Three Big Takeaways from Kirby Smart's Press Conference: Western Kentucky Week

With Labor Day being on Monday, the weekly press conference with Kirby Smart and a couple of Georgia Bulldogs got moved to Tuesday this week.

The Dawgs will take on Western Kentucky on Saturday as over a 40-point favorite for the second week in-a-row. Tuesday’s press conference was one of the shortest previews over the last few years, and the Hilltoppers were seldomly spoken about.

Here are the three biggest things to know:

Dante Dowdell

Dowdell transferred from Kentucky and had a really good spring for Georgia. He even looked like Georgia’s most explosive running back at G Day.

In July, he was involved in an ATV accident, suffering several serious injuries. Dowdell posted an update on social media earlier this week, and it was a difficult watch. It is clear he is nowhere near close to playing football again and is in a comprehensive rehab program in Atlanta.

“He's been around the team some, and he knows what his priorities are right now and that's trying to get healthy,” Smart said.

Pass Rush

Georgia accrued three sacks in the season opener against Tennessee State. That is a good start considering the Dawgs only had 20 sacks across 14 games last year.

The caveat is that Tennessee State is probably the worst opponent that Georgia has taken on this decade. Georgia practices are more difficult than what happened on Saturday.

Smart wasn’t overly impressed with the pressure his front put on the Tigers’ quarterback. True freshman PJ Dean was credited with 1.5 sacks. Chris Cole was in the backfield often as well as another true freshman Khamari Brooks.

That doesn’t seem to matter that much to Smart.

“Hard to evaluate it based on those guys they were going against. No disrespect to them, but there was not a long time for the quarterback to be able to throw, and the quarterback got it out really quick as well,” Smart said.

Outside Linebackers

Amaris Williams was the highest regarded transfer that Georgia brought in this offseason. The former Auburn edge rusher was a blue chip prospect in high school and was expected to be a big part of the Georgia defense. His ACL injury in the spring will keep him out for the foreseeable future.

That means other young players will have to step up in order to provide depth behind Quintavius Johnson. We saw true freshmen Dean and Brooks play a ton - many reps with the starters - on Saturday. Chase Linton is dealing with an injury that smart said has him on a “week-to-week basis.”

“Feel good about those guys. Those guys have kind of been that way for a while in terms of getting reps, growing. Q (Quintavius Johnson) does a good job leading that group, helping them out. Amaris (Williams) is doing it from the meeting room, and, Chase has been in there with them as well, done most of camp, and all those guys are getting better, Kamari, PJ, and, and Darren,” Smart said.

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