Smart is looking for No. 2 Georgia to 'continue to get better' against Western Kentucky

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Coach Kirby Smart realized an explanation might be needed when he said his goal for No. 2 Georgia in Saturday's game against Western Kentucky was to “continue to get better.”

After all, there seemed to be little room for improvement after last week's 63-3 season-opening win over Tennessee State.

“We have a saying around here, you don’t have to be sick to get better,” Smart said Tuesday. "That’s been the motto of last week and this week.”

Georgia (1-0) moved up one spot in the Associated Press Top 25 college football poll after Gunner Stockton passed for three touchdowns in less than one half and Nate Frazier ran for three scores in the dominant opening win. Georgia scored touchdowns on its first five possessions for a 35-0 lead before Stockton left the game.

The visit from the Hilltoppers (0-1) on Saturday will be the last nonconference game before Georgia opens its Southeastern Conference schedule at Arkansas on Sept. 19.

Western Kentucky opened with a 49-14 loss at Nevada but is coming off a 9-4 finish in 2025 that included a win over Southern Miss in the New Orleans Bowl. The Hilltoppers are 57-37 under coach Tyson Helton, who is in his eighth season.

“It shows you that they have a tremendous evaluation process,” Smart said. "They’ve done a great job of developing players. It’s changed, and he’s changed with it because they’ve had to dip into the portal and take more kids out of the portal because more of theirs have moved on through the portal.”

After Saturday's visit to Georgia, Western Kentucky will visit No. 5 Indiana next week. Helton said he wants to win each week but he also retains a goal of having his team ready for its Conference USA schedule.

“If we could do this correctly it’s a great opportunity for us to play the best teams in the country and get better as a football team and elevate our game and feel good about who we are so that when we get into the rest of the season and conference play, we’ve played high level opponents and we’re operating at a high level,” Helton said.

The Bulldogs will debut a new all-white look as an alternate uniform. The new uniform will feature white helmets, with red and black stripes, white jerseys with black numbers and red trim, and white pants. The switch from the traditional red helmets will be especially dramatic. The Bulldogs' traditional home uniform includes red jerseys and silver “britches.”

“I can’t wait,” tight end Elyiss Williams said Tuesday. “It’s going to be crazy for sure. I can’t wait to see the atmosphere when we bring them out.”

Georgia is 4-0 in alternate uniforms under Smart. They wore black jerseys against Louisiana in 2016 and in two 2020 games — a home game against Mississippi State and against Cincinnati in the Peach Bowl. Georgia wore white jerseys and red pants in the 2020 season opener against Arkansas as a tribute to the 1980 national championship game.

Georgia running back Dante Dowdell , a transfer from Kentucky, this week provided an update on Instagram on his recovery from serious injuries suffered in an ATV accident in the offseason. He said he suffered a punctured lung, broken ribs and collarbones and nerve damage to his right arm while also requiring nine staples in his head.

"He’s been around the team some, and he knows what his priorities are right now, and that’s trying to get healthy,” Smart said.

Added Williams: “We’re just trying to reassure him, you know. It’s a tough time for him, for sure.”

Dowdell spent the 2024 season with Nebraska and the ’23 season at Oregon before rushing for 560 yards for Kentucky last season.

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