Kirby Wants His Own Crowd to Act Like the Enemy
Written by Jarvis Prime on November 11, 2026
GEORGIA MONEYBALL — Wednesday, November 11, 2026
Georgia has not lost anywhere this season except Athens, which is why Smart spent his Monday press conference recruiting the fans instead of the recruits.
ALBANY, GA — · By the RFA Sports Desk
Kirby Smart did some recruiting Monday, and for once the prospects were not seventeen years old. He wanted the people with season tickets. Georgia's athletic department posted his remarks, and the man was plain about it. "I hope that our fans will turn out and support and create the same environments we've been seeing on the road," he said, and then, in case anybody dozed, "It has to be an advantage for us to play at home." You do not hear a coach beg his own stadium to be rude very often. It usually means he has been somewhere lately that was.
Here is why he is asking. Georgia is 3-0 on the road this year, with wins at Arkansas, Alabama and Ole Miss, and 4-1 at home. The one loss came against Auburn in Athens, the Saturday after the Bulldogs went to Tuscaloosa and won. That is the exact shape of this week: beat a ranked team in a loud place, come home, play a team you are supposed to handle. Smart knows the pattern as well as anybody. "We're a good team that's a week away from humility," he said Saturday night in Oxford, before the bus had cooled off.
Georgia has not lost a game this year in a stadium it did not own.
The players have noticed the same thing. Dontrell Glover, the sophomore lineman, told reporters Monday that the offense enjoys a hostile crowd because the whole point is to send it home before the game is over, and that he saw Ole Miss folks heading for the parking lot early in the third quarter. Khalil Barnes said the Auburn week was not a bad week of practice, Georgia just did not execute on Saturday. Talyn Taylor was asked Tuesday what has changed since then. "Really nothing has changed, really nothing's flipped," he said, which is either the most boring answer of the week or the most honest one.
Missouri, for its part, is a different animal away from Columbia. The Tigers are 4-1 at home and 2-2 on the road, with a 3-31 whipping at Ole Miss in the road column, and the Associated Press notes they have lost ten straight to Georgia and have not beaten the Bulldogs since 2013. But they bring the SEC's leading rusher in Jamal Roberts, 1,071 yards, and its leading receiver in Cayden Lee, 835. Eli Drinkwitz said he would be shocked if Lee misses the trip after his knee scare against Texas. Austin Simmons has thrown two interceptions in 283 attempts, which is not a man who gives the game away.
The number is drifting toward the home team. The desk's Sunday snapshot had Georgia by 13.5 with a total of 47.5; Sports Illustrated now lists 15.5, says Missouri has covered in seven of the last ten meetings, and takes the Tigers and the points. The desk's own opponent-adjusted rating makes it Georgia by about 15 in Athens, so nobody at this address is arguing with the bookmaker. Kickoff is 3:30 on ABC, about 50 degrees and a 10 to 15 mile an hour wind, which is sweater weather, not an excuse.
What Georgia cannot borrow from the crowd is bodies. Smart told reporters Monday the team is not as deep as it has been, and the Athens Banner-Herald reported his answer on cornerback Ellis Robinson was two words: "No clue." Craig Dandridge's hamstring may not heal until the season ends. Missouri lost defensive end Langden Kitchen for the year to surgery Tuesday. Both sides will show up short-handed on Veterans Day week, and the side that is not surprised by its own stadium ought to win. Georgia has not lost a game this year in a stadium it did not own. Saturday it finds out whether it owns this one.
The Notebook
- THE GAME EVERYBODY IS STILL ARGUING ABOUT: Notre Dame 31, Miami 24 in South Bend, decided on a disputed fourth-down ruling that Elija Lofton did not complete a would-be tying catch. It handed Miami its first loss and put Georgia atop the AP poll. Elsewhere, Oregon scored 38 straight on Ohio State, 41-28, and Michigan State kicked five field goals to beat Michigan 15-6.
- COUNTDOWN: Three days. Missouri at Georgia, Saturday, 3:30 Eastern on ABC, Sanford Stadium. Clear and about 50 at kickoff, 41 after dark.
- THE SLATE: Pachyderms at Anchor Boys, Saturday 12:45, Alabama by 15.5, leaning. Longhorn Steers at Bayou Bengals, Saturday 7:30, LSU by 4, a coin-flip. Volunteer Riflemen at Aggie Cadets, 3:00, Tennessee by 2.5, another coin-flip.
Written in the tradition of Lewis Grizzard, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 1946–1994.
Hear the desk read tonights report on Radio Free Albany, WPFQ 96.7.
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