Georgia football news and notes for Monday

A video showing the security of the reserve Jake Pope Celebrating with Ole Miss fans in the postgame crowd after the Rebels' 28-10 win at Oxford went viral on Monday.

Bulldog head coach Kirby Smart was anything but satisfied.

When asked if he had seen the video, Smart responded quickly.

“What an idiot. Just stupid. I haven't seen it to this day, but he's embarrassed. He is upset about this. “This is obviously a childhood friend that he grew up playing with there in Buford and he knows him, hadn't seen him in forever, but he's just not that smart,” Smart said. “To be honest, I don’t have time to waste energy on this. My focus is on Tennessee. I’m not worried about that.”

Bulldog linebacker Jalon Walker didn't have much to say, simply saying, “Right, a mistake, but I mean that's just Coach Smart's answer.”

Pope apologized on X Monday morning.

Pope has played in just three games for Georgia, the last two weeks ago against Florida.

Georgia must win if the Bulldogs want to secure a spot in the 12-team College Football Playoff.

However, Smart doesn't see Saturday night's game in Tennessee quite the same way.

“I never take such approaches. I don’t think they’re the right way to go,” Smart said. “I think you're constantly trying to win your conference and to do that you have to win your games at home. You have to play well away from home and we managed that and we didn't. We did both, but I like it when it’s about who we play and how we play, not just the results.”

…Smart for the game on Saturday evening: “They have a great team; Josh [Heupel] did an incredible job with this team. They are playing at a high level and have just watched some of their special teams. I always say you can see the character of a team and how good a team is and how hard they play with their special teams. They play really hard, both on defense and offense,” Smart said. “I think they're the leaders of the conference, maybe top three, top two, in almost every category, both offensively and defensively. As you know, we struggled with this last week, they were pretty high in both cases. But this team plays at an extremely high level defensively and has an extremely explosive offense and an extremely physical offense.”

…On his players playing with nagging injuries: “Well, you follow what the doctors give you, you know what I mean? If a man is healthy enough to exercise, he will exercise. If not, then he won't do it. That's why I second the recommendation of the excellent training staff we have. These kids want to practice. They want to go out and do it, and sometimes they can,” Smart said. “Sometimes they can do certain things but not others. I trust these people. And most of the time, especially on your offensive line, it's like the strongest unit you have. So they're going to give it everything they've got and they want to go out and practice and play. But in some cases they can, in others they can’t.”

…Wise on Earnest Greene III's development and the injuries he's dealing with: “NO. 1, he plays the most difficult position in all of football, which is the left tackle position. I think he did really well. We rolled some there and Monroe (Freeling) spells him at times. Earnest was dealing with an injury “It's a really tough injury to deal with. He's got burners. He's got some spikes and burners over there on his shoulder,” Smart said. “Even last week, the number of reps he could do in practice was limited. He's frustrated because right now he's trying to improve and get better and sometimes that doesn't happen when you can't train every day and you can't go out there and maybe fight and compete the way you want to. But for you Man who actually played left tackle for two years in major college football and was part of an offensive line that did a great job protecting the quarterback over the course of two years.”

…Wise about any similarities between Ole Miss and Tennessee's offenses: “Not really similar. “Two different crimes,” Smart said.

…Smart on Tennessee's defensive front: “With four people they are extremely disruptive. You don't have to give in. “They’re pushing, and pushing well, but it’s not necessary,” Smart said. “They’re chasing people with four guys rushing. They have two teams and play a lot of boys. They have elite rushers on the edge, we all know that, but no one talks about how hard they play inside. I think coach (Rodney) Garner has done a great job, the physicality they play with throughout the defensive line is tremendous and they play really hard.”