do the same myself when it comes to enjoying the moment. He says all the time that you better enjoy it or why did you get in it. That's what you come to this big league to play, to play in big games like this one."