CHICK-FIL-A KICKOFF GAME: OREGON VS. GEORGIA

September 3, 2022

Chris Smith

Dan Jackson

Georgia Bulldogs

Mercedes-Benz Stadium

Press Conference

Georgia 49, Oregon 3

Q. Chris, how similar was that play to Clemson? It looked like you jumped a skinny post off an RPO. Was it almost an identical play to the pick-six against Clemson?

CHRIS SMITH: Yeah, it's kind of the same, the way I jumped down, but it was a different kind of play formation and stuff like that. I just recognized the formation, and they was kind of running screens off it to begin with, and just studying the coordinator and things like that. I knew that it was a screen to go; it was possible to come off of it, and I just read the play, broke on the ball, and made a good play for sure.

Q. Chris, you got banged up there, breaking up that pass. Was it a shoulder? Just the wind knocked out of you? Two, Malaki Starks makes that first interception. How big do you think that is for him to make that kind of play in his first career college game?

CHRIS SMITH: Yeah, on the hit, I just got a little stinger on my shoulder. I'll be all right. Ain't nothing major.

Malaki Starks, like I've been talking about him all fall camp, he's a great player. I seen him do that a bunch of times, so definitely one of the greatest interceptions I ever seen. He laid out for that one. I was just excited. I couldn't believe he made the play.

But yeah, I think it's big for him. I think y'all are going to continue to see great things out of him because he's coming into the season.

Q. You guys obviously kept them out of the end zone tonight. Obviously that 4th-down stop at the end of the game, it seemed like this team, just like last year, had that same mindset of we're going to try and keep guys out of the end zone. How do you keep that same mindset after losing so many key players from last season?

DAN JACKSON: Yeah, we were actually just talking about it outside. That was one of the biggest moments in the game for our defense. We had some younger guys in, but they stood up and did what we needed to do. No score right there was huge.

CHRIS SMITH: Yeah, one of our mottos is "no one in our end zone," and we definitely pride ourselves on that, even up until all zeroes hit on the clock. Twos and threes were able to get in and get some good experience, but like you said, we wanted to hold the standard, and they did a great job of that: Bend but don't break.

Q. Both being safeties, how rewarding was it for you to see Malaki come up with that interception? Another defensive freshman, Mykel Williams, just what have you seen from him and what did you see from him getting his first action, as well?

DAN JACKSON: Chris talked about Malaki earlier, but I'm going to piggy-back on what he said. He's an incredible athlete, incredible player, and you're going to continue to see plays from him. That's a guy that comes in every day and is locked in and wants to help the team win, and it obviously showed today.

CHRIS SMITH: Same thing with Mykel. He's just a great person off the field, and like I said, he come in every day ready to work. Extremely talented, just like a lot of guys we have, and yeah, those two guys are great players for us for sure.

Q. Chris, there was a lot of talk obviously before this game about all the players you guys lost, particularly on defense. What do you think this performance shows in terms of what's on the table for you guys this year and how good this team can be or is?

CHRIS SMITH: Yeah, I think it just shows how hard we work and how good a job the coaches do with us. It was a lot of talk about us being complacent and we were real big on not being complacent. We want to do the hunting; we're never going to be hunted here, and that's something Coach Smart has pounded into our minds ever since the season started, and we're going to continue to play that way this year.

Q. How would you assess Javon Bullard and David Daniel's play in the secondary because both got a couple tackles? David Daniel made some plays towards the end of the game. Talk about their play. And then Chris, did you ever get acquainted with "Bubbly," that song?

CHRIS SMITH: Oh, I definitely know what the song is, I just don't listen to it too much; know what I'm saying? Like I say, Bull is one of the toughest players I've ever seen in my life. He has a great determination about him. He just goes out there and puts his best foot forward every day.

Same thing with Dave; he's been learning a lot from Coach Muschamp, and it showed out there today. He made a lot of good plays.

Everything that everybody did out there, man, it's nothing that we haven't seen, so it wasn't really surprising, but definitely a little bit more excitement from those guys. I was just excited to see everybody go out there and see all the work that they put in pay off today. It's not over; we're going to keep going.

Q. Chris, that pick was right after a personal foul penalty for you. I know you're not about to share what Kirby Smart said to you after that, but what is it about your ability to shake it off and go next play?

CHRIS SMITH: Just being a DB, period, and just the way I am, I have that next-play mentality. I definitely got the penalty, but one of our four pillars is resiliency. When I got back to the sideline, a lot of guys said, you showed resiliency on that. I just have that next-play mentality. You can't dwell on that; that's how you make mistakes. I was going like this after the play, which means, just keep chopping, man, and that's all I was willing to do.

Q. Getting back to that non-complacency and all that that Kirby preaches, how does he sell that to you, and how do you buy into it?

CHRIS SMITH: He says it just like that: We can't have any complacency. In the social media age today, you see a lot of things people say about us and they say we lost so many guys, we don't have anybody back there, and we hear those things, and we definitely want to go out there and show what we can do.

Like Coach Smart said, we want to do the hunting. We never want to be hunted. I just appreciate him for that mentality that he has because it rubs off on us tremendously. We take on a mentality to him that we want to go out there and make him and the rest of our coaches proud as well as each other.

Q. Dan, going back to the opening kickoff, you go down there and make the tackle. What was the feeling like in that moment, and generally what did you think of how you guys in the secondary played today?

DAN JACKSON: I try to take pride on any team I'm on, special teams, punt return, kickoff, all that, and you know, that rep was basically made at practice in my mind. We knew we fly down every day when we work kickoff coverage, and the ball happened to spill my way, and made a good play.

CHRIS SMITH: Kicked the game off right, man.

Q. What was it like playing on the other sideline of your former defensive coordinator?

CHRIS SMITH: I mean, it was a special moment. He was with us last year, and he taught us many things that we know today. It was definitely a challenge for us, and we wanted to go out there and put our best foot forward for our team. After the game, I got to talk to him. It was great. I ain't seen him in a long time. He's been on the other side of the country for forever, but it was great to see him for sure.

DAN JACKSON: Continuing off that, I have the utmost respect for Coach Lanning. He was able to get me playing time last year, and he coached me every day last year, and I'll be forever grateful of that.

He's a guy where he knows our strengths and weaknesses and he attacked them today, and it was a great game, and thankful for him.

Q. Dan, I know you guys have talked about some of the young guys a little bit, but from your perspective, them coming out in this environment and the lights were on, so to speak, as opposed to doing it in a scrimmage or practice, how much more does that mean to those guys as opposed to doing it back in Athens?

DAN JACKSON: Yeah, so obviously being a young guy, you're going to be nervous, but you've got to use those nerves to help you. Like you said, scrimmage-wise, it's not the same thing, but when you're playing against our offense and we have two scrimmages in the summer, those guys are prepared, and they showed it today.

Q. Chris, obviously so many starters last year leaving to the NFL; as you guys were walking off the field, I saw a lot of defensive players talking about, look out for us, watch out for us; just because we lost guys doesn't mean a whole lot. How is it that you come out to an Oregon offense that's pretty good, only give up three points; is that trying to set a precedent for how you guys are going to play for the rest of the season? Is that a statement you guys are trying to make?

CHRIS SMITH: We're always trying to make a statement every time we step out on the field. I just think the way that we played today attests to all the work we put in and how we wanted to execute the game plan, and a lot of those guys, they got drafted off the defense last year and were over there cheering us on, so that definitely helped us out a lot. I'm grateful for that continued connection we got with each other, and like I said, we want to make a statement every time we step out on the field, so we put our best foot forward, and we just go to work.