ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia coach Kirby Smart wasn’t happy with the crowd noise, or lack of it, at Saturday’s game against Auburn. And given two days to think on it, Smart doubled down.
The atmosphere at Sanford Stadium has been regarded as one of the loudest in the SEC, especially during the past few years. But after Georgia’s 31-13 win, Smart expressed frustration in his postgame interview with Georgia sideline reporter D.J. Shockley.
“(We’re) trying to have a home-field advantage like we’ve had when we’ve played against teams, and I can’t get crowd noise. That’s frustrating for me,” Smart said. “I know I got to do a better job as a coach, but we need these fans to support us, and these players need them behind them.”
Strong words from Coach Smart to Dawg Nation! Worth a listen dawg fans!
pic.twitter.com/sytYm2712w— DjShockley (@DjShockley3) October 6, 2024
At his Monday news conference, Smart was asked to elaborate on what he meant.
“I said what I said, and I stand on what I said. I feel like it could’ve been better,” Smart said. “We’ve had coaches who have come here who told us it was the best environment they’ve played in the entire year. And I didn’t think that was Saturday. And I don’t think I’m the only one who feels that way.”
The game was a sellout, as all have been for more than a decade, other than the 2020 season impacted by COVID-19. And the stands did appear full at kickoff, although some fans started to leave during the third quarter when Georgia took a 21-10 lead and many more when it got to 28-10.
Fans reacting online to Smart’s comments offered up several theories: fan disappointment coming off the loss at Alabama, lack of excitement about playing a 2-3 Auburn team and longer concession lines now that beer is sold at Sanford Stadium.
The simplest explanation, however, may have just been the nature of the game: It wasn’t that exciting. There were few explosive plays for either team and zero turnovers, and Georgia never seemed in much danger of losing. The Bulldogs took the lead on their first drive — which took 11 plays — and though the game was close until the third quarter, the Bulldogs never trailed.
But the atmosphere, or lack of it, made an impression on Smart, and with Mississippi State, the worst team in the SEC coming to town on Saturday, he may have been guarding against complacency. Georgia has won 27 home games in a row and has only one home loss since the start of the 2017 season.
“When I got hired here, it was all about pulling in the same direction, creating an atmosphere that’s hard to play in, win these games we play at home,” he said Monday. “Maybe we take it for granted, we’ve won so many games at home. But I know this, it’s hard. These guys going on the road across the SEC, you make it hard on them by what you do. So it’s not about a specific point in time, it’s about us all pulling in the same direction.”
By the third question that Smart got about the subject on Monday, he seemed to sense it was becoming a story and tried to diffuse it. Or at least he turned the blame to the media when he was asked if there was a particular point in the game he was more disappointing in the crowd.
“You’re wanting to make this us against them, that’s really not what this is about,” Smart said. “We’re a team, we’re a unit. I think it’s OK to say how you feel and try to pull the family together and pull the family in the right direction. You guys want to make it about, ‘Kirby said this.’ We’re a team. We’re a team. Let’s do this together. Let’s help each other.”
(Photo: Dale Zanine / Imagn Images)
