Interim head coach Billy Gonzales met with the media on Wednesday morning ahead of Florida’s week ten matchup with Georgia. Gonzales previews the Bulldogs and discusses the importance of the rivalry.
Here’s everything Gonzales said during the teleconference:
Opening statement:
“We’ve been preparing hard this week for Georgia. Guys have been back on the football field after last week’s bye. They’ve been doing a fantastic job, a lot of energy, lot of excitement going on right now, and we’re excited to have an opportunity to go play up in Jacksonville this weekend. So with that being said, I’ll open it up for questions.”
On if his familiarity with the rivalry helps him vs. Georgia, general thoughts on this Georgia team:
“Okay, first and foremost, I think just having the experience of being there in Jacksonville, I think it’s always good that you can speak to your players, coaching staff and team that, what to expect. You know, just having an opportunity of where we travel, how we get there, going over the bridge, arriving at the stadium, what the stadium is going to look like. The field is going to be divided in half through the stadium, so I think that’s all unique in giving an opportunity to be able to challenge your players about the situation that they’re going to be playing in front of. So I think that, from that standpoint, I think it’s always good to have some type of experience, and as far as this upcoming team that we’re getting ready to play, they’re big, they’re fast, they’re strong. They’ve got playmakers on the offensive side of the ball. They do a fantastic job of managing, managing and keeping control of the ball, making great decisions. And then, like I said, on the defensive side, they’re big up front. They’re disruptive. CJ Allen runs the middle, and then they got some great players in the back end. They’ve got a lot of experience. So definitely going to be a challenge for us, and we’re excited to have the opportunity to go compete and play Georgia.”
On what he likes most about his team, and what Gonzales has seen coming out of the bye week:
“I think their attitude, I think it’s probably been the number one thing. We talk about having an opportunity to go out. They’ve shown a lot of renewed energy. Attitude’s been fantastic, and again, just we’ve been kind of preaching to the team, making sure that we take ownership as a team, be a player-led team, and they’ve done a fantastic job coming back, preparing. We had a great practice, the first two days of practice have been great, and we got to have another great one today. Obviously we want to continue to prepare until the foot hits the ball on Saturday, but overall, so far, it’s been a pretty good atmosphere, with these guys getting back on the field and wanting to play next to one another.”
On what makes Gunner Stockton a difficult matchup:
“Well, he’s got a great offensive line for starters. They’re big and physical. You take a look from right to the left, I’m going 6-4, 320 (Earnest Greene III). You got (Dontrell) Glover who’s 6-6, 325. You got Drew (Bobo) inside 6-6, 6-5, 305. You got Micah (Morris), 6-4 330. And then (Monroe) Feeling it out there at 6-7, 305. So they’re big and physical. Obviously, they’ve done a great job scoring points, averaging 33 points a game, I believe. They’ve done a great job. And then I think the biggest thing is Gunner is such a good decision maker. He’s done a really good job of controlling the ball. He does not make bad decisions. He’s got ten touchdowns to one interception. So, does a phenomenal job of taking care of the ball. So that’s one of the things that we’re going to look at and obviously, when you start trying to put a game plan together is how can you affect him? So that’s going to be one of the key game pieces for us to approach.
On what makes preparing and playing against Kirby Smart led teams such a challenge for anybody:
“He does a great job defensively, I think more than anything. He was a great defensive coordinator when he was at Alabama, and you take a look at his teams, they play with a ton of effort. They play with a ton of energy. They’re disciplined, they run around, they’re fired up. So, I think the biggest thing for us to prepare for is just with Coach Smart’s team, they play fantastic. They do a great job. Like I said, lots of energy, a lot of lot of excitement on their side of the ball. They run, they hit, they tackle well. I think getting back to that piece is, they do a great job tackling. If I’m correct, statistically, they have the fewest missed tackles in the SEC right now. So they do a great job as far as getting players down on the ground.”
Beyond coaching, what’s been the key to Kirby Smart’s success and stability at Georgia?
“Again, I think defensively they do a great job. They swarm the ball carrier. They get after the quarterback. You take a look at the offensive side of the ball, I talked about a little earlier, Gunner makes such great decisions. They’ve got playmakers on the outside. They’ve got between Zachariah Branch, Dillon Bell, you got (London) Humphreys, you got (Oscar) Delp, and then you got two big tailbacks in the back that you can turn around and hand the ball back to. So, he’s done a fantastic job over the years recruiting. They’ve got some great players on both the offensive and defensive side. He puts them together in the scheme. Coach (Mike) Bobo does a fantastic job. So all the way around, they’ve done a great job. He’s got a system in place, and so we just got to continue to play hard on our side.”
The Georgia-Florida rivalry’s importance to the program?
“Being a part of it, and actually having a chance from 2005 through 2025, it’s big. It’s big. It’s great for both states. It’s great for the state of Georgia. It’s great for the state of Florida. We’re sitting right there on the border of both states. It’s a unique stadium. It’s awesome. We talked about this in one of the press conferences here earlier, getting a chance to pull over on a bus as you go over the bridge, and you can kind of see the stadium and opens up, you see the Georgia fans, you see the Florida fans. It’s a big one right now for our players, and we talked about this the other day with the team, and the fact that this is the last time a lot of these players are gonna have a chance to play in this rivalry in Jacksonville. Next year, it’s going to be up in Atlanta. The following year, it’s going to be in Tampa. So its big, it’s a unique setting. Obviously, right on the right on the river right there. It’s special. It’s awesome. You walk in, we talked about it to the players. We go over videos with it. We get a chance to see, the stadium is going to be divided in half. You see it on film, when you’re watching film, you see a touchdown score, you see the into half the stadium, splitting the goal posts, stands up, and they’re jumping up and cheering, and you can kind of see the other half of the stadium just kind of sit down. It’s special. It’s a unique, unique, unique setting, and I love it. I think it’s great for both teams.”