Richt defends use of Green, says team must play for 'honor'

Mark Richt was anticipating a question about A.J. Green only getting four catches in Saturday’s loss to Florida. So the Georgia head coach did some research before getting on his weekly teleconference.

There were 16 plays, according to Richt, in which Green was the primary receiver. There were eight more in which the star receiver was No. 2 in the progression.

“We weren’t saying that hey we’re gonna throw this ball to A.J. no matter what,” Richt said. “You still have to read the routes.”

The passing game was a heavy topic on the call, after Georgia’s 34-31 overtime loss to Florida. Freshman quarterback Aaron Murray had three interceptions, including one in overtime that basically decided the game.

On that play, Richt said one route was run deeper than designed, but that wasn’t the main problem with the play.

“The thing that was most problematic on that play was the protection, and Murray having to throw the ball sooner than he wanted to,” he said.

Still, after watching the tape, Richt believed Murray simply made a few mistakes, but was still good enough to go over the 300-yard mark.

“Overall the passing game was pretty solid,” Richt said.

The result, however, was still a loss, and the end of Georgia’s SEC East Division hopes. They enter Saturday’s game against Idaho State, an FCS team, just looking to get back to .500.

So what does Richt tell his team now?

“Right now we think about winning the rest of our games starting with Idaho State,” Richt said. “There’s honor in that. We have fans that have paid their money for their season tickets. We’ve got people that still love the Dogs and want to see them do well.

“And all these guys are not professional athletes, but they certainly have pride in what they do, and understand that they have a job to do. And they know that when they do that job they’ve gotta do the best they can. We’ll do that, and we’ve been doing that actually. Sometimes you lose a game like that and people might think an awful amount went right.”

Some other notes:

- Receiver Kris Durham is questionable for Idaho State after bruising his lung, according to Richt. That appeared to be the only major injury that emerged from the trip to Jacksonville.

- Richt said he’d think about changing the practice schedule, after nine straight games without a bye.

“We’ve actually been on pretty good shape on the injury front lately,” he said. “I’m not saying we won’t, but if we do, it won’t be a huge change.”

- The game time for the Auburn game should be announced on Monday, unless CBS elects to take the six-day window.

The events in Jacksonville would seem to lessen the chance that Georgia-Auburn will get that slot. CBS could opt for A.J. Green and the Bulldogs going against the No. 1 team in the country. But it’s a better bet it will be more intrigued by Steve Spurrier taking his South Carolina team into the Swamp with a division title on the line.

- Richt didn’t complain about Florida not being whistled for excessive celebration following Murray’s overtime interception. He pointed out that the Gators, having returned it to near the goal-line, probably thought they had won the game.

“The officials could’ve (called a penalty),” Richt said, but added: “I think it was a definitely judgment call on the officials. If I was an official I would’ve had a hard time calling it right there. I mean to me would that have been excessive considering they thought they won the game. I don’t think it was.”