CFP SEMIFINAL CHICK-FIL-A PEACH BOWL: GEORGIA VS OHIO STATE

December 29, 2022

Chris Smith

Mercedes-Benz Stadium

Georgia Bulldogs

Press Conference

CHRIS SMITH: Just the culture, how we compete, how we attack the game. Obviously we have a tremendous amount of talented players around here. I think that's why we're able to get back because we kept things the same. We didn't change anything. We kept the main thing the main thing.

Q. How have you managed to stay hungry? Undefeated at this point. It's hard to run the table. What have you tried, what has Coach done to make sure you guys are on point every week?

CHRIS SMITH: I think Coach started off at the beginning of the season and said we will always be the hunters. We will never be hunted. We just took on that mentality as a team.

I think me personally, I'm always hungry, and everybody else on this team, they're always hungry. We've got a tremendous group here, and we built a lot of connection. When one person's hungry, it rubs off on another person. When another person works hard, it rubs off on another person.

Like I said, I think that's how we're able to stay hungry. Feeding off each other and feeding off what the staff gives us and having another opportunity to win a championship. A lot of people don't have this opportunity. Just being in the position that we're in, man, it's a blessing.

Q. Who is the funniest person on the team?

CHRIS SMITH: We got a lot of funny characters. I'm going to have to say a few. Nazir Stackhouse, he's one of the funniest people on the team. Tykee, he's one of the funniest people on the team. I might be in there a little bit. I ain't going to lie, we got a pretty funny squad. Pretty much everybody has funny moments.

Q. Who thinks they're the funniest person on the team but they're not that funny?

CHRIS SMITH: Probably me. I would say Kelee too. Kelee think he funny. He is funny, but he's not the funniest on the team.

Q. Who's the last person on the bus?

CHRIS SMITH: The last person on the bus, I might say Smael. Smael was the last person on the bus when we came here.

Q. Who has the best game day fit?

CHRIS SMITH: Kelee. Kelee always come with it. And Tykee come with it too.

Q. I've heard the phrase unicorn, wrecking ball, those kinds of things. How would you describe Jalen Carter, and what makes him so special?

CHRIS SMITH: You hit it all on the head, unicorn, game wrecker, a special talent. Honestly something I've never seen before. He's such a hard worker. He's such a humble guy, such a great teammate.

I know at the end of the day, he's going to do whatever it takes for us to be able to succeed, and I love him for it.

Q. I know at one point, this was a little bit ago, but character issues got brought up with him for draft stuff. What have you seen in regard to just his character?

CHRIS SMITH: I believe all those things are nonsense. Like I said, he's been a great teammate from day one to me, very humble guy. Never really talks about himself at all.

He just wants to do everything possible to see his team succeed. Like I said, man, he's a special talent, and he doesn't take that for granted at all. He always puts in the work and does whatever possible to be able to succeed.

Q. Trying to ask a bunch of guys. Before you all left for Christmas, you wrote down on a big poster board or something about what you're going to do to help the team succeed. What did you write down?

CHRIS SMITH: I said that I was going to take care of the MOBB, and the MOBB is our defensive back group, all the safeties and cornerbacks. MOBB stands for More Opportunity Building Brand. I actually have a chain on it right now.

Just taking care of the MOBB and doing whatever it takes for us to succeed as a group. Whatever they need from me, that's what I was going to do. That was my message, and it carries over to the team as well. Just anything the team needs me to do, I'm willing to do.

Q. What was that exercise like to see not only what you're going to do but what everybody else was putting down?

CHRIS SMITH: It was great seeing what everyone's focus was on heading into this long stretch we're heading into. It was great just to be able to gather things from other people. Oh, he's focusing on that. I might need to focus on that too.

It just put new ideas and new things in your head. It just puts everybody on the same course and the same goal. All those things on the paper, man. It's all going into helping us build a connection and going into this game is going to help us succeed for sure.