Georgia was unbeaten until it came across a circular saw, the Alabama Crimson Tide. The Bulldogs are now # 3 on the College Football Playoffs leaderboard and will face # 2 Michigan, the home team, in the Capital One Orange Bowl on December 31st.
UGA head coach Kirby Smart met with the media via Zoom on Sunday to discuss the game and had nothing but good things to say about the Wolverines’ work in 2021. He said he has great mutual respect for head coach Jim Harbaugh and his family, citing his relationship with Georgia basketball coach Tom Crean, who is married to Harbaugh’s sister, Joanie.
“I have great respect for the Michigan and Ccach Harbaugh team,” said Smart. “I saw a bit of their game last night, and I saw some of their games on TV throughout the season when we had some late and some early kicks. He has a lot of respect for his job, always respected him as a college coach and pro coach. Since his brother-in-law is Tom Crean, Tom and I have obviously become good friends and I have mutual respect for their family. “
As for general impressions, while Smart caught some of Michigan’s emphatic 42-3 wins over Iowa to win the Big Ten championship, he said he really had no idea what the Wolverines were from a schematic point of view to do.
Instead, he noted the guidance he had seen in the post-game interviews and said that it paints a good picture of the corn and blues.
“It would be really unfair to say that, we just found out we were going to play them. The biggest thing I noticed was the physicality they played with last night, the lead they had, ”said Smart. “I was very impressed with the interviews I saw after the game. I think you can always tell where a team is and what it’s about. To hear these guys talk after the game was really impressive. You are a senior-oriented, senior-oriented team that is leading it in this direction. “
Of course, the great man in the defense is the one for whom everyone is on high alert.
Team captain Aidan Hutchinson has gotten a lot of buzz at the Heisman Trophy in recent weeks, but Smart wasn’t particularly familiar with being in SEC land. However, he managed to get a dossier and thorough introduction from an unlikely source – his 9-year-old son – on Saturday night.
“No. 1, I was really impressed with his interview last night and again today,” said Smart. “I caught him – I forget who he was with, but the coverage of the college football playoffs. You can tell it’s high motor, high intensity, serious, just a talented player.
“It’s funny: when I got home last night, I turned on the game, watched it. I have a 9 year old son who loves college football. He’s looking at everything, YouTube. He told me about Michigan’s players and that was the first guy he told me about. I ask myself, ‘How does my 9 year old son know about Aidan Hutchinson?’ He knew everything about him. He gave me all of these stats and I was pretty amazed because I really started finding Michigan (and learning about it) last night. And he spoke of Aidan. “
Michigan and Georgia will play the College Football Playoff Semifinals at the Capital One Orange Bowl on December 31st at 7:30 p.m. EST.
What Iowa’s coach Kirk Ferentz said about football in Michigan after the Big Ten Championship Game
