Kirby Smart, Bulldogs preview 2026 Oklahoma football game

Georgia football head coach Kirby Smart and two players, linebacker Justin Williams and center Drew Bobo, spoke with the media on Monday about their upcoming home game against the Oklahoma Sooners.

Second-ranked Georgia and unranked Oklahoma will square off on Saturday, September 26 at Dooley Field at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Ga. The game will be televised by ESPN and it will kickoff at 3:30pm ET (Buy Tickets).

Bob Wischusen will call the play-by-play, Louis Riddick will provide analysis, while Stormy Buonantony will report from the sidelines.

Below is a transcript of the Oklahoma press conference which was provided by UGA.

Head Coach Kirby Smart

Opening Statement
“We’re excited for the continuation of SEC play this week at home. I know our crowd will be fired up and ready for a great matchup. I have a lot of respect for Coach Venables and the job he’s done everywhere he’s been. I have known him for a long time and have the utmost respect for him as a coach, a man and a person. We go way back, and he’s probably been one of the premier defensive coaches in all of college football for a long time. They have a really good football team, and it’s a great matchup. And it seems like the conference is gonna be full of them all year, in terms of that. So we’ll be getting ready to play these guys today.”

On Oklahoma HC Brent Venables’ defense…
“It is fundamentally sound, aggressive, and attacking. They are one of the top in the country every year in tackles for a loss and sacks, and I don’t think people give their coaches and their kids enough credit for how they play. They all the blocks and strike. They play with unbelievable pad level and an intensity that’s kind of unmatched in terms of the way they play. You see it on tape, and he’s always been that way. He did it at Clemson, and he’s a great defensive coach.”

On RB Nate Frazier’s status…
“Nate [Frazier] is going to be fine. He’ll be day-to-day. I expect him to be able to play.”

On Oklahoma WR Isaiah Sategna III…
“He’s really explosive, and that usually comes from speed. It comes from confidence. He can accelerate from point A to point B really fast. He’s a great returner and has great hands. They find schemes and ways to give him touches. He has to touch the ball to be explosive. They’ve done a good job of that. You look at the history of what he’s been able to do in the return game and being able to catch the ball. He’s a very good playmaker.”

On facing Oklahoma QB John Mateer…
“He pops out at you. He’s hard to tackle. He breaks a lot of tackles, and he’s tough. You talk about the run game; he runs inside, he runs outside, he runs the pass, he scrambles to throw, he’s made explosives with legs. I think back to last year and his growth, because we didn’t play him, but you saw his highlights. You have seen the things he’s done. He has become even more that way this year in terms of understanding our conference, when to run, and when not to. He has done a good job of it.”

On the 2018 Rose Bowl matchup…
“It got us the National Championship.”

On differences between the 2017 Oklahoma and 2026 Oklahoma teams…
“That was a long time ago. I really was not thinking of that game coming in here today because the staffs were almost entirely different, even ours for the most part has changed. We have a couple of guys left over from that staff. They probably don’t have any, or if they do, I don’t know who they are in terms of overlap. It was that kind of game because of what it meant and what it led to, and where it was played. There were some great players in that game. Just look back at Baker [Mayfield], who’s a good friend of mine now, and Nick [Chubb] and Sony [Michel]. It was a great game.”

On DB Gentry Williams…
“He’s a great kid. He’s quiet, he works hard, he’s a good tackler. He competes every day out there for us, and he’s made us a better team. I’m hoping he can continue to work to carve out a role.”

On Oklahoma’s defensive havoc…
“The way they go about their business, they are violent, they play hard. They play with a purpose, they are very intelligent. They know what you’re doing as well as you know what you’re doing. They do a great job of formation and things, and understanding what your tendencies are. They play really hard. You get good, talented players playing with fundamentals. They don’t get blocked. They might get blocked; they don’t stay blocked, but they get off blocks, and they’re hard to block.”

On S Tyriq Green, OLB Chase Linton, and WR Isiah Canion…
“They will all be back soon.”

On facing a highly physical team like Oklahoma…
“It’s not a different matchup than we have every week. Every week in the SEC is intense, tough, physical, line of scrimmage. That’s not any disregard to Oklahoma, they have a tremendous team, but we have eight of those in a row. So I’m worried about us, and I’m worried about how we prepare, and I’m worried about what we can do to make our team better. What allows you to have consistency in performance that maybe is unmatched? What can we do better than the opponent and get our players in a better position to be successful? Whether it’s what we show them, whether it’s what we teach them, whether it’s how we do things, you’re constantly looking for a better way. When you look across college football, it’s going to be one of those years, because there’s a lot of parody out there.”

On OL Ekene Ogboko’s first three games…
“Only as valuable as he learns from them. I would argue that the practices he’s had 36 times are more valuable than those games, but I know that’s not what the book says. I can promise you he’s working just as hard or harder in practice to grow and advance as he is in those games. But I get it, there’s a certain level of anxiety that goes with playing that game. He’s gone and played in them.”

On Oklahoma DT David Stone…
“I have much respect for him and all of them. I have got to be honest with you, there’s not a guy on their defense that comes in, and they rotate guys, that doesn’t play with great pad level and great effort. You turn on the tape, they run to the ball like they’re in elite shape. They’re not tired, they strike, they knock back, they get on blocks, and he’s the leader of that, but they all do it.

On ILB Justin Williams’ development…
“He’s been able to maintain and keep his weight, and that’s helped him. He stayed healthy, which has helped him. He’s always been really smart, intelligent, plays hard, like a leader, very positive, upbeat attitude, loves practice every day. So I was happy to see him have success, but it doesn’t shock me because of the way he works.”

On Oklahoma’s offense…
“It’s not my job to evaluate and criticize and talk. I have to get our guys ready to play, and I think that’s a hard job each week in our conference because so many kids and teams live through perception of what’s said. These coaches are going off what’s on tape, and there’s a lot of times where those two don’t match. I know their players. We recruited almost every one of them. I know the quarterback, I know has tremendous athleticism, I know the backs, I know receivers, I know coaches. I think they have a good team and we have got to prepare to play against them.”

On Venables’ strengths…
“Technique and fundamentals. They have a great scheme.They have an awesome scheme. They’ve got an answer for everything you do, but that’s not what does it for them. They strike people, they get off blocks, they attack the ball, they play downhill, they don’t play passive. Technique and fundamentals. You can see it when people go to block them, they strike them and get off the block. That’s what football is. Defensive football is like, are you hard to block? When you turn on tape, they have a bunch of hard to block guys. When you’re hard to block, you’re good. Then you put some size and talent with it, and then you get what you’ve got at Oklahoma, which you see them in our conference. They are, year-in and year-out, one of the best defenses.”

On S Ja’Marley Riddle and the Georgia secondary…
“Getting better. He’s getting better, and we’re getting better. It’s a work in progress with each of those guys. There are a lot of things we can do better and clean up on technique and fundamentals wise, and we need to. But I’m proud of where Ja’Marley [Riddle] is, and I’m proud of his work ethic. He’s coming off a significant injury. Most people don’t associate him with injury because he wasn’t here when it happened, but in the last game, you see he had a really tough injury, and he’s bouncing back.”

On decreased interception numbers…
“Safeties can never roam, they have a job. Their job is either the middle of the field, half of the field, or a quarter of the field, they can never roam or just do what they want. I think that’s a perception. They can’t do what they want, they have a job to do. But certainly the evolution of football has become more spread, and with more spread, higher coverage results in less interceptions, believe it or not. There’s less zone, and zone leads to more interceptions than man does. But teams force you nowadays with running quarterbacks, RPOs, run game, variations of things, pressure, trying to get negatives to play more man, and it probably results in less interceptions.”

On similarities with Venables in building programs…
“I don’t know that because I don’t know his program. I’m not going to confess that we’re like them and they’re like us. I know he’s a defensive-minded guy, I know he’s built on physical toughness, and the way you play the game is important. But I don’t really know how he runs his program, it would be remiss to comment on that.”

On OL Drew Bobo…
“Effort and toughness is what Drew [Bobo] embodies. He’s a captain. So what am I seeing from him? Effort and toughness. He plays with elite effort. You won’t find a play that he doesn’t cover down. He’s by the pile, he’s knocking people off the pile. I don’t know what it is, but he has elite stamina to run and play and just keep playing. He can play every snap and not get tired. He has toughness. He’s played with an injury that’s been significant, and I know he’s excited to be out of the club this week, so he’s there to get out of that. I’m just proud of what he’s done and what he’s meant to our program. People don’t realize how many years he’s spent down there on scout team, taking reps and just going against older D-linemen and improving. He’s improved himself to be the player he is, but he’s even better as a person of character in terms of carrying the mantra of our team, which is effort and toughness.”

On S Rasean Dinkins…
“He’s a physical tackler. He had a really good hit on kickoff last week. He’s a knock-back tackler, he’s a thumper. He has really good ball skills, he plays the ball well to be part of the field. He can play multiple positions. He’s hard to block. I talked about it earlier. If you’re hard to block, you can be a good defensive player. I’m very pleased with his growth and he’s continuing to improve, and he’s a good football player.”

On WR Talyn Taylor…
“Talyn [Taylor] has worked great. The next step is to continue doing what he’s doing. He didn’t get many opportunities on Saturday, not by his choice. There was a P.I. that he was probably going to catch a touchdown on. He ran a couple of great routes on plays that protection broke down. But he’s done a great job. He’s improved on his physicality and blocking, and that’s always a big asset to him. He runs good routes. I think he has to continue to get better and improve, but it’s on little things that he continues to grow and get more confidence in. So I’m very pleased with where he’s at.”

On TEs Elyiss Williams and Ethan Barbour…
“I would argue all four of those guys. Lawson [Luckie] had two huge blocks in the game. [Jaden] Reddell had a huge block on the outside. They’re all doing a good job in that room. So Elyiss [Williams] and Ethan [Barbour], as well as the other two, continue to be assets and find ways to incorporate their physicality and how they help the team. They’ve all helped us on special teams, but those four guys take a lot of snaps.”

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