Tag: Georgia football

Everything Kamari Lassiter Said in His Q&A Session at SEC Media Days

Q. Kamari, wanted to ask about another guy in the DB room, Javon Bullard, with the approximation change this off-season. What have you seen from him, and especially facing some of that adversity last year and coming back with the two MVPs at the end of the season. What have you seen from Javon this year?

 

KAMARI LASSITER: JB, that’s a guy that he comes to work in day-in, day-out. He’s the same guy every day, a hard worker, first-guy-in, last-guy-out type of guy, and he attacks everything with the same mindset and same heart. He loves the game of football. So I expect nothing less than for him to excel in that position.

 

Q. Seemed like last year that some of the guys almost had the mentality that they were being overlooked despite winning the national championship the year before. Now that you’ve won back-to-back, is that still the case or what is the mentality the team carries with them?

 

KAMARI LASSITER: The mentality for this year is really just better, never rest. We are trying to eat off the floor. We are not trying to be complacent this year. We are trying to uphold our standard and keeping the main thing the main thing.

Q. Obviously when you’re at Georgia, you’re competing the against the best of the best in practice. When you have a guy like Ladd McConkey on the offensive side of the ball whose motor seems to continue to just roll, how much of a challenge is that and how great is it knowing that you have a guy like that on your team?

 

KAMARI LASSITER: Whenever you have guys like that, it has to make you better as a player, especially whenever you go against them, you know every day. So you know with Ladd and with all the other receivers in the room, we have a lot of guys explosive and can make plays all over the field. So it makes the defense and me as a person in the secondary much better.

 

Q. Playing at Georgia, a lot of defensive players have gone on to the NFL, a lot of guys and a lot of first-round picks. Competing with those guys against those guys in practice, how does it help you develop as a player?

 

KAMARI LASSITER: First coming in, you don’t expect to see as much talent as you really see. But going over the years, it’s just made me such a better player. I can say that I’ve grown technically as a football player and as a man, just going up against these guys and learning from the older guys, and to now trying to teach the younger guys what I’ve learned.

Q. With Stetson Bennett moving on, the passing game is going to have a new quarterback this year. What have you seen out of the offense this off-season and what are you expecting from the Georgia passing attack this fall?

 

KAMARI LASSITER: I expect us to still be explosive. The offense is looking great. The quarterbacks, all three of those guys, they are three guys who are very composed and very good at manning the offense and keeping up the standard.

 

Q. What’s it like going against Brock (Bowers) in practice?

KAMARI LASSITER: It’s great. I love competing at a high level and I love going up against the best players in the country every day. It makes me better and I’m sure this makes them better as well. But I really take pride in knowing that I’m competing against some of the best players in the country every single day.

Q. What’s been the hardest part of having a National Championship season, and what do you anticipate going for a third one that are going to be some of the challenges?

 

KAMARI LASSITER: I would say really one of the challenges would be just keeping our head down and just maintaining a good work ethic and keeping the right mindset and attacking everything the right way.

 

Q. Along those lines, a third straight National Championship would be unprecedented in college football. Has there been a lot of talk around the program about the chance that you guys have to do something that’s really never been doing in the history of the sport?

 

KAMARI LASSITER: No, sir. We don’t really focus on that. We just try to focus on, you know, every day we come in, we try to get better at something, whether it’s trying to get stronger, faster, more conditioned. We just try and keep the main thing the main thing. We try and focus on the task at hand, and that’s just trying to be the best version of ourselves that we can be.

 

Q. In this off-season, you guys brought in Dominic Lovett in the transit portal, and Lovett had a big year at Mizzou last year. Between what you saw against him in the game last year and what you’ve seen in practice, how do you feel he’s going to fit in this offense and what role do you expect to see him play this year?

 

KAMARI LASSITER: Dom is going to fit in the offense just fine. He’s a great player. He works very hard. You can tell that he loves the game of football. He enjoys being out there, and I enjoy competing against him and watching him compete against some of the other guys on the field as well.

Q. What is the K3? And if you had to describe playing defensive back under Kirby Smart, how would you tell somebody about that experience?

 

KAMARI LASSITER: Okay. So the K3, it’s pretty simple. My name is Kamari and my number is 3, but it also is for my family. So myself, my mom and my pops, we all — all of our first names start with the letter K. So it’s three of us. So it also stands for that as well. And playing under Coach Smart, honestly it’s a blessing. I take it as an honor. It’s not a job really to play under him. He played DB at Georgia and he takes pride in it because he loves the university. He just brings all the energy and passion to the meet room and the field every day. Myself and the other guys, we feed off that.

Q. What’s the weakness for this defense coming into ’23?

 

KAMARI LASSITER: I would say some of the things that we should look out for is just trying to keep the right mindset. I think that as long as we keep the right mindset and just continue to stay connected and lean on each other that we can be as great as we want to be.

 

Q. Stetson isn’t the only change that’s happened at Georgia this year. You also are now having Monken, obviously in Baltimore and the NFL. What’s it been like under Mike going up against that offense every single day? Have you seen changes? Are there a lot of similarities? What’s your thoughts overall?

 

KAMARI LASSITER: Overall, the offense basically has a lot of the same similarities. It’s the same explosive run, pass offense. You know, play-action, all that. It’s not many differences.

 

Q. You played in Alabama’s backyard, you went over to Georgia to play with that program. How has what has transpired matched up with your dreams?

 

KAMARI LASSITER: I would say that this is everything I hoped for and more honestly. Coming into Georgia, I wanted to prove myself right and show that I can play at a high level in the SEC. And you know, just coming in and the way that Georgia is preparing me, both as a player and as a man, I couldn’t really ask for much more.

 

THE MODERATOR: What are the specific challenges of handing the success that you guys have had there? There’s handling failure and there’s handling success. What’s the challenge?

 

KAMARI LASSITER: I would say some of the challenges of handling success would be just trying not to get too high when everything is going good. Trying not to stay on the high horse. Remembering the things that got you there to this point, and, you know, going back to that, doing the little things right and not taking anything for granted and not taking a rep or a day for granted, really.

Georgia defensive back Kamari Lassiter speaks to the media at the 2023 SEC Football Kickoff, Tuesday July 18,2023 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Nashville,Tn . (Jimmie Mitchell/SEC)

 

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2023 SEC FOOTBALL MEDIA DAYS SCHEDULE

From the offices of the The Southeastern Conference: 

 

The Southeastern Conference appearance schedule at its annual SEC Football Kickoff Media Days presented by Regions, set to take place July 17-20 at the Grand Hyatt in downtown Nashville, Tenn.

This will be the first time for the event to be held in Nashville and the third time for the event to travel outside of the Birmingham metro area. Atlanta has previously hosted the event in both 2018 and 2022.

A more detailed daily schedule with full television information, rotational breakdown and student-athletes attending will be available prior to the event.

SEC Network will once again bring the four-day event to a national audience.

Names below are listed alphabetically by school and not an indicator of actual order of appearance. Media registration for the event will begin in early-May.

Read more >

 

 

 

 

 Who can beat the Georgia Bulldogs? That’s the question as we look ahead to the 2023 regular season schedule. How about ’em? Kirby? I told ’em “How ’bout them f*cking Dawgs!” That’s what I told ’em. The Georgia Bulldogs have won back-to-back national championships and have come 30 and won over the last two seasons in the process, including a perfect 15 and 0 season last year.

Now, of course, Georgia’s gonna lose a game at some point, but is that gonna be in 2023? , when you bring up the dog’s 2023 schedule, everybody’s gonna point to how easy it. On paper, but they’re always gonna conveniently leave out the fact that the Dawgs have aggressively scheduled non-conference opponents over the last few years.

And this season they had the Oklahoma Sooners on the road, no less scheduled for game two with Oklahoma and Texas coming into the league in 2024. The SEC told Georgia that they couldn’t play Oklahoma. . As a result, the 2023 season schedule shakes out like this on September 2nd. The Dawgs play UT Martin at home.

Then on September nine, they have Ball State. That’s the replacement game for the Oklahoma Sooners Road game that got kicked out by the SEC. The next week we get into League play on September 16th against the South Carolina Gamecocks. This is a game that people usually point to as one where Georgia could possibly trip up early in the year .

I know Spencer Rattler is coming back for the Gamecocks, and that was a big deal. Shane Beamer has that program moving in the right direction, but I don’t think they’re ready to compete with the Dawgs in Athens just yet. The next week, the Dawgs get UAB at home to close out the opening month of the season, which saw them have four home games.

Now that’s advantageous for the Dawgs because they are replacing their offensive coordinator with Mike Bobo and they’re gonna be breaking in a new quarterback, getting to do those things at home between the hedges, well, that has to be an advantage. In week five, the Dawgs go on the road for the first time to the plains to take on the Auburn Tigers in a continuation of the deep South’s oldest rivalry.

Now, this game can be a little tricky, but I don’t think even with a new head coach and new offensive coordinator, that the Tigers are gonna have things figured out just yet, and Georgia should be able to get that win on the road. Just know it could be a little dicey. As we move into October, the Dawgs continue league play welcoming in the Kentucky Wildcats between the hedges in Athens.

I just don’t think that Mark Stoops can bring his Wildcats between the hedges and get that victory, six games in and halfway through the season. We’ve already pointed out a couple of places that could prove to be a little tricky for the Bulldogs in the 2023 regular season schedule, the home game against South Carolina and then the road game against the Auburn Tigers.

As we make our way through October, the Dawgs continually play taking on Vanderbilt on the 14th, and then they’ll close out the month after a bye week with the annual game in Jacksonville against the Gators. Now this game against Florida, you just never know what’s gonna happen. Florida appears to be a mess, but I’ve seen too many things go down in Jacksonville that I just can’t explain, so I’m never gonna count this game as a victory for the Dawgs until all zeroes are on the.

Thank you for being here. If you enjoy the kind of content we’re producing, please take a second and hit that thumbs up button. It really helps us get the video out to other dog fans just like you. As the calendar returns to November, we start to play the games that people will remember, the ones that will define the season and November in 2023 will be no different for the Dawgs.

They open the month on the fourth against Missouri. The Dawgs struggled on the road last year in Colombia before finally pulling out the win, but I don’t think Missouri’s gonna have the horses to get the job done in Athens this year. The next week, the Dawgs welcome in the Ole Miss Rebels. This is one game that could be a little tricky for the Dawgs because we don’t know exactly what Ole Miss is gonna be.

They’re gonna have a new quarterback, most likely. They definitely have a new defensive coordinator and they’ve brought in a bunch of transfers from the portal yet again. How Lane Kiffin stirs the pot down there in Mississippi and gets this team to gel is gonna determine what kind of challenge this is gonna be for Georgia here in November.

We’re just gonna have to wait and see. One thing’s for sure, though Mississippi should be talented enough to be on the Dawg’s radar as a possible threat. Next up comes the game that most people are gonna point to as the biggest threat to the Bulldogs pulling off another undefeated regular season. They have to go on the road to take on the Tennessee Volunteers in Knoxville.

Coming off great season in 2022, Tennessee is gonna have to replace some of the players that made that season so great as they head into 2023. Georgia has won six straight in the series, and they’re gonna look to continue that dominance on the road in Knoxville. To wrap up the season, the dogs head down to Atlanta to take on the Jackets in another bout of clean, old-fashioned hate.

The Dawgs should take care of business here and they could very well be playing for another 12 – 0 season when they get to Atlanta. So there you have it. A look at the 2023 regular season schedule for the Dawgs. Do you think they’re gonna go undefeated again? Be sure to drop me a comment below and let me know.

Let ’em know. Kirby, we will not be hunted at the University of Georgia. I can promise you that.

 

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Counting down my favorite Georgia games from the 2022 season, a campaign that ended with the Dawgs completing their quest for back-to-back national championships with a historic victory over the TCU Horned Frogs in the College Football Playoff National Championship game.

 

7.  Florida Gators

I’m a proud, card carrying member of Generation X that came of age in the 90s and saw the Steve Spurrier era at Florida up close and it was painful to behold. To me, Florida is without question Georgia’s top rival and a win over the Gators is mandatory for me to be truly happy with any given season. Any win will do, but believe me when I tell you the Dawgs can’t beat Florida bad enough. With that as the backdrop you can understand why I start every Georgia football season with the same list of goals for the team as a fan:  1. Beat Florida  2. Win the SEC East 3. Win the SEC

Now the wording on these goals will change a bit as the conference adds new members, but the bottom line will remain the same. It all starts with whipping the Gators. That is why the 42-20 win in the game in Jacksonville (most likely to soon move on campus) makes my list of favorite games of 2022.

6.  Oregon Ducks

Coming in to the 2022 season as the reigning national champions, everyone expected Georgia to be pretty good, but the splattering that happened to kick off the season in Atlanta against Oregon served to recalibrate even the most rabid Dawgs fan’s expectations for the 2023 season. Kirby’s Dawgs put the college football world on notice that a repeat as national champions was a very real possibility for Georgia, even with the losses sustained off the previous year’s national championship squad.

The Dawgs speed, precision, and power were on full display as they blistered the Ducks on their way to a 49-3 win. From the opening kickoff, Kirby Smart’s squad dominated the Ducks. Georgia could get whatever they wanted, any which way they wanted it, and provided a stark reality check for new Oregon head coach and former Georgia Defensive Coordinator Dan Lanning in his Ducks debut.

5.  LSU Tigers – SEC Championship game

Like I mentioned above, one of my annual goals for the team as a fan (shared by the team) is to compete for and win the SEC Championship and the Dawgs found themselves back in Atlanta to bookend the 2022 regular season with a chance to do just that. Much like their previous trip to Mercedes Benz Stadium to open the season against Oregon, Georgia was on fire against the Tigers and looked dominant en route to a 50-30 victory and the SEC title, Kirby Smart’s second as head coach of the Dawgs.

This game was highlighted by a couple of plays that will live forever in Georgia lore. The first came early in the game when Junior Nasir Stackhouse blocked a 32-yard field goal attempt and Chris Smith patiently waited for the right moment before picking the ball up and returning it 96 yards for a touchdown to give the Dawgs a 7-0 lead. Georgia would go to the half leading 35-10 tying the mark for the most points in an SEC Championship Game first half. Later, Georgia standout defensive lineman wrapped up LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels and lifted him in the air for the sack as he raised one finger, instantly becoming one of the most iconic images in Georgia football history.

4. Missouri Tigers

Wait. What? That’s right. The mid-season struggle trip to middle earth checks in at number 4 on my favorite games list for 2022. Admittedly, this game was not pretty, not another sparkling example of the Dawgs dominance in what would eventually become another national championship season, but I argue that if this game had not played out the way it did the Dawgs don’t win their second consecutive national title.

This was the game the Dawgs learned a lot about exactly who they were and showed the nation they could overcome adversity and win in spite not playing their best game. There was a lot working against Georgia that night. A team that was banged up, playing on the road in the road in the toughest conference in the nation, on a cold night with a fan base that was invested and created one of the toughest atmospheres the Dawgs would play in all season.

A couple things leap to mind about this game that absolutely land it on my list of favorite games for the 2022 season.

The Dawgs young defense really came of age that night in Colombia, repeatedly forcing field goal attempts to keep Georgia in the game. The play that exemplifies this gritty effort for me came in the 2nd quarter when Malaki Starks walked down Missouri’s Cody Schrader, tackling him on the one yard line after a 63 yard gain. The Dawgs would force one of five Harrison Mevis field goals in the game. In a game Georgia would go on to win by just 4 points, the play made by the Freshman All-America proved to be gigantic.

The other key to the game that night and to Georgia’s season was how the team’s leaders stepped up and handled adversity. At one point after the half, Darnell Washington went to the coaches and straight told them to run the ball behind him. That he was going to make some room. Washington also had a couple of big catches that led to scores for the Dawgs. Another leader that stepped up was a banged up Kenny McIntosh, who was dealing with a deep thigh bruise suffered in the Kent State game a week earlier. Down 10 in the 4th quarter, it was McIntosh ripping off big runs and punishing defenders as Georgia battled back to win the game 26-22 and remain undefeated.

3. TCU Horned Frogs

Sitting at 14-0 after a victory over Ohio State in the Peach Bowl on New Year’s Eve, Georgia rolled into the national championship game against TCU and absolutely obliterated the Big 12’s first representative in the title game, defeating the Horned Frogs 65-7 to go 15-0 and claim their second consecutive national championship becoming the first team in the College Football Playoff era to win back-to-back national titles. To say the Dawgs dominated does not effectively capture what happened on the field that night. Georgia’s victory was truly historic. The Dawgs 58-point blowout victory in the College Football Playoff finale marked the largest margin of victory in bowl game history. It was more than just a victory or another championship, it was a statement that Georgia is king of the college football world until further notice. HBTFD!

2. Tennessee Volunteers

Number 2 on my countdown of my favorite games of the 2022 season are the Tennessee Volunteers. The Vols rolled into the Athens as the story of the season, a media darling, and ranked number one in the initial College Football Playoff rankings. Georgia was ranked number one in the AP poll at the time setting up an here-to-fore unheard of number one vs number one match up. College Game Day was in town and the atmosphere was absolutely electric and the Dawgs proved they were more than up to the challenge. For the second time in 2022, Georgia showed the world that they possessed the ultra-rare ability to flip the switch and find another gear in the biggest games.  The Dawgs dominated Tennessee.  The 27-13 final score was not indicative of physical beat down Georgia administered between the hedges that day. Tennessee was lucky the rains came in because based on what we saw in the first half, the Dawgs could have named their score. Feeling disrespected coming into the game, Georgia left no doubt afterwards that they were the class of college football and forced the national media to acknowledge as much.

1. Ohio State Buckeyes

The College Football Playoff, New Year’s Eve, and a match-up the college football world had been waiting to see for two years … Ohio State taking on Georgia … and this one would live up to the hype.

This was a heavyweight bout with the combatants trading punches throughout, but when the money was on the table at winning time, the Georgia Bulldogs showed themselves to be the better team. The Dawgs made play after play, dominating the 4th quarter, outscoring the Buckeyes 18-3. For the game, Georgia had more rushing yards on fewer attempts, 50 more passing yards on the same number of completions and attempts, more total yards on fewer plays, and made enough defensive stops to win the game proving once again what they had demonstrated throughout the season. The Dawgs were the best team that night, the most complete team in the sport, and the best team in college football in 2022.

So there you have it. My favorite games from the 2022 season for the back-to-back and reigning national champion Georgia Bulldogs.

Go Dawgs!

 

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