First off, I think our pal Brandon Spoon deserves an award for the great video work he's been doing for the site. I'd suggest a Peabody or a Pulitzer, though a Pabst Blue Ribbon will likely have to suffice.
In any case, he put together a great bit of video of the workouts and interviews from yesterday's Pro Day in Athens. Be sure to check it out...
Showing posts with label Rennie Curran. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rennie Curran. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Catching Up With... Rennie Curran
In case you weren't aware, Georgia's annual Pro Day is today, with last year's group of departing Bulldogs working out for NFL scouts in a combine-esque environment.
This year doesn't have exactly the same box-office cache that last season did with a bevy of big names gawking at future No. 1 overall pick Matthew Stafford, but for many of Georgia's next crop of pros, this marks a key step in impressing scouts and moving up draft boards.
So, to get you prepped for the day's events, who better to chat with than one of the stars of this year's Pro Day, linebacker Rennie Curran…
(NOTE: You can get all my updates from the Pro Day festivities by following me on Twitter.)
David Hale: You've been training for the combine and pro day for the last few months since announcing you were leaving school a year early, so what has the whole process been like?
Rennie Curran: The last couple months have been crazy. I announced, chose my agent, got my own apartment, started training at CES -- where I trained in high school, got back with my strength guy, Ryan Goldin. So I've just been working with him. I'm really just making sure my body's in line, all my movements are efficient. It's been a lot of work.
And besides that, studying football and making sure I understand what my teammates and everybody are doing so I could prepare for the combine. A big part of the combine was doing the interviews, and standing in front of the GMs and coaches and explaining your defense to them to let them know you're a student of the game.
And when I'm not training and seeing doctors and things like that, I'm eating a lot, keeping my weight up and studying football. That's basically it, and just seeing my family and spending time with them. With my little girl, I'm just like 10 minutes away so that's been really nice that if I need to see them or spend time with them, that's right down the road.
DH: You mentioned those interviews with scouts and GMs during the combine. Obviously you've always been a favorite of the Georgia media when it comes to doing interviews, but what was the experience like of interviewing for a job in the NFL?
RC: It's pretty strange. My first one, I was sweating, I was nervous. I was just trying to make sure I said all the right things and impress them. That's what I came there to do. But after like the third one, I just relaxed and got more and more comfortable with it. The biggest thing that everybody tells you is just to be yourself. That's so important, and it's true. They're going to know when they talk to you when you're not being sincere or you're just saying what they want to hear. So I was just real with them and just showed them what I could do and was honest with them in what I could bring to the team and what I felt like my strengths and my weaknesses were. That's the main thing, and then just showing them that I understand defense, I understand offenses and what they're trying to do, and how we use our defense against you and different things.
DH: I remember last year there was a big deal made of some rather personal questions asked of Matthew Stafford during an interview with the 49ers and it was enough to convince Matthew to get up and leave the room. I've heard plenty of other interview horror stories, too. Was the experience as bad as all that? Did they ask you some personal questions to try to throw you off your game?
RC: Oh yeah. A couple of them would ask you if you'd ever been arrested, about your family, you know, they wanted to know about my situation of having a little girl and my relationship with her mom, if we were getting married, things like that that I didn't really know how to answer the best way.
DH: So see, us Georgia reporters weren't so bad after all.
RC: Nah, that really prepared me for moments like that.
DH: Well, I'm glad we could help. Well, let me switch subjects to the physical side of the combine. You got to do a bit of the work, but a hamstring injury ended your workout early. I'm sure that was a bit of a disappointment, but what was the experience like overall?
RC: I felt good. Even though I tweaked my hamstring a little bit, I tried to be smart and not push it. Once you put those numbers down, that's it, and that goes a long way. For your whole career, you might be known by that 40 time or by what you're doing in those combines.
So the main thing was I got to see my competition and what I needed to work on, which ended up being a good thing. I came back and went back to work, and I know what I need to improve on for Pro Day and how to impress those coaches even more. I want to show them what I can do because it's been non-stop work for me from 8 until easily 3 o'clock, and that's not even counting studying football. So it was a little bit disappointing, but one of the biggest things was the interviews and just introducing myself. And believe it or not, measuring -- getting those heights and weights in and showing them that I'm not as small as they think I am.
DH: Obviously it's your height that always gets talked about, and yet, as you've said, it's the one thing you really have no control over. So I'm guessing you knew what the results would be when you went in for that measurement, but was it still pretty stressful anyway?
RC: It was one of those things, I wish I could control it, but there's nothing I can do to change it, so it was like, they're going to have to accept me for who I am. I'm 5-10-and-a-half, and that's not going to change. So I just went up there with confidence. I worked hard in the weight room, and it showed when I stepped on the scale. I was 235 and looked good, so that's all I can really offer is to show them I worked hard and I have that weight and let what I did at the combine speak for itself. As far as my height, I wasn't worried at all. I knew I'd be one of the shortest or the shortest there, so I was ready.
DH: What was the feedback you got from NFL people when it comes to your height?
RC: Everyone I talk to says, you know, you're fine, you're going to play in the NFL, don't worry about your height, don't worry about what people say. I talked to London Fletcher before I left, and a couple of other guys like Jessie Tuggle as well, and they just reassured me. The coaches that I met with, that was the last thing they were worried about was my height. They were looking at that film and seeing that I could help their defense. So it was a good feeling to have more than one team telling me that.
DH: Have you been keeping in touch with some of the other UGA guys who will be at Pro Day -- Jeff and Geno and Reshad and those guys?
RC: Oh yeah. I talk to them. Me, Jeff and Kade are training at the same place. We all keep in touch with each other and watch the film and train.
DH: Were you impressed with Jeff doing 40-some reps on the bench press at the combine?
RC: Yeah, definitely. He did good. We all worked hard, and it was good to see the guys all get the results they wanted.
DH: Well you get to come back to UGA for Pro Day, but what has it been like being away this spring? Any regrets about the decision you made to leave early?
RC: I definitely miss it. That's probably the biggest thing is I miss being with my boys. I go on the Web site and look through the spring practice pictures and I'm used to seeing myself in there, and I'm not there. It's a weird feeling. But even though I'm not going to be with my teammates, I keep in touch with them a lot.
Just not being on campus is weird, but at the same time, I've got a huge opportunity. It's one in a million, and a lot of people never get to do that. A lot of people can't say they're living out their childhood dream. So I have no complaints. I have nothing to look back at and say I should have done it different. That was the biggest thing when I made the decision was to wake up every morning and not have any regrets, saying why didn't I do this or why didn't I do that. I still feel the same, I still feel like I made a good decision.
DH: You said you talked with those guys a lot still. What are you expecting from guys like Akeem Dent and Darryl Gamble who are stepping into your shoes this year as the leaders of the linebacking crew? Are they up to the task?
RC: Oh yeah, I know they're going to be fine. Those guys work really hard. They know how to lead. They can lead by example and by what they do and say on the football field. I'm not worried about them at all. DG and Dent, they're going to do things right. They'll get in that film room, and -- especially for Darryl and the two Akeems -- it is their senior year, so it's going to be even more important for them to have a good year, to bring that defense up to where it should be. I'm excited for them, and I want to see them do really well. It's going to be tough not being on the field with them, but I know they're going to do great things.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Dawgs at the Combine
First, a couple of links worth checking out over at ESPN.com...
-- Mark Schlabach has an interesting story on the growth and significance of Junior Day around college football.
-- Len Pasquarelli has a good piece on Rennie Curran, who is fighting an uphill battle in the draft due to his size.
As for the combine, here's how Georgia's former players stacked up. You can find full combine results HERE.
-- I'm not sure how much any of this means when discussing Georgia's strength and conditioning program, but all for of the Bulldogs' participants ranked among the leaders on the bench press at their position.
Geno Atkins: Measured in at 6-1, which made him the shortest defensive tackle at the combine, in a tie with North Carolina's Aleric Mullins and, coincidentally, Georgia's own Jeff Owens. He checked in at 293 pounds, which was also among the lightest, but again no big surprise, since it's Atkins size that has been the biggest question mark when evaluating his draft stock. Of course, while he's not the tallest DT in the draft, he is among the fastest. He clocked in with a 4.75 40 time, behind only Arizona's Earl Mitchell, who ran a 4.70. Atkins was nearly a full second ahead of Terrence Cody (5.64). On the bench, he mustered 34 reps, tied for the third most among DTs. His 33-inch vertical left a bit to be desired, but his 9-9 in the broad jump was tops among those who participated.
Jeff Owens: Checked in at 6-1, 304, which is two inches less than his listed height at Georgia. Owens ran the 40 in 5 seconds flat, which was a little under the average at his position -- nothing that will necessarily turn heads, but good enough to keep his stock rising. Of course, where Owens really showed out was on the bench press, where he did a whopping 44 reps -- five more than the next closest competitor and 15 more than the average among other defensive tackles. As a point of comparison, Owens' 5.0/44 was every bit as impressive -- if not more so -- than Ndamukong Suh's 4.98/34. Arkansas offensive lineman Mitch Petrus was the only combine participant at any position to do more bench press reps than Owens.
Rennie Curran: A pulled hamstring forced Curran out of Monday's portion of the combine, which certainly didn't help his stock. He measured in at 5-10.5, which is a half-inch shorter than the 5-11 mark some scouts had said was the bare minimum and he was the only OLB who checked in at less than 6 feet. Despite his smaller size, Curran's arm length was 31.5 and his hand length was 10-3/8, both of which were above average. On the bench, Curran mustered 25 reps, which made him one of the top performers at his position, with only Missouri's Sean Witherspoon (34), Oklahoma's Keenan Clayton (27) and Penn State's Navarro Bowman (26) doing more.
Reshad Jones: Jones likely helped his draft stock a bit at the combine. His 24 reps on the bench press were second only to Oklahoma State's Lucien Antoine among all defensive backs, while his 4.54 40 time was the eighth best among safeties (although a good bit slower than Eric Berry's 4.40 or Taylor Mays' astounding 4.24). Defensive backs wrap up the combine this afternoon with broad jump, vertical and cone drills.
-- Mark Schlabach has an interesting story on the growth and significance of Junior Day around college football.
-- Len Pasquarelli has a good piece on Rennie Curran, who is fighting an uphill battle in the draft due to his size.
As for the combine, here's how Georgia's former players stacked up. You can find full combine results HERE.
-- I'm not sure how much any of this means when discussing Georgia's strength and conditioning program, but all for of the Bulldogs' participants ranked among the leaders on the bench press at their position.
Geno Atkins: Measured in at 6-1, which made him the shortest defensive tackle at the combine, in a tie with North Carolina's Aleric Mullins and, coincidentally, Georgia's own Jeff Owens. He checked in at 293 pounds, which was also among the lightest, but again no big surprise, since it's Atkins size that has been the biggest question mark when evaluating his draft stock. Of course, while he's not the tallest DT in the draft, he is among the fastest. He clocked in with a 4.75 40 time, behind only Arizona's Earl Mitchell, who ran a 4.70. Atkins was nearly a full second ahead of Terrence Cody (5.64). On the bench, he mustered 34 reps, tied for the third most among DTs. His 33-inch vertical left a bit to be desired, but his 9-9 in the broad jump was tops among those who participated.
Jeff Owens: Checked in at 6-1, 304, which is two inches less than his listed height at Georgia. Owens ran the 40 in 5 seconds flat, which was a little under the average at his position -- nothing that will necessarily turn heads, but good enough to keep his stock rising. Of course, where Owens really showed out was on the bench press, where he did a whopping 44 reps -- five more than the next closest competitor and 15 more than the average among other defensive tackles. As a point of comparison, Owens' 5.0/44 was every bit as impressive -- if not more so -- than Ndamukong Suh's 4.98/34. Arkansas offensive lineman Mitch Petrus was the only combine participant at any position to do more bench press reps than Owens.
Rennie Curran: A pulled hamstring forced Curran out of Monday's portion of the combine, which certainly didn't help his stock. He measured in at 5-10.5, which is a half-inch shorter than the 5-11 mark some scouts had said was the bare minimum and he was the only OLB who checked in at less than 6 feet. Despite his smaller size, Curran's arm length was 31.5 and his hand length was 10-3/8, both of which were above average. On the bench, Curran mustered 25 reps, which made him one of the top performers at his position, with only Missouri's Sean Witherspoon (34), Oklahoma's Keenan Clayton (27) and Penn State's Navarro Bowman (26) doing more.
Reshad Jones: Jones likely helped his draft stock a bit at the combine. His 24 reps on the bench press were second only to Oklahoma State's Lucien Antoine among all defensive backs, while his 4.54 40 time was the eighth best among safeties (although a good bit slower than Eric Berry's 4.40 or Taylor Mays' astounding 4.24). Defensive backs wrap up the combine this afternoon with broad jump, vertical and cone drills.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Curran Wrestles With Tough Decision
I have a story in today's Telegraph on the difficult decision process that Georgia juniors Rennie Curran and Reshad Jones are going through as they weigh whether or not to return to school for their final seasons or bolt for the NFL, where both could be relatively early draft picks. I spoke with Rennie at length about his decision, and I thought his responses were particularly interesting. Here's the full interview...
David Hale: Obviously most people will talk about your on-field efforts and your NFL review as to how prepared you are for the next level. But what are some of those things outside of football that are weighing heavily in your decision?
Rennie Curran: It’s not only about football or about money or anything like that. Certainly coming back and being a senior and having that legacy like a David Greene or a David Pollack, that’s huge for me as well. Being able to represent the school and having a chance to win those senior awards. Having a chance to be the career tackle leader, that’s huge to me and has a lot to do with my decision as well. There’s a lot of personal reasons for coming back that people might now see. There’s other things like just having fun. This is the best time of my life. Being in Athens in general, just being with my teammates, these are moments I’ll never be able to get back. People think about the league and everything, all they see is the money. They think when you make a decision to leave, it’s all about money. It’s really not. There’s so much more than that. It’s something that has about a million variables when you’re in a position like mine.
DH: I know you've talked often about the charitable work you do and the stuff you want to do in the future, doing work in Liberia and also in your own community. How does that factor into your thought process?
RC: It’s something that’s going to be a huge part of what I do. Football is not all there is to it. There are a lot of people you can effect by going to that next level – for instance going to Liberia and starting up my own charitable foundation and just giving back to the community as a whole. I’m a local kid. I grew up in Atlanta, 45 minutes away from Athens. There are countless things I can do in the community to just help and give back – not only to my own family, but to young kids who need mentorship and things like that. The possibilities are endless.
DH: How much have you talked with former players like Matthew Stafford, Knowshon Moreno and Asher Allen, who all went through this just last year?
RC: I talk to Asher a whole lot. He’s given me the reality of it all, just letting me know that it is going to be a grind and it doesn’t get any easier, just filling me in. It’s been great to hear from those guys. Brannan Southerland, I talked to Matt, too. They’ve told me how their experience was and telling me if they had it to do over again, what they would do. It’s all been positive, and it’s really helped me out.
DH: Have you spent some time talking about this stuff with Reshad Jones, who is also weighing his options on the future?
(*Note: Be sure to check out the Telegraph story for some interesting comments from Reshad and Bryan Evans about Jones' future with the Dawgs.)
RC: When you have other teammates that are in a similar situation, it makes things a whole lot easier. You can relate to each other and you can ask each other how they feel about certain issues. It’s definitely been something he and I have talked about a lot – and talked about with our teammates. It’s something you can’t help but discuss when it’s getting toward the end of the season.DH: So do you have a few teammates that are giving you the hard sell, trying to convince you to come back for another year?
RC: Everybody – but I’m making it hard on myself. I want to come back. I love it here. I’ve learned so much since I’ve been here. And really, when I think about it, I’ve only been here two-and-a-half years, so it really has flown by. There’s still so much I can do in Athens, so much I can accomplish. So it goes both ways, and I feel like it’s a win-win situation.
DH: Has it dawned on you that this could potentially be your final game for Georgia? Is that something you think about right now?
RC: I just put it out of my mind and get ready for it just like another game, just enjoy it and play for my seniors and my coaches who are gone now and represent the school as well as I can. Every time I go out, I give it my best. I hope people see that, and I hope if this is my last game, I hope that’s what people will remember about me – that every single play of every single game, I fought my heart out. I love the game and I love Georgia.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Practice Notes: Christmas Comes Early for Bobo
With five children between ages 2 and 5, Christmas is an exciting time of year in Mike Bobo’s house. But with Georgia set to depart for Shreveport, La. on Thursday, the normal holiday routine had to change a bit.
Since Bobo and his family will be in Shreveport on Christmas day with the Bulldogs preparing for their bowl date with Texas A&M, the schedule was moved up a bit. The Bobos held Christmas Eve festivities tonight and Christmas day comes Wednesday.
“My kids are jacked, and I’m jacked, too,” Bobo said.
While Bobo admits his wife did most of the shopping, he had the crucial job of ensuring that Santa was aware of the tweaked holiday schedule at his house. Luckily for him, Santa was happy to oblige.
“It just happens that we’re playing the 28th, so Santa’s coming early,” Bobo said. “We wrote him a letter, and he wrote back and said if they’re nice to mom, he’ll come early.”
GRADES ARE IN
Georgia head coach Mark Richt got some good news on the academic front as the Bulldogs wrapped up their final practice of the year in Athens. No players have been ruled academically ineligible for the bowl game on Dec. 28, and the overall efforts of the team in the classroom during the fall semester were exceptional, he said.
While results aren’t official yet, Richt said he was told 43 players earned a 3.0 GPA or better during the fall semester, and the overall team GPA was better than 2.7.
“No one has really any issues going into the spring as far as grade point average and all the number of hours needed is very manageable,” Richt said. “So it was really a very successful semester academically.”
TALKING IT OVER
While Georgia will bid farewell to a large group of seniors after the Independence Bowl, two juniors on defense could be departing, too.
Linebacker Rennie Curran and safety Reshad Jones are both considering leaving school a year early for the NFL draft, and Richt said he has spoken with both players about their decisions. While he said he’s offered advice to both Curran and Jones, he said neither has made up their mind and both are focused on ending the season – and possibly their careers – on a high note against Texas A&M.
“We’ve had some conversations, but more of the trying to make sure we’re getting good information and not putting this decision before finishing out their careers in a very positive way,” Richt said. “They’re definitely thinking about it. But neither one has definitely said I’m doing one thing or the other at this point.”
BOYKIN TO THE RESCUE
Georgia held its final practice in Athens this season on Tuesday with a morning workout that focused primarily on special teams. The practice ended, however, with the annual pre-Christmas conditioning in which Richt made the team run 10 half-gassers – across the width of the football field and back – unless a player stepped up to sing a Christmas carol in front of his teammates.
“Somebody had to stand up in front of the team and sing at least a verse or two of a song,” Richt said. “It was Chester Adams for years. He would sing ‘Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire,’ and he’d do a great job of that.”
This year, the volunteers were sparse, but finally cornerback Brandon Boykin stepped up to offer his voice to save some running – about 500 yards worth, according to Richt – for his teammates.
“He sang something about a mistletoe, I’m not quite sure,” Richt said. “But he sang it well. He cut those gassers in half, so that was a good deal.”
TUNING IN FOR BOWDEN
Bobby Bowden, will be coaching the final game of his career on Jan. 1, and his former protégé hasn’t ruled out a trip to watch.
Richt said he’ll definitely tune in for the game, but wouldn’t rule out a trip to Jacksonville to watch it in person. The truth is, he said, he hadn’t yet considered the fact that he would be off work on the first of the year.
“I haven’t thought about it,” Richt said. “I guess I’m so used to playing on the first you don’t think about being able to do something like that.”
SIMMER DOWN
With the Christmas holiday looming and Georgia’s bowl game less than a week away, Richt said his search for a new defensive coordinator is likely to take a backseat for a few days, at least.
“We’ll work on that more after the bowl games,” Richt said. “But we’ll get it done.”
EXTRA POINTS
-- Richt noted that things would look a quite different on Georgia's practice fields the next time the Bulldogs got together in Athens for a full practice. Construction is ongoing at the Butts-Mehre facility, with concrete being poured and steel being put into place for an expansion to the football facilities. In the meantime, team meeting rooms have been moved to trailers and the team set up a temporary weight room in Stegeman Coliseum that Richt dubbed, "the dungeon."
-- Richard Samuel said he's feeling back to normal after suffering a concussion during practice prior to the Georgia Tech game last month. “I remembered everything that happened, but at the beginning of it, I didn’t think it was that bad," Samuel said of the injury. "But the symptoms kept reoccurring.” That has since cleared up, and he said he'll be able to play in Georgia's bowl game, where he is expected to start on several special teams units as well as back up Caleb King and Washaun Ealey at tailback.
Since Bobo and his family will be in Shreveport on Christmas day with the Bulldogs preparing for their bowl date with Texas A&M, the schedule was moved up a bit. The Bobos held Christmas Eve festivities tonight and Christmas day comes Wednesday.
“My kids are jacked, and I’m jacked, too,” Bobo said.
While Bobo admits his wife did most of the shopping, he had the crucial job of ensuring that Santa was aware of the tweaked holiday schedule at his house. Luckily for him, Santa was happy to oblige.
“It just happens that we’re playing the 28th, so Santa’s coming early,” Bobo said. “We wrote him a letter, and he wrote back and said if they’re nice to mom, he’ll come early.”
GRADES ARE IN
Georgia head coach Mark Richt got some good news on the academic front as the Bulldogs wrapped up their final practice of the year in Athens. No players have been ruled academically ineligible for the bowl game on Dec. 28, and the overall efforts of the team in the classroom during the fall semester were exceptional, he said.
While results aren’t official yet, Richt said he was told 43 players earned a 3.0 GPA or better during the fall semester, and the overall team GPA was better than 2.7.
“No one has really any issues going into the spring as far as grade point average and all the number of hours needed is very manageable,” Richt said. “So it was really a very successful semester academically.”
TALKING IT OVER
While Georgia will bid farewell to a large group of seniors after the Independence Bowl, two juniors on defense could be departing, too.
Linebacker Rennie Curran and safety Reshad Jones are both considering leaving school a year early for the NFL draft, and Richt said he has spoken with both players about their decisions. While he said he’s offered advice to both Curran and Jones, he said neither has made up their mind and both are focused on ending the season – and possibly their careers – on a high note against Texas A&M.
“We’ve had some conversations, but more of the trying to make sure we’re getting good information and not putting this decision before finishing out their careers in a very positive way,” Richt said. “They’re definitely thinking about it. But neither one has definitely said I’m doing one thing or the other at this point.”
BOYKIN TO THE RESCUE
Georgia held its final practice in Athens this season on Tuesday with a morning workout that focused primarily on special teams. The practice ended, however, with the annual pre-Christmas conditioning in which Richt made the team run 10 half-gassers – across the width of the football field and back – unless a player stepped up to sing a Christmas carol in front of his teammates.
“Somebody had to stand up in front of the team and sing at least a verse or two of a song,” Richt said. “It was Chester Adams for years. He would sing ‘Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire,’ and he’d do a great job of that.”
This year, the volunteers were sparse, but finally cornerback Brandon Boykin stepped up to offer his voice to save some running – about 500 yards worth, according to Richt – for his teammates.
“He sang something about a mistletoe, I’m not quite sure,” Richt said. “But he sang it well. He cut those gassers in half, so that was a good deal.”
TUNING IN FOR BOWDEN
Bobby Bowden, will be coaching the final game of his career on Jan. 1, and his former protégé hasn’t ruled out a trip to watch.
Richt said he’ll definitely tune in for the game, but wouldn’t rule out a trip to Jacksonville to watch it in person. The truth is, he said, he hadn’t yet considered the fact that he would be off work on the first of the year.
“I haven’t thought about it,” Richt said. “I guess I’m so used to playing on the first you don’t think about being able to do something like that.”
SIMMER DOWN
With the Christmas holiday looming and Georgia’s bowl game less than a week away, Richt said his search for a new defensive coordinator is likely to take a backseat for a few days, at least.
“We’ll work on that more after the bowl games,” Richt said. “But we’ll get it done.”
EXTRA POINTS
-- Richt noted that things would look a quite different on Georgia's practice fields the next time the Bulldogs got together in Athens for a full practice. Construction is ongoing at the Butts-Mehre facility, with concrete being poured and steel being put into place for an expansion to the football facilities. In the meantime, team meeting rooms have been moved to trailers and the team set up a temporary weight room in Stegeman Coliseum that Richt dubbed, "the dungeon."
-- Richard Samuel said he's feeling back to normal after suffering a concussion during practice prior to the Georgia Tech game last month. “I remembered everything that happened, but at the beginning of it, I didn’t think it was that bad," Samuel said of the injury. "But the symptoms kept reoccurring.” That has since cleared up, and he said he'll be able to play in Georgia's bowl game, where he is expected to start on several special teams units as well as back up Caleb King and Washaun Ealey at tailback.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Notes: Curran Mulls NFL Future
With the season winding down and the hype surrounding next year’s top NFL draft picks heating up, Rennie Curran knew he would have some tough decisions to make.
The junior linebacker is second in the SEC in tackles and is on pace for his second straight 100-tackle season at Georgia, and many draft services see him as a potential early draft choice. So from family and friends to fans who see him on campus, he’s already being hounded about his future.
“That’s one thing people always want to know,” Curran said. “They see you in that position and you’re ranked high and having a good season, and they want to know.”
Curran said Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno, teammates last season who were both selected in the first round of the 2009 NFL draft, set a nice template for how to handle things, and that’s a path Curran plans to follow.
“Knowshon and Stafford, I watched them go through the same thing, and they did a good job handling it,” Curran said. “Right now, I’m just focused on the season, honestly. It crosses my mind just like it would anybody else who was in the situation I’m in, but it’s a good situation to be in and have to think about. But for the most part, I’m just focused on what got me here, which is working hard and finishing strong, because that’s all I really feel like matters.”
BACK TO THE BENCH
He’s the reigning SEC defensive lineman of the week, but that doesn’t mean Montez Robinson will be seeing a ton of action this week, head coach Mark Richt said.
The freshman defensive end earned his first serious playing time of the season against Tennessee Tech, racking up five tackles and two sacks while filling in for injured starter Justin Houston. But Houston’s injured elbow appears healthy this week, and that means Robinson will be back to his role of backup.
While his big week didn’t bump him up the depth chart, however, it wasn’t without it’s benefits.
“It’d be difficult to get him the same amount of reps he got last week with Justin being back, but he’s progressing and gaining confidence in himself, and we’re gaining more confidence in him,” Richt said.
Beyond the confidence boost for Robinson, it was a nice reminder for Georgia’s coaches that a once glaring hole on defense now appears to be turning into a strength.
Georgia was so thin at defensive end in the spring that two walk-on tight ends were forced to switch positions so the team could scrimmage, and when starter Rod Battle went down with a season-ending injury early in the year, things look bleak.
But Robinson’s emergence, coupled with Houston’s strong play and improved seasons from Demarcus Dobbs and Cornelius Washington, depth is far less of an issue that Richt might have imagined.
“Considering what happened a year ago and Roderick going out relatively early, you might have thought, well, here we go again,” Richt said. “But it really hasn’t been that way.”
ALIVE AND KICKING
This week’s matchup against Auburn has earned some buzz due in part to the tremendous talent both teams sport at kicker. The Tigers’ Wes Bynum and Georgia’s Blair Walsh are both among the country’s most accurate field-goal kickers, and while Walsh struggled in kickoffs last season, he has turned that around and is now the SEC’s leader in touchbacks.
All that success has been good for Georgia, but it has left Brandon Bogotay, the junior college transfer from San Diego brought in to challenge Walsh for the job, without much playing time this season.
“Every game I want to get in, so I’m just waiting for my shot,” Bogotay said.
Despite the lack of playing time – which has involved just one kickoff this season – Bogotay isn’t complaining. In fact, he’s thrilled to see the kicking game doing so well.
“Everyone wants to get their PT, but we push each other, we get better from each other, and it’s really all about the team,” Bogotay said. “As long as one of us is performing, I’m going to be happy.”
WAITING IN THE WINGS
There weren’t many members of Georgia’s 2009 signing class that haven’t seen the field this season, and several of those being redshirted are due to injuries. But of the six healthy players still waiting their turn to see the field on game day, Richt said many have adopted a healthy attitude toward work on the scout team.
“The great majority of their life right now is being on the scout team, but they can get better by doing it,” Richt said.
Richt pointed to past scout-team stars like Odell Thurman and Thomas Davis as examples of how this year’s redshirts are handling the job.
“Every day they said, ‘We’re going to give these guys as much grief as possible,’ and they got better,” Richt said. “I think we’ve got a little bit of that going on right now.”
Quarterbacks Aaron Murray and Zach Mettenberger both earned praise from offensive coordinator Mike Bobo, who said that both have gotten far more work with the first- and second-team offenses in practice this season than past freshmen quarterbacks, due in part to starter Joe Cox’s injury that keeps him from throwing on Wednesdays.
Linebacker Chase Vasser suffered a minor injury after a scooter accident on campus earlier this season, but Richt said he’s healthy again and performing well.
“Chase has done a good job on the scout team for us, and he’s back on track doing fine,” Richt said.
Georgia’s two freshmen offensive linemen – Chris Burnette and Dallas Lee -- have helped the scout team look far more impressive than years past, too.
“We’ve actually had one of our better offensive scout teams in a while. We’ve had some really good offensive linemen over there that have been able to give us a better picture.”
But the star of the redshirts, Richt said, might be defensive tackle Kwame Geathers, who has come particularly far from his first days on campus, when he arrived three days after the start of fall camp, slow and overweight.
“I don’t know the number that he dropped, but it was probably in the 30-pound range if not more,” Richt said. “That guy really did a phenomenal job of really getting his body down to where he could run and have some stamina.”
REMEMBER WHEN
Throughout a tumultuous season that has seen Georgia drop four of its first nine games, Richt hasn’t had much of a roadmap for navigating the troubled waters in Athens. But his best comparison has been to look back at the Bulldogs’ 2006 season, when after a 6-4 start, Georgia won its final three games – all against ranked foes.
That run began with a shocking upset of Auburn on the road, a game in which Richt admitted afterward that he didn’t think his team could win. Now, as the Bulldogs try to rally to another strong finish, he’s doing his best to instill confidence in his players by reminding them of how much that 2006 team overcame.
“There’s definitely some parallels and some similarities,” Richt said. “We don’t know how it’s all going to finish, but as you’re looking for something to build on or put in front of your team to tell them that you can do it, you want to grab those positive comparisons.”
BIG WEEK FOR RECRUITING
The biggest group of recruits to visit Georgia on a game day since Richt has been in Athens came when the Bulldogs hosted Auburn in 2005, he said. Most years, the Georgia-Auburn game draws a hefty crowd.
This year’s game may not draw quite as many recruits as the ’05 game did, Richt said, but it will be close, and the players who will be in Athens rate pretty high on Georgia’s wish list.
“It’s big, it’s what you would expect for Georgia-Auburn,” Richt said. “I know that as we covered the names that are coming in, not only is it a long list, but it’s a list of outstanding players for 2010, 2011 and even a couple of 2012s in there.”
Of course, the problem then becomes handling such a big group of players, but Richt isn’t complaining.
“It’s going to be a difficult day to manage because you want to spend time with these people and let them know how much you care about them,” Richt said. “When there’s such a massive number, it’s very difficult to get everybody the amount of love they probably feel like they deserve. But that’s a good problem to have.”
FIRST CATCH FEELS GOOD
When he got to Georgia, tight end Arthur Lynch was already well aware of his role on the offense. Aron White and Orson Charles were both lean, athletic tight ends with immense receiving skills. Lynch was the brawn.
But with Georgia’s big lead in the fourth quarter last week, Lynch got his first chance to show that he’s capable of more than just pushing people around, picking up two receptions back to back – the first two catches of his career.
“That was a cool experience,” Lynch said. “We were up big and the other team was playing hard, but they called the same route twice and I caught it. It was cool to get in there and see what it was like. I’ve been playing at spots blocking, but in terms of route running and out catching passes, I hadn’t had the opportunity to do that until that game, so it was definitely cool to get a part of the offense.”
PARKING PROBLEMS
Tailgaters may want to be aware of some reduced parking around campus for Saturday’s game against Auburn. Due to the wet weather brought by Tropical Storm Ida, several grass-covered areas typically used for parking, including the lots near the intramural fields off East Campus Drive, will not be available. The school also urged fans to carpool, to avoid using pull-behind trailers and reconsider placing heavy objects on the wet grounds in other grass-covered parking areas.
The junior linebacker is second in the SEC in tackles and is on pace for his second straight 100-tackle season at Georgia, and many draft services see him as a potential early draft choice. So from family and friends to fans who see him on campus, he’s already being hounded about his future.
“That’s one thing people always want to know,” Curran said. “They see you in that position and you’re ranked high and having a good season, and they want to know.”
Curran said Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno, teammates last season who were both selected in the first round of the 2009 NFL draft, set a nice template for how to handle things, and that’s a path Curran plans to follow.
“Knowshon and Stafford, I watched them go through the same thing, and they did a good job handling it,” Curran said. “Right now, I’m just focused on the season, honestly. It crosses my mind just like it would anybody else who was in the situation I’m in, but it’s a good situation to be in and have to think about. But for the most part, I’m just focused on what got me here, which is working hard and finishing strong, because that’s all I really feel like matters.”
BACK TO THE BENCH
He’s the reigning SEC defensive lineman of the week, but that doesn’t mean Montez Robinson will be seeing a ton of action this week, head coach Mark Richt said.
The freshman defensive end earned his first serious playing time of the season against Tennessee Tech, racking up five tackles and two sacks while filling in for injured starter Justin Houston. But Houston’s injured elbow appears healthy this week, and that means Robinson will be back to his role of backup.
While his big week didn’t bump him up the depth chart, however, it wasn’t without it’s benefits.
“It’d be difficult to get him the same amount of reps he got last week with Justin being back, but he’s progressing and gaining confidence in himself, and we’re gaining more confidence in him,” Richt said.
Beyond the confidence boost for Robinson, it was a nice reminder for Georgia’s coaches that a once glaring hole on defense now appears to be turning into a strength.
Georgia was so thin at defensive end in the spring that two walk-on tight ends were forced to switch positions so the team could scrimmage, and when starter Rod Battle went down with a season-ending injury early in the year, things look bleak.
But Robinson’s emergence, coupled with Houston’s strong play and improved seasons from Demarcus Dobbs and Cornelius Washington, depth is far less of an issue that Richt might have imagined.
“Considering what happened a year ago and Roderick going out relatively early, you might have thought, well, here we go again,” Richt said. “But it really hasn’t been that way.”
ALIVE AND KICKING
This week’s matchup against Auburn has earned some buzz due in part to the tremendous talent both teams sport at kicker. The Tigers’ Wes Bynum and Georgia’s Blair Walsh are both among the country’s most accurate field-goal kickers, and while Walsh struggled in kickoffs last season, he has turned that around and is now the SEC’s leader in touchbacks.
All that success has been good for Georgia, but it has left Brandon Bogotay, the junior college transfer from San Diego brought in to challenge Walsh for the job, without much playing time this season.
“Every game I want to get in, so I’m just waiting for my shot,” Bogotay said.
Despite the lack of playing time – which has involved just one kickoff this season – Bogotay isn’t complaining. In fact, he’s thrilled to see the kicking game doing so well.
“Everyone wants to get their PT, but we push each other, we get better from each other, and it’s really all about the team,” Bogotay said. “As long as one of us is performing, I’m going to be happy.”
WAITING IN THE WINGS
There weren’t many members of Georgia’s 2009 signing class that haven’t seen the field this season, and several of those being redshirted are due to injuries. But of the six healthy players still waiting their turn to see the field on game day, Richt said many have adopted a healthy attitude toward work on the scout team.
“The great majority of their life right now is being on the scout team, but they can get better by doing it,” Richt said.
Richt pointed to past scout-team stars like Odell Thurman and Thomas Davis as examples of how this year’s redshirts are handling the job.
“Every day they said, ‘We’re going to give these guys as much grief as possible,’ and they got better,” Richt said. “I think we’ve got a little bit of that going on right now.”
Quarterbacks Aaron Murray and Zach Mettenberger both earned praise from offensive coordinator Mike Bobo, who said that both have gotten far more work with the first- and second-team offenses in practice this season than past freshmen quarterbacks, due in part to starter Joe Cox’s injury that keeps him from throwing on Wednesdays.
Linebacker Chase Vasser suffered a minor injury after a scooter accident on campus earlier this season, but Richt said he’s healthy again and performing well.
“Chase has done a good job on the scout team for us, and he’s back on track doing fine,” Richt said.
Georgia’s two freshmen offensive linemen – Chris Burnette and Dallas Lee -- have helped the scout team look far more impressive than years past, too.
“We’ve actually had one of our better offensive scout teams in a while. We’ve had some really good offensive linemen over there that have been able to give us a better picture.”
But the star of the redshirts, Richt said, might be defensive tackle Kwame Geathers, who has come particularly far from his first days on campus, when he arrived three days after the start of fall camp, slow and overweight.
“I don’t know the number that he dropped, but it was probably in the 30-pound range if not more,” Richt said. “That guy really did a phenomenal job of really getting his body down to where he could run and have some stamina.”
REMEMBER WHEN
Throughout a tumultuous season that has seen Georgia drop four of its first nine games, Richt hasn’t had much of a roadmap for navigating the troubled waters in Athens. But his best comparison has been to look back at the Bulldogs’ 2006 season, when after a 6-4 start, Georgia won its final three games – all against ranked foes.
That run began with a shocking upset of Auburn on the road, a game in which Richt admitted afterward that he didn’t think his team could win. Now, as the Bulldogs try to rally to another strong finish, he’s doing his best to instill confidence in his players by reminding them of how much that 2006 team overcame.
“There’s definitely some parallels and some similarities,” Richt said. “We don’t know how it’s all going to finish, but as you’re looking for something to build on or put in front of your team to tell them that you can do it, you want to grab those positive comparisons.”
BIG WEEK FOR RECRUITING
The biggest group of recruits to visit Georgia on a game day since Richt has been in Athens came when the Bulldogs hosted Auburn in 2005, he said. Most years, the Georgia-Auburn game draws a hefty crowd.
This year’s game may not draw quite as many recruits as the ’05 game did, Richt said, but it will be close, and the players who will be in Athens rate pretty high on Georgia’s wish list.
“It’s big, it’s what you would expect for Georgia-Auburn,” Richt said. “I know that as we covered the names that are coming in, not only is it a long list, but it’s a list of outstanding players for 2010, 2011 and even a couple of 2012s in there.”
Of course, the problem then becomes handling such a big group of players, but Richt isn’t complaining.
“It’s going to be a difficult day to manage because you want to spend time with these people and let them know how much you care about them,” Richt said. “When there’s such a massive number, it’s very difficult to get everybody the amount of love they probably feel like they deserve. But that’s a good problem to have.”
FIRST CATCH FEELS GOOD
When he got to Georgia, tight end Arthur Lynch was already well aware of his role on the offense. Aron White and Orson Charles were both lean, athletic tight ends with immense receiving skills. Lynch was the brawn.
But with Georgia’s big lead in the fourth quarter last week, Lynch got his first chance to show that he’s capable of more than just pushing people around, picking up two receptions back to back – the first two catches of his career.
“That was a cool experience,” Lynch said. “We were up big and the other team was playing hard, but they called the same route twice and I caught it. It was cool to get in there and see what it was like. I’ve been playing at spots blocking, but in terms of route running and out catching passes, I hadn’t had the opportunity to do that until that game, so it was definitely cool to get a part of the offense.”
PARKING PROBLEMS
Tailgaters may want to be aware of some reduced parking around campus for Saturday’s game against Auburn. Due to the wet weather brought by Tropical Storm Ida, several grass-covered areas typically used for parking, including the lots near the intramural fields off East Campus Drive, will not be available. The school also urged fans to carpool, to avoid using pull-behind trailers and reconsider placing heavy objects on the wet grounds in other grass-covered parking areas.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
The One That Almost Got Away
There are 20 players on Auburn's roster who hail from Georgia, and had Mark Richt and the Bulldogs' coaches not acted swiftly in April of 2006, there could have been 21 -- and UGA might have missed out on one of the best defensive players in the SEC.
“Georgia kind of waited until the last minute to offer me," linebacker Rennie Curran said. "So I was like, ‘Hey, if you don’t offer me, I’m going to Auburn and I’m going to give y’all hell.’”
Instead, it's been the rest of the SEC Curran has tormented for the past three seasons, but the story nearly unfolded much differently.
The Tigers had offered Curran a scholarship more than four months before the Bulldogs. While Curran was set on staying close to his hometown of Snellville, he wasn't banking on an offer from his home state's biggest school, and after visiting both campuses, he found a lot of similarities between Athens and Auburn.
“It’s an awesome atmosphere," he said. "It’s pretty similar to Athens, being in a small town and the fans were crazy just like ours are. They had a pretty similar academic situation, too. A lot of things appealed to me except for the distance. I wanted to stay as close to home as possible.”
As the months dragged out and the offer from UGA still hadn't come, Auburn looked more and more like the future home of the SEC's second leading tackler.
"I knew in the past Auburn liked the small linebackers, so that’s something I took into account," Curran said. "It wasn’t too far away from home, and I didn’t really want to go to Georgia Tech. So I looked at them as a place I’d possibly go if Georgia didn’t offer me.”
But the offer did eventually come, and when it came down to it, there was really no competition between the two schools. Auburn had a lot to offer, but Georgia was home.
"(Georgia) was close to home, and I loved the atmosphere," Curran said. "Coach Richt was a big factor and my family and everything could come watch me play. (Auburn) had (linebacker) Tray Blackmon, so I didn’t want to go there and have to compete with him. I wouldn’t mind having to compete with him, but I felt like Georgia was the place for me."
“Georgia kind of waited until the last minute to offer me," linebacker Rennie Curran said. "So I was like, ‘Hey, if you don’t offer me, I’m going to Auburn and I’m going to give y’all hell.’”
Instead, it's been the rest of the SEC Curran has tormented for the past three seasons, but the story nearly unfolded much differently.
The Tigers had offered Curran a scholarship more than four months before the Bulldogs. While Curran was set on staying close to his hometown of Snellville, he wasn't banking on an offer from his home state's biggest school, and after visiting both campuses, he found a lot of similarities between Athens and Auburn.
“It’s an awesome atmosphere," he said. "It’s pretty similar to Athens, being in a small town and the fans were crazy just like ours are. They had a pretty similar academic situation, too. A lot of things appealed to me except for the distance. I wanted to stay as close to home as possible.”
As the months dragged out and the offer from UGA still hadn't come, Auburn looked more and more like the future home of the SEC's second leading tackler.
"I knew in the past Auburn liked the small linebackers, so that’s something I took into account," Curran said. "It wasn’t too far away from home, and I didn’t really want to go to Georgia Tech. So I looked at them as a place I’d possibly go if Georgia didn’t offer me.”
But the offer did eventually come, and when it came down to it, there was really no competition between the two schools. Auburn had a lot to offer, but Georgia was home.
"(Georgia) was close to home, and I loved the atmosphere," Curran said. "Coach Richt was a big factor and my family and everything could come watch me play. (Auburn) had (linebacker) Tray Blackmon, so I didn’t want to go there and have to compete with him. I wouldn’t mind having to compete with him, but I felt like Georgia was the place for me."
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Notes: Dawgs Keeping Big Game in Perspective
This week’s matchup is circled on Georgia’s calendar every season. Florida is a huge rival, and the game typically determines which team will head to Atlanta to represent the SEC East in the conference’s championship game.
This year, however, things are different for the Bulldogs. For only the second time since 1996, Georgia will be unranked when it faces Florida, and while the Bulldogs’ Eastern Division title hopes remain on life support, this game is about more than simply keeping their preseason goals alive.
“Even if both teams were ranked or unranked, it’s always a big game,” quarterback Joe Cox said. “Now with us being an unranked team playing the No. 1 team, it could change our season. We want to use this game as a great opportunity to turn our season around. That’s what we’re going for.”
Of course, even Cox knows that’s a lot of pressure to put on his team, which enters the game with three losses for the first time in 13 seasons. So while he admits there’s a lot ride on the outcome in terms of team morale, he said the Bulldogs are doing their best to keep the game in perspective.
“We don’t want to beat Florida in order to save the season or turn things around, we just want to beat Florida to beat Florida, for us,” Cox said. “We’re not talking about all the things that could come with it because there’s no need to talk about it and be thinking about stuff like that. We want to come out and execute our game plan and win the game.”
A win would be sweet, however, after Georgia has suffered through its most tumultuous season since head coach Mark Richt arrived in 2001. And knocking Florida from its perch atop the rankings – that’d be pretty nice, too.
But while the rivalry aspect of the game serves to energize the fans, Georgia’s No. 1 goal is to keep things simple. It’s not about what happened earlier this year or what has happened in seasons past, Cox said. It’s simply about getting a win this week – even if that win might be a little bigger than the others.
“I didn’t play 18 years ago, and I don’t know who did,” Cox said. “It’s all about this year, and that’s how you need to approach every game. You can talk about who won in 1957, but it doesn’t have anything to do with when you play on Saturday. That’s more something for fans to go back and forth about and bragging rights.”
RIVALRY RENEWED
The first time A.J. Green saw Florida defensive end Carlos Dunlap, he assumed there were a few years between them. As it turned out, the bulked-up Dunlap was just a year older than the lanky Bulldogs receiver.
“I’ve been playing against that guy since the sixth grade,” Green said. “I remember seeing how big he was and saying, ‘Man, this guy is huge. He’s not my age.’”
Dunlap and Green grew up near each other in South Carolina and were rivals throughout their careers, playing against each other in grade school and high school on both the football field and the basketball court. During one game in high school, Dunlap’s coach even split him out at cornerback to try to defend the speedy Green – a move that didn’t exactly pay off.
“It was a game at home, a rivalry, a sold-out game,” Green said. “He came over and tried to jam me one time. If he had gotten his hands on me, he probably would have knocked me down, but he didn’t get his hands on me.”
Instead, Green raced by Dunlap, and the two have been going back-and-forth ever since.
But while their on-field rivalry is intense, Green said the two are good friends away from the game and talk on a regular basis about their roles with their teams and their roles in the community.
“We were the face of South Carolina, and a lot of people, a lot of kids look up to us,” Green said.
When Green was being recruited out of high school, Dunlap was one of his primary advisors, offering words of encouragement and advice on earning playing time as a freshman. Oddly, Green said, Dunlap never tried to sell his friend on Florida or chastised him when he chose the Gators’ archrival.
“He’s a great guy,” Green said. “He’s grown as a person. In high school, he had an attitude pretty much. But now, he’s a good guy, and we talk all the time. Before I came up here, he talked to me about how it was to come and play, how hard it was to come in in the summer and get everything down pat to try to play right away.”
Green said his hope is that the two might finally be teammates in the NFL one day after being rivals for so long as amateurs. This week, however, Dunlap is anything but a friend.
The burly defensive end has already recorded five sacks this season, and while he may be a friend of Green’s, quarterback Joe Cox said he’s not particularly excited to get to know Dunlap on Saturday.
“He’s a big guy who is strong and he moves very well,” Cox said. “Their whole defense is, you can look at all their guys, but he definitely does stand out.”
STARVING FOR A WIN
Caleb King is hungry.
Sure, he’s hungry for a win this week against rival Florida. And he’s been starved for a chance at redemption after blowing a blocking assignment last season that sent him to the bench for the next few weeks. And after a two-touchdown performance in his last game, he’s dying for a chance to build on his success.
But mostly, he’s just hungry – for some real food.
After breaking his jaw in Georgia’s loss to LSU on Oct. 3, King has been barred from eating solid foods, meaning all his meals have come in the forms of shakes, soups and other less-than-hearty delicacies.
“Everybody can eat a meal, but I have to eat a drink,” King said. “It’s hard. I just have to be in the weight room more than everybody else so I can keep my strength and keep my weight up.”
King’s diet has been monitored by Georgia’s training staff, but for the most part, he’s been on his own to find ways to keep his body strong despite the lack of solid foods.
“I blend stuff, I drink a lot of Muscle Milk – morning, afternoon, at night for dinner,” he said. “If I think I just need something, I drink it. So it’s just pretty much the same routine every day.”
That’s a routine he’ll be thrilled to end, but he’s not sure when that might happen.
His jaw is healing, but he’s far less concerned about the injury and more about when he can dive into a steak.
“I’ve been thinking about it, but (trainer) Ron (Courson) tells me he’ll tell me when it’s time, and he hasn’t even given me a hint,” King said. “He hasn’t even looked my way yet, so I don’t know.”
The upside, King said, is that he’s had plenty of film study and strength training to keep him occupied, but as good as some success on the field Saturday might taste, it probably won’t be quite as good as his first real meal.
“I already told Ron, the first meal, they’re going to have to pay for it,” King said. “I’ll go in and chow down.”
SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES
Prince Miller finally brought a spark to Georgia’s punt-return game two weeks ago with two returns totaling 95 yards, but keeping that trend going won’t be an easy task this week.
Through seven games, Florida has yet to allow even a single punt-return yard to its opponents behind punter Chas Henry, making the Gators a worthy adversary for Georgia punter Drew Butler, who leads the nation in punting average. With those statistics, Mark Richt said field position will be tough to come by.
“Chas Henry is fantastic,” Richt said. “He hasn’t punted a lot, but he can boom it with distance and great height. He can easily get a five second hang time, and when you get that hang time, you’re not going to return it.”
Of course, punting is just one aspect of the special teams, and Richt said it will be incumbent upon the Bulldogs to win more than just one of those battles.
Last year, a botched on-side kick led to a Florida touchdown, while kicker Blair Walsh missed three field-goal tries for the Bulldogs in a loss. This season, however, Walsh is among the best kickers in the country, and Georgia’s special teams have provided a number of highlights that have Richt convinced Georgia could be in for a successful day Saturday.
“It’s a situation where you’re going against one of the better special teams teams in the league and in the country,” Richt said. “It’ll be a challenge, but we’ve had a lot more good than bad in my opinion on our special teams, and I think we’re moving in a very good direction.”
WHERE’D HE GO?
Georgia’s fans may assume linebacker Rennie Curran is the Bulldogs’ version of Superman after he has led the team in tackles in all seven games so far this season, but even Superman needs a break.
So while linebackers coach John Jancek said he would love to have Curran on the field at all times, that just hasn’t been an option, and the All-SEC junior has sat out a handful of key series during the past few games.
“The guy can’t play every single snap,” Jancek said. “He’s on all the special teams, and you have to factor those plays in. And you’ve got to be able to substitute, roll guys in and keep guys fresh.”
That trend will continue throughout the season, Jancek said, with the idea being that keeping Curran fresh for most of the plays is better than having him winded on all of them.
“Rennie, as great of a player as he is, he’s not going to be as effective as he should be or could be if he’s taking every snap,” Jancek said.
BIG CHALLENGE AWAITS
The season hasn’t exactly been an easy ride for Georgia’s offense, which has had its share of ups and downs. But despite a handful of tough opponents along the way, quarterback Joe Cox admits this week’s game will likely be the Bulldogs’ toughest.
Florida ranks first nationally in total defense, second in pass defense, 12th in run defense and second in scoring defense, allowing just more than 10 points per game. In addition, the Gators return several key players from injury, including All-SEC linebacker Brandon Spikes, meaning Georgia has its work cut out for it.
“You look at them statistically, they definitely are the best we’ve faced,” Cox said. “They have great athletes, they’re ranked pretty much one or two in everything in the country, so they’re definitely the best. I’m glad we had two weeks to prepare for them.”
This year, however, things are different for the Bulldogs. For only the second time since 1996, Georgia will be unranked when it faces Florida, and while the Bulldogs’ Eastern Division title hopes remain on life support, this game is about more than simply keeping their preseason goals alive.
“Even if both teams were ranked or unranked, it’s always a big game,” quarterback Joe Cox said. “Now with us being an unranked team playing the No. 1 team, it could change our season. We want to use this game as a great opportunity to turn our season around. That’s what we’re going for.”
Of course, even Cox knows that’s a lot of pressure to put on his team, which enters the game with three losses for the first time in 13 seasons. So while he admits there’s a lot ride on the outcome in terms of team morale, he said the Bulldogs are doing their best to keep the game in perspective.
“We don’t want to beat Florida in order to save the season or turn things around, we just want to beat Florida to beat Florida, for us,” Cox said. “We’re not talking about all the things that could come with it because there’s no need to talk about it and be thinking about stuff like that. We want to come out and execute our game plan and win the game.”
A win would be sweet, however, after Georgia has suffered through its most tumultuous season since head coach Mark Richt arrived in 2001. And knocking Florida from its perch atop the rankings – that’d be pretty nice, too.
But while the rivalry aspect of the game serves to energize the fans, Georgia’s No. 1 goal is to keep things simple. It’s not about what happened earlier this year or what has happened in seasons past, Cox said. It’s simply about getting a win this week – even if that win might be a little bigger than the others.
“I didn’t play 18 years ago, and I don’t know who did,” Cox said. “It’s all about this year, and that’s how you need to approach every game. You can talk about who won in 1957, but it doesn’t have anything to do with when you play on Saturday. That’s more something for fans to go back and forth about and bragging rights.”
RIVALRY RENEWED
The first time A.J. Green saw Florida defensive end Carlos Dunlap, he assumed there were a few years between them. As it turned out, the bulked-up Dunlap was just a year older than the lanky Bulldogs receiver.
“I’ve been playing against that guy since the sixth grade,” Green said. “I remember seeing how big he was and saying, ‘Man, this guy is huge. He’s not my age.’”
Dunlap and Green grew up near each other in South Carolina and were rivals throughout their careers, playing against each other in grade school and high school on both the football field and the basketball court. During one game in high school, Dunlap’s coach even split him out at cornerback to try to defend the speedy Green – a move that didn’t exactly pay off.
“It was a game at home, a rivalry, a sold-out game,” Green said. “He came over and tried to jam me one time. If he had gotten his hands on me, he probably would have knocked me down, but he didn’t get his hands on me.”
Instead, Green raced by Dunlap, and the two have been going back-and-forth ever since.
But while their on-field rivalry is intense, Green said the two are good friends away from the game and talk on a regular basis about their roles with their teams and their roles in the community.
“We were the face of South Carolina, and a lot of people, a lot of kids look up to us,” Green said.
When Green was being recruited out of high school, Dunlap was one of his primary advisors, offering words of encouragement and advice on earning playing time as a freshman. Oddly, Green said, Dunlap never tried to sell his friend on Florida or chastised him when he chose the Gators’ archrival.
“He’s a great guy,” Green said. “He’s grown as a person. In high school, he had an attitude pretty much. But now, he’s a good guy, and we talk all the time. Before I came up here, he talked to me about how it was to come and play, how hard it was to come in in the summer and get everything down pat to try to play right away.”
Green said his hope is that the two might finally be teammates in the NFL one day after being rivals for so long as amateurs. This week, however, Dunlap is anything but a friend.
The burly defensive end has already recorded five sacks this season, and while he may be a friend of Green’s, quarterback Joe Cox said he’s not particularly excited to get to know Dunlap on Saturday.
“He’s a big guy who is strong and he moves very well,” Cox said. “Their whole defense is, you can look at all their guys, but he definitely does stand out.”
STARVING FOR A WIN
Caleb King is hungry.
Sure, he’s hungry for a win this week against rival Florida. And he’s been starved for a chance at redemption after blowing a blocking assignment last season that sent him to the bench for the next few weeks. And after a two-touchdown performance in his last game, he’s dying for a chance to build on his success.
But mostly, he’s just hungry – for some real food.
After breaking his jaw in Georgia’s loss to LSU on Oct. 3, King has been barred from eating solid foods, meaning all his meals have come in the forms of shakes, soups and other less-than-hearty delicacies.
“Everybody can eat a meal, but I have to eat a drink,” King said. “It’s hard. I just have to be in the weight room more than everybody else so I can keep my strength and keep my weight up.”
King’s diet has been monitored by Georgia’s training staff, but for the most part, he’s been on his own to find ways to keep his body strong despite the lack of solid foods.
“I blend stuff, I drink a lot of Muscle Milk – morning, afternoon, at night for dinner,” he said. “If I think I just need something, I drink it. So it’s just pretty much the same routine every day.”
That’s a routine he’ll be thrilled to end, but he’s not sure when that might happen.
His jaw is healing, but he’s far less concerned about the injury and more about when he can dive into a steak.
“I’ve been thinking about it, but (trainer) Ron (Courson) tells me he’ll tell me when it’s time, and he hasn’t even given me a hint,” King said. “He hasn’t even looked my way yet, so I don’t know.”
The upside, King said, is that he’s had plenty of film study and strength training to keep him occupied, but as good as some success on the field Saturday might taste, it probably won’t be quite as good as his first real meal.
“I already told Ron, the first meal, they’re going to have to pay for it,” King said. “I’ll go in and chow down.”
SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES
Prince Miller finally brought a spark to Georgia’s punt-return game two weeks ago with two returns totaling 95 yards, but keeping that trend going won’t be an easy task this week.
Through seven games, Florida has yet to allow even a single punt-return yard to its opponents behind punter Chas Henry, making the Gators a worthy adversary for Georgia punter Drew Butler, who leads the nation in punting average. With those statistics, Mark Richt said field position will be tough to come by.
“Chas Henry is fantastic,” Richt said. “He hasn’t punted a lot, but he can boom it with distance and great height. He can easily get a five second hang time, and when you get that hang time, you’re not going to return it.”
Of course, punting is just one aspect of the special teams, and Richt said it will be incumbent upon the Bulldogs to win more than just one of those battles.
Last year, a botched on-side kick led to a Florida touchdown, while kicker Blair Walsh missed three field-goal tries for the Bulldogs in a loss. This season, however, Walsh is among the best kickers in the country, and Georgia’s special teams have provided a number of highlights that have Richt convinced Georgia could be in for a successful day Saturday.
“It’s a situation where you’re going against one of the better special teams teams in the league and in the country,” Richt said. “It’ll be a challenge, but we’ve had a lot more good than bad in my opinion on our special teams, and I think we’re moving in a very good direction.”
WHERE’D HE GO?
Georgia’s fans may assume linebacker Rennie Curran is the Bulldogs’ version of Superman after he has led the team in tackles in all seven games so far this season, but even Superman needs a break.
So while linebackers coach John Jancek said he would love to have Curran on the field at all times, that just hasn’t been an option, and the All-SEC junior has sat out a handful of key series during the past few games.
“The guy can’t play every single snap,” Jancek said. “He’s on all the special teams, and you have to factor those plays in. And you’ve got to be able to substitute, roll guys in and keep guys fresh.”
That trend will continue throughout the season, Jancek said, with the idea being that keeping Curran fresh for most of the plays is better than having him winded on all of them.
“Rennie, as great of a player as he is, he’s not going to be as effective as he should be or could be if he’s taking every snap,” Jancek said.
BIG CHALLENGE AWAITS
The season hasn’t exactly been an easy ride for Georgia’s offense, which has had its share of ups and downs. But despite a handful of tough opponents along the way, quarterback Joe Cox admits this week’s game will likely be the Bulldogs’ toughest.
Florida ranks first nationally in total defense, second in pass defense, 12th in run defense and second in scoring defense, allowing just more than 10 points per game. In addition, the Gators return several key players from injury, including All-SEC linebacker Brandon Spikes, meaning Georgia has its work cut out for it.
“You look at them statistically, they definitely are the best we’ve faced,” Cox said. “They have great athletes, they’re ranked pretty much one or two in everything in the country, so they’re definitely the best. I’m glad we had two weeks to prepare for them.”
Those Who Don't Study History...
I have a story in today's Telegraph on the importance of the linebackers for Georgia this week.
In doing the reporting for the story, I didn't exactly get the warm fuzzies from the Bulldogs' comments about stopping the Gators. The keys to the game, they say, are many of the same things that they have struggled with the most this year -- stopping play-action, gap discipline, tackling.
And here's reason No. 1 for concern, and try not to throw up in your mouth after reading it:
Looking at Florida's offense -- a strong run game and a short passing attack that focuses on its tight end -- and wondered if the Gators might not end up looking a lot like South Carolina did earlier this season. As it turned out, Darryl Gamble had another analogy, and it's not one that offers tons of encouragement.
“Florida, they’ll try to give you a lot of misdirectional stuff," he said. "It’s more of playing like a Georgia Tech team. You’ve got to play your thing, what you’ve got to do. If you’ve got to stay in this gap, stay in this gap. It’s just more misdirectional stuff, so if your eyes are good, you should be good.”
Yikes. Um, that Georgia Tech game last year didn't go so well. And playing with your eyes? I felt like I had heard that before, so I went back to some comments made by Rennie Curran a few weeks ago and found what I was looking for.
“That’s another thing that comes from watching film. It’s eye progression and being disciplined. There are certain keys that give away that play-action, and those keys, you only know them if you study film, watch tendencies and know down and distance. Play-action is all about discipline in where your eyes go and knowing what you’re seeing.”
That's what Curran said after the Tennessee game when he complained that perhaps his teammates weren't spending enough time in the film room. Using their eyes has hardly been a strength this year.
The good news is, they've had an extra week to get in the film room for this game, so perhaps it will be a better overall effort that Georgia has seen previously. But Curran isn't arguing with Gamble's analysis. Regardless of Florida's struggles, this is a tough team to play -- not just physically, but mentally.
“They’re going to try to beat you deep, do different things to get you out of position, especially with having Tebow," Curran said. "They’re going to go to that spread and then Tebow’s going to try to run it. It just puts you on your heels a little bit more as far as not making mistakes and executing, making plays.”
Having said that, the road to success might not be as arduous as it used to be against Florida, and the key to stopping the Gators' offense, Curran said, isn't what most commentators will tell you. The key for Georgia's D? Make Tebow beat you.
“You want to put pressure on the quarterback to where he feels like he needs to make that extra play, make those extra yards," Curran said. "That’s pretty much what I’ve seen teams that have gotten Tebow to do – when he feels like he has to put the team on his back, he’s more prone to make a mistake.”
That's what Curran has learned from the past few weeks of watching the Gators. But how about defensive coordinator Willie Martinez? Here's a bit of what he had to say about this week's matchup…
On whether there is anything he can take, scheme-wise, from the success that Arkansas and Mississippi State had against Florida...
“Not really. They just played really well, really hard – the same things you say each and every week. The thing those guys did was they executed really well, they played really hard, they had those turnovers. Any time you’re turning the ball over, your opponent is going to have a good chance of winning. Arkansas played really hard, really well. Their defensive line played really well in the game. That’s what I saw. So you’re going into the ballgame, it’s the same thing. You want to try to control the line of scrimmage because that’s where it starts. They run the football. They set up the play-action pass really well. They have tremendous speed. They have great talent on the offensive side of the ball. You’ve just got to be patient and force them to execute and force them into third down-and-long situations, then once you get them into third down, you need to be successful.”
On working more this week to try to stop the play-action after struggling so badly against it in weeks past…
“We do that every week and it didn’t just start this week. You work on the things that hurt you in the previous game or throughout the season, and obviously build on the things you do really well. That’s no different. Prior to the Tennessee game, we did that. So we just have to play solid defense from the standpoint of lining up, fitting up right, making plays, forcing them into long yardage, and that means you have to do a really good job on first and second down and play-action. That’s always been part of their offense and why they’re so effective.”
On stopping Tim Tebow in the red zone this year after allowing him to rush for five touchdowns in the past two seasons…
“We’ve got to tackle better. We know he’s going to get the ball at those times, and you just have to make plays. He’s a very good player. If he wasn’t, we wouldn’t be talking about him every week. So you have to give him credit – he’s very talented and very tough. Our guys are looking forward to playing him, and you’ve just got to execute, play with an edge and play with a physicality that you need, especially in a game like this.”
On whether Florida's struggles in the vertical game mean he might challenge the Gators more, similar to what Mississippi State did by running a cover-zero last week…
“I don’t want to speak schematically, but the people that have had success and even our success when we beat them in ’07, it’s really the style that you play, the mentality you play with, the attitude you bring on every play. You’ve got to play physical. They’re a very talented football team, but we try not to make it about them. It’s really more about us and what we can do to help our team win. We know they’re tremendously talented on offense, but Mississippi State and Arkansas, they’re just playing hard, playing fast, making plays, forcing the quarterback to make poor decisions, whether it’s a breakdown in protection or just playing harder and faster. They just played really hard and really fast. That’s the key for us is to play that style, play that fast, play that hard and force the offense to get negative plays or keep them in long yardage.”
In doing the reporting for the story, I didn't exactly get the warm fuzzies from the Bulldogs' comments about stopping the Gators. The keys to the game, they say, are many of the same things that they have struggled with the most this year -- stopping play-action, gap discipline, tackling.
And here's reason No. 1 for concern, and try not to throw up in your mouth after reading it:
Looking at Florida's offense -- a strong run game and a short passing attack that focuses on its tight end -- and wondered if the Gators might not end up looking a lot like South Carolina did earlier this season. As it turned out, Darryl Gamble had another analogy, and it's not one that offers tons of encouragement.
“Florida, they’ll try to give you a lot of misdirectional stuff," he said. "It’s more of playing like a Georgia Tech team. You’ve got to play your thing, what you’ve got to do. If you’ve got to stay in this gap, stay in this gap. It’s just more misdirectional stuff, so if your eyes are good, you should be good.”
Yikes. Um, that Georgia Tech game last year didn't go so well. And playing with your eyes? I felt like I had heard that before, so I went back to some comments made by Rennie Curran a few weeks ago and found what I was looking for.
“That’s another thing that comes from watching film. It’s eye progression and being disciplined. There are certain keys that give away that play-action, and those keys, you only know them if you study film, watch tendencies and know down and distance. Play-action is all about discipline in where your eyes go and knowing what you’re seeing.”
That's what Curran said after the Tennessee game when he complained that perhaps his teammates weren't spending enough time in the film room. Using their eyes has hardly been a strength this year.
The good news is, they've had an extra week to get in the film room for this game, so perhaps it will be a better overall effort that Georgia has seen previously. But Curran isn't arguing with Gamble's analysis. Regardless of Florida's struggles, this is a tough team to play -- not just physically, but mentally.
“They’re going to try to beat you deep, do different things to get you out of position, especially with having Tebow," Curran said. "They’re going to go to that spread and then Tebow’s going to try to run it. It just puts you on your heels a little bit more as far as not making mistakes and executing, making plays.”
Having said that, the road to success might not be as arduous as it used to be against Florida, and the key to stopping the Gators' offense, Curran said, isn't what most commentators will tell you. The key for Georgia's D? Make Tebow beat you.
“You want to put pressure on the quarterback to where he feels like he needs to make that extra play, make those extra yards," Curran said. "That’s pretty much what I’ve seen teams that have gotten Tebow to do – when he feels like he has to put the team on his back, he’s more prone to make a mistake.”
That's what Curran has learned from the past few weeks of watching the Gators. But how about defensive coordinator Willie Martinez? Here's a bit of what he had to say about this week's matchup…
On whether there is anything he can take, scheme-wise, from the success that Arkansas and Mississippi State had against Florida...
“Not really. They just played really well, really hard – the same things you say each and every week. The thing those guys did was they executed really well, they played really hard, they had those turnovers. Any time you’re turning the ball over, your opponent is going to have a good chance of winning. Arkansas played really hard, really well. Their defensive line played really well in the game. That’s what I saw. So you’re going into the ballgame, it’s the same thing. You want to try to control the line of scrimmage because that’s where it starts. They run the football. They set up the play-action pass really well. They have tremendous speed. They have great talent on the offensive side of the ball. You’ve just got to be patient and force them to execute and force them into third down-and-long situations, then once you get them into third down, you need to be successful.”
On working more this week to try to stop the play-action after struggling so badly against it in weeks past…
“We do that every week and it didn’t just start this week. You work on the things that hurt you in the previous game or throughout the season, and obviously build on the things you do really well. That’s no different. Prior to the Tennessee game, we did that. So we just have to play solid defense from the standpoint of lining up, fitting up right, making plays, forcing them into long yardage, and that means you have to do a really good job on first and second down and play-action. That’s always been part of their offense and why they’re so effective.”
On stopping Tim Tebow in the red zone this year after allowing him to rush for five touchdowns in the past two seasons…
“We’ve got to tackle better. We know he’s going to get the ball at those times, and you just have to make plays. He’s a very good player. If he wasn’t, we wouldn’t be talking about him every week. So you have to give him credit – he’s very talented and very tough. Our guys are looking forward to playing him, and you’ve just got to execute, play with an edge and play with a physicality that you need, especially in a game like this.”
On whether Florida's struggles in the vertical game mean he might challenge the Gators more, similar to what Mississippi State did by running a cover-zero last week…
“I don’t want to speak schematically, but the people that have had success and even our success when we beat them in ’07, it’s really the style that you play, the mentality you play with, the attitude you bring on every play. You’ve got to play physical. They’re a very talented football team, but we try not to make it about them. It’s really more about us and what we can do to help our team win. We know they’re tremendously talented on offense, but Mississippi State and Arkansas, they’re just playing hard, playing fast, making plays, forcing the quarterback to make poor decisions, whether it’s a breakdown in protection or just playing harder and faster. They just played really hard and really fast. That’s the key for us is to play that style, play that fast, play that hard and force the offense to get negative plays or keep them in long yardage.”
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Post-Game Notes: Bobo's Move Pays Dividends
(NOTE: You can read my game story from Georgia's win over Vanderbilt HERE.)
With his offense struggling to find its way the past three weeks, Mike Bobo decided he needed to take on a more personal approach to play calling.
For the first time since becoming Georgia’s offensive coordinator in 2007, Bobo watched Georgia’s 34-10 win over Vanderbilt from the sideline rather than the press box – a change that seemed to spark the offense.
“I think he just wanted more energy on the sideline,” quarterback Joe Cox said. “He wanted to celebrate when we made plays, and even on the defensive side of the ball, he was getting us into the game the way he was cheering for the defense. It was great to have him on the sideline.”
The move came as a surprise to virtually everyone on Georgia’s sideline other than head coach Mark Richt and the Bulldogs’ quarterbacks, whom Bobo had informed of his plans last Thursday.
It wasn’t exactly a comfortable surrounding for Bobo, but it was a chance to get a more personal feel for the action.
“I just really didn’t have a good feel for our football team and have been thinking about it all year,” Bobo said. “We hadn’t played well the last two weeks and kind of put it on the backburner. It’s more to look into their eyes and try to get a feel for how we’re doing and hopefully relax a little better.”
From his bird’s-eye view in the press box, Bobo said he can get a better look at the types of defenses the opposition employs, but he thought the experience of being surrounded by his players outweighed the drawbacks.
“It’s a little more difficult to see the play unfold,” Bobo said, “but you really get an idea of what they’re in. It was pretty evident to see what their game plan was. They were going to play two deep to our base personal, and we had to be able to run the ball.”
The move paid dividends as the Bulldogs racked up 399 yards of total offense – nearly double their tally from a week earlier. Georgia found the end zone four times, too, including twice in the red zone, after failing to move the ball inside Tennessee’s 35-yard line last week.
While the offensive execution wasn’t always perfect, it was a vast improvement, and Bobo’s presence on the sideline had a lot to do with the increased production, Cox said.
“He’s a real competitive guy and he coaches with a lot of energy,” Cox said. “He wants his players to play with a fire and a passion, too, and I think it was good to have that on the sideline where he could convey that to us instead of being up in the booth and having to talk to individuals one after another.”
Bobo’s move to the field left just linebackers coach John Jancek and receivers coach Tony Ball in the press box, but Jancek said the small contingent of coaches upstairs didn’t have any ill effects.
Richt had told Bobo that if the plan wasn’t working out by halftime, he could return to the press box for the remainder of the game, but an in-game adjustment proved unnecessary.
“I think it’s up to the coordinator to decide where he’ll be most effective,” Richt said. “Do I think it was a positive thing to be down on the field? I think it was, and I’m assuming he’ll want to do that in the future.”
GROUND GAME GETS GOING
It was the drive Georgia had been waiting for all season, even if it didn’t prove crucial to the game’s outcome.
The Bulldogs’ had already secured their win over Vanderbilt – the final tally was 34-10 – but it was that last touchdown that really gave the team something to celebrate.
Georgia’s struggling running game had mustered just 53 yards on 20 carries through three quarters, despite Vanderbilt ranking as one of the worst run defenses in the league. The Bulldogs’ final scoring drive, however, represented a turning point.
Georgia drove 68 yards on 10 plays – all runs – and capped the drive with a 9-yard touchdown run by fullback Fred Munzenmaier on fourth down.
“That eats up a lot of clock, and it gives you a lot of confidence in your running game when you say, we’re going to run the ball right at you at the end of the game,” quarterback Joe Cox said. “When you do it all the way down the field and put points on the board, it’s a great feeling. I think we needed that probably more than any other drive.”
The drive was anchored by a 33-yard run by freshman Washaun Ealey, but Carlton Thomas and Munzenmaier each contributed key yardage, too.
For the game, six Georgia running backs totaled at least 10 yards apiece, and the dedication to running the football was a key in the Bulldogs’ increased offensive output.
“It felt good that we ran the ball,” receiver A.J. Green said. “Success is running the ball, and that opens up the passing game. We did that (Saturday), and it felt good.”
Georgia finished with 37 rushes for 173 yards – its highest total of the season.
The success was crucial for the stagnant Bulldogs’ offense, which ranked last in the SEC and 104th nationally in rushing entering Saturday’s contest.
“We want to run the ball, we have good backs, and we have a good line,” Cox said. “We just needed to get it working. We don’t need to give up on it if it’s not working in the first half, and I’m glad we stuck with it. It turned out to be big for us.”
HIS PLAY DOES THE TALKING
Sophomore tailback Caleb King had been waiting a long time to get his first touchdown of the season, but when the moment finally arrived, he couldn’t do much celebrating.
“They tell me I can’t really talk that much,” said King, who is still recovering from a broken jaw suffered two weeks ago in a loss to LSU.
King was fitted with a special protective facemask and a mouth guard with additional padding to ensure he would make it through the game without doing additional damage to his jaw.
He missed last week’s game while recovering from the injury along with a concussion that occurred on the same play, another stumbling block in what has been a difficult season for King. He also missed the first two games of the season along with much of preseason practice with a hamstring injury.
“I thought this was my year, and then the injuries came,” King said. “It was tough just sitting down and watching the game, but I knew I could contribute to the team.”
King was a key contributor in Saturday’s win, picking up 35 yards on six touches, including two touchdowns.
His first score was a two-yard rumble into the end zone, and his second came on a screen pass that went 21 yards.
“It was the perfect call at the perfect time, and the line was out there blocking, so I just followed them straight to the end zone,” King said of the latter touchdown.
CREDIT WHERE CREDIT’S DUE
Joe Cox had a career-long 65-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter Saturday, one he’ll probably tell his kids about one day.
Just don’t expect him to go into too much detail.
The score came on a short dump to receiver A.J. Green, who made people miss on the way to the end zone, and a personal career-best for himself too.
“We were on the right hash, I threw it further than a yard,” Cox said, laughing. “No, I probably won’t mention that. I’m not going to sit here and act like I made a great play. Everybody saw what A.J. did.”
Green merely provided his weekly addition to his personal highlight reel, making a Vanderbilt defensive back miss in space before weaving his way through the rest of the Commodore defense.
It was a departure from his usual jump-ball touchdown grabs, but hardly surprising.
“That was fun,” Green said. “This right here is just real life for me. I’m loving every minute of it. It’s just getting better each game.”
As for the highlight-reel run, Cox said it was a nice change-of-pace from Green’s usual heroics, but it hardly came as a shock.
“Everybody knows what he can do,” Cox said. “That play he scored on, that was a little crazy, but nothing really surprises me anymore, and that’s why we throw him the ball.”
EALEY BREAKS A LONG ONE
Georgia’s leading rusher was freshman Washaun Ealey, who broke a 33-yarder in the fourth quarter. That was the longest run by a Georgia tailback since Richard Samuel broke an 80-yarder against Arkansas a month ago, and the longest of Ealey’s short career.
“I was just trying to score, hopefully I could get my first big touchdown,” Ealey said. “It didn’t happen, but we’ve got to get some more.”
Ealey finished the game with 71 yards on 13 carries and enjoyed the first start of his career.
“He’s running with a lot of energy right now, that’s the main thing,” Cox said of Ealey. “He wants to run hard, he wants the ball in his hands and he’s been practicing real hard, and that’s what gets guys on the field.”
GARBAGE TIME PROVES PRODUCTIVE
The fourth quarters haven’t been much fun for Georgia this season. The Bulldogs have trailed in every game this year prior to Saturday’s win over Vandy, and there hasn’t been much time for the Bulldogs’ backups to see action.
So when the opportunity finally came for head coach Mark Richt to get some reserves in the game, he was happy to do it.
The Bulldogs final drive was meant to run the final 1 minute, 15 seconds off the clock, but it turned out to be a showcase for some reserve linemen and fifth-string tailback Dontavius Jackson, who picked up 38 yards on just three carries.
“That very last drive, we probably could have taken a knee,” Richt said. “We didn’t call a timeout or anything. We just had some young kids that we were just trying to let them play. We had some offensive linemen that had never played before and Dontavius got a few totes, which was good to see.”
Linemen A.J. Harmon, Kevin Perez and Casey Nickels all saw action for the first time this season on the drive.
KICK BACK AND RELAX
The key to Georgia’s win Saturday was a new relaxed approach, Green said, and the key to the new approach was a liberating realization the team came to during the week.
“We had nothing to lose,” Green said.
Georgia set aside its big-picture goals and simply played for the moment, and the players found a renewed bit of enthusiasm that they hope will follow through into this week’s open date and a looming showdown with No. 1 Florida.
“We got things rolling in the right direction, and we’ve got to use these two weeks to get ready to play our best game,” linebacker Rennie Curran said. “People are going to doubt us, and we know people don’t have as much respect for us as Florida – deservingly so. They’ve got the record, they’ve made plays. We’ve got to keep our minds right and do everything it takes to get ready for this game.”
Saturday’s win was a big morale boost, and the bye week should give Georgia plenty of time to prepare for its archrival. But it’s that new attitude that might be the key for the Bulldogs as they mold their strategy for a potentially enormous upset in two weeks.
“The pressure is on them,” cornerback Brandon Boykin said of Florida. “We’ve got nothing to lose. We can just go out there and play as hard as we can, and this momentum from this win, I feel like we’re going to carry that over and continue to get better.”
WALSH’S SECOND SHOT
Blair Walsh continued his torrid start to the season, connecting on two more field goals Saturday. The sophomore kicker is now 10-of-11 on field-goal tries this season, including a perfect 3-for-3 on kicks of 50 yards or longer.
Walsh didn't add to the total on those 50-yarders Saturday, but he did come close.
With the clock about to expire on the first half, Georgia was pinned on a third-down play, and Richt sent Walsh in to attempt a 57-yard field goal. The kick would have been his career long.
Instead, a Vanderbilt defender got his hand on the ball, sending it sideways just as it got off the ground. As it turned out, the Commodores' player was flagged for illegally jumping over the defensive line to block the kick, and Walsh got a second crack at it -- this time from just 42 yards out.
“I thought it was good off my foot," Walsh said of his first try from 57. "But a make is a make, and I’m glad they called it because it wasn’t cool that the guy jumped over the line.”
EXTRA POINTS
-- Josh Davis got his first start of the season at right tackle, while Clint Boling opened the game at right guard. Tailback Washaun Ealey and fullback Fred Munzenmaier also got their first career starts Saturday.
-- After failing to record a sack last week, Georgia's defensive front rebounded with three sacks of quarterback Larry Smith -- one each by Kade Weston, Justin Houston and Demarcus Dobbs. Georgia tallied nine tackles for a loss in the game.
-- Rennie Curran led Georgia with nine tackles. He has been the Bulldogs' leading tackler in every game this season.
-- Safety Quintin Banks returned to action after missing all but one game during the past two seasons due to a variety of injuries. He finished with two tackles, including one for a loss.
-- Reshad Jones recorded his first interception of the season for Georgia in the first half, and the Bulldogs turned it into a touchdown on the other end following the long bomb to A.J. Green. It was the first time all season Georgia had more points off turnovers than its opponent. For the season, Georgia has scored 21 points off six turnovers and allowed 71 points following 17 turnovers.
-- Georgia got its first taste of the red zone Saturday, capping an eight-play, 64-yard drive with a two-yard TD by Caleb King, his first of the year. The Bulldogs scored a touchdown on another red-zone try in the fourth quarter. Last week against Tennessee, Georgia did not reach the red zone for the first time since the 1990 Clemson game, a span of 232 contests.
* Tyler Estep contributed to this notebook.
With his offense struggling to find its way the past three weeks, Mike Bobo decided he needed to take on a more personal approach to play calling.
For the first time since becoming Georgia’s offensive coordinator in 2007, Bobo watched Georgia’s 34-10 win over Vanderbilt from the sideline rather than the press box – a change that seemed to spark the offense.
“I think he just wanted more energy on the sideline,” quarterback Joe Cox said. “He wanted to celebrate when we made plays, and even on the defensive side of the ball, he was getting us into the game the way he was cheering for the defense. It was great to have him on the sideline.”
The move came as a surprise to virtually everyone on Georgia’s sideline other than head coach Mark Richt and the Bulldogs’ quarterbacks, whom Bobo had informed of his plans last Thursday.
It wasn’t exactly a comfortable surrounding for Bobo, but it was a chance to get a more personal feel for the action.
“I just really didn’t have a good feel for our football team and have been thinking about it all year,” Bobo said. “We hadn’t played well the last two weeks and kind of put it on the backburner. It’s more to look into their eyes and try to get a feel for how we’re doing and hopefully relax a little better.”
From his bird’s-eye view in the press box, Bobo said he can get a better look at the types of defenses the opposition employs, but he thought the experience of being surrounded by his players outweighed the drawbacks.
“It’s a little more difficult to see the play unfold,” Bobo said, “but you really get an idea of what they’re in. It was pretty evident to see what their game plan was. They were going to play two deep to our base personal, and we had to be able to run the ball.”
The move paid dividends as the Bulldogs racked up 399 yards of total offense – nearly double their tally from a week earlier. Georgia found the end zone four times, too, including twice in the red zone, after failing to move the ball inside Tennessee’s 35-yard line last week.
While the offensive execution wasn’t always perfect, it was a vast improvement, and Bobo’s presence on the sideline had a lot to do with the increased production, Cox said.
“He’s a real competitive guy and he coaches with a lot of energy,” Cox said. “He wants his players to play with a fire and a passion, too, and I think it was good to have that on the sideline where he could convey that to us instead of being up in the booth and having to talk to individuals one after another.”
Bobo’s move to the field left just linebackers coach John Jancek and receivers coach Tony Ball in the press box, but Jancek said the small contingent of coaches upstairs didn’t have any ill effects.
Richt had told Bobo that if the plan wasn’t working out by halftime, he could return to the press box for the remainder of the game, but an in-game adjustment proved unnecessary.
“I think it’s up to the coordinator to decide where he’ll be most effective,” Richt said. “Do I think it was a positive thing to be down on the field? I think it was, and I’m assuming he’ll want to do that in the future.”
GROUND GAME GETS GOING
It was the drive Georgia had been waiting for all season, even if it didn’t prove crucial to the game’s outcome.
The Bulldogs’ had already secured their win over Vanderbilt – the final tally was 34-10 – but it was that last touchdown that really gave the team something to celebrate.
Georgia’s struggling running game had mustered just 53 yards on 20 carries through three quarters, despite Vanderbilt ranking as one of the worst run defenses in the league. The Bulldogs’ final scoring drive, however, represented a turning point.
Georgia drove 68 yards on 10 plays – all runs – and capped the drive with a 9-yard touchdown run by fullback Fred Munzenmaier on fourth down.
“That eats up a lot of clock, and it gives you a lot of confidence in your running game when you say, we’re going to run the ball right at you at the end of the game,” quarterback Joe Cox said. “When you do it all the way down the field and put points on the board, it’s a great feeling. I think we needed that probably more than any other drive.”
The drive was anchored by a 33-yard run by freshman Washaun Ealey, but Carlton Thomas and Munzenmaier each contributed key yardage, too.
For the game, six Georgia running backs totaled at least 10 yards apiece, and the dedication to running the football was a key in the Bulldogs’ increased offensive output.
“It felt good that we ran the ball,” receiver A.J. Green said. “Success is running the ball, and that opens up the passing game. We did that (Saturday), and it felt good.”
Georgia finished with 37 rushes for 173 yards – its highest total of the season.
The success was crucial for the stagnant Bulldogs’ offense, which ranked last in the SEC and 104th nationally in rushing entering Saturday’s contest.
“We want to run the ball, we have good backs, and we have a good line,” Cox said. “We just needed to get it working. We don’t need to give up on it if it’s not working in the first half, and I’m glad we stuck with it. It turned out to be big for us.”
HIS PLAY DOES THE TALKING
Sophomore tailback Caleb King had been waiting a long time to get his first touchdown of the season, but when the moment finally arrived, he couldn’t do much celebrating.
“They tell me I can’t really talk that much,” said King, who is still recovering from a broken jaw suffered two weeks ago in a loss to LSU.
King was fitted with a special protective facemask and a mouth guard with additional padding to ensure he would make it through the game without doing additional damage to his jaw.
He missed last week’s game while recovering from the injury along with a concussion that occurred on the same play, another stumbling block in what has been a difficult season for King. He also missed the first two games of the season along with much of preseason practice with a hamstring injury.
“I thought this was my year, and then the injuries came,” King said. “It was tough just sitting down and watching the game, but I knew I could contribute to the team.”
King was a key contributor in Saturday’s win, picking up 35 yards on six touches, including two touchdowns.
His first score was a two-yard rumble into the end zone, and his second came on a screen pass that went 21 yards.
“It was the perfect call at the perfect time, and the line was out there blocking, so I just followed them straight to the end zone,” King said of the latter touchdown.
CREDIT WHERE CREDIT’S DUE
Joe Cox had a career-long 65-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter Saturday, one he’ll probably tell his kids about one day.
Just don’t expect him to go into too much detail.
The score came on a short dump to receiver A.J. Green, who made people miss on the way to the end zone, and a personal career-best for himself too.
“We were on the right hash, I threw it further than a yard,” Cox said, laughing. “No, I probably won’t mention that. I’m not going to sit here and act like I made a great play. Everybody saw what A.J. did.”
Green merely provided his weekly addition to his personal highlight reel, making a Vanderbilt defensive back miss in space before weaving his way through the rest of the Commodore defense.
It was a departure from his usual jump-ball touchdown grabs, but hardly surprising.
“That was fun,” Green said. “This right here is just real life for me. I’m loving every minute of it. It’s just getting better each game.”
As for the highlight-reel run, Cox said it was a nice change-of-pace from Green’s usual heroics, but it hardly came as a shock.
“Everybody knows what he can do,” Cox said. “That play he scored on, that was a little crazy, but nothing really surprises me anymore, and that’s why we throw him the ball.”
EALEY BREAKS A LONG ONE
Georgia’s leading rusher was freshman Washaun Ealey, who broke a 33-yarder in the fourth quarter. That was the longest run by a Georgia tailback since Richard Samuel broke an 80-yarder against Arkansas a month ago, and the longest of Ealey’s short career.
“I was just trying to score, hopefully I could get my first big touchdown,” Ealey said. “It didn’t happen, but we’ve got to get some more.”
Ealey finished the game with 71 yards on 13 carries and enjoyed the first start of his career.
“He’s running with a lot of energy right now, that’s the main thing,” Cox said of Ealey. “He wants to run hard, he wants the ball in his hands and he’s been practicing real hard, and that’s what gets guys on the field.”
GARBAGE TIME PROVES PRODUCTIVE
The fourth quarters haven’t been much fun for Georgia this season. The Bulldogs have trailed in every game this year prior to Saturday’s win over Vandy, and there hasn’t been much time for the Bulldogs’ backups to see action.
So when the opportunity finally came for head coach Mark Richt to get some reserves in the game, he was happy to do it.
The Bulldogs final drive was meant to run the final 1 minute, 15 seconds off the clock, but it turned out to be a showcase for some reserve linemen and fifth-string tailback Dontavius Jackson, who picked up 38 yards on just three carries.
“That very last drive, we probably could have taken a knee,” Richt said. “We didn’t call a timeout or anything. We just had some young kids that we were just trying to let them play. We had some offensive linemen that had never played before and Dontavius got a few totes, which was good to see.”
Linemen A.J. Harmon, Kevin Perez and Casey Nickels all saw action for the first time this season on the drive.
KICK BACK AND RELAX
The key to Georgia’s win Saturday was a new relaxed approach, Green said, and the key to the new approach was a liberating realization the team came to during the week.
“We had nothing to lose,” Green said.
Georgia set aside its big-picture goals and simply played for the moment, and the players found a renewed bit of enthusiasm that they hope will follow through into this week’s open date and a looming showdown with No. 1 Florida.
“We got things rolling in the right direction, and we’ve got to use these two weeks to get ready to play our best game,” linebacker Rennie Curran said. “People are going to doubt us, and we know people don’t have as much respect for us as Florida – deservingly so. They’ve got the record, they’ve made plays. We’ve got to keep our minds right and do everything it takes to get ready for this game.”
Saturday’s win was a big morale boost, and the bye week should give Georgia plenty of time to prepare for its archrival. But it’s that new attitude that might be the key for the Bulldogs as they mold their strategy for a potentially enormous upset in two weeks.
“The pressure is on them,” cornerback Brandon Boykin said of Florida. “We’ve got nothing to lose. We can just go out there and play as hard as we can, and this momentum from this win, I feel like we’re going to carry that over and continue to get better.”
WALSH’S SECOND SHOT
Blair Walsh continued his torrid start to the season, connecting on two more field goals Saturday. The sophomore kicker is now 10-of-11 on field-goal tries this season, including a perfect 3-for-3 on kicks of 50 yards or longer.
Walsh didn't add to the total on those 50-yarders Saturday, but he did come close.
With the clock about to expire on the first half, Georgia was pinned on a third-down play, and Richt sent Walsh in to attempt a 57-yard field goal. The kick would have been his career long.
Instead, a Vanderbilt defender got his hand on the ball, sending it sideways just as it got off the ground. As it turned out, the Commodores' player was flagged for illegally jumping over the defensive line to block the kick, and Walsh got a second crack at it -- this time from just 42 yards out.
“I thought it was good off my foot," Walsh said of his first try from 57. "But a make is a make, and I’m glad they called it because it wasn’t cool that the guy jumped over the line.”
EXTRA POINTS
-- Josh Davis got his first start of the season at right tackle, while Clint Boling opened the game at right guard. Tailback Washaun Ealey and fullback Fred Munzenmaier also got their first career starts Saturday.
-- After failing to record a sack last week, Georgia's defensive front rebounded with three sacks of quarterback Larry Smith -- one each by Kade Weston, Justin Houston and Demarcus Dobbs. Georgia tallied nine tackles for a loss in the game.
-- Rennie Curran led Georgia with nine tackles. He has been the Bulldogs' leading tackler in every game this season.
-- Safety Quintin Banks returned to action after missing all but one game during the past two seasons due to a variety of injuries. He finished with two tackles, including one for a loss.
-- Reshad Jones recorded his first interception of the season for Georgia in the first half, and the Bulldogs turned it into a touchdown on the other end following the long bomb to A.J. Green. It was the first time all season Georgia had more points off turnovers than its opponent. For the season, Georgia has scored 21 points off six turnovers and allowed 71 points following 17 turnovers.
-- Georgia got its first taste of the red zone Saturday, capping an eight-play, 64-yard drive with a two-yard TD by Caleb King, his first of the year. The Bulldogs scored a touchdown on another red-zone try in the fourth quarter. Last week against Tennessee, Georgia did not reach the red zone for the first time since the 1990 Clemson game, a span of 232 contests.
* Tyler Estep contributed to this notebook.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
History Repeats Itself
There's no one on the Georgia roster you can count on for an honest assessment of the team better than Rennie Curran. He never calls out individual players -- unless he's calling out himself -- but he's always willing to say what he thinks is holding his unit back.
So when we were talking Tuesday, I put the basic question to him. What's keeping this defense from being successful?
His answer sounded familiar, and after spending about three minutes combing through some quotes from last season, it's clear why.
Rennie Curran following the loss to Florida last year:
"It’s preparation because the better prepared you are, the less likely you are to have things like that happen, miscommunications or not being in the right place at the right time, not being aligned and ready when the ball is snapped, and those are the things that we just have to work on in practice and be more efficient at. Everybody has to be on the same page, and when you’ve got nine guys all doing it, and two guys not doing it the right way, that will mess up your whole entire defense.”
Rennie Curran during the offseason:
“You just have to be persistent and hope everybody can get on the same page, but I have no worries about that this year. I feel like we’ve got a great group of guys that want to do things right and want to buy into the program, and that’s going to translate into good things.”
Rennie Curran following the loss to Tennessee last week:
"This season has been a huge emotional rollercoaster, having good week, bad week, guys not playing on the same page. But we’ve got to go into this week using those bad experiences to turn it into something positive for this team that can get us back on track and build some momentum for the rest of the season.”
Nearly a year apart, the song remains essentially the same, and the bottom line is that phrase: "Not Playing on the Same Page."
But why?
I thought about doing a detailed bit of writing about this, but after posing the question to a number of Georgia's key defensive players and coaches, I think they do a much better job of telling the story.
Despite what we heard during the offseason of all the effort and focus, some of that seems to have waned since this season began. Curran wants to remind people.
“We’ve got a lot going on as college students, but at the same time, we worked so hard during the offseason and we can’t just let that go for nothing," he said. "We’ve got to see some results. We’ve got to continue to fight hard."
So what will that take?
According to defensive coordinator Willie Martinez, it's a matter of persistence.
"It's a work in progress," Martinez said. "You keep talking about those things and being disciplined. You have some guys that have some inexperience and that's going to happen. You just have to work through it, continue to practice it and stress it to where you can be more consistent."
According to safety Bryan Evans, it's a matter of maturity.
“We’ve been trying to do that all season, but times like this, you can only get better by looking at film more," Evans said. "We try to get the younger players to watch film with us more, but a player is only going to do as much as they can do with the class schedule and stuff like that. But that comes with maturity. If you’re mature, you’re going to go in and watch film. If you’re not mature, you’re just going to do what you have to do and be done with it.”
According to defensive tackle Jeff Owens, it's a matter of emotion.
"You've got to give it your all," Owens said. "We know it's a grind. We know it's tough. If it wasn't tough, everybody in the world would be doing it. But you have to go out and give it your all, and you've got to have fun. That's what we have to get back is guys having fun, making plays and being excited."
According to cornerback Brandon Boykin, it's a matter of experience.
"Young people are going to make mistakes," Boykin said. "But I feel like that's where the film study comes in, like Rennie was saying. When you're inexperienced, you've got to get in there because you don't have a lot of reps under your belt. You've got to watch more film to know what to look for and be prepared for, and that in itself will lead to a lot more consistency."
So what's the bottom line?
From fans, the answer for the past few weeks -- heck, the past few years -- has been coaching. But Curran doesn't buy that. The NCAA restricts what coaches can force a player to do or how long they can make a player work. Curran doesn't think the motivation has lacked. It's the determination -- not on the field, but off it.
“We all want to win, we’re all fighting hard, we’re all fighting our hearts out every single game, but at the same time, we also need to focus on playing smarter," Curran said. "That starts with preparation. Coach Martinez can coach his heart out, but it’s up to us to stay in that film room for an extra 30 minutes or whatever it’s going to take to learn those formations, those tendencies that will help us on the field when he’s not there coaching us up.
"That’s when your film preparation comes in. When the offense comes out and does something different that you haven’t seen before, you’re already prepared, you have your rules down that you always stick to. But that’s only going to come with the time you put into it as a player, being a student of the game, and knowing the ins and outs. It’s not always about just the coaching. It’s a lot of times about the player and how bad he wants it and how much he studies himself. That’s something we have to improve on.”
To quote "Office Space," what do you think of a person who does the bare minimum?
"Well, I thought I remembered you saying that you wanted to express yourself."
Of late, going beyond seems to be something that hasn't been as high a priority as some of Georgia's defenders think it needs to be.
“I feel like everybody individually has to look themselves in the mirror and see how they can get better, see what’s gone wrong," Curran said. "If that means sitting in the film room and watching and critiquing yourself, that’s something you need to do. You have to do those things to get better and learn from your mistakes. We’ve got so many other things going on with school, with our families, but at the same time, that’s what we came to this school for was to be great football players and to get a degree and make a great living for ourselves.”
Curran isn't getting any argument on that point from Boykin, who said there's likely a direct correlation between the amount of time spent watching film and the results on the field lately.
"Film study helps, and that might be the deciding factor in a lot of our games," Boykin said. "But I also feel like it's man on man, who's the best a lot of times, and it comes down to us not making the play. But film study would definitely help us as a group if everybody got in there and did what they're supposed to do."
And it will only become a bigger and bigger issue. Teams have beaten Georgia's defense routinely using play-action and misdirection. Boykin and Curran agree that the more Georgia struggles in specific areas, the more the opposition will continue to employ those techniques.
"We know that other teams are going to copycat each other and see what hurt us defensively," Boykin said. "We're going to work on it, and Coach Martinez, I'm sure he's going to do what he's supposed to do. We've got to search within ourselves now and really find out what we want to do with our season, because it's not going to get any easier."
“That’s another thing that comes from watching film," Curran said specifically of defending the play-action. "It’s eye progression and being disciplined. There are certain keys that give away that play-action, and those keys, you only know them if you study film, watch tendencies and know down and distance. Play-action is all about discipline in where your eyes go and knowing what you’re seeing.”
So what's the final solution? How do the Bulldogs improve a problem that has been plaguing the defense for at least a year?
That should be a simple sell, Curran said, although he admits some frustration that it hasn't been as easy as it should be.
But here's the bottom line, he said. Players are at Georgia for a reason, and if they want to be great, they need to remember what that reason was.
“At times like these you have to remind the guys of why we came here," he said. "It’s the same thing as last year. We’ve got so many things as college athletes and students going on in our lives, but we have to realize that the work that we put in during the offseason and how much work has gone into this whole entire season and just what we represent in the tradition and the guys who have done it before us – all those things come into play.
"It’s where we want to go. I’m sure if I ask all my teammates if they want to play in (the NFL), I’m sure they’re all going to say yes. But at the same time, you have to do what it takes. You have to sacrifice. You have to study. You have to have those late nights. You have to put in that extra time. Those are the things you try to drive home to your teammates that it’s not just going to come overnight. Success isn’t going to come just because you want it to or just because you work hard. You’ve got to work smart. You’ve got to do all those necessary things it takes to be a successful player. Just as if you wanted to get that degree or be a successful student, you’ve got to sacrifice. That’s the main thing.”
So when we were talking Tuesday, I put the basic question to him. What's keeping this defense from being successful?
His answer sounded familiar, and after spending about three minutes combing through some quotes from last season, it's clear why.
Rennie Curran following the loss to Florida last year:
"It’s preparation because the better prepared you are, the less likely you are to have things like that happen, miscommunications or not being in the right place at the right time, not being aligned and ready when the ball is snapped, and those are the things that we just have to work on in practice and be more efficient at. Everybody has to be on the same page, and when you’ve got nine guys all doing it, and two guys not doing it the right way, that will mess up your whole entire defense.”
Rennie Curran during the offseason:
“You just have to be persistent and hope everybody can get on the same page, but I have no worries about that this year. I feel like we’ve got a great group of guys that want to do things right and want to buy into the program, and that’s going to translate into good things.”
Rennie Curran following the loss to Tennessee last week:
"This season has been a huge emotional rollercoaster, having good week, bad week, guys not playing on the same page. But we’ve got to go into this week using those bad experiences to turn it into something positive for this team that can get us back on track and build some momentum for the rest of the season.”
Nearly a year apart, the song remains essentially the same, and the bottom line is that phrase: "Not Playing on the Same Page."
But why?
I thought about doing a detailed bit of writing about this, but after posing the question to a number of Georgia's key defensive players and coaches, I think they do a much better job of telling the story.
Despite what we heard during the offseason of all the effort and focus, some of that seems to have waned since this season began. Curran wants to remind people.
“We’ve got a lot going on as college students, but at the same time, we worked so hard during the offseason and we can’t just let that go for nothing," he said. "We’ve got to see some results. We’ve got to continue to fight hard."
So what will that take?
According to defensive coordinator Willie Martinez, it's a matter of persistence.
"It's a work in progress," Martinez said. "You keep talking about those things and being disciplined. You have some guys that have some inexperience and that's going to happen. You just have to work through it, continue to practice it and stress it to where you can be more consistent."
According to safety Bryan Evans, it's a matter of maturity.
“We’ve been trying to do that all season, but times like this, you can only get better by looking at film more," Evans said. "We try to get the younger players to watch film with us more, but a player is only going to do as much as they can do with the class schedule and stuff like that. But that comes with maturity. If you’re mature, you’re going to go in and watch film. If you’re not mature, you’re just going to do what you have to do and be done with it.”
According to defensive tackle Jeff Owens, it's a matter of emotion.
"You've got to give it your all," Owens said. "We know it's a grind. We know it's tough. If it wasn't tough, everybody in the world would be doing it. But you have to go out and give it your all, and you've got to have fun. That's what we have to get back is guys having fun, making plays and being excited."
According to cornerback Brandon Boykin, it's a matter of experience.
"Young people are going to make mistakes," Boykin said. "But I feel like that's where the film study comes in, like Rennie was saying. When you're inexperienced, you've got to get in there because you don't have a lot of reps under your belt. You've got to watch more film to know what to look for and be prepared for, and that in itself will lead to a lot more consistency."
So what's the bottom line?
From fans, the answer for the past few weeks -- heck, the past few years -- has been coaching. But Curran doesn't buy that. The NCAA restricts what coaches can force a player to do or how long they can make a player work. Curran doesn't think the motivation has lacked. It's the determination -- not on the field, but off it.
“We all want to win, we’re all fighting hard, we’re all fighting our hearts out every single game, but at the same time, we also need to focus on playing smarter," Curran said. "That starts with preparation. Coach Martinez can coach his heart out, but it’s up to us to stay in that film room for an extra 30 minutes or whatever it’s going to take to learn those formations, those tendencies that will help us on the field when he’s not there coaching us up.
"That’s when your film preparation comes in. When the offense comes out and does something different that you haven’t seen before, you’re already prepared, you have your rules down that you always stick to. But that’s only going to come with the time you put into it as a player, being a student of the game, and knowing the ins and outs. It’s not always about just the coaching. It’s a lot of times about the player and how bad he wants it and how much he studies himself. That’s something we have to improve on.”
To quote "Office Space," what do you think of a person who does the bare minimum?
"Well, I thought I remembered you saying that you wanted to express yourself." Of late, going beyond seems to be something that hasn't been as high a priority as some of Georgia's defenders think it needs to be.
“I feel like everybody individually has to look themselves in the mirror and see how they can get better, see what’s gone wrong," Curran said. "If that means sitting in the film room and watching and critiquing yourself, that’s something you need to do. You have to do those things to get better and learn from your mistakes. We’ve got so many other things going on with school, with our families, but at the same time, that’s what we came to this school for was to be great football players and to get a degree and make a great living for ourselves.”
Curran isn't getting any argument on that point from Boykin, who said there's likely a direct correlation between the amount of time spent watching film and the results on the field lately.
"Film study helps, and that might be the deciding factor in a lot of our games," Boykin said. "But I also feel like it's man on man, who's the best a lot of times, and it comes down to us not making the play. But film study would definitely help us as a group if everybody got in there and did what they're supposed to do."
And it will only become a bigger and bigger issue. Teams have beaten Georgia's defense routinely using play-action and misdirection. Boykin and Curran agree that the more Georgia struggles in specific areas, the more the opposition will continue to employ those techniques.
"We know that other teams are going to copycat each other and see what hurt us defensively," Boykin said. "We're going to work on it, and Coach Martinez, I'm sure he's going to do what he's supposed to do. We've got to search within ourselves now and really find out what we want to do with our season, because it's not going to get any easier."
“That’s another thing that comes from watching film," Curran said specifically of defending the play-action. "It’s eye progression and being disciplined. There are certain keys that give away that play-action, and those keys, you only know them if you study film, watch tendencies and know down and distance. Play-action is all about discipline in where your eyes go and knowing what you’re seeing.”
So what's the final solution? How do the Bulldogs improve a problem that has been plaguing the defense for at least a year?
That should be a simple sell, Curran said, although he admits some frustration that it hasn't been as easy as it should be.
But here's the bottom line, he said. Players are at Georgia for a reason, and if they want to be great, they need to remember what that reason was.
“At times like these you have to remind the guys of why we came here," he said. "It’s the same thing as last year. We’ve got so many things as college athletes and students going on in our lives, but we have to realize that the work that we put in during the offseason and how much work has gone into this whole entire season and just what we represent in the tradition and the guys who have done it before us – all those things come into play.
"It’s where we want to go. I’m sure if I ask all my teammates if they want to play in (the NFL), I’m sure they’re all going to say yes. But at the same time, you have to do what it takes. You have to sacrifice. You have to study. You have to have those late nights. You have to put in that extra time. Those are the things you try to drive home to your teammates that it’s not just going to come overnight. Success isn’t going to come just because you want it to or just because you work hard. You’ve got to work smart. You’ve got to do all those necessary things it takes to be a successful player. Just as if you wanted to get that degree or be a successful student, you’ve got to sacrifice. That’s the main thing.”
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Notes: Special Teams Staying Young
Georgia’s kickoff coverage team has struggled throughout this season, culminating with a disastrous effort against LSU that allowed the Tigers to begin their final drive with exceptional field position.
While head coach Mark Richt said the team continues to address the problems, he said some of the issues are simply a matter of youth that can only improve with increased experience.
“I can’t sit here and say we’ve got 10 guys that are really getting after it and getting it done,” Richt said. “I think they’re trying their tails off but there’s a lot of youth on that thing and they’ve got to continue to mature.”
Richt said the kick coverage team is the youngest of any of Georgia’s special teams units, and the loss of special teams stalwart Chad Gloer to a hamstring injury simply removed one more rare veteran presence.
Gloer will not be ready for this week’s game against Tennessee, Richt said, but could return in time to take on Vanderbilt next week.
As for last week’s debacle following a go-ahead touchdown by A.J. Green, sophomore Logan Gray – who serves on the coverage unit as well as being the team’s No. 2 quarterback – said the problems started early with a 15-yard penalty backing up a kick, and the execution that followed was bad from the start.
“If we hadn’t gotten the penalty, we probably would have had a lot more options as to what we wanted to do, but because we were backed up, we had to kick it as deep as we could to try to save field position,” Gray said. “The kick was more middle of the field and we had tried to directional kick it. You have to play off that, but (Trindon Holliday) is a good player, and fast. We couldn’t let that happen, so it was unfortunate.”
While Gray concurred that an excess of youth on the unit has caused problems, he said the key to improving coverage going forward is far more about effort than experience.
“We did lose a lot of guys that played kickoff their whole careers here that were seniors last year, but I think kickoff is about want and desire and guys wanting to make a play,” Gray said. “I’m not saying our guys don’t want it, but we’ve got to dig deep for the rest of the season and make plays. It’s all about making plays, us vs. them, on kickoffs, with everybody getting to the ball.”
TAKING THE HEAT
Sure, Joe Cox tossed a potential game-winning touchdown for Georgia with just 1:09 to play last week, but even he knows it was far from his best effort.
The Bulldogs mustered just one first-half first down, and Cox threw a few passes that went wide of their intended targets.
So while his comeback effort was nice, he’s not at all surprised by some of the criticism he’s gotten from fans since Georgia dropped a heart-breaking 20-13 game to No. 4 LSU.
“Any time something’s not going right, they think if you put a new quarterback in, that’s going to change the problems,” Cox said. “That doesn’t bother me at all.”
For the season, Cox has completed 59 percent of his passes, including 11 touchdowns, while throwing six interceptions.
Against LSU, he finished 18-of-34 for 229 yards, but was just 3-of-9 for 31 yards in the first half.
“I missed a couple throws,” he said. “It’s jut being more accurate. That’s all it is. You’re not going to be able to make every throw. It’s not that I have a lack of confidence in certain throws. There’s just some times when you’ve got to hit them and (Saturday) I didn’t hit ‘em.”
WHERE’D HE GO?
After seeing a healthy dose of action in Georgia’s first two games of the season, freshman tailback Carlton Thomas has disappeared from the offense in recent weeks.
That’s no knock on Thomas, head coach Richt assured. It’s simply a matter of a numbers game at tailback, where Caleb King’s return to the lineup and a desire to let the Bulldogs’ top two runners establish a groove, left little room for Thomas to see the field.
“He’s getting it, but when Caleb came back that was kind of more of the issue than anything else,” Richt said. “We’re not disappointed in Carlton. But we’ve had a lot of extremely close games and one more healthy back in the lineup when Caleb was out.”
Thomas could see more playing time this week, as King is expected to miss the game after suffering a concussion and a broken jaw last week against LSU.
The bulk of King’s carries, however, will be going to freshman Washaun Ealey, who saw his first taste of action last week and looked sharp in the second half against the Tigers.
That was a home date, however, and this week’s task gets tougher in front of more than 100,000 fans at Neyland Stadium. Richt said he’s not sure how Ealey will react, but he said the freshman appears confident.
“He seems excited about it,” Richt said. “I think he’s practiced pretty well. He thinks he’s ready, but we’ll see. It’s hard to describe what it’s like over there to the guys who have never been there, and he’ll get a taste of that.”
Richt said he expected Richard Samuel to be the starting tailback, with Ealey getting roughly half the carries in the game.
THE WAITING GAME
For the fourth straight week, Georgia will be without linebacker Akeem Dent and defensive end Kiante Tripp, who have both missed time with injuries that have lingered since fall camp.
Dent hurt his hamstring in early August and was slow to recover. He played in Georgia’s first two games, but re-aggravated the hamstring injury against South Carolina and hasn’t played since.
“For some reason he’s just really had trouble healing,” Richt said. “Some guys have a hamstring injury, and most guys just recover a little bit quicker. Even when he did play a game or two, it happened again.”
Richt said Dent would be questionable next week against Vanderbilt, but barring a setback, would definitely be ready to take on Florida after Georgia’s open date.
A neck stinger limited Tripp during the preseason, but like Dent, he attempted to get back on the field after the season began. The injury never completely healed, however, and he hasn’t seen action in three games.
While he’ll be out against Tennessee, Richt said the junior defensive end was upbeat about his prognosis.
“He feels like we’re really close, and it could even be next week that he’ll begin to practice,” Richt said. “He’s definitely improving, and he doesn’t feel like he’s just stuck.”
NO HARD FEELINGS
While Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin made headlines throughout the offseason by criticizing several other programs in the SEC, linebacker Rennie Curran isn’t looking at this week’s game as a chance to punish the Volunteers’ coach for any potentially critical comments.
“You see it and react to it, but you go with your life,” Curran said. “You realize a coach is going to talk, but at the same time, I’ve never seen a coach put on pads and play. Sometimes as a coach you have to do things to get your team fired up, and I guess that was his way of doing that.”
That doesn’t mean Curran isn’t taking this week’s game seriously, however. When it comes to playing Tennessee, he doesn’t care who’s on the sidelines. He just wants to win.
“No matter what coach they have, this is such a huge rivalry and there’s so much tradition invested in this game, that for them to beat us would be a huge boost to their program,” Curran said.
LOST IN THE SHUFFLE
With just six scholarship receivers on the team, third-year sophomore Israel Troupe thought this might be his breakout season. So far, that hasn’t been the case.
Troupe caught three passes last year but has barely seen the playing field in 2009, despite the fact that Georgia has routinely employed only three receivers.
“I would say he’s right on the verge of breaking through,” Richt said of Troupe’s progress. “I like how he’s been practicing. I like the effort that he’s putting forth. He knows what to do. The coaches have just determined that other guys should be playing ahead of him right now.”
Richt said a combination of cool weather, long TV timeouts and a number of short drives have allowed the team to get by using just its top three receivers, with only a few rare appearances by Troupe and freshmen Marlon Brown and Rantavious Wooten.
That could change this year with No. 2 receiver Tavarres King expected to miss Georgia’s date with Tennessee due to a concussion he suffered last week. King’s absence could open the door to Troupe for the first time this season, and Richt said that might be all it takes to make the sophomore a regular part of the offense.
“Sometimes that’s all a guy needs is a chance,” Richt said, “and if he gets it, hopefully he’ll do well.”
READY AND WAITING
Logan Gray hasn’t seen much action at quarterback this season, but he is getting a healthy dose of life atop the depth chart in practice. Gray has handled all of the first-team reps each Wednesday, while starter Joe Cox rests an injured shoulder.
The extra work in practice has been a boon to Gray’s confidence and knowledge, he said.
“It’s benefited me a lot just to get more and more reps,” Gray said. “I feel like starting from the beginning, I’ve gotten more and more comfortable. I feel like it has me more ready to get in the game.”
Gray has been in on just three snaps at quarterback so far this season, despite repeated discussions by the coaching staff this preseason that the sophomore could be a valuable weapon as an athletic change-of-pace under center.
“Obviously our coaches know what they’re doing, and we have tons of different stuff we put in each week, but it’s one of those things where situations call for different things,” Gray said. “I was hoping maybe (he’d get more playing time), but it’s worked out how it’s worked out, and I’m just going to keep on practicing and see what happens.”
Part of the issue, offensive coordinator Mike Bobo said, has been the particularly close games Georgia has played so far. While Bobo said he’s been impressed with Gray’s growth throughout the season, Cox still holds a distinct advantage in his ability to run the offense.
“I think (Gray) has an understanding of it, but I don’t think he understands it as fully as Joe Cox,” Bobo said. “But like I’ve said in the past, getting reps every week with the ones, it has definitely improved his confidence level. It’s still not a lot of game experience, which you’d worry about, but if he had to go in there I think he could execute and help us win a game.”
IT COULD’VE BEEN WORSE
Quarterback Joe Cox admits it is a bit ironic.
For four weeks, Georgia turned the ball over three times in every game, yet managed to win three of the four.
Each week, the team preached about protecting the football, and finally the lesson took hold against LSU. Georgia didn’t cough up the ball until Cox’s final throw of the game – a heave toward the sideline as the clock ticked and Georgia desperately needed to move the football. Yet, despite the reduced turnovers, Georgia came up on the wrong end of the final score.
It is an odd twist, Cox said, but it’s by no means a lesson that turnovers are acceptable.
“That’s one of the reasons we were in the ballgame,” Cox said of the improved ball protection. “If we’d have turned the ball over, it could have gotten ugly. Three-and-outs are going to happen, mind you we didn’t want to have that many in the first half. But we didn’t do anything dumb with the ball, and we kind of waited for our chance to get things going.”
LIGHTER ON HIS FEET
Senior defensive tackle Kade Weston has started the past two games for Georgia, and he’s responded with two strong efforts, including a five-tackle, two-sack performance against LSU last week.
The keys to Weston’s success, he said, have been a combination of an injury-free season and a slimmed-down physique. Weston lost about 15 pounds and is finally playing at a weight his coaches had hoped for.
“It’s a lot different now,” Weston said. “Coaches wanted me at 315, and I’ve been around there the whole season, and I think it shows on the field.”
WHO ARE THESE GUYS?
Mark Richt admits the term “identity” is overused a bit, but he also admits it’s hard to really quantify just what his offense is capable of this season.
Some weeks, the unit has been spectacular. Some week, it’s been awful. Against LSU last week, the offense was as bad as it’s been all year in the first half, then looked incredibly sharp during a second-half comeback.
“I guess no one has an identity until they are consistently playing something where you could define that team to say this is what we do well,” Richt said. “Right now we’ve not been consistent offensively, defensively or in the kicking game quite frankly. I feel like we are gaining a lot of positive momentum defensively. Some of our special teams have played outstanding and a couple have struggled. Offensively, we’ve pretty much run the gamut of emotions and productivity. Again, I guess the one word I’m looking for more than anything else is a more consistent effort all the way around.”
RUBBING IT IN
Just a final side note for the day.
I was wearing my Newhouse t-shirt to Richt's news conference today -- Newhouse being the name of the Syracuse communications school.
Richt looked at the shirt and asked if it was a Syracuse shirt. I said that it was, and he asked what Newhouse meant.
"Did they get a new stadium or something?" he said.
"No," I told him, assuming he was serious and not simply making a sly joke at the embarrassing level of Syracuse football. "It's the name of the journalism school there."
"Ah," he said. "So, do they still have that basketball player playing quarterback?"
That's when I figured he was, in fact, making a sly joke about the embarrassing level of Syracuse football. Either that, or he's awfully good at unintentional humor.
Good times. Go Orange.
While head coach Mark Richt said the team continues to address the problems, he said some of the issues are simply a matter of youth that can only improve with increased experience.
“I can’t sit here and say we’ve got 10 guys that are really getting after it and getting it done,” Richt said. “I think they’re trying their tails off but there’s a lot of youth on that thing and they’ve got to continue to mature.”
Richt said the kick coverage team is the youngest of any of Georgia’s special teams units, and the loss of special teams stalwart Chad Gloer to a hamstring injury simply removed one more rare veteran presence.
Gloer will not be ready for this week’s game against Tennessee, Richt said, but could return in time to take on Vanderbilt next week.
As for last week’s debacle following a go-ahead touchdown by A.J. Green, sophomore Logan Gray – who serves on the coverage unit as well as being the team’s No. 2 quarterback – said the problems started early with a 15-yard penalty backing up a kick, and the execution that followed was bad from the start.
“If we hadn’t gotten the penalty, we probably would have had a lot more options as to what we wanted to do, but because we were backed up, we had to kick it as deep as we could to try to save field position,” Gray said. “The kick was more middle of the field and we had tried to directional kick it. You have to play off that, but (Trindon Holliday) is a good player, and fast. We couldn’t let that happen, so it was unfortunate.”
While Gray concurred that an excess of youth on the unit has caused problems, he said the key to improving coverage going forward is far more about effort than experience.
“We did lose a lot of guys that played kickoff their whole careers here that were seniors last year, but I think kickoff is about want and desire and guys wanting to make a play,” Gray said. “I’m not saying our guys don’t want it, but we’ve got to dig deep for the rest of the season and make plays. It’s all about making plays, us vs. them, on kickoffs, with everybody getting to the ball.”
TAKING THE HEAT
Sure, Joe Cox tossed a potential game-winning touchdown for Georgia with just 1:09 to play last week, but even he knows it was far from his best effort.
The Bulldogs mustered just one first-half first down, and Cox threw a few passes that went wide of their intended targets.
So while his comeback effort was nice, he’s not at all surprised by some of the criticism he’s gotten from fans since Georgia dropped a heart-breaking 20-13 game to No. 4 LSU.
“Any time something’s not going right, they think if you put a new quarterback in, that’s going to change the problems,” Cox said. “That doesn’t bother me at all.”
For the season, Cox has completed 59 percent of his passes, including 11 touchdowns, while throwing six interceptions.
Against LSU, he finished 18-of-34 for 229 yards, but was just 3-of-9 for 31 yards in the first half.
“I missed a couple throws,” he said. “It’s jut being more accurate. That’s all it is. You’re not going to be able to make every throw. It’s not that I have a lack of confidence in certain throws. There’s just some times when you’ve got to hit them and (Saturday) I didn’t hit ‘em.”
WHERE’D HE GO?
After seeing a healthy dose of action in Georgia’s first two games of the season, freshman tailback Carlton Thomas has disappeared from the offense in recent weeks.
That’s no knock on Thomas, head coach Richt assured. It’s simply a matter of a numbers game at tailback, where Caleb King’s return to the lineup and a desire to let the Bulldogs’ top two runners establish a groove, left little room for Thomas to see the field.
“He’s getting it, but when Caleb came back that was kind of more of the issue than anything else,” Richt said. “We’re not disappointed in Carlton. But we’ve had a lot of extremely close games and one more healthy back in the lineup when Caleb was out.”
Thomas could see more playing time this week, as King is expected to miss the game after suffering a concussion and a broken jaw last week against LSU.
The bulk of King’s carries, however, will be going to freshman Washaun Ealey, who saw his first taste of action last week and looked sharp in the second half against the Tigers.
That was a home date, however, and this week’s task gets tougher in front of more than 100,000 fans at Neyland Stadium. Richt said he’s not sure how Ealey will react, but he said the freshman appears confident.
“He seems excited about it,” Richt said. “I think he’s practiced pretty well. He thinks he’s ready, but we’ll see. It’s hard to describe what it’s like over there to the guys who have never been there, and he’ll get a taste of that.”
Richt said he expected Richard Samuel to be the starting tailback, with Ealey getting roughly half the carries in the game.
THE WAITING GAME
For the fourth straight week, Georgia will be without linebacker Akeem Dent and defensive end Kiante Tripp, who have both missed time with injuries that have lingered since fall camp.
Dent hurt his hamstring in early August and was slow to recover. He played in Georgia’s first two games, but re-aggravated the hamstring injury against South Carolina and hasn’t played since.
“For some reason he’s just really had trouble healing,” Richt said. “Some guys have a hamstring injury, and most guys just recover a little bit quicker. Even when he did play a game or two, it happened again.”
Richt said Dent would be questionable next week against Vanderbilt, but barring a setback, would definitely be ready to take on Florida after Georgia’s open date.
A neck stinger limited Tripp during the preseason, but like Dent, he attempted to get back on the field after the season began. The injury never completely healed, however, and he hasn’t seen action in three games.
While he’ll be out against Tennessee, Richt said the junior defensive end was upbeat about his prognosis.
“He feels like we’re really close, and it could even be next week that he’ll begin to practice,” Richt said. “He’s definitely improving, and he doesn’t feel like he’s just stuck.”
NO HARD FEELINGS
While Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin made headlines throughout the offseason by criticizing several other programs in the SEC, linebacker Rennie Curran isn’t looking at this week’s game as a chance to punish the Volunteers’ coach for any potentially critical comments.
“You see it and react to it, but you go with your life,” Curran said. “You realize a coach is going to talk, but at the same time, I’ve never seen a coach put on pads and play. Sometimes as a coach you have to do things to get your team fired up, and I guess that was his way of doing that.”
That doesn’t mean Curran isn’t taking this week’s game seriously, however. When it comes to playing Tennessee, he doesn’t care who’s on the sidelines. He just wants to win.
“No matter what coach they have, this is such a huge rivalry and there’s so much tradition invested in this game, that for them to beat us would be a huge boost to their program,” Curran said.
LOST IN THE SHUFFLE
With just six scholarship receivers on the team, third-year sophomore Israel Troupe thought this might be his breakout season. So far, that hasn’t been the case.
Troupe caught three passes last year but has barely seen the playing field in 2009, despite the fact that Georgia has routinely employed only three receivers.
“I would say he’s right on the verge of breaking through,” Richt said of Troupe’s progress. “I like how he’s been practicing. I like the effort that he’s putting forth. He knows what to do. The coaches have just determined that other guys should be playing ahead of him right now.”
Richt said a combination of cool weather, long TV timeouts and a number of short drives have allowed the team to get by using just its top three receivers, with only a few rare appearances by Troupe and freshmen Marlon Brown and Rantavious Wooten.
That could change this year with No. 2 receiver Tavarres King expected to miss Georgia’s date with Tennessee due to a concussion he suffered last week. King’s absence could open the door to Troupe for the first time this season, and Richt said that might be all it takes to make the sophomore a regular part of the offense.
“Sometimes that’s all a guy needs is a chance,” Richt said, “and if he gets it, hopefully he’ll do well.”
READY AND WAITING
Logan Gray hasn’t seen much action at quarterback this season, but he is getting a healthy dose of life atop the depth chart in practice. Gray has handled all of the first-team reps each Wednesday, while starter Joe Cox rests an injured shoulder.
The extra work in practice has been a boon to Gray’s confidence and knowledge, he said.
“It’s benefited me a lot just to get more and more reps,” Gray said. “I feel like starting from the beginning, I’ve gotten more and more comfortable. I feel like it has me more ready to get in the game.”
Gray has been in on just three snaps at quarterback so far this season, despite repeated discussions by the coaching staff this preseason that the sophomore could be a valuable weapon as an athletic change-of-pace under center.
“Obviously our coaches know what they’re doing, and we have tons of different stuff we put in each week, but it’s one of those things where situations call for different things,” Gray said. “I was hoping maybe (he’d get more playing time), but it’s worked out how it’s worked out, and I’m just going to keep on practicing and see what happens.”
Part of the issue, offensive coordinator Mike Bobo said, has been the particularly close games Georgia has played so far. While Bobo said he’s been impressed with Gray’s growth throughout the season, Cox still holds a distinct advantage in his ability to run the offense.
“I think (Gray) has an understanding of it, but I don’t think he understands it as fully as Joe Cox,” Bobo said. “But like I’ve said in the past, getting reps every week with the ones, it has definitely improved his confidence level. It’s still not a lot of game experience, which you’d worry about, but if he had to go in there I think he could execute and help us win a game.”
IT COULD’VE BEEN WORSE
Quarterback Joe Cox admits it is a bit ironic.
For four weeks, Georgia turned the ball over three times in every game, yet managed to win three of the four.
Each week, the team preached about protecting the football, and finally the lesson took hold against LSU. Georgia didn’t cough up the ball until Cox’s final throw of the game – a heave toward the sideline as the clock ticked and Georgia desperately needed to move the football. Yet, despite the reduced turnovers, Georgia came up on the wrong end of the final score.
It is an odd twist, Cox said, but it’s by no means a lesson that turnovers are acceptable.
“That’s one of the reasons we were in the ballgame,” Cox said of the improved ball protection. “If we’d have turned the ball over, it could have gotten ugly. Three-and-outs are going to happen, mind you we didn’t want to have that many in the first half. But we didn’t do anything dumb with the ball, and we kind of waited for our chance to get things going.”
LIGHTER ON HIS FEET
Senior defensive tackle Kade Weston has started the past two games for Georgia, and he’s responded with two strong efforts, including a five-tackle, two-sack performance against LSU last week.
The keys to Weston’s success, he said, have been a combination of an injury-free season and a slimmed-down physique. Weston lost about 15 pounds and is finally playing at a weight his coaches had hoped for.
“It’s a lot different now,” Weston said. “Coaches wanted me at 315, and I’ve been around there the whole season, and I think it shows on the field.”
WHO ARE THESE GUYS?
Mark Richt admits the term “identity” is overused a bit, but he also admits it’s hard to really quantify just what his offense is capable of this season.
Some weeks, the unit has been spectacular. Some week, it’s been awful. Against LSU last week, the offense was as bad as it’s been all year in the first half, then looked incredibly sharp during a second-half comeback.
“I guess no one has an identity until they are consistently playing something where you could define that team to say this is what we do well,” Richt said. “Right now we’ve not been consistent offensively, defensively or in the kicking game quite frankly. I feel like we are gaining a lot of positive momentum defensively. Some of our special teams have played outstanding and a couple have struggled. Offensively, we’ve pretty much run the gamut of emotions and productivity. Again, I guess the one word I’m looking for more than anything else is a more consistent effort all the way around.”
RUBBING IT IN
Just a final side note for the day.
I was wearing my Newhouse t-shirt to Richt's news conference today -- Newhouse being the name of the Syracuse communications school.
Richt looked at the shirt and asked if it was a Syracuse shirt. I said that it was, and he asked what Newhouse meant.
"Did they get a new stadium or something?" he said.
"No," I told him, assuming he was serious and not simply making a sly joke at the embarrassing level of Syracuse football. "It's the name of the journalism school there."
"Ah," he said. "So, do they still have that basketball player playing quarterback?"
That's when I figured he was, in fact, making a sly joke about the embarrassing level of Syracuse football. Either that, or he's awfully good at unintentional humor.
Good times. Go Orange.
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