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Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Richt Press Conference Notes

So, not surprisingly, Mark Richt's Tuesday news conference was chock full of questions about Managing Expectations. I suggest anyone who uses the term Managing Expectations from this point on should have their press credential revoked. That might seem harsh, but Managing Expectations has taken its place in the all-time overplayed Hall of Fame alongside those "Whuzzuuuuup" commercials and Nickelback's "You Remind Me."

Anyway, non-expectation managing notes from the day:

-- Some interesting changes to the depth chart: Kris Durham is listed as the starting SE over Kenneth Harris. Jarius Wynn and Jeremy Lomax are listed as starters at DE. Prince Miller and Akeem Dent are both listed at second-string, while Darryl Gamble is listed as the starter at the SAM and Bryan Evans is listed as the starter at WC.

Despite all those changes, Richt assures they don't mean much, as there will be heavy rotations at each position.

-- Richt said both Ben Jones and Bean Anderson would see playing time on the O-line Saturday, but the starting five remains unchanged from last week.

-- Ramarcus Brown will serve as the primary backup on kick-return duties to Asher Allen.

-- Still no word on who will return punts, and Richt said it may be game day before he knows the answer. One guy it won't be on Saturday, however, is Knowshon Moreno. Richt said Moreno missed some reps at PR due to his shoulder injury last week, which basically ruled him out of doing the job in Week 1. Richt kept open the possibility Knowshon could return punts later in the year, however. I thought from the beginning Georgia wouldn't risk an injury to Knowshon against Georgia Southern, but I remain convinced we'll see him out there in a more significant game later this year.

-- Richt announced the captains for Satuday's games: On offense, it will be Matthew Stafford and Tripp Chandler. On defense, it's Dannell Ellerbe. On special teams, it's Brian Mimbs.

-- Richt said there was still no decision on a running-back rotation. He said it was possible Carlton Thomas and Dontavius Jackson could see some carries, but that Caleb King and Richard Samuel were clearly out in front for the most snaps behind Moreno. He said both should see significant playing time.

-- Richt said coaches met yesterday to determine which true freshmen would see the field Saturday (in essence, who is likely to redshirt) but wouldn't release the names. He did say he expected eight to 12 true freshmen to play in the game. (That list, most likely, includes Tavarres King, A.J. Green, Cordy Glenn, Ben Jones, Richard Samuel, Marcus Dowtin, Brandon Boykin, Blair Walsh and Baccari Rambo.)

-- Speaking of Rambo, the other DBs have raved about his progress. He looks to be the clear No. 4 guy in the safety rotation behind Reshad Jones, CJ Byrd and John Knox. My guess, however, is that Jones and Byrd are on the field a lot.

-- Also a fan reminder: Dawg Walk starts at 10:45 and, despite construction, will follow the same route as last season.

4 comments:

doginflorida said...

Re Hall of Fame sports idioms of ball coaches:

Let's hope that "Managing Expectations" will soon join that all-time favorite of "It Is What It Is" in the elephant graveyard.

Anonymous said...

David,

I'm trying to find out if there's a bar in downtown Athens that will be showing the game. My previous experience has been that PPV games aren't shown downtown in bars or sports bars. Do you have any info on that or any educated guesses? I'm going tailgating but my ticket situation is murky at best and I'd love to be able to walk to a bar downtown and watch.

Any help is much appreciated.

Anonymous said...

Wow, I really think a D-Line of Wynn, Atkins, Owens, and Lomax would absolutely wreak havoc this season...not to mention Irvin, Weston, Battle, Houston, etc. behind them!

As for watching the game on PPV, I've never done that downtown before so not sure how valid this is, but I'd guess the Georgia Theater is a pretty good bet. If not, maybe Wild Wings?

Unknown said...

If there is a place that will show the game it would likely be The Blind Pig Tavern on Baldwin Street. Pretty close to the stadium and on Game Day it is THE best place to be. www.blindpigtavern.com

I'd give them a call to see if they're showing it.