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Friday, November 5, 2010

Q & A: Scott Lakatos

Scott Lakatos has had interesting first season at Georgia. The new secondary coach has seen his unit give up a ton of big plays, and endure a few weeks ranking last in the SEC in third-down defense.

Injuries and suspensions have been a factor, with strong safety Bacarri Rambo being the only player who has started every game. And Rambo has had an up-and-down year.

But it's not all bleak. Entering this week's game against Idaho State, the Bulldogs rank sixth in the league in pass defense, yielding 208.8 yards per game, and a recent run of interceptions have moved them to third in that category, with nine on the season. They have also escaped the basement in the SEC's third-down defense stat, moving up to 11th.

Lakatos spoke earlier this week about what's gone right, what's gone wrong, and indicated that the personnel changes will continue.

SE: How did you feel about the way things went in Jacksonville for the secondary?

SL: There was some good and some bad mixed in-between. That’s the way the game is. I’m sure they probably feel the same way. I’m sure there’s some things they feel happy about and some things they didn’t. That’s the way it goes in those games.

SE: How much did Branden Smith play and how much impact did he have?

SL: He played at least half the game, probably more than that. He was solid. He was where he was supposed to be. He obviously made a pick. He did a decent job on special teams from what I saw. He did a good job.

SE: While he was out, Sanders Commings stepped up. You’ve got Branden back there, Vance back there. How are you handling that now in terms of starting and playing?

SL: We’re basically basing it on how guys do during the week. It’s become a situation now finally where it’s competitive in practice. I mean all those guys wanna play, so they’re working hard in practice, so they’re getting better in what they’re supposed to do. And we’re just looking at it as the best guys are gonna play, and the guys that aren’t in there as starters are a play away from getting in the game. They have to know exactly what’s going on, so when they get in there, we can’t hold back.

SE: At safety, Bacarri Rambo and Shawn Williams have had moments, good and bad. How do you evaluate how those two have done?

SL: I think that whole position in general, those guys, are getting better. They’re all improving. Every day and week. There are sometimes when things come up and they’re a little bit out of position, and that’s what happens. When you play that position and make a mistake, everybody knows about it. It’s different than the guys in front of them. Everybody in front of them makes a mistake all the time and nobody really notices. At safety, or at corner, everybody knows about it.

SE: Is a lot of this learning schemes, learning the system?

SL: No, a lot of it’s understanding leverage, and where you’re supposed to come from to make plays. That’s one thing we always have to improve, is creating leverage on the opponent and maintaining leverage throughout the course of the play so we have a chance to make the play. When we get out of position, that’s when big plays happen.

SE: Is Alec Ogletree another guy that could get more time?

SL: Yeah, he’s another guy – all those guys are getting better. And Alec is getting a lot of reps in practice, and we’re evaluating him. He’s getting better as well. We’ll see how the remainder of the week goes along and see who we’ll roll out there.

SE: Does he (Ogletree) have the most natural ability of the group?

SL: He has some things that are natural that he’s very good at. He also has some things that he needs to improve on like everybody else. We haven’t found the perfect player yet. We’re looking for him, but we haven’t found him yet.

SE: Has this been a frustrating year for you? I mean with the third down defense being what it was, and the big plays.

SL: When you’re around the secondary, it’s easy to get frustrated, because the mistakes that we make tend to be big, game-deciding type of plays. But that’s the nature of the business. Because when you give them up you also to make up for them. So we’re creating some more turnovers, we’re getting our hands on a few more balls now. So throughout the course of the game people are going to make plays. The people we play are too good, they’re going to make plays throughout the game. And we have to make plays throughout to kind of even things out. The thing we have to stop doing is giving up plays in the big spots at the end of the game.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Coachspeak anyone? Dang, Lakatos could have just wrote down some responses without actually reading your questions..

Jason said...

Seth - thanks for the great job you're doing this year. Sucky year to hop on the beat although I would guess living in Athens makes up for any negativity you have to deal with professionally. I would love to hear Lakatos' take on Jakar and his play not living up to the hype. Maybe not in those words, obviously, but he has certainly not played like we had all anticipated. Thanks again!

Seth Emerson said...

Thanks Jason. You pretty much summed it up: It's been an interesting, busy time so far. But Athens is great.
Jakar's not off the table yet, but he is falling behind Ogletree at the moment.

Army Dawg said...

Like coach said when the cornerbacks, and especially safeties, make a mistake everybody sees it and you give up touchdowns. Linebackers can take a bad angle, fill the wrong gap and no one hardly ever notices.

The touchdown Florida scored to go up 31-24 with average safety play is an 8 to 12 yard gain. With poor safety play (like we had) it was a 51 yard touchdown run. Those plays don't happen with a Thomas Davis or Greg Blue but they happen way too often with this bunch.

BullyMack said...

Wow, that is some coachspeak for sure. What I wouldn't give to have a coach go Spurrier-like in at least one interview this year. We may dislike him but the man calls it like he sees it. By what Coach Lak says, you wouldn't know if we were undefeated or hadn't won a single ballgame. At this point, I can't think of one coach besides Grantham that is worth interviewing.

Seth is this par for the course in your experience or do you find our coaches more bottled up than most you've dealt with before?

Anonymous said...

Baccari makes that pick at the end of the 4th, we kick a FG and win the game. hit him right in the hands. plus, williams was right behind him waiting for it also..all that said, we still don't get near enough pressure on the QB. i thought we'd be coming from all sorts of directions, but nope, we rush 4,jus like last year..

Willb said...

The secondary has really let me down this year. Lakatos is a good coach with a good track record but this year our db's have played very similar to last year. Slightly better then last year but last year was pretty bad.

I have absolutely no confidence in them to stop somebody when they need to be stopped. We have great athletes out there. Maybe they just need another year of unlearning what Martinez tought them. Boykin and Smith will both be there next year and both have NFL athletic ability. They just have to put it together. Also Rambo and Ogletree will be better. Two more NFL talents. We will be better next year.

Anonymous said...

well brandon smith has showed me absolutely nothing.he is wasting a position out there.if he has nfl abilities its high time he shows them in a game against real competition not an idaho state or louisianna-monroe.SMITH IS ALL HYPE.

BuLLdawg said...

It must suck to be you and come running in here with your

Lies

Excuses

Trying to put a Spin on CMR Era that we are great

We are NOT.

10 years he hasn’t had a coaching staff

Now, a month from now, he will fire all rest didn’t fire January 2010

But, we are to believe according to you he will hire well now

Based on what ?

16 losses 1911 to 1920 ten years
23 losses 1892 to 1901 ten years
25 losses 1907 to 1916 ten years
25 losses 1978 to 1987 ten years
26 losses 1941 to 1950 ten years
27 losses 1980 to 1989 ten years
29 losses 1919 to 1928 ten years
32 losses 1927 to 1936 ten years
33 losses 1922 to 1931 ten years
33 losses 1971 to 1980 ten years
33 losses 1929 to 1938 ten years
33 losses 1962 to 1971 ten years
33 losses 1921 to 1930 ten years
33 losses 2001 to 2010 ten years CMR Era

Don’t give me this B.S. this is the best Georgia ever done.
B.S. this is the Best The Georgia Bulldogs have ever done.
B.S.


56-4 Boise State last 5 years Chris Petersen
53-10 Florida last 5 years Urban Meyer
52-9 Ohio State last 5 years Jim Tressel
51-10 TCU last 5 years Gary Patterson
49-12 Texas last 5 years Mack Brown
49-14 Oklahoma last 5 years Bob Stoops
48-12 Southern California last 5 years
48-12 Utah last 5 years Kyle Whittingham
47-14 LSU last 5 years Les Miles
47-15 Virginia Tech last 5 years Frank Beamer
46-14 BYU last 5 years Bronco Mendenhall
45-14 West Virginia last 5 years Bill Stewart
45-15 Penn State last 5 years Joe Paterno
45-15 Wisconsin last 5 years Bret Bielema
45-17 Missouri last 5 years Gary Pinkel
44-16 Oregon last 5 years Chip Kelly
44-17 Cincinnati last 5 years Butch Jones
43-20 Hawaii last 5 years Greg McMackin
42-18 Auburn last 5 years Gene Chizik
42-19 Georgia last 5 years Coach Richt
2-6 Louisiana Lafayette, this is a “win” ?
2-6 Vandie, this is a “win” ?
2-6 vols, this is a “win” ?
4-5 Kentucky, this is a “win” ?
3-5 Colorado, oops
1-8 Idaho State
This is whom it is CMR has beat combined 11-31 record on season.

The Greatest Coach in UGA history, over these last 5 years now :

.688 winning percentage 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Coach Richt
.715 Vince Dooley
.741 HJ Stegeman
.813 Robert Winston

CMR Best Coach in UGA history 33 losses in 10 years
Vince Dooley 21 losses 1980 to 1988 & Consensus NC
Wally Butts 21 losses 1940 to 1948 & Consensus NC
Beat Top 10 Final AP Poll teams, not lost every time
Not in papers bad press every day EITHER

Compared to Top 3 SEC Teams over 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 :
Georgia has the worst record against the ACC, Big XII & SEC.

vs. SEC 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 :

.780 Florida 32-9
.692 Alabama 27-12
.657 LSU 25-13
.589 Coach Richt 23-16 UGA 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 vs SEC
Who is going to win Auburn or Georgia with CMR “coaching staff” ?
Auburn 22-16
If Auburn wins the game Auburn .589 at 23-16 CMR .575 at 23-17

Go ahead, you can say it

We are going to be the 5th best team in our Conference 2006-2010.
This is the Last Five (5) Years # 5 in our own Conference
Let alone the damn National Stage.

Winning Percentage Coach at Current School :
.933 # 1 Chris Petersen Boise State 56-4 year 5
.857 # 2 Chip Kelly Oregon 18-3 year 2
.826 # 3 Urban Meyer Florida 62-13 year 6*
.822 # 4 Jim Tressel Ohio State 102-22 year 10
.816 # 5 Nick Saban Alabama 40-9 year 4*
.810 # 6 Bob Stoops Oklahoma 124-29 year 12
.809 # 7 Mack Brown Texas 132-31 year 13
.783 # 9 Les Miles LSU 58-16 year 6*
.770 # 9 Brian Kelly Cincinnati 37-11 year 4
.770 # 10 Gary Patterson TCU 94-28 year 11
.750 # 11 Joe Paterno Penn State 399-132-3 year 45
.746 # 12 Mark Richt Georgia 94-32 year 10*
Don’t give me this B.S. CMR 1 of Top 3 coaches in America.
B.S.

BuLLdawg said...

After 2005, this is where this football program is :
You stick your noses up in the air saying CMR better won/lost
Really ? Not over last 5 years he does not. Not close.

56-04 Boise State Chris Petersen whole time
53-10 Florida Urban Meyer whole time*
52-09 Ohio State Jim Tressel whole time
51-10 TCU Gary Patterson whole time
49-12 Texas Mack Brown whole time
49-14 Oklahoma Bob Stoops whole time
48-12 Southern California Lane Kiffin replaces Pete Carroll who bolted
48-12 Utah Kyle Whittingham whole time replaced Urban Meyer
47-14 LSU Les Miles whole time after Nick Saban AL AL vacated 21 wins*
47-15 Virginia Tech Frank Beamer whole time
46-14 BYU Bronco Mendenhall whole time
46-17 Missouri Gary Pinkel whole time
45-15 West Virginia Bill Stewart replaced Rich Rodriguez Michigan
45-15 Penn State Joe Paterno whole time
45-15 Wisconsin Bret Bielema whole time when Barry Alvarez made AD
44-17 Oregon Chip Kelly replaced Mike Bellotti now AD
44-17 Cincinnati Butch Jones replaces Brian Kelly who bolted
43-20 Hawaii Greg McMackin replaced June Jones
42-18 Auburn Gene Chizik replaced Tommy Tuberville*
42-19 Georgia Bulldogs Coach Richt and his sorry butt “coaching staff”*

# 20 in nation over last entire 5 years now for # 11 program all-time 1-A wins.
# 2 in nation over last entire 5 years now Fulmer Cup Most Arrests/Suspensions

Only 3 states with more high school recruits who go on to The NFL.

We are NOT getting the job done, are we ?

Go ahead, are we or aren’t we ?

We aren’t.

13-12 vs SEC East last entire 5 years now

19 Losses last entire 5 years now * (not played Auburn yet.)

Why don’t you brag to me how we are going to beat Auburn ?

Auburn who is ALREADY AHEAD of CMR last entire 5 years 42-18.

Here is what David Hale said before he left this blog :

“fair to say there's a real problem with behavior on Georgia's football team”

“that needs to be addressed and resolved rather than simply explained”

WINS over Final AP Poll Top 25 SEC East teams last 5 years :
2006 NONE
2007 only beat 4-Loss Florida as only ranked SEC East team beat
2008 NONE
2009 NONE
2010 NONE

You cannot pick and choose what CMR did with Jim Donnan recruits his 1st five years and disregard what his “coaching staff” has done for CMR the last 5 years. You cannot tell that you are a better Georgia Bulldogs’ Football Fan because you do choose to ignore what CMR record is these last 5 years.

And, don’t give me this B.S. that it is just this year that All Georgia Bulldogs’ Football Fans have shown their color.

I’ve been in here telling you this since after DJ Shockley graduated with Honors after the 2005 season. Only you said I was FOS. Really ? Who is FOS ?

12-10 last two entire years.

I told you so.

I am not picking and choosing when I am a fan; you are - I am not satisfied with this on-going B.S. on the field and off the field the last entire 5 years, and You are as a Blind Homer determining that you will run in here and brag on this team and CMR before you wake up. That is being Blind Homer, not a FAN.

Anonymous said...

Get over it...we suck..no sense in letting it ruin a saturday....you only get so many

Anonymous said...

Thanks for your stats and obvious effort BullDawg.

My word verification slugget :-)

Anonymous said...

BuLLdawg,according to your stats Richt is one of the 12 best coaches in America by winning percentage.Who you gonna hire that's better?Oh yeah why don't you break down wins by decade while you're at it and see what you find,I don't think you'll like it.

Anonymous said...

BuLLdawg, you cherrypick stats.Why take Richts worst 5 years and compare it to Dooley Stegman and Winstons career percentage.Compare Richts career percentage to Dooley Stegman and Winstons worst 5 years.Oh, those facts contradict your rant.Sorry try again.

Chrisdawg said...

Bulldawg it looks like you went through a lot of trouble to sound stupid.

Fact is richt has the highest winning percentage in ga history. It's easy to pick whatever years you want to say he sucks. I can do the same thing you did and make richt look like the best coach in ga history.

Fact is in 07 just a couple of years ago we should of won a nat championship. We were the best team in the nation. 02 we were the best team in the nation then also. The system is flawed. The best teams don't always go to the nat title game. The way i look at it Richt has coached us to two seasons where we were the best teams in the nation.

Are you the same poster who was on bleacher report saying this same crap? Everyone else saying positive things then you come with this crap.

Willb said...

Boykin, Smith, Rambo, and Ogletree are all NFL talents. Smith is possibly the most athletic out of them all. He hasn't really had much of a chance to perform like he can. Hopefully next year we get a full year from Smith on Def and Off And punt returns so we can see what he can do.

I agree so far he hasn't been anything special on def but I'm not ready to write him off as a bust just yet. He is only a sophomore.

Chrisdawg said...

Willb do not try to have an intelligent conversation with these Doomsday Dawg fans! You seem to be one of the only intelligent posters here so im sure your gonna get a bunch of crap. All they have to say is negative crap! Give it a break guys! You guys are doing all this research to prove that your favorite team sucks?

You know for a fact that some of the players have been to this blog and read some of you guys comments. Give them a little credit. These guys are playing there hearts out. But only negative. I can understand criticism but you people are only negative.