Georgia football HC Kirby Smart calls out kids who just ‘want a check’ instead of actually hitting people

On Saturday evening, the Georgia football program continued its winning ways with a blowout home victory over the Texas Longhorns to push their record to 9-1 on the 2025 college football season. Things were relatively tight in this game going into the fourth quarter, but Kirby Smart's squad outscored Texas 21-0 in the final frame to cruise to a 35-10 victory.

After the game, Smart spoke on the elite level of physicality that his defense brought to the table against Arch Manning and company.

“A lot of these kids want a check. They don’t want physicality. If you have the check and no physicality, you end with nothing. You’re not just getting checks at our place. We’re hitting people,” said Smart, per CJ Vogel of On Texas Football.

Georgia sure seemed to bring that mentality to the field on Saturday evening, constantly bludgeoning a Texas offense that seemed to be finding a rhythm in the weeks leading up to this matchup.

A big win for Georgia football

Georgia football now sits at 9-1 on the 2025 college football season, and could end up punching themselves a ticket to the SEC Championship Game depending on how things shake out with Texas A&M and Alabama. Georgia once again allowed their opponent to cruise down the field and score on their opening drive in this game, but after that, the Bulldogs' defense was mostly lights out against Texas, holding Arch Manning in check and keeping Texas at just 19 rushing yards for the entire game.

Along the way, Smart and his staff pulled off some tricks, including perfectly executing an onside kick in the fourth quarter that took all of the wind out of Texas' sails.

Georgia now likely just needs to win one of its last two games in order to get into the college football playoff, and they'll have a great chance to do just that next Saturday at home against Charlotte. That game is slated to get underway at 12:45 PM ET from Athens.