Georgia beat Oklahoma 41-13 on four takeaways, but Kirby Smart says the Dawgs can play better. Here's the story behind that score and a viral headline.

Georgia beat Oklahoma 41-13 on four takeaways, but Kirby Smart says the Dawgs can play better. Here's the story behind that score and a viral headline.

Georgia turned four Oklahoma turnovers into a 41-13 win at Sanford Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 26, and Kirby Smart still sounded like a guy who saw work to do. That's the real story. It isn't the Facebook headline claiming he called out his own defensive coach.

Key takeaways

No. 2 Georgia (4-0, 2-0 SEC) beat No. 24 Oklahoma 41-13.

The Dawgs only narrowly outgained the Sooners, 308 yards to 296, per the AJC. Turnovers decided it.

I found no credible report of Smart calling out a Georgia defensive assistant.

Four turnovers did the heavy lifting

Oklahoma lost three fumbles and John Mateer threw an interception, according to ClutchPoints. 

Linebacker Chris Cole returned one fumble 85 yards for a touchdown, and KJ Bolden picked off Mateer. Smart's choice for play of the game was a forced fumble by Rasean Dinkins, per Sports Wire Live.

Smart also didn't pretend every takeaway was earned. His line was "There's forced fumbles, and then there's gifts." Fair enough. Some of these were Georgia's doing and some were the Sooners just dropping the ball.

Why Smart wasn't celebrating

On his ESPN postgame interview, Smart said the score doesn't matter and that Georgia didn't play the best game it could. DawgNation's postgame breakdown noted there was little to fault in the first half, then an offensive lull after halftime. 

Smart credited Oklahoma's defense and said Georgia never took the Sooners out of the game the way he wanted.

That's the standard he holds. A 28-point win where you're outgained by a whisker on the stat sheet isn't a blowout to him. It's a warning.

About that "called out his defensive coach" headline

A site called Soccer Complete Info is pushing a headline saying Smart directly called out his defensive coach after a poor showing against Oklahoma. 

I can't confirm any of that. Georgia's defense scored a touchdown, forced four turnovers and held Oklahoma to 13 points. Whatever criticism Smart did make publicly was about the offense's lull and the team's overall standard.

If a site can't tell you who said what and when, be skeptical of the headline.

My Take

I'd worry less about the score and more about that second half. Georgia's offense went quiet against a good Oklahoma defense, and it didn't matter only because the other side kept handing the ball back. Against a team that holds onto it, that lull costs you. 

I like the defense's ball-hawking a lot, and I don't think Smart's frustration is an act. He's telling us the Dawgs are good, not finished.