News broke on Thursday that Kirby Smart agreed to a nine-figure contract extension with the Georgia Bulldogs Georgia coach Kirby Smart speaks during the national championship celebration at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Ga., on Saturday, Jan. 15, 2022. News Joshua L Jones

Georgia head coach Kirby Smart and his Bulldogs go into this year’s College Football Playoff as not only the No. 1 seed but unlike previous years, they are the hunted instead of being the hunters.

Despite being the team to beat, Smart knows his team still needs to take the mindset of being hunters and not as being the hunted if they are to win back-to-back national championships.

Smart explains his team’s preparation for the Peach Bowl to David Pollack on ESPN’s College Game Day.

“You show them. You show them the tape. You show them the things we’ve done wrong. We didn’t have exactly the perfect SEC Championship Game. We had a lot of things to work on,” Smart told Pollack, according to On3. “We talk all the time about how the mighty fall, and what things bring people down. Our team is well-connected. We don’t think that you have to have a loss to play your best. Sometimes that does help. I certainly think it helped our team last year. But for us, it’s about how we play and how we do things.”

After losing the SEC Championship to Alabama last year, the Bulldogs were underdogs going into the playoff which was all the motivation they needed to win a national championship rematch against Alabama.

Smart says he knows his team needs to come out swinging against Ohio State.

“There’s one way to go about playing in the Semifinal game, that’s as if it’s the only game you’re guaranteed, and come out aggressive and come out swinging. I know both teams will.”

[On3]

About Stacey Mickles

Stacey is a 1995 graduate of the University of Alabama who has previously worked for other publications such as Sportskeeda and Saturday Down South.