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 Jeff Owens. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jeff Owens. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
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.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Practice Notes: Players-Only Meeting Called to Boost Morale
Georgia’s players received text messages Tuesday night following practice informing them of a players-only meeting, where a number of the team’s veterans spoke.
The message was simple, senior Jeff Owens said. The team needed to look toward the future rather than last week’s embarrassing loss to Tennessee.
“We told them we have to turn around this season,” Owens said. “We all know what we’re looking at right now. We’re 3-3, but we can just go up and progress. The main purpose was to get everybody on one accord and get this thing turned around.”
Senior wide receiver Kris Durham, who also spoke at the meeting, said the team needed to change its perspective on the season in the wake of Georgia’s 3-3 start. Rather than look at the big picture, he said, he urged his teammates to simply work on improving each day and winning their next game.
“What’s happened has happened, and it’s in the past,” Durham said. “We can’t sit there and dread it or think that’s our season, because it’s not. There’s still (six) more games left. We need to push on from here and start like it’s Game 1.”
Owens said the team was reminded of Georgia’s turnaround following a stretch of four losses in five games in 2006 that resulted in an unexpected three-game winning streak against three ranked opponents to close out the year.
The message was meant to revitalize some sluggish morale, Durham said, and remind the players that unity is crucial to overcoming the team’s recent slide.
“It was like we didn’t have the fire in us, and we needed to get together and let them know we have their back,” Durham said. “We have to stay strong together.”
CHAPAS LIKELY OUT
Fullback Shaun Chapas is doubtful for this week’s game against Vanderbilt, Richt said, after suffering multiple stingers in his neck and shoulder.
Chapas has started every game since the start of the 2008 season, but is likely to give way to junior Fred Munzenmaier this week. Senior Justin Fields could also see action.
“I think (Munzenmaier) will do a good job, and Fields is a guy I think can do a good job, also,” Richt said. “Both of them will hit you. I would think it’ll end up being a good opportunity for Fred.”
Munzenmaier has seen limited playing time this season, but he did have four carries against Arizona State, including one for a touchdown.
KING CONTINUES PROGRESS
Tailback Caleb King worked in a second day of practice and is on pace to be ready for action Saturday against Vanderbilt after missing last week’s game with a concussion and broken jaw.
King worked in non-contact drills Tuesday and Richt said they’ll simulate contact work Thursday before making a final decision, but the expectation is that the sophomore will be ready. The same is true for receiver Tavarres King, who also missed last week with a concussion.
“You phase them in to a non-contact situation in a practice like (Tuesday),” Richt said. “Then if they do well with that exerting and doing all the things minus the contact, then you give them some contact and move them forward from there. But (trainer) Ron (Courson) is pretty confident they’ll both be fine.”
MOVING AIN’T EASY
Georgia has struggled sustaining drives this season, suffering through three-and-outs on nearly 20 percent of all offensive possessions and failing to move the ball inside Tennessee’s 35-yard line last week.
The task won’t get any easier this week, Richt said, as Vanderbilt’s defense has a propensity for making offenses work for yardage.
“You’d like to say we are going to line up and methodically move it down the field, but I haven’t seen anybody do it yet,” Richt said of the Commodores’ defense. “Guys are going to have to make plays, guys are going to have to get in situations and do something to kind of break the dam.”
Vanderbilt ranks fifth in the SEC in total defense and has allowed just nine touchdowns in six games.
AVOIDING THE CRITICISM
Following a deflating loss to Tennessee last week, the criticism of Georgia’s sluggish offense and woeful defense has reached a crescendo. While a number of players already try to avoid the headlines, Richt said he was careful to remind his players to keep focus in spite of rampant criticism.
“There are certain things you can control in life and certain things you can’t control,” Richt said. “What people say about you or your team or your coaches, you can’t control that. All you can control is how you focus, how you prepare and how you keep your mental frame of mind.”
EXTRA POINTS
-- Linebacker Rennie Curran also faced some legal trouble as a bench warrant was issued last week after he failed to appear in court for a speeding ticket. Richt said Curran planned to pay the fine on Thursday and he did not anticipate Curran would receive a suspension.
-- Durham said his shoulder, which required offseason surgery and forced him to redshirt this year, is feeling much better and he expects to resume full practice work within the next month.
-- Take this for what it's worth: Offensive coordinator Mike Bobo made freshmen Aaron Murray, Marlon Brown and Rantavious Wooten unavailable to the media this week. No explanation was given.
Regarding Murray, however, Bobo did offer praise of the quarterback's work ethic: “He’s got the right frame of mind. He comes in like he’s a starting quarterback. He came in on our day off to watch film and graded himself like he was starting.”
The message was simple, senior Jeff Owens said. The team needed to look toward the future rather than last week’s embarrassing loss to Tennessee.
“We told them we have to turn around this season,” Owens said. “We all know what we’re looking at right now. We’re 3-3, but we can just go up and progress. The main purpose was to get everybody on one accord and get this thing turned around.”
Senior wide receiver Kris Durham, who also spoke at the meeting, said the team needed to change its perspective on the season in the wake of Georgia’s 3-3 start. Rather than look at the big picture, he said, he urged his teammates to simply work on improving each day and winning their next game.
“What’s happened has happened, and it’s in the past,” Durham said. “We can’t sit there and dread it or think that’s our season, because it’s not. There’s still (six) more games left. We need to push on from here and start like it’s Game 1.”
Owens said the team was reminded of Georgia’s turnaround following a stretch of four losses in five games in 2006 that resulted in an unexpected three-game winning streak against three ranked opponents to close out the year.
The message was meant to revitalize some sluggish morale, Durham said, and remind the players that unity is crucial to overcoming the team’s recent slide.
“It was like we didn’t have the fire in us, and we needed to get together and let them know we have their back,” Durham said. “We have to stay strong together.”
CHAPAS LIKELY OUT
Fullback Shaun Chapas is doubtful for this week’s game against Vanderbilt, Richt said, after suffering multiple stingers in his neck and shoulder.
Chapas has started every game since the start of the 2008 season, but is likely to give way to junior Fred Munzenmaier this week. Senior Justin Fields could also see action.
“I think (Munzenmaier) will do a good job, and Fields is a guy I think can do a good job, also,” Richt said. “Both of them will hit you. I would think it’ll end up being a good opportunity for Fred.”
Munzenmaier has seen limited playing time this season, but he did have four carries against Arizona State, including one for a touchdown.
KING CONTINUES PROGRESS
Tailback Caleb King worked in a second day of practice and is on pace to be ready for action Saturday against Vanderbilt after missing last week’s game with a concussion and broken jaw.
King worked in non-contact drills Tuesday and Richt said they’ll simulate contact work Thursday before making a final decision, but the expectation is that the sophomore will be ready. The same is true for receiver Tavarres King, who also missed last week with a concussion.
“You phase them in to a non-contact situation in a practice like (Tuesday),” Richt said. “Then if they do well with that exerting and doing all the things minus the contact, then you give them some contact and move them forward from there. But (trainer) Ron (Courson) is pretty confident they’ll both be fine.”
MOVING AIN’T EASY
Georgia has struggled sustaining drives this season, suffering through three-and-outs on nearly 20 percent of all offensive possessions and failing to move the ball inside Tennessee’s 35-yard line last week.
The task won’t get any easier this week, Richt said, as Vanderbilt’s defense has a propensity for making offenses work for yardage.
“You’d like to say we are going to line up and methodically move it down the field, but I haven’t seen anybody do it yet,” Richt said of the Commodores’ defense. “Guys are going to have to make plays, guys are going to have to get in situations and do something to kind of break the dam.”
Vanderbilt ranks fifth in the SEC in total defense and has allowed just nine touchdowns in six games.
AVOIDING THE CRITICISM
Following a deflating loss to Tennessee last week, the criticism of Georgia’s sluggish offense and woeful defense has reached a crescendo. While a number of players already try to avoid the headlines, Richt said he was careful to remind his players to keep focus in spite of rampant criticism.
“There are certain things you can control in life and certain things you can’t control,” Richt said. “What people say about you or your team or your coaches, you can’t control that. All you can control is how you focus, how you prepare and how you keep your mental frame of mind.”
EXTRA POINTS
-- Linebacker Rennie Curran also faced some legal trouble as a bench warrant was issued last week after he failed to appear in court for a speeding ticket. Richt said Curran planned to pay the fine on Thursday and he did not anticipate Curran would receive a suspension.
-- Durham said his shoulder, which required offseason surgery and forced him to redshirt this year, is feeling much better and he expects to resume full practice work within the next month.
-- Take this for what it's worth: Offensive coordinator Mike Bobo made freshmen Aaron Murray, Marlon Brown and Rantavious Wooten unavailable to the media this week. No explanation was given.
Regarding Murray, however, Bobo did offer praise of the quarterback's work ethic: “He’s got the right frame of mind. He comes in like he’s a starting quarterback. He came in on our day off to watch film and graded himself like he was starting.”
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, September 24, 2009
A Deeper Look at the Defense
The backlash against Willie Martinez has reached a new crescendo, and fans are justified in their animosity.
Georgia has allowed 78 points in their past two games, allowed 37 or more points in six of their past nine, and is averaging 33 points allowed during that stretch. The Bulldogs secondary has allowed 721 passing yards in the last two games and the defense has accounted for just four sacks and two take-aways in three games this year.
There really aren't many numbers that tell anything but a scathing story about the defense. But is it really as bad as the numbers say? Mark Richt isn't so sure.
"As a team we have not helped our defensive unit when it comes to (field position)," Richt said. "We need to do a better job of getting our field position right. I would just like to see what happened if we did that quite frankly.”
It's a fair point, even if most of the Willie haters don't really care about excuses anymore. In fact, as Martinez pointed out, there were some encouraging aspects of the defense's performance against Arkansas that tended to be lost in the high score.
“There’s some things we did well in this last ballgame, and I know it’s kind of hard to see when you give up that many points," Martinez said. "But their third-down efficiency was 80 percent. That was crucial to get them in third-and-long, and here we go, we’re off the field. We did that in the first series, and bang – something bad happens and you’ve got to go back out there, and our guys couldn’t sustain it. Then the fourth quarter, they had four series in the fourth quarter and we go three-and-out in three out of the four. The game’s on the line, and you build on those things. The same thing could be said in the previous game where we kept them out of the end zone in the fourth quarter and held them to a field goal. There’s some things that we did well that are obviously overlooked because of all the points that are put up.”
But are there facts to back that up, too?
Here are some stats from reader Jim F., who did some great research so I didn't have to…
Jim first defined a rather broad category of "mistakes," which include turnovers and kicking game miscues. So far there have been nine turnovers by Georgia's offense or special teams. There have been seven major blunders in the kicking games -- i.e. a return allowed of 50 yards or more, a kickoff out of bounds and, of course, the successful fake punt and the safety on the snap over Drew Butler's head.
So here's what he discovered:
-- Mistakes were direct contributors to 70 percent of all opponents' scoring drives so far this season (14 total out of 20 scoring drives), including two in which the defense was never on the field (the safety and the pick six).
-- Similarly, mistakes have led to 70 percent of the total points scored against Georgia (72 of 102).
-- Ten of the 16 plays defined as "mistakes" occurred on the Georgia side of the field, meaning the defense was put in a particularly bad position. Opponents have scored on 100 percent of these drives -- seven TDs, and three field goals.
-- Problems in the kicking game have contributed to 11 points per game thus far, and if you include the special teams fumbles or problems in punting, that number goes up even more, nearly 40 percent of Georgia's total points allowed.
-- Only twice has Georgia stopped a drive after a mistake (once forcing a punt and once forcing a turnover).
That last point can be looked at in two ways: 1.) Does Georgia's defense have the fortitude to handle adversity? Or 2.) Is the adversity simply too much for anyone to overcome on a regular basis?
I'd say it would be fair to give the D the benefit of the doubt for now, considering the sheer number of adverse situations they've been in, but here's what Bryan Evans thinks:
“Right now it’s to the point where anytime a turnover happens, our mentality is to get back on the field and not give up the touchdown. That’s something we’ve got to work towards as a defense. I really can’t complain or make any excuses because any time the defense is on, we don’t have any thoughts except getting our offense the ball back, and we didn’t do that (against Arkansas).”
So at least the D is taking some accountability, even if they weren't put in the best position to succeed regardless.
But what about when they are put in a good position to succeed?
Jim notes that Georgia has only allowed points on nine of 31 drives (29 percent) when the opposition starts on their half of the field. Take away possessions that included those problems in the kicking game (like the out-of-bounds kicks) and you're down to just six scoring drives -- three touchdowns and three field goals. In other words, just 10 points per game.
Georgia has also been relatively strong on third downs -- holding the opponent to just 15 conversions in 46 attempts.
It's also worth noting that Arkansas scored on both of those out-of-bounds kickoffs -- one TD and one FG. Considering that this was such a problem last year that Richt infamously promised to go to Poland to find a kicker who could better handle the kickoffs, the blame here squarely falls on the head coach, not the D coordinator.
A few things that can be pinned on the defense though (my research now):
-- Although they've been on the wrong side of nine turnovers, they have created just two.
-- They have just four sacks in 118 passing attempts (which doesn't include plays in which the QB ran, either by design or due to pressure). That's a success rate of 3.38 percent.
-- And again, Georgia has been particularly bad at handling adversity. Let's look closer at those third-down conversions: Overall, the opposition is just 15-of-46 (32.6 percent) on third down, but on fourth down, that number shoots up to a successful conversion on 5-of-7 tries (71.4 percent), with one being the fake punt executed by South Carolina.
Looking even further, Georgia has faced 32 situations that were either third-and-long or fourth-and-long (defined as needing five or more yards for a first down) and has held on all but five occasions. That's a success rate of just 15.6 percent by the opposition, including an 0-for-10 mark by Arkansas last week. On third- or fourth-and-short, however, those numbers swing badly in the other direction. The opposition has converted on 16-of-22 tried in short-yardage situations -- a nearly 73 percent success rate.
I mentioned in my post about the defense the other day that I thought there might be too great of an emphasis put on stopping the run -- something Georgia has done well in these first three games -- and that the Bulldogs have not been in position to handle the pass as well.
My wording may have been wrong by saying "emphasis." The problem isn't that the Bulldogs are emphasizing stopping the run, it's that they're failing to recognize when it's a pass.
"We have to do a better job of getting off the run blocks," defensive end Demarcus Dobbs said. "A lot of teams kill us with play action because we’re so zoned into the run. Play action will kill a defense and we have to learn to convert and get into the quarterback’s face, even if it isn’t a sack, but just to alter his throws a little bit so our DBs can make a play.”
More evidence:
Bryan Evans on the TD he was burned on: “It was kind of a zone to a man coverage, and one of the receivers ran a take-off. We got caught trailing, looking in the backfield.”
Jeff Owens on the upcoming game: “For the front seven, we’ve got to get more pressure on the QB. We’ve got to rush more. That’s what our focus should be this week. We know Arizona State is going to throw the football, and as a defensive tackle, I’ve got to pin my ears back and try to get to the QB.”
Rennie Curran on the team's recognition of pass plays: “When you’re an aggressive defense like we are, sometimes you get caught out of element when you’re focused on the run and you don’t make a quick enough read to react to the pass. When you’re blitzing, it leaves open holes for the short passes. We’ve just got to watch more film and recognize pass formations better. It’s going to come with time.”
Willie Martinez on the problems against Arkansas:
“When you play action, it’s going to be hard sometimes to get pressure because you’re holding ‘backers or D linemen. You’re trying to defend the run. So that’s hard to generate. When you bring pressure, you have a better chance of disrupting the passing game. They had a very good balance last week, and they made some plays and we didn’t execute. When you don’t execute against a good offensive football team, they’re going to exploit you.”
Well, look at those third-down numbers again. Obviously when a team has farther to go for a first down, there's a greater chance of success for the defense, so we'd expect a stark difference in the numbers. But the other key thing to remember is that, on third-and-long, it's nearly always going to be a pass play. The situation dictates the defensive approach, not the read by the defenders. On third-and-short, things are different. The offense has options, and the defense now needs to make the proper read and adjust. That's simply not happening.
The same is true in the red zone. Georgia has been strong inside the 20, holding the opposition to mostly field goals. But what the short field does is reduce the amount of space the defense has to cover. They can misread a play, but still be able to react because they don't have as far to go.
So is this execution or coaching? I'd say it's probably a little of both. The coaches have to make sure the players know their keys and the players have to make the right reads and react. I'm not sure which part of this isn't happening -- and maybe it's both -- but clearly there is a problem here.
Talking to players, to Martinez and to Richt this week, there seems to be a few constant points of emphasis:
1.) The offensive and special teams mistakes are killing the defense.
2.) The pressure up front has not been there, which kills the secondary.
3.) The execution simply hasn't been good enough.
I think the numbers Jim listed more than illustrate the first point has merit. If Georgia's turnover was 9-to-2 in the other direction, I'm pretty sure there'd be no need for me to write this post. So that's step one.
The second issue of pressure has been a problem for two years, however. Georgia simply isn't getting to the quarterback, and since NFL scouts have conceded that Jeff Owens and Geno Atkins have the skills to play at the next level, I can only assume there's some serious problems in terms of scheme or preparation.
The third issue is perhaps the most damning, however. The fundamentals have simply been poor -- from reading keys defensively to wrapping up on tackles. If this was a defense filled with freshmen and sophomores, that might be more understandable. But it's not. Georgia starts two sophomores (and one was a starter much of last year), five juniors (all of whom started games last year) and four seniors.
There's a cliche that Jon Fabris finds a way to use in nearly every interview: It's neither as good as it seems or as bad as it seems. Somewhere in the middle lies the truth.
The truth is, Willie is not the root of all evil, and clearly the defense has not been as bad as the final scores might indicate. But neither is the situation just a few plays away from resolution either. There is work to be done, and has been for far too long.
And the reasonable point being made by the fans who still have some reason left in this discussion is: If Georgia hasn't been able to fix those issues in the past 12 months, why should they think that will change in the next few weeks?
Georgia has allowed 78 points in their past two games, allowed 37 or more points in six of their past nine, and is averaging 33 points allowed during that stretch. The Bulldogs secondary has allowed 721 passing yards in the last two games and the defense has accounted for just four sacks and two take-aways in three games this year.
There really aren't many numbers that tell anything but a scathing story about the defense. But is it really as bad as the numbers say? Mark Richt isn't so sure.
"As a team we have not helped our defensive unit when it comes to (field position)," Richt said. "We need to do a better job of getting our field position right. I would just like to see what happened if we did that quite frankly.”
It's a fair point, even if most of the Willie haters don't really care about excuses anymore. In fact, as Martinez pointed out, there were some encouraging aspects of the defense's performance against Arkansas that tended to be lost in the high score.
“There’s some things we did well in this last ballgame, and I know it’s kind of hard to see when you give up that many points," Martinez said. "But their third-down efficiency was 80 percent. That was crucial to get them in third-and-long, and here we go, we’re off the field. We did that in the first series, and bang – something bad happens and you’ve got to go back out there, and our guys couldn’t sustain it. Then the fourth quarter, they had four series in the fourth quarter and we go three-and-out in three out of the four. The game’s on the line, and you build on those things. The same thing could be said in the previous game where we kept them out of the end zone in the fourth quarter and held them to a field goal. There’s some things that we did well that are obviously overlooked because of all the points that are put up.”
But are there facts to back that up, too?
Here are some stats from reader Jim F., who did some great research so I didn't have to…
Jim first defined a rather broad category of "mistakes," which include turnovers and kicking game miscues. So far there have been nine turnovers by Georgia's offense or special teams. There have been seven major blunders in the kicking games -- i.e. a return allowed of 50 yards or more, a kickoff out of bounds and, of course, the successful fake punt and the safety on the snap over Drew Butler's head.
So here's what he discovered:
-- Mistakes were direct contributors to 70 percent of all opponents' scoring drives so far this season (14 total out of 20 scoring drives), including two in which the defense was never on the field (the safety and the pick six).
-- Similarly, mistakes have led to 70 percent of the total points scored against Georgia (72 of 102).
-- Ten of the 16 plays defined as "mistakes" occurred on the Georgia side of the field, meaning the defense was put in a particularly bad position. Opponents have scored on 100 percent of these drives -- seven TDs, and three field goals.
-- Problems in the kicking game have contributed to 11 points per game thus far, and if you include the special teams fumbles or problems in punting, that number goes up even more, nearly 40 percent of Georgia's total points allowed.
-- Only twice has Georgia stopped a drive after a mistake (once forcing a punt and once forcing a turnover).
That last point can be looked at in two ways: 1.) Does Georgia's defense have the fortitude to handle adversity? Or 2.) Is the adversity simply too much for anyone to overcome on a regular basis?
I'd say it would be fair to give the D the benefit of the doubt for now, considering the sheer number of adverse situations they've been in, but here's what Bryan Evans thinks:
“Right now it’s to the point where anytime a turnover happens, our mentality is to get back on the field and not give up the touchdown. That’s something we’ve got to work towards as a defense. I really can’t complain or make any excuses because any time the defense is on, we don’t have any thoughts except getting our offense the ball back, and we didn’t do that (against Arkansas).”
So at least the D is taking some accountability, even if they weren't put in the best position to succeed regardless.
But what about when they are put in a good position to succeed?
Jim notes that Georgia has only allowed points on nine of 31 drives (29 percent) when the opposition starts on their half of the field. Take away possessions that included those problems in the kicking game (like the out-of-bounds kicks) and you're down to just six scoring drives -- three touchdowns and three field goals. In other words, just 10 points per game.
Georgia has also been relatively strong on third downs -- holding the opponent to just 15 conversions in 46 attempts.
It's also worth noting that Arkansas scored on both of those out-of-bounds kickoffs -- one TD and one FG. Considering that this was such a problem last year that Richt infamously promised to go to Poland to find a kicker who could better handle the kickoffs, the blame here squarely falls on the head coach, not the D coordinator.
A few things that can be pinned on the defense though (my research now):
-- Although they've been on the wrong side of nine turnovers, they have created just two.
-- They have just four sacks in 118 passing attempts (which doesn't include plays in which the QB ran, either by design or due to pressure). That's a success rate of 3.38 percent.
-- And again, Georgia has been particularly bad at handling adversity. Let's look closer at those third-down conversions: Overall, the opposition is just 15-of-46 (32.6 percent) on third down, but on fourth down, that number shoots up to a successful conversion on 5-of-7 tries (71.4 percent), with one being the fake punt executed by South Carolina.
Looking even further, Georgia has faced 32 situations that were either third-and-long or fourth-and-long (defined as needing five or more yards for a first down) and has held on all but five occasions. That's a success rate of just 15.6 percent by the opposition, including an 0-for-10 mark by Arkansas last week. On third- or fourth-and-short, however, those numbers swing badly in the other direction. The opposition has converted on 16-of-22 tried in short-yardage situations -- a nearly 73 percent success rate.
I mentioned in my post about the defense the other day that I thought there might be too great of an emphasis put on stopping the run -- something Georgia has done well in these first three games -- and that the Bulldogs have not been in position to handle the pass as well.
My wording may have been wrong by saying "emphasis." The problem isn't that the Bulldogs are emphasizing stopping the run, it's that they're failing to recognize when it's a pass.
"We have to do a better job of getting off the run blocks," defensive end Demarcus Dobbs said. "A lot of teams kill us with play action because we’re so zoned into the run. Play action will kill a defense and we have to learn to convert and get into the quarterback’s face, even if it isn’t a sack, but just to alter his throws a little bit so our DBs can make a play.”
More evidence:
Bryan Evans on the TD he was burned on: “It was kind of a zone to a man coverage, and one of the receivers ran a take-off. We got caught trailing, looking in the backfield.”
Jeff Owens on the upcoming game: “For the front seven, we’ve got to get more pressure on the QB. We’ve got to rush more. That’s what our focus should be this week. We know Arizona State is going to throw the football, and as a defensive tackle, I’ve got to pin my ears back and try to get to the QB.”
Rennie Curran on the team's recognition of pass plays: “When you’re an aggressive defense like we are, sometimes you get caught out of element when you’re focused on the run and you don’t make a quick enough read to react to the pass. When you’re blitzing, it leaves open holes for the short passes. We’ve just got to watch more film and recognize pass formations better. It’s going to come with time.”
Willie Martinez on the problems against Arkansas:
“When you play action, it’s going to be hard sometimes to get pressure because you’re holding ‘backers or D linemen. You’re trying to defend the run. So that’s hard to generate. When you bring pressure, you have a better chance of disrupting the passing game. They had a very good balance last week, and they made some plays and we didn’t execute. When you don’t execute against a good offensive football team, they’re going to exploit you.”Well, look at those third-down numbers again. Obviously when a team has farther to go for a first down, there's a greater chance of success for the defense, so we'd expect a stark difference in the numbers. But the other key thing to remember is that, on third-and-long, it's nearly always going to be a pass play. The situation dictates the defensive approach, not the read by the defenders. On third-and-short, things are different. The offense has options, and the defense now needs to make the proper read and adjust. That's simply not happening.
The same is true in the red zone. Georgia has been strong inside the 20, holding the opposition to mostly field goals. But what the short field does is reduce the amount of space the defense has to cover. They can misread a play, but still be able to react because they don't have as far to go.
So is this execution or coaching? I'd say it's probably a little of both. The coaches have to make sure the players know their keys and the players have to make the right reads and react. I'm not sure which part of this isn't happening -- and maybe it's both -- but clearly there is a problem here.
Talking to players, to Martinez and to Richt this week, there seems to be a few constant points of emphasis:
1.) The offensive and special teams mistakes are killing the defense.
2.) The pressure up front has not been there, which kills the secondary.
3.) The execution simply hasn't been good enough.
I think the numbers Jim listed more than illustrate the first point has merit. If Georgia's turnover was 9-to-2 in the other direction, I'm pretty sure there'd be no need for me to write this post. So that's step one.
The second issue of pressure has been a problem for two years, however. Georgia simply isn't getting to the quarterback, and since NFL scouts have conceded that Jeff Owens and Geno Atkins have the skills to play at the next level, I can only assume there's some serious problems in terms of scheme or preparation.
The third issue is perhaps the most damning, however. The fundamentals have simply been poor -- from reading keys defensively to wrapping up on tackles. If this was a defense filled with freshmen and sophomores, that might be more understandable. But it's not. Georgia starts two sophomores (and one was a starter much of last year), five juniors (all of whom started games last year) and four seniors.
There's a cliche that Jon Fabris finds a way to use in nearly every interview: It's neither as good as it seems or as bad as it seems. Somewhere in the middle lies the truth.
The truth is, Willie is not the root of all evil, and clearly the defense has not been as bad as the final scores might indicate. But neither is the situation just a few plays away from resolution either. There is work to be done, and has been for far too long.
And the reasonable point being made by the fans who still have some reason left in this discussion is: If Georgia hasn't been able to fix those issues in the past 12 months, why should they think that will change in the next few weeks?
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Practice Notes: King Set to Return
After more than a month on the sidelines, the news finally appears a bit brighter for tailback Caleb King.
The sophomore running back has been out with a sore hamstring since Aug. 12, but head coach Mark Richt said he practiced fully each of the past two days and his prospects for playing Saturday against Arkansas look good.
“It looks like very probable,” Richt said. “I’d be surprised if he didn’t play at this point.”
Richt said he couldn’t guess how many reps King is likely to play, but he said the addition to the running back depth chart, currently manned by Richard Samuel and Carlton Thomas, would be a benefit for the Georgia offense.
“It’s going to help us because he’s definitely a different style of runner,” Richt said. “I’m anxious to see what he can do. He’s always had good vision, good balance and he’s got to be pretty fresh.”
Samuel has been the go-to runner for Georgia in the first two games of the season, getting 20 carries against Oklahoma State and 15 against South Carolina.
It’s expected that Samuel will continue to handle the bulk of the load, but Richt said the return of King will allow the team to spread the carries out a bit more than it had previously.
“The tailback position is set for us now where we’re not going to ask just one kid to carry the entire load, so they’ll be able to help each other out,” Richt said.
GOING BACK INSIDE
Senior defensive tackles Geno Atkins and Jeff Owens saw plenty of action at an unfamiliar position in Georgia’s first two games, but their experiment at defensive end might be coming to an end.
With the return of Justin Houston from a two-game suspension, Richt said he didn’t expect the Bulldogs would need to use Atkins or Owens, who totaled around 50 reps at end during the first two games, to work off the edge as much going forward.
“I doubt we see them much out there,” Richt said, “but it depends on how the game goes.”
Atkins said he didn’t mind the transition, but he said he’ll be happy to get back to doing what he does best and leaving the surprisingly tough task of defensive end to the players who’ve been doing it a bit longer.
“I had to keep the contain, look for the reverse and focus my eyes on the quarterback to see if he takes it and runs with it or gives it to the running back,” Atkins said. “Now I know what the D ends are going through because they’ve got so much responsibility.”
WILLIAMS BACK AT WORK
After missing last week’s game against South Carolina with a hamstring injury, linebacker Nick Williams said he’ll be available for duty this week.
“It’s good now,” Williams said. “I’m back.”
Williams said the injury occurred in Georgia’s first game against Oklahoma State when he was jamming receiver Dez Bryant and felt a pull, and he immediately knew it was his fault he was hurt.
“I’m bad at stretching,” Williams said. “I never did it in high school, so they’ve had me on a strict stretching program now.”
THE BIGGER THEY ARE…
At 6-foot-7, Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett will be one of the biggest targets Georgia’s defense has faced in a while, but Rennie Curran said he’s not too concerned.
Curran said the biggest quarterback he could remember facing previously was Kentucky’s Andre Woodson, who was 6-5, in 2007.
In that game, Georgia had five sacks, which reinforced Curran’s philosophy about big quarterbacks.
“They’re all the same to me,” Curran said. “They all throw the ball, they just fall harder than others.”
THE BATTLE’S OVER
After defensive end Rod Battle went down with a season-ending knee injury, Richt was hopeful the senior might be able to apply for a sixth year of eligibility, but it appears that’s unlikely, and Battle’s career with Georgia could be over.
“My guess would be that he would not because his first (redshirt) year there was no injury involved in the red shirt,” Richt said. “You have to miss two seasons because of injury, and we have no documentation to help him with that.”
KEEPING CONFIDENCE
Branden Smith knows he didn’t instill a lot of confidence in his coaches on his first few attempts at returning kicks. Against Oklahoma State, he twice brought the ball out from deep in the end zone, and on his first return against South Carolina resulted in a fumble that set up a field goal for the Gamecocks.
But rather than give up on the freshman, coach Tony Ball sent him back out again, and Smith rewarded him with a 48-yard return to set the Bulldogs up with prime field position.
“I think it is a good thing that Coach Ball has confidence in me knowing that I have made a couple of bad plays,” Smith said. “At Oklahoma State I ran deep from the end zone and fumbled against South Carolina. By him putting me back out there I think that is a very good thing.”
ANOTHER ROUGH DAY
For the second straight practice, Richt said his team lacked much enthusiasm on the field, but he said he’s not concerned that the team will lack energy by game day.
“Today we were a little lethargic, I thought. There was not a ton of energy, but we grinded and we got it done. I think the boys are probably a little bit tired, but that’s the beauty of Thursday and Friday.”
The sophomore running back has been out with a sore hamstring since Aug. 12, but head coach Mark Richt said he practiced fully each of the past two days and his prospects for playing Saturday against Arkansas look good.
“It looks like very probable,” Richt said. “I’d be surprised if he didn’t play at this point.”
Richt said he couldn’t guess how many reps King is likely to play, but he said the addition to the running back depth chart, currently manned by Richard Samuel and Carlton Thomas, would be a benefit for the Georgia offense.
“It’s going to help us because he’s definitely a different style of runner,” Richt said. “I’m anxious to see what he can do. He’s always had good vision, good balance and he’s got to be pretty fresh.”
Samuel has been the go-to runner for Georgia in the first two games of the season, getting 20 carries against Oklahoma State and 15 against South Carolina.
It’s expected that Samuel will continue to handle the bulk of the load, but Richt said the return of King will allow the team to spread the carries out a bit more than it had previously.
“The tailback position is set for us now where we’re not going to ask just one kid to carry the entire load, so they’ll be able to help each other out,” Richt said.
GOING BACK INSIDE
Senior defensive tackles Geno Atkins and Jeff Owens saw plenty of action at an unfamiliar position in Georgia’s first two games, but their experiment at defensive end might be coming to an end.
With the return of Justin Houston from a two-game suspension, Richt said he didn’t expect the Bulldogs would need to use Atkins or Owens, who totaled around 50 reps at end during the first two games, to work off the edge as much going forward.
“I doubt we see them much out there,” Richt said, “but it depends on how the game goes.”
Atkins said he didn’t mind the transition, but he said he’ll be happy to get back to doing what he does best and leaving the surprisingly tough task of defensive end to the players who’ve been doing it a bit longer.
“I had to keep the contain, look for the reverse and focus my eyes on the quarterback to see if he takes it and runs with it or gives it to the running back,” Atkins said. “Now I know what the D ends are going through because they’ve got so much responsibility.”
WILLIAMS BACK AT WORK
After missing last week’s game against South Carolina with a hamstring injury, linebacker Nick Williams said he’ll be available for duty this week.
“It’s good now,” Williams said. “I’m back.”
Williams said the injury occurred in Georgia’s first game against Oklahoma State when he was jamming receiver Dez Bryant and felt a pull, and he immediately knew it was his fault he was hurt.
“I’m bad at stretching,” Williams said. “I never did it in high school, so they’ve had me on a strict stretching program now.”
THE BIGGER THEY ARE…
At 6-foot-7, Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett will be one of the biggest targets Georgia’s defense has faced in a while, but Rennie Curran said he’s not too concerned.
Curran said the biggest quarterback he could remember facing previously was Kentucky’s Andre Woodson, who was 6-5, in 2007.
In that game, Georgia had five sacks, which reinforced Curran’s philosophy about big quarterbacks.
“They’re all the same to me,” Curran said. “They all throw the ball, they just fall harder than others.”
THE BATTLE’S OVER
After defensive end Rod Battle went down with a season-ending knee injury, Richt was hopeful the senior might be able to apply for a sixth year of eligibility, but it appears that’s unlikely, and Battle’s career with Georgia could be over.
“My guess would be that he would not because his first (redshirt) year there was no injury involved in the red shirt,” Richt said. “You have to miss two seasons because of injury, and we have no documentation to help him with that.”
KEEPING CONFIDENCE
Branden Smith knows he didn’t instill a lot of confidence in his coaches on his first few attempts at returning kicks. Against Oklahoma State, he twice brought the ball out from deep in the end zone, and on his first return against South Carolina resulted in a fumble that set up a field goal for the Gamecocks.
But rather than give up on the freshman, coach Tony Ball sent him back out again, and Smith rewarded him with a 48-yard return to set the Bulldogs up with prime field position.
“I think it is a good thing that Coach Ball has confidence in me knowing that I have made a couple of bad plays,” Smith said. “At Oklahoma State I ran deep from the end zone and fumbled against South Carolina. By him putting me back out there I think that is a very good thing.”
ANOTHER ROUGH DAY
For the second straight practice, Richt said his team lacked much enthusiasm on the field, but he said he’s not concerned that the team will lack energy by game day.
“Today we were a little lethargic, I thought. There was not a ton of energy, but we grinded and we got it done. I think the boys are probably a little bit tired, but that’s the beauty of Thursday and Friday.”
From the Mailbag: Murray Hurt, Reshad's Flag and Talking About Kickoffs
Happy Wednesday ladies and gents. I wanted to take a quick moment to remind you that we'll be continuing with our weekly chat sessions once again, and I'll be chatting live at Macon.com/ugachat tomorrow (Thursday) at noon.
Here's what you can do: Go to Macon.com/ugachat now. Press the "play" button and submit your questions early. Then check back tomorrow at noon (or any time after) and get the answers. Or if you're bored at work and you take a late lunch break, just check in live as the chat is happening.
In the meantime, let's whet your appetite with a few mailbag questions today...
Chip F. writes: do you know why aaron murray did not throw at all during warmups saturday?
DH: Yes, Murray is currently day-to-day with what is described as triceps tendinitis. When I spoke with him last week, he had his elbow wrapped. I inquired as to the reason, and he said it was just normal soreness from throwing. But as Chip points out, he didn't throw during Saturday's warmups, and the "soreness" turned out to be a bit more serious. At this point, however, it's just something being controlled with some rest right now and nothing to be too worried about. What it does signal, however, is that unless something happens to Logan Gray or Joe Cox the rest of the way, both Murray and Zach Mettenberger will be headed for redshirts.
Anonymous Suckup writes: I'm just curious whether the officials thought the hit was illegal in and of itself (facemask, blow to the head, etc.) or whether the officials flagged him for hitting the ball carrier after he stepped on the sideline a couple of steps earlier. In short, was it supposedly a late hit or a dirty hit?
DH: I spoke with Willie Martinez about this yesterday. He said the original call he got on the field Saturday was for a late hit out of bounds. He spoke to league officials later, however, and they clarified that it was actually a personal foul for a horse-collar tackle. Martinez said the coaches have reviewed the film and agreed with the call.
To your first point, however -- yes, the runner pretty clearly was out of bounds before the hit even occurred.
Jason writes: Following up on a couple of your points, I'm really curious to see if you could get a real answer as to why Samuel was out of the game for so long.
DH: Mike Bobo's answer is that it was a combination of wanting to rest Samuel after he had five touches on one drive followed by a series of play calls that required Carlton Thomas to be on the field, particularly the reverse to Branden Smith that went for a 61-yard touchdown. All of that is fine, but it still seems to me that 15 minutes of game time without your top running back touching the football is a mistake, particularly on a third-and-four on a crucial drive on which Georgia ended up being forced to punt.
jferg writes: Can you do a little digging into why our "nfl" DTs aren't making more plays? i just assumed that one of those two would get to the qb on a fairly consistent basis. yet, it seems as if so far this season, they are getting shut down. thoughts?
DH: Well, for one, those NFL DTs are playing a lot of DE. Geno Atkins was there throughout the first half of the Oklahoma State game and Jeff Owens took more than 30 snaps at defensive end against South Carolina. Georgia's coaches are essentially doing a lot of mixing and matching right now, but the return of Justin Houston this week should help calm the waters, so to speak.
Moreover, after talking to coaches, they seemed pretty pleased with the pressure the DTs got against South Carolina. What they were unhappy with was the containment. Georgia had plenty of men in the backfield -- Martinez estimated more than 50 percent of South Carolina's snaps resulted in significant pressure from Georgia's line -- but they couldn't bring Stephen Garcia down, and the Gamecocks QB was routinely able to step up in the pocket, avoid the rush, and either use his feet for short gains or dump the ball off to a receiver in the middle of the field.
Anonymous writes: Are Neland Ball and Christian Robinson still on the roster? Just curious as I have not seen them and apparently Ball's little brother turned to the dark side.
DH: Yup, they're both on the team, but neither is playing much. Ball and Jeremy Longo have been slow to recover from offseason injuries and have not seen the field. Robinson actually got some positive reviews during fall camp, but a mix of depth at linebacker and the missed reps he had during his freshman season last year have kept him shuffled to the back of the pack. Charles White and Akeem Hebron are in a similar situation. We may see a bit more of at least one or two of them this week, however, with Nick Williams questionable and Darius Dewberry out for a second straight game. That being said, the coaches have already taken the step of moving Marcus Washington back to linebacker to help fill the void, so they obviously aren't particularly enthused with the idea of using Robinson, White or Hebron in key situations.
Michael writes: kickoffs? we're talking about kickoffs? its the simplest, most fundamental play of the game. the coach has been here for how many years now? and we're still discussing our strategy on kickoffs? seriously. we're talking about kickoffs. kickoffs. kickoffs? not the game, not the game. kickoffs. not the game, the university of georgia bulldogs are debating what they should do on kickoffs. kickoffs.
DH: Not a punt… not a punt… talkin' about kickoffs. What are we talking about here? Kickoffs. They might return one deep kickoff this year, and that's enough. If I can't kick deep, I can't kick deep. It's as simple as that. You know what I'm saying? We're just talking about kickoffs. We're sitting here… Georgia's supposed to be a franchise program, and we're sitting here talking about kickoffs. Not the game that they go out there and die for. Talking about kickoffs. I'm not shoving it aside like it don't mean anything. But what are we talking about, man? We're talking about kickoffs.
Dekalb writes: I am a Bulldogs Blog enthusiast and avid reader. I read the blog on my Blackberry a lot of times, and lately I can't read it on there because the page is too large to load with all the updates on it. Not sure if it is something you can fix, but I was talking to some of my buddies while we were in Athens this weekend, and they have been having the same problem.
DH: I heard this complaint from a few people, so I checked into it. Apparently the problem is that I've simply been posting too much. The settings on the blog left all posts from the previous seven days up on the main page, and since I've been posting more during the season, that managed to overwhelm the Blackberries. I changed the settings so now just the last 15 posts are on the main page, so hopefully that will help. If anyone is still having trouble though, let me know and I'll continue to work on the problem.
OK, that's it for now. Don't forget to submit your questions and check back tomorrow for our live chat at Macon.com/ugachat.
Here's what you can do: Go to Macon.com/ugachat now. Press the "play" button and submit your questions early. Then check back tomorrow at noon (or any time after) and get the answers. Or if you're bored at work and you take a late lunch break, just check in live as the chat is happening.
In the meantime, let's whet your appetite with a few mailbag questions today...
Chip F. writes: do you know why aaron murray did not throw at all during warmups saturday?
DH: Yes, Murray is currently day-to-day with what is described as triceps tendinitis. When I spoke with him last week, he had his elbow wrapped. I inquired as to the reason, and he said it was just normal soreness from throwing. But as Chip points out, he didn't throw during Saturday's warmups, and the "soreness" turned out to be a bit more serious. At this point, however, it's just something being controlled with some rest right now and nothing to be too worried about. What it does signal, however, is that unless something happens to Logan Gray or Joe Cox the rest of the way, both Murray and Zach Mettenberger will be headed for redshirts.
Anonymous Suckup writes: I'm just curious whether the officials thought the hit was illegal in and of itself (facemask, blow to the head, etc.) or whether the officials flagged him for hitting the ball carrier after he stepped on the sideline a couple of steps earlier. In short, was it supposedly a late hit or a dirty hit?
DH: I spoke with Willie Martinez about this yesterday. He said the original call he got on the field Saturday was for a late hit out of bounds. He spoke to league officials later, however, and they clarified that it was actually a personal foul for a horse-collar tackle. Martinez said the coaches have reviewed the film and agreed with the call.
To your first point, however -- yes, the runner pretty clearly was out of bounds before the hit even occurred.
Jason writes: Following up on a couple of your points, I'm really curious to see if you could get a real answer as to why Samuel was out of the game for so long.
DH: Mike Bobo's answer is that it was a combination of wanting to rest Samuel after he had five touches on one drive followed by a series of play calls that required Carlton Thomas to be on the field, particularly the reverse to Branden Smith that went for a 61-yard touchdown. All of that is fine, but it still seems to me that 15 minutes of game time without your top running back touching the football is a mistake, particularly on a third-and-four on a crucial drive on which Georgia ended up being forced to punt.
jferg writes: Can you do a little digging into why our "nfl" DTs aren't making more plays? i just assumed that one of those two would get to the qb on a fairly consistent basis. yet, it seems as if so far this season, they are getting shut down. thoughts?
DH: Well, for one, those NFL DTs are playing a lot of DE. Geno Atkins was there throughout the first half of the Oklahoma State game and Jeff Owens took more than 30 snaps at defensive end against South Carolina. Georgia's coaches are essentially doing a lot of mixing and matching right now, but the return of Justin Houston this week should help calm the waters, so to speak.
Moreover, after talking to coaches, they seemed pretty pleased with the pressure the DTs got against South Carolina. What they were unhappy with was the containment. Georgia had plenty of men in the backfield -- Martinez estimated more than 50 percent of South Carolina's snaps resulted in significant pressure from Georgia's line -- but they couldn't bring Stephen Garcia down, and the Gamecocks QB was routinely able to step up in the pocket, avoid the rush, and either use his feet for short gains or dump the ball off to a receiver in the middle of the field.
Anonymous writes: Are Neland Ball and Christian Robinson still on the roster? Just curious as I have not seen them and apparently Ball's little brother turned to the dark side.
DH: Yup, they're both on the team, but neither is playing much. Ball and Jeremy Longo have been slow to recover from offseason injuries and have not seen the field. Robinson actually got some positive reviews during fall camp, but a mix of depth at linebacker and the missed reps he had during his freshman season last year have kept him shuffled to the back of the pack. Charles White and Akeem Hebron are in a similar situation. We may see a bit more of at least one or two of them this week, however, with Nick Williams questionable and Darius Dewberry out for a second straight game. That being said, the coaches have already taken the step of moving Marcus Washington back to linebacker to help fill the void, so they obviously aren't particularly enthused with the idea of using Robinson, White or Hebron in key situations.
Michael writes: kickoffs? we're talking about kickoffs? its the simplest, most fundamental play of the game. the coach has been here for how many years now? and we're still discussing our strategy on kickoffs? seriously. we're talking about kickoffs. kickoffs. kickoffs? not the game, not the game. kickoffs. not the game, the university of georgia bulldogs are debating what they should do on kickoffs. kickoffs.
DH: Not a punt… not a punt… talkin' about kickoffs. What are we talking about here? Kickoffs. They might return one deep kickoff this year, and that's enough. If I can't kick deep, I can't kick deep. It's as simple as that. You know what I'm saying? We're just talking about kickoffs. We're sitting here… Georgia's supposed to be a franchise program, and we're sitting here talking about kickoffs. Not the game that they go out there and die for. Talking about kickoffs. I'm not shoving it aside like it don't mean anything. But what are we talking about, man? We're talking about kickoffs.
Dekalb writes: I am a Bulldogs Blog enthusiast and avid reader. I read the blog on my Blackberry a lot of times, and lately I can't read it on there because the page is too large to load with all the updates on it. Not sure if it is something you can fix, but I was talking to some of my buddies while we were in Athens this weekend, and they have been having the same problem.
DH: I heard this complaint from a few people, so I checked into it. Apparently the problem is that I've simply been posting too much. The settings on the blog left all posts from the previous seven days up on the main page, and since I've been posting more during the season, that managed to overwhelm the Blackberries. I changed the settings so now just the last 15 posts are on the main page, so hopefully that will help. If anyone is still having trouble though, let me know and I'll continue to work on the problem.
OK, that's it for now. Don't forget to submit your questions and check back tomorrow for our live chat at Macon.com/ugachat.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Practice Notes: Dawgs Find Plenty of Room to Improve
Georgia got an early taste of what's in store when it opens the season against Oklahoma State when the Bulldogs held a practice game against the scout team Wednesday, and the results weren't exactly encouraging.
"Overall, my feeling was that we weren't quite ready to beat Oklahoma State, so I'm glad we have 10 more days to prepare," head coach Mark Richt said. "We're playing the No. 9 team in the country, a team with (numerous) senior starters on defense, a team with an offense that is nothing short of spectacular. We've got to be sharp, and we weren't sharp today."
The problems weren't disastrous, Richt said, but they were numerous.
After finishing among the most penalized teams in the country a year ago, the Bulldogs' penchant for drawing flags reared its head again Wednesday, although Richt cautioned the problems were mostly a result of playing a number of inexperienced players.
"We had a few too many penalties," Richt said. "We were substituting pretty freely because it was warm, and some of our younger guys didn't really handle it very well in my opinion."
Richt said the first-team offense had a holding penalty and an illegal formation flag that each halted drives or forced field goals.
In addition to the flags, the offense simply wasn't clicking on all cylinders, Richt said.
The unit posted 27 points in the 30-minute practice game, but it wasn't the type of success he had hoped for.
"It was just an erratic day," Richt said. "It just was not sharp. It wasn't awful, but when you're playing this game, and you have almost your first and second team vs. the rest, you would think we'd have been a little more explosive offensively against that group."
While the offense seemed sluggish, Richt did have some kudos for his defensive unit.
"There were some really fine defensive plays, some good solid tackling," Richt said. "I thought the tackling was pretty good."
STARTING FROM BEHIND
The final score of Wednesday's practice game was 27-24 Georgia, but it wasn't quite as close as the margin might indicate.
Richt set the teams up to play just the second half of the simulated action, and the No. 1 unit took the field having spotted the scout team three touchdowns before a single snap had taken place.
"I wanted a little sense of urgency for both sides of the ball to make it a tight ballgame," Richt said. "The defense twice had to play with a three-point lead, which I thought they did a good job of."
It was a somewhat familiar situation for quarterback Joe Cox, too.
Cox's last significant action during a game came in 2006 when he came on in relief of Matthew Stafford in the second half against Colorado trailing 13-0. Cox rallied the Bulldogs to a 14-13 win, just as he maneuvered the first-team offense to a comeback victory Wednesday.
Despite his calm under pressure, however, Cox said he'd be just fine with his defense keeping the Cowboys off the scoreboard.
"No, I don't want to spot Oklahoma State 14," Cox said. "I think they did that so we'd really come out and have a different mind-set, and I think it was definitely a good thing. (After the scrimmage), we don't want to say we lost because we couldn't come back."
GOING OFF SCRIPT
One plus for Georgia's offense was the opportunity to run through the playbook in a game situation, Cox said.
In practice, most of the offensive plays are scripted in advance, but Wednesday the Bulldogs got to take the training wheels off.
"We just went off Coach (Mike) Bobo's call sheet, some things we like that we thought would work for the Oklahoma State game," Cox said. "Anything could come in at any time, so it really tests your knowledge and tests everything you've been working on the past few weeks in camp."
The results were clearly mixed, Cox said, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. The early scrimmage work gave the offense a chance to revamp a few of its plans for its date with the Cowboys on Sept. 5.
"We saw a lot of things we did really well that we can definitely solidify in our game plan or maybe tweak a little bit," Cox said. "There's probably some things that we ran that we said maybe that's not what we want to run. It's good to have a scrimmage like this and have some time to go back and make some changes to the game plan."
NO DECISIONS YET
Freshman quarterbacks Aaron Murray and Zach Mettenberger took turns playing the role of Oklahoma State's Zac Robinson during Wednesday's practice game, and only helped the scout team muster three points against Georgia's first-team defense.
That's been indicative of the struggles both have endured at various points this fall, but Richt said he's still not close to deciding whether either or both of the two will redshirt this season.
"I don't think we're there yet," Richt said. "We've still got some time and we've got some games to play. I don't want either one of those guys thinking they're redshirting right this minute."
KING OF THE HILL
Tavarres King was one of Wednesday's offensive stars, hauling in a touchdown reception from quarterback Logan Gray. While it was another strong moment for the redshirt freshman, the more important improvement in his game has come when the ball isn't in his hands, Richt said.
King came in undersized and had to put on weight this offseason, but the work has paid off and Richt said his receiver is looking much improved in the blocking game.
"He's getting better," Richt said. "He's certainly getting much more aggressive as a blocker, and blocking as a receiver is really much more about attitude and technique."
CAPTAINS ANNOUNCED
Richt announced the captains for Georgia's opener against Oklahoma State. Cox will represent the offense, with Rennie Curran and Jeff Owens representing the defense, and Demarcus Dobbs representing the special teams.
The beauty of the decision, Richt said, is that it was so hard to make.
"A lot of guys to chose from," he said. "It was not easy to decide on that. There were a lot of names that came up, a lot of names that crossed my mind that deserved it, which is good."
DOUBLE DUTY
Richt announced last week that Richard Samuel had a firm grip on the top of the tailback depth chart, but that doesn't mean he won't continue his work on kick returns, where he tallied 401 return yards as a freshman last season.
Samuel is one of five players getting work at the position, Richt said, and likely a leading candidate for the majority of the work.
"(Samuel), (Brandon) Boykin and Branden Smith are the top three guys right now," Richt said. "Carlton (Thomas) is in there, too, but I don't know if he'd be in the top three right now. But he's been getting work there along with Bryan Evans."
GOT YOU COVERED
The special teams work during Georgia's practice game is a bit more simulated than the rest of the scrimmage. Kickoffs are live, but the return men already have a second ball waiting and don't catch the kicks – a move made to ensure every kick is returned rather than wasting a rep.
That doesn't make judging the overall kicking game a simple task, but from what he did see, Richt was pleased with how the first-team coverage units played.
"It's a little bit tough to grade or judge how the kicks are going in relation to our coverage, but today the coverage was outstanding," Richt said.
WHO WANTS HIGHLIGHTS?
Richt didn't have stats available following Wednesday's practice game, but a few highlights were easy to recall.
On the defensive side, Brandon Boykin stood out.
"I just happened to see a real fine form tackle by Boykin on the sideline, just a real good job of breaking down and putting his face on the guy and running his feet on contact," Richt said.
Makiri Pugh and Boykin each had interceptions in the game as well, with Pugh's sealing the victory for the Georgia squad.
One rookie made some noise on the scout-team defense, too.
"Just from the naked eye on the sideline, it looked like Derrick Lott had a nice day," Richt said. "He played real strong inside, made some nice unassisted tackles. He stood out."
On offense, King and A.J. Green each caught touchdowns, but Richt was a bit more reserved in his praise.
"I thought Joe was sharp running the system," Richt said of his quarterback. "He was accurate throwing the ball."
Richt on tailback Richard Samuel: "Good day. It wasn't spectacular but it was a good day, solid."
EXTRA POINTS
-- The lone turnover by the first-team offense came on an interception. Richt didn't mention which quarterback threw it but he referred to Cox as "accurate" while simply saying Logan Gray "got some snaps." So read between the lines.
-- Ben Jones didn't participate Wednesday, and Kevin Perez worked at center, with Trinton Sturdivant, Chris Davis, Cordy Glenn and Clint Boling rounding out the rest of the No. 1 offensive line.
-- Jeff Owens on who impressed him: "Geno Atkins as usual. He always does great."
-- Richt said the practice game didn't result in any serious injury concerns.
-- Blair Walsh booted all three field goals in the game and Richt said the sophomore kicker had a strong hold on the field-goal and PAT job.
-- Rod Battle continues to impress. Richt said he had one or two sacks in the game.
-- Mettenberger, Murray and Vernon Spellman all took turns playing OSU quarterback Zac Robinson. Rantavious Wooten handled the role of Dez Bryant for the scout team.
-- Richt on Marcus Washington: "He got to play and played a good bit, but I can't sit here and say he did anything exceptional."
-- Akeem Dent, Reshad Jones, Bryan Evans and Caleb King all sat out of Wednesday's scrimmage, but Richt said Jones and Evans could have gone but were held out for precautionary reasons.
-- Darius Dewberry and Aron White sat out all of last week's practices but were full participants in the practice game.
-- King didn't participate, but Richt said he would be back by Monday at the latest. Richt said the next week's practice makes for an easier transition for many of the injured players returning to the lineup. "We're at the point now where there's going to be so much scout team work, and the tempo of the scout work is not quite like the (other drills). It's good tempo, but it's not the same tempo as when you're competing against the No. 1 or No. 2 units. So those guys tend to integrate into practice during scout work, and hopefully they catch up on their fundamentals when they're healthy again."
-- Jeff Owens says his goal is to get to 1,000 Twitter followers before opening day. So far, he’s at 830. If you want to help him out, you can follow him HERE.
-- Don't forget, the blog is taking the day off tomorrow. I'll be back Friday when the Dawgs hit the practice field again. You can follow me on Twitter for breaking news updates.
From the Mailbag: Sweet Dreams for Owens
A big thanks to all of you who have posted questions (both real, and the ones that are simply designed to make me laugh out loud) on Twitter for me to pose to your favorite Bulldogs. I have a handful that I've gotten answers to, so let's post one now...
@Brian_Perkins had this question for Jeff Owens: Has he imagined his first "real" play coming back from injury? How does he imagine it? Any lingering fear of reinjury?
I've actually talked to Owens, Vince Vance and Trinton Sturdivant about what coming back from the knee injuries are like -- not just physically, where each appears to be doing just fine, but mentally.
All three admit that there is always going to be some aprehension until they take that first hit and get through that first game. But as Owens said, none of that diminishes the excitement of getting back into the action.
As to imagining that first play, that's nothing new, he said.
"I daydream all the time about just playing," Owens said. "You've got to visualize playing, and I do that a lot. I'm always visualizing making that hit, making that sack, picking up that fumble and running it in and diving in. That's what all great players do."Saturday, August 22, 2009
Practice Notes: Dawgs Getting Impatient
It has been three weeks since Georgia started fall camp, and the grueling pace of practice is starting to wear on the players.
It's not that the Bulldogs are easing up, it's just that they're getting tired of tackling each other.
"I think we're just ready to play somebody else," quarterback Joe Cox said. "You come out of camp and it's kind of a relief, but you're really still in it, you just have school to go along with it."
A year ago, Georgia was already into the game-planning phase for its opener, but this August, the team has an additional week to prepare for its first game of the season against Oklahoma State.
On the positive side, it's an extra week to get ready for what promises to be one of Georgia's toughest opening-week opponents in years. The downside, however, is that all the reps in practice are starting to get a little dull.
"We're ready to hit that phase where we're game planning and worrying about other teams and going other places rather than just coming out and doing the same things every day," Cox said.
After three weeks of the most grueling preseason senior Jeff Owens can remember, however, the extra week of practice time isn't so much about preparation as it is about rejuvenation.
"This extra week will help guys get their legs back up under them," Owens said. "I think we can just go out and work on our fundamentals and get better, make sure everyone knows the scheme of the defense."
THE SUM OF THEIR PARTS
Richt offered a ringing endorsement to sophomore Richard Samuel on Friday, saying the tailback was firmly atop Georgia's depth chart. But while Samuel hopes to approach the 1,400 rushing yards compiled by Knowshon Moreno a year ago, the plan for replacing the 33 receptions and nearly 400 receiving yards Moreno added is still likely to be a committee approach.
"I think we're kind of going to pull from everybody to get certain aspects of what Knowshon did," Cox said. "Richard's a hard runner, kind of a bruiser and he gets open, but it's not like he has incredible ball skills."
Samuel caught just two passes for 11 yards as a freshman, numbers likely to increase with additional playing time this season. Still, fellow tailbacks Caleb King and Carlton Thomas are better known for their abilities as receivers and are likely to see plenty of action in that role.
"A guy like Caleb or Carlton, they have really smooth hands," Cox said. "I'm not saying we're not going to throw the ball to Richard, but I definitely think we'll be using them rather than expecting Richard to run every down and catch every ball we throw to the backs."
HOUSE CALLS
Senior defensive end Marcus Washington returned to the practice field Saturday after missing two days due to illness. Sophomore linebacker Marcus Dowtin worked out with the team, too, but in a green, non-contact jersey. Dowtin had missed nearly a week with strep throat.
"He's been in the bed," Richt said of Dowtin. "He hasn't even been going to class. But he's coming out of it now and he's made enough progress for us to believe he'll be back Monday."
The two illnesses were enough to warrant quick medical attention for both players, but it's a scenario Richt said his training staff has been preparing for since the spring.
With the outbreak of the H1N1 virus – better known as the swine flu – Richt said trainer Ron Courson and his staff have been quick to diagnose flu symptoms and isolate players who may be ill.
"We had a few guys over the summer that we moved them out of their dorms or we moved a roommate out of the dorm when we thought a guy might have some flu symptoms," Richt said. "Even Dowtin, we kept him away from everybody even though we knew it was more of a strep throat thing. Ron always does a great job, but on this we were pretty proactive."
DON'T BELIEVE THE HYPE
Last season, Georgia entered the year with its best-ever preseason ranking, players on the cover of Sports Illustrated and a ton of hype surrounding the team. The result was a disappointing 10-3 campaign in which the Bulldogs never came close to meeting lofty expectations.
This year, the shoe is on the other foot as Oklahoma State features the Sports Illustrated cover boys and national attention. While Cox isn't ready to call that an advantage for his side, he said he's well aware of the perils of too much publicity before a team even hits the field.
"I don't know how much of an advantage it will be," Cox said. "They might feed off of it. I just know it wasn't the best thing for us, or at least it didn't turn out to be last year. I like the way we're ranked. I like being in an underdog situation. I think it made us work harder this offseason, and we'll see how it affected them when we play them."
(NOTE: Cox may not know if it's an advantage, but I highly recommend reading this story from The Oklahoman and forming your own opinion.)
SCOUTING THE COW POKES
Georgia began scout team work for Oklahoma State on Friday -- doing about 20 minutes of preparations, head coach Mark Richt said. The scout team work will increase gradually this week, culminating with Georgia's final preseason scrimmage Wednesday in which the No. 1 units will play a simulated game against the scout team's version of Oklahoma State.
"We're in good shape," Richt said. "We're ready to move into our scout team units. By Wednesday we want them to have enough work so that when we have that game, they've give us a pretty good look."
After Wednesday's practice game, the Bulldogs will take Thursday off, then return to full practices Friday and Saturday. Next Sunday is a regularly scheduled off day and Georgia then begins its normal preparations the following Monday with a practice in full pads.
"It'll be good to be moving toward the game plan, but I think it will also be good to get their bodies refreshed," Richt said.
IT'S A MYSTERY
As to what Georgia might expect from Oklahoma State, Richt has some good news and some bad news.
When it comes to the defensive side of the football, Richt said the Cowboys offer some familiar looks.
"Defensively, as far as schematically, they're a lot like Arizona State," Richt said. "Their base is a 4-3 and they play quarters coverage. Their fire zones are similar to most everybody else. We're very close to them schematically in the secondary."
The problem, however, is on offense. Oklahoma State features three talented playmakers in quarterback Zac Robinson, wideout Dez Bryant and tailback Kendall Hunter and usually employ spread formations. The problem is, the Cowboys' spread isn't much like the others Georgia has played in the past.
"Offensively, I can't really say there's anybody that would closely relate to them," Richt said.
REPLACING MO-MASS
Finding a suitable replacement for departed wide receiver Mohamed Massaquoi wasn't a difficult chore Cox said. Senior Michael Moore is expected to earn the bulk of the throws that went to Massaquoi a year ago, and that's a role Cox said Moore was ready for even before this season.
"He's a guy who works hard every day, knows what to do, and he's dependable," Cox said. "Any time you have a guy like that you want to get him the ball because you know he's going to be in the right place at the right time."
FITTING RIGHT IN
The attention has focused on the new faces fighting for the starting tailback job this offseason, but head coach Mark Richt said the new man coaching the tailbacks has done a pretty impressive job so far, too.
Bryan McClendon has only been on the job for about eight months, but Richt said the players have enjoyed his coaching style and the rest of the staff has been a strong support system.
"He's got great support with (last year's running backs coach) Tony (Ball) being right there, and of course, Mike (Bobo) and really Coach (Stacy) Searels," Richt said. "So he's surrounded by a really good support and everybody believes in him. And the players, they believe in him and are responding real well."
INJURY UPDATES
-- Demarcus Dobbs and Nick Williams had both been in green jerseys following minor neck sprains last week, but both were back on the field and full participants in Saturday's practice.
-- Caleb King is looking better, but he may not practice fully for a few more days. "I will say he'll start doing some drill work, doing some ball handling, maybe doing some pass skeleton, but I don't know," Richt said. "He's getting close though."
-- A handful of players with hamstring injuries could be back as full participants in Georgia's next practice Monday. "By Monday, hopefully a lot of these guys that haven't been working will work," Richt said. "I think Reshad (Jones) is real close, Aron White's real close. (Bryan) Evans, I'm not sure if he'll go full speed Monday, but they're all getting work."
-- Add Darius Dewberry to the "getting close" list, with a little extra praise coming his way. "Dewberry's very close. I would say this week coming up and maybe Monday," Richt said. "He really had a great summer. He's in tremendous shape, he's strong, and he knows what he's doing and has become very good at it."
-- One player lagging in his recovery is linebacker Akeem Dent, whose timetable for a return remains unclear. "Dent is actually a little further behind some of these other guys," Richt said. "He's not responding as quickly. I'm hoping by the end of the week Dent will be able to go but I'm more optimistic about the other hamstrings."
EXTRA POINTS
-- Just in case you haven't cruised over to Macon.com yet, be sure to check out my story on tailback Carlton Thomas, who has kept his name in the conversation for significant playing time this offseason despite the constant concerns about his size.
-- Matthew Stafford is getting the start for the Detroit Lions tonight, in case you were wondering.
-- Got an email from Sean F. asking: "Do you know when Jeff will begin his blog again? And has it not been updated lately due to NCAA rules or just the time constraints of football?"
There are no problems with NCAA or team rules. Quite the opposite, actually. Jeff's biggest issue, he said, has been finding good topics to write about, but the school is actually planning to give him a hand with that, and he'll be back to blogging soon.
"I've got a lot of stuff coming up," Owens said. "I'm supposed to get hooked up with sports communication to put it on GeorgiaDogs.com and they're going to have different people talking about what they want to hear, what they want to read and stuff, so that'll give me help."
It's not that the Bulldogs are easing up, it's just that they're getting tired of tackling each other.
"I think we're just ready to play somebody else," quarterback Joe Cox said. "You come out of camp and it's kind of a relief, but you're really still in it, you just have school to go along with it."
A year ago, Georgia was already into the game-planning phase for its opener, but this August, the team has an additional week to prepare for its first game of the season against Oklahoma State.
On the positive side, it's an extra week to get ready for what promises to be one of Georgia's toughest opening-week opponents in years. The downside, however, is that all the reps in practice are starting to get a little dull.
"We're ready to hit that phase where we're game planning and worrying about other teams and going other places rather than just coming out and doing the same things every day," Cox said.
After three weeks of the most grueling preseason senior Jeff Owens can remember, however, the extra week of practice time isn't so much about preparation as it is about rejuvenation.
"This extra week will help guys get their legs back up under them," Owens said. "I think we can just go out and work on our fundamentals and get better, make sure everyone knows the scheme of the defense."
THE SUM OF THEIR PARTS
Richt offered a ringing endorsement to sophomore Richard Samuel on Friday, saying the tailback was firmly atop Georgia's depth chart. But while Samuel hopes to approach the 1,400 rushing yards compiled by Knowshon Moreno a year ago, the plan for replacing the 33 receptions and nearly 400 receiving yards Moreno added is still likely to be a committee approach.
"I think we're kind of going to pull from everybody to get certain aspects of what Knowshon did," Cox said. "Richard's a hard runner, kind of a bruiser and he gets open, but it's not like he has incredible ball skills."
Samuel caught just two passes for 11 yards as a freshman, numbers likely to increase with additional playing time this season. Still, fellow tailbacks Caleb King and Carlton Thomas are better known for their abilities as receivers and are likely to see plenty of action in that role.
"A guy like Caleb or Carlton, they have really smooth hands," Cox said. "I'm not saying we're not going to throw the ball to Richard, but I definitely think we'll be using them rather than expecting Richard to run every down and catch every ball we throw to the backs."
HOUSE CALLS
Senior defensive end Marcus Washington returned to the practice field Saturday after missing two days due to illness. Sophomore linebacker Marcus Dowtin worked out with the team, too, but in a green, non-contact jersey. Dowtin had missed nearly a week with strep throat.
"He's been in the bed," Richt said of Dowtin. "He hasn't even been going to class. But he's coming out of it now and he's made enough progress for us to believe he'll be back Monday."
The two illnesses were enough to warrant quick medical attention for both players, but it's a scenario Richt said his training staff has been preparing for since the spring.
With the outbreak of the H1N1 virus – better known as the swine flu – Richt said trainer Ron Courson and his staff have been quick to diagnose flu symptoms and isolate players who may be ill.
"We had a few guys over the summer that we moved them out of their dorms or we moved a roommate out of the dorm when we thought a guy might have some flu symptoms," Richt said. "Even Dowtin, we kept him away from everybody even though we knew it was more of a strep throat thing. Ron always does a great job, but on this we were pretty proactive."
DON'T BELIEVE THE HYPE
Last season, Georgia entered the year with its best-ever preseason ranking, players on the cover of Sports Illustrated and a ton of hype surrounding the team. The result was a disappointing 10-3 campaign in which the Bulldogs never came close to meeting lofty expectations.
This year, the shoe is on the other foot as Oklahoma State features the Sports Illustrated cover boys and national attention. While Cox isn't ready to call that an advantage for his side, he said he's well aware of the perils of too much publicity before a team even hits the field.
"I don't know how much of an advantage it will be," Cox said. "They might feed off of it. I just know it wasn't the best thing for us, or at least it didn't turn out to be last year. I like the way we're ranked. I like being in an underdog situation. I think it made us work harder this offseason, and we'll see how it affected them when we play them."
(NOTE: Cox may not know if it's an advantage, but I highly recommend reading this story from The Oklahoman and forming your own opinion.)
SCOUTING THE COW POKES
Georgia began scout team work for Oklahoma State on Friday -- doing about 20 minutes of preparations, head coach Mark Richt said. The scout team work will increase gradually this week, culminating with Georgia's final preseason scrimmage Wednesday in which the No. 1 units will play a simulated game against the scout team's version of Oklahoma State.
"We're in good shape," Richt said. "We're ready to move into our scout team units. By Wednesday we want them to have enough work so that when we have that game, they've give us a pretty good look."
After Wednesday's practice game, the Bulldogs will take Thursday off, then return to full practices Friday and Saturday. Next Sunday is a regularly scheduled off day and Georgia then begins its normal preparations the following Monday with a practice in full pads.
"It'll be good to be moving toward the game plan, but I think it will also be good to get their bodies refreshed," Richt said.
IT'S A MYSTERY
As to what Georgia might expect from Oklahoma State, Richt has some good news and some bad news.
When it comes to the defensive side of the football, Richt said the Cowboys offer some familiar looks.
"Defensively, as far as schematically, they're a lot like Arizona State," Richt said. "Their base is a 4-3 and they play quarters coverage. Their fire zones are similar to most everybody else. We're very close to them schematically in the secondary."
The problem, however, is on offense. Oklahoma State features three talented playmakers in quarterback Zac Robinson, wideout Dez Bryant and tailback Kendall Hunter and usually employ spread formations. The problem is, the Cowboys' spread isn't much like the others Georgia has played in the past.
"Offensively, I can't really say there's anybody that would closely relate to them," Richt said.
REPLACING MO-MASS
Finding a suitable replacement for departed wide receiver Mohamed Massaquoi wasn't a difficult chore Cox said. Senior Michael Moore is expected to earn the bulk of the throws that went to Massaquoi a year ago, and that's a role Cox said Moore was ready for even before this season.
"He's a guy who works hard every day, knows what to do, and he's dependable," Cox said. "Any time you have a guy like that you want to get him the ball because you know he's going to be in the right place at the right time."
FITTING RIGHT IN
The attention has focused on the new faces fighting for the starting tailback job this offseason, but head coach Mark Richt said the new man coaching the tailbacks has done a pretty impressive job so far, too.
Bryan McClendon has only been on the job for about eight months, but Richt said the players have enjoyed his coaching style and the rest of the staff has been a strong support system.
"He's got great support with (last year's running backs coach) Tony (Ball) being right there, and of course, Mike (Bobo) and really Coach (Stacy) Searels," Richt said. "So he's surrounded by a really good support and everybody believes in him. And the players, they believe in him and are responding real well."
INJURY UPDATES
-- Demarcus Dobbs and Nick Williams had both been in green jerseys following minor neck sprains last week, but both were back on the field and full participants in Saturday's practice.
-- Caleb King is looking better, but he may not practice fully for a few more days. "I will say he'll start doing some drill work, doing some ball handling, maybe doing some pass skeleton, but I don't know," Richt said. "He's getting close though."
-- A handful of players with hamstring injuries could be back as full participants in Georgia's next practice Monday. "By Monday, hopefully a lot of these guys that haven't been working will work," Richt said. "I think Reshad (Jones) is real close, Aron White's real close. (Bryan) Evans, I'm not sure if he'll go full speed Monday, but they're all getting work."
-- Add Darius Dewberry to the "getting close" list, with a little extra praise coming his way. "Dewberry's very close. I would say this week coming up and maybe Monday," Richt said. "He really had a great summer. He's in tremendous shape, he's strong, and he knows what he's doing and has become very good at it."
-- One player lagging in his recovery is linebacker Akeem Dent, whose timetable for a return remains unclear. "Dent is actually a little further behind some of these other guys," Richt said. "He's not responding as quickly. I'm hoping by the end of the week Dent will be able to go but I'm more optimistic about the other hamstrings."
EXTRA POINTS
-- Just in case you haven't cruised over to Macon.com yet, be sure to check out my story on tailback Carlton Thomas, who has kept his name in the conversation for significant playing time this offseason despite the constant concerns about his size.
-- Matthew Stafford is getting the start for the Detroit Lions tonight, in case you were wondering.
-- Got an email from Sean F. asking: "Do you know when Jeff will begin his blog again? And has it not been updated lately due to NCAA rules or just the time constraints of football?"
There are no problems with NCAA or team rules. Quite the opposite, actually. Jeff's biggest issue, he said, has been finding good topics to write about, but the school is actually planning to give him a hand with that, and he'll be back to blogging soon.
"I've got a lot of stuff coming up," Owens said. "I'm supposed to get hooked up with sports communication to put it on GeorgiaDogs.com and they're going to have different people talking about what they want to hear, what they want to read and stuff, so that'll give me help."
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Practice Notes: Offense Moves Forward Without Jones
Ben Jones made an appearance at practice Thursday, but it was Chris Davis and Kevin Perez taking all the reps at center for Georgia.
Jones sprained his left ankle during Wednesday's practice and coaches said his return remains a day-to-day decision. Meanwhile, Georgia's offense is already moving forward without him.
"You hate to see anybody go down," quarterback Joe Cox said. "Everybody was pretty worried at first, but people get hurt in football. We've just got to move on for now, and hopefully he's back in time to play."
Asked whether that meant in time to play Oklahoma State, Cox pleaded ignorance – a refrain repeated by right tackle Clint Boling, who said Jones remained in high spirits despite the injury.
"He's a tough kid," Boling said. "It definitely hurts him not being out there, but I'm sure he'll get back out there as soon as he can, and we'll be ready to have him back, too."
Head coach Mark Richt declined comment on the injury Wednesday and skipped his normal post-practice media session Thursday in order to attend his son's football game.
While the timetable for Jones' return remains vague, Boling said the important point is that the sophomore center will be back eventually, which is a big departure from the season-ending injuries suffered by two of Georgia's starters on the line last season.
"That's the last thing anybody wants is to have anything like last year with that many guys getting hurt," Boling said.
STAYING POSITIVE
Caleb King has made a point of ducking reporters since injuring his hamstring last week, but fellow tailback Carlton Thomas said it's not because King is sulking.
Despite being forced to the sideline in the middle of an intense competition for playing time at tailback, King has kept a positive attitude throughout the process, Thomas said.
"He's been very positive in practice every day," Thomas said. "He's come in in the morning to rehab, just trying to get ready. You never see him down, even though there's probably a time when he's down because he wants to compete. But he's doing everything he can to get back and be ready for Oklahoma State."
While King is missing crucial chances to perform before a final depth chart is set for Georgia's opener, Thomas said he thinks King's attitude on the sideline has impressed coaches as much as anything he could have done on the field.
"It is a big test," Thomas said. "It's a test for anybody who has an injury this close to playing time. It's going to test you mentally, so I feel like if he overcomes it, he's going to have a lot of success."
A HELPING HAND
Adjusting to college football and memorizing a playbook is no easy task, but freshmen receivers Marlon Brown and Rantavious Wooten said the process has been made a lot smoother thanks to the leadership of their quarterback.
"He's been a great help," Brown said of Cox, a fifth-year senior. "He's been going over the playbook with me whenever we're free. It's a blessing because he knows everything."
While Wooten has worked tirelessly to grasp the intricacies of the playbook, he said he has been amazed at Cox's knowledge of the offense – not just at quarterback, but for every position.
"He'll teach me different releases, spinning, all that different kind of stuff," Wooten said. "He's a great teacher, a great leader. He's teaching me all the right things."
For his part, Cox isn't taking much credit for his receivers' development. He said he has made a point of offering tips when needed, but said Michael Moore and A.J. Green have been the real mentors for the young wideouts.
Regardless of who has done the bulk of the teaching, the lessons appear to be paying off, Cox said.
"When you come in as a freshman at any position, you get to a point where your head starts spinning, and then you start coming out of it," Cox said. "I think they're definitely out of that fog now, and they're starting to recognize things quicker and run the right routes. They're coming along nicely."
UNTIMELY VACATION
Georgia president Michael Adams announced the dates for the university's mandatory furlough days Wednesday, and the off time isn't well suited to the football staff, who are being forced to take time off along with faculty and staff.
All university employees will be forced to take off Oct. 30, Nov. 25 and Dec. 24 this year – which would mean Richt and his staff would be on vacation the day before Georgia takes on Florida and three days before the Bulldogs travel to Georgia Tech.
Georgia's sports information department confirmed that the football staff will comply with the furloughs, but there will be an appeals process available to request different days from the ones Adams announced Thursday. The caveat, as reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, is that the days must still occur during October and November, meaning coaches must take time away during the height of football season.
While the details are still being ironed out, Boling said he had his doubts that his rather intense line coach, Stacy Searels, would really be able to step away at such a crucial time.
"I wish," Boling said, "but I don't think it's going to happen."
(NOTE: You can read Tim Tucker's excellent recap of the situation HERE.)
CATCHING ON
The platitudes for freshman tight end Orson Charles have come pretty regularly from players, but the general consensus was that his skills were still fairly raw.
No doubt, the tight end still has some work to do, but Cox said the finer points aren't too far off.
"He's always been a good route runner," Cox said. "Now it's just fine-tuning certain routes, and I think he's gotten better every day. He's been working on his blocking a lot and done a good job getting better."
SOUNDS PAINFUL
Richt wasn't around to comment on today's practice, and no assistant coaches were made available. But thanks to the beauty of social networking, there is a bit of insight into today's workouts, courtesy of Jeff Owens' Twitter page.
"Today's practice was one of the hardest practices in four years," Owens wrote, then followed with, "Just stitting in the training room icying (sic) my knee. The coaches tried to kill us today."
BUT HOW ARE YOU?
Boling answered plenty of questions about Jones' injury -- OK, maybe answered is a strong term -- but he was quick to put an end to any concern about his own sore wrist.
Boling injured his wrist during a practice last week when he collided with a player's helmet. He has had the wrist wrapped since then, but he said it hasn't slowed him any.
"It's fine, it was nothing serious," Boling said. "I just kind of wrapped it up and go. It was no big deal at all."
HEALTHY AS CAN BE
Vince Vance managed to get in some work with the first team offensive line with Jones out, and Boling said the senior has looked strong in his return from an ACL injury.
Vance was the team's starting guard before moving to left tackle four games into the season. One month later, however, he tore his ACL and joined teammate Trinton Sturdivant, who suffered a similar injury last August, in the trainer's room.
"He's been fine physically," Boling said of Vance. "Trinton hurt his a little bit earlier, but they both really look the same physically. They both have been full speed in practice the whole time, and there haven't really been any setbacks."
QUIET POKES
This time it's a team Georgia's playing that is having a blackout.
Oklahoma State isn't planning to don the black uni's, but the team has instituted a media blackout, apparently due in part to coach Mike Gundy's annoyance at the constant questions about the health of his quarterback, Zac Robinson.
Tuesday was the last day Gundy or any players met with the media, and Wednesday a blanket "no comment" was issued to all reporters. Players, coaches and Gundy will all be taking a vow of silence until the Monday before the season opener.
OSU's Robinson Should Worry Dawgs
It's easy to look at Georgia's defense last season and use the blanket terminology that the Bulldogs were simply bad.
To be sure, they weren't good. But there's often more to the story, and this analysis of the types of opponents Georgia played may illustrate a deeper problem.
Here's a quick run down of how running quarterbacks fared against Georgia last season:
| Opp. | QB | QB Rush Yds | Team Rush Yds | UGA sacks |
| Ga. Southern | A. Henton | 26 | 102 | 3 |
| C. Michigan | D. LeFevour | 7 | 59 | 1 |
| Vanderbilt | M. Adams | 19 | 114 | 0 |
| Florida | T. Tebow | 39 | 185 | 1 |
| Kentucky | R. Cobb | 82 | 226 | 1 |
| Auburn | K. Burns | 28 | 124 | 1 |
| Georgia Tech | J. Nesbitt | 40 | 409 | 0 |
*NOTE: For our purposes, a running quarterback was defined as any QB who had at least 80 rushing attempts on the season or would have had he started all of his team's games.
And here's a run down of how the not-so-mobile QBs did:
| Opp. | QB | QB Rush Yds | Team Rush Yds | UGA sacks |
| S. Carolina | C. Smelley | -9 | 18 | 2 |
| Arizona State | R. Carpenter | -17 | 4 | 4 |
| Alabama | J. Wilson | 13 | 129 | 1 |
| Tennessee | N. Stephens | -15 | 1 | 2 |
| LSU | J. Lee | -4 | 188 | 2 |
| Michigan State | B. Hoyer | 3 | 31 | 6 |
*NOTE: QB rushing stats include negative yardage from sacks.
A few things should jump off the page for you.
For one, Georgia had 24 total sacks last season, and 17 of them came against the slow-footed QBs, despite those games accounting for less than half the Bulldogs' schedule.
Secondly, outside of Kentucky's Randall Cobb, there weren't a ton of big games by the quarterbacks most fleet afoot, but perhaps that's not what's important.
In the seven games Georgia played against mobile QBs, the Dawgs allowed at least 100 yards of offense six times and the defense surrendered an average of 174 yards per game on the ground. Yes, the 409 rush yards by Georgia Tech skew the average a bit, but that may well be offset by the fact that both of Georgia's non-BCS conference foes fall into this category.
Compare that with the teams that didn't have a running threat at quarterback and you see a much different story. In those six games, Georgia surrendered an average of just 62 yards per game on the ground, or about one-third of what it allowed to teams with mobile QBs. In the six games, the Bulldogs held the opponent to fewer than 100 rushing yards four times, and it's probably worth noting that the worst of those performances came against LSU, which employed run-oriented Andrew Hatch on a fairly significant number of snaps. In fact, Hatch had one 20-yard run in the game on which the Bulldogs' D looked utterly helpless.
(It's also probably worth noting that the other 100-yard performance was by Alabama, which probably featured the best offensive line the Bulldogs played all season.)
Why should all of this matter?
The answer is Zac Robinson, the fleet-footed quarterback at Oklahoma State, whom the Bulldogs will be tasked with stopping on Sept. 5.
Robinson 562 rushing yards and eight rush TDs last season, making him a true dual threat. In fact, he's so good, Georgia has been studying him for months.
"We've been watching film since the springtime on him, just by ourselves studying an opponent to get a read on what we're going against," defensive tackle Jeff Owens said. "He's very athletic, he's fast and quick. You watch him run the option and he can take a hit. He's not quick to pitch it like most quarterbacks. He'll turn it up and try to run guys over."
Ah, but he can dish the ball off to a pretty productive tailback, too.
Kendall Hunter averaged 6.5 yards per carry last season en route to 1,555 yards rushing and 16 touchdowns on the ground.
That's a dangerous combination given Georgia's recent history.
Of course, recent history doesn't necessarily apply. The same players who struggled through 2008 won't all be back on the field in 2009, and a few new faces may change the overall production of the defense.
But there is one similarity -- or at least there appears to be.
When Georgia hits the field against Oklahoma State, it will do so with a pass rush that offers a lot more question marks than most fans are comfortable with. None of the defensive ends who will be active for the game recorded so much as half-a-sack in SEC play last year -- and that's yet another piece of information to take from the stats listed above.
Think about when each of those games took place. Setting aside the bowl game, for which Georgia had more than a month to prepare, there's a clear trend in regards to Georgia's run defense.
Early in the season, the Bulldogs looked decent. Sure, Tennessee didn't have much offense, but 1 rushing yard? That's pretty impressive.
As the season wore on, however, and the frustration over the lack of penetration by the defensive line grew, those rushing totals went up and up, culminating with the disaster against Tech.
When the Bulldogs got pressure, they tended to stop the run. When they didn't, all the Reshad Jones tackles in the world wouldn't have made that stat line look pretty.
The bottom line, Owens said, is that containing the run is often about following schemes, and the more frustrated Georgia's pass rushers got, the less those fundamentals seemed to matter. The mobile QB in the backfield simply exacerbated the problem.
"You need to play with a lot of aggression because it's football, but you need to play within the scheme and with great fundamentals and technique," Owens said. "You know if you're rushing upfield, you have to corral him. If you break the pocket, you know he's looking to run."
The bottom line is this: While Cowboys' all-world wideout Dez Bryant is sure to grab the most headlines leading up to the game, he might not be anywhere close to Georgia's top concern.
In fact, to hear Owens tell it, Georgia would just assume have Robinson throwing the ball to Bryant as often as possible. It's the ground game that's the real worry.
"The main thing is you have to contain them," Owens said. "For us to be successful against him, we have to corral him and put pressure on him, but play within the scheme. We can't allow him to break contain. We have to keep him in that bubble and let him throw the football. We can't let him get outside the pocket because we know he can beat us with his feet, and that's one thing we don't want him to do."
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Practice Notes: Richt Mum on Jones' Injury
Mark Richt spent a few minutes talking about the potential of the offensive line this season should everyone stay healthy. He even noted that it had been a strong camp for sophomore center Ben Jones. But when asked about a potential injury Jones reportedly suffered during Wednesday’s practice, his answer was simply, “No comment.”
Jones was seen leaving Georgia’s football facilities with his foot wrapped and using crutches, but Richt would not discuss any apparent injury.
As a true freshman last year, Jones started nine games, all at center, and was one of the few consistent contributors during an injury-ravaged season.
This year, he is expected to be Georgia’s starting center, while freshman Chris Burnette has worked with the No. 2 unit. Junior Chris Davis, who had been working as the No. 1 left guard could also slide over to center, a position he played throughout the 2007 season.
UPDATE: Per UGA Athletics, the injury is just a sprain. X-rays were negative and Jones is considered day to day.
RETURN ENGAGEMENTS
A year ago, it was game day before Richt had a clear idea of who would return kicks and punts for Georgia. This season, the depth chart is already coming into shape, and it doesn’t look a whole lot different from last season.
Richt said Prince Miller, who racked up 191 yards and one touchdown on nine returns, would handle punt-return duty, with quarterback Logan Gray reprising his role as the standard fair-catch man.
Richt said Gray has worked almost exclusively on kicks inside the 10, where his primary responsibility is to decide whether to fair catch the ball or let it roll into the end zone. Although Gray is likely to be Georgia’s No. 2 quarterback, Richt said the special teams job has few drawbacks.
“It’s not a high-risk job back there,” Richt said. “Rarely do those kicks get returned. Most of the time they’re trying to pooch it. It’s high, so it’s usually a fair catch or let it roll.”
There’s a bit more competition for kickoffs, with a couple of new faces joining last year’s veterans. Richard Samuel remains a top choice, along with senior Bryan Evans, but Richt said sophomore cornerback Brandon Boykin and freshman speedster Branden Smith are also getting reps.
KEEPING IT SIMPLE
Despite his special-teams work, Smith said his primary focus this preseason has been on learning the ins and outs of the cornerback position. Along those lines, he said his offensive reps have been minimal, despite Georgia’s coaches suggestions that he could see a bit of action at wide receiver this season.
“I’m not really working at it,” Smith said of his offensive exploits. “I’m still trying to focus on defense, trying to get my technique down. I still need to improve there, so right now I’m not even thinking about offense.”
Of course, that doesn’t mean Smith is averse to giving offense a try if called upon – a situation that he admits is still a possibility.
“If they do need me, I’ll go over there in a hurry,” Smith said. “I’m here to help the team win, whether they need me at quarterback, running back, whatever.”
STARTING FROM BEHIND
Kwame Geathers spent nearly three weeks waiting for a phone call to say he could start his Georgia career. He said he would sit in his living room and jump for the phone, even when it was just his grandmother calling.
When the call finally came to let him know he had qualified academically and could report to fall camp, the rest of his teammates were already three days into practice, and it’s been an uphill battle for the freshman lineman ever since.
“The first couple weeks were pretty hard, coming in late and seeing all the other guys in pretty good shape,” Geathers said. “I was back at home trying to stay in shape, but I’ve found out you can’t be prepared for a college workout. It’s a different level.”
Geathers said he got some sage advice to keep his head up through the tough times from his older brother, Robert, who played at Georgia and is now with the NFL’s Cincinnati Bengals. Still the advice has been tough to follow through with, particularly given the demands of his position coach, Rodney Garner.
“He expects me to know all the plays right now,” Geathers said. “He looks at me just like all the seniors. He wants me to be the best, and the best have to do it fast and learn it fast.”
Geathers earned some action in Georgia’s scrimmages last week, however, and while he understands he still has a long way to go, he said that was a good first step in getting into shape for what lies ahead.
“I’m still trying to learn the plays. I got in there and tried to make some stuff happen,” he said. “It’s tough, but I’ve been taught to just keep going, keep striving for the best and keep working hard.”
THE WAITING GAME
After criticizing the team for a lackluster effort during Tuesday’s practice, Richt was a bit more upbeat about the Bulldogs’ play Wednesday.
“I judge those practices by how hard they’re working and how focused they are on doing what we ask them to do, and I thought today was a good day in that regard,” he said.
Richt credited the cooler weather and overcast skies with energizing the team and admitted that this is the time of year when keeping his players motivated becomes an issue, as the bumps and bruises of more than two weeks of practice add up and the excitement of the first game is still more than two weeks away.
“If we were less than a week away, we’d be like, man we need more time,” Richt said. “But now that we’re two-and-a-half weeks away, you’re anxious to get a little bit closer. You want to get the work in, but it’s a long time to wait for that game.”
Senior defensive tackle Jeff Owens said he’s as excited as anyone to get back to playing real football, but at the same time, he’s not ready to declare the Bulldogs ready for action just yet.
“We wish it was where you get through camp, and it’s the first game,” Owens said. “But I’m happy that we still have these two weeks to get better. I think we’ve got a long way to go to be great. To be at a championship level, we need to get to a certain point, and right now we’re not competing at that level. But we still have time and a lot of room to grow.”
That’s the primary concern for Richt, who said the dog days of fall practice are perhaps the best indication of what to expect from the team once the season actually gets going.
“I think it’s going to wear on us a little bit, but that’s where we’ve got to be strong and stay focused because that’s what’s going to still be there when the emotions are gone,” Richt said. “We just need to keep grinding right now – and it is a grind.”
MAKING A NAME FOR HIMSELF
If it weren't for injuries to veteran linebackers Darius Dewberry and Akeem Dent, freshman Mike Gilliard would likely be spending this fall working with the third-stringers, toiling in relative obscurity.
As luck would have it -- for Gilliard and perhaps for Georgia -- he's managed to work his way into the starting lineup for the past two scrimmages, and the Bulldogs' coaches have been impressed with what they've seen.
“He’s gotten a lot of work because of Dewberry’s situation," Richt said. "He’s progressing, and he’s gotten a lot of work with the No. 1 unit."
His progress has been so impressive that Richt is all but certain that Gilliard won't be redshirted this season, regardless of the amount of playing time that may be available.
"I don’t think there’s much doubt we plan on playing him," Richt said. "When everybody comes back healthy, I don’t know where he’ll end up on the depth chart, but I think he’s played enough to where we wouldn’t be afraid to let him play some scrimmage downs and I know our special teams coaches are trying to find every one they can get.”
SLOWED, BUT STEADY
Akeem Hebron hasn't enjoyed a lot of consistency in his career. He arrived highly recruited, but injuries and academic issues have plagued his time at Georgia.
So far during fall practice, there's still a bit of rust, but Richt said the reports from Hebron's coaches have been encouraging.
“I don’t know if he’s 100 percent healthy from what he was coming out of high school, so I don’t know if he’s really hitting on all cylinders," Richt said. "But he’s smart, instinctive, he’s made good open-field tackles, and coaches like him.”
Richt said Hebron has been working mostly at the Will linebacker position behind Rennie Curran and Nick Williams.
Jones was seen leaving Georgia’s football facilities with his foot wrapped and using crutches, but Richt would not discuss any apparent injury.
As a true freshman last year, Jones started nine games, all at center, and was one of the few consistent contributors during an injury-ravaged season.
This year, he is expected to be Georgia’s starting center, while freshman Chris Burnette has worked with the No. 2 unit. Junior Chris Davis, who had been working as the No. 1 left guard could also slide over to center, a position he played throughout the 2007 season.
UPDATE: Per UGA Athletics, the injury is just a sprain. X-rays were negative and Jones is considered day to day.
RETURN ENGAGEMENTS
A year ago, it was game day before Richt had a clear idea of who would return kicks and punts for Georgia. This season, the depth chart is already coming into shape, and it doesn’t look a whole lot different from last season.
Richt said Prince Miller, who racked up 191 yards and one touchdown on nine returns, would handle punt-return duty, with quarterback Logan Gray reprising his role as the standard fair-catch man.
Richt said Gray has worked almost exclusively on kicks inside the 10, where his primary responsibility is to decide whether to fair catch the ball or let it roll into the end zone. Although Gray is likely to be Georgia’s No. 2 quarterback, Richt said the special teams job has few drawbacks.
“It’s not a high-risk job back there,” Richt said. “Rarely do those kicks get returned. Most of the time they’re trying to pooch it. It’s high, so it’s usually a fair catch or let it roll.”
There’s a bit more competition for kickoffs, with a couple of new faces joining last year’s veterans. Richard Samuel remains a top choice, along with senior Bryan Evans, but Richt said sophomore cornerback Brandon Boykin and freshman speedster Branden Smith are also getting reps.
KEEPING IT SIMPLE
Despite his special-teams work, Smith said his primary focus this preseason has been on learning the ins and outs of the cornerback position. Along those lines, he said his offensive reps have been minimal, despite Georgia’s coaches suggestions that he could see a bit of action at wide receiver this season.
“I’m not really working at it,” Smith said of his offensive exploits. “I’m still trying to focus on defense, trying to get my technique down. I still need to improve there, so right now I’m not even thinking about offense.”
Of course, that doesn’t mean Smith is averse to giving offense a try if called upon – a situation that he admits is still a possibility.
“If they do need me, I’ll go over there in a hurry,” Smith said. “I’m here to help the team win, whether they need me at quarterback, running back, whatever.”
STARTING FROM BEHIND
Kwame Geathers spent nearly three weeks waiting for a phone call to say he could start his Georgia career. He said he would sit in his living room and jump for the phone, even when it was just his grandmother calling.
When the call finally came to let him know he had qualified academically and could report to fall camp, the rest of his teammates were already three days into practice, and it’s been an uphill battle for the freshman lineman ever since.
“The first couple weeks were pretty hard, coming in late and seeing all the other guys in pretty good shape,” Geathers said. “I was back at home trying to stay in shape, but I’ve found out you can’t be prepared for a college workout. It’s a different level.”
Geathers said he got some sage advice to keep his head up through the tough times from his older brother, Robert, who played at Georgia and is now with the NFL’s Cincinnati Bengals. Still the advice has been tough to follow through with, particularly given the demands of his position coach, Rodney Garner.
“He expects me to know all the plays right now,” Geathers said. “He looks at me just like all the seniors. He wants me to be the best, and the best have to do it fast and learn it fast.”
Geathers earned some action in Georgia’s scrimmages last week, however, and while he understands he still has a long way to go, he said that was a good first step in getting into shape for what lies ahead.
“I’m still trying to learn the plays. I got in there and tried to make some stuff happen,” he said. “It’s tough, but I’ve been taught to just keep going, keep striving for the best and keep working hard.”
THE WAITING GAME
After criticizing the team for a lackluster effort during Tuesday’s practice, Richt was a bit more upbeat about the Bulldogs’ play Wednesday.
“I judge those practices by how hard they’re working and how focused they are on doing what we ask them to do, and I thought today was a good day in that regard,” he said.
Richt credited the cooler weather and overcast skies with energizing the team and admitted that this is the time of year when keeping his players motivated becomes an issue, as the bumps and bruises of more than two weeks of practice add up and the excitement of the first game is still more than two weeks away.
“If we were less than a week away, we’d be like, man we need more time,” Richt said. “But now that we’re two-and-a-half weeks away, you’re anxious to get a little bit closer. You want to get the work in, but it’s a long time to wait for that game.”
Senior defensive tackle Jeff Owens said he’s as excited as anyone to get back to playing real football, but at the same time, he’s not ready to declare the Bulldogs ready for action just yet.
“We wish it was where you get through camp, and it’s the first game,” Owens said. “But I’m happy that we still have these two weeks to get better. I think we’ve got a long way to go to be great. To be at a championship level, we need to get to a certain point, and right now we’re not competing at that level. But we still have time and a lot of room to grow.”
That’s the primary concern for Richt, who said the dog days of fall practice are perhaps the best indication of what to expect from the team once the season actually gets going.
“I think it’s going to wear on us a little bit, but that’s where we’ve got to be strong and stay focused because that’s what’s going to still be there when the emotions are gone,” Richt said. “We just need to keep grinding right now – and it is a grind.”
MAKING A NAME FOR HIMSELF
If it weren't for injuries to veteran linebackers Darius Dewberry and Akeem Dent, freshman Mike Gilliard would likely be spending this fall working with the third-stringers, toiling in relative obscurity.
As luck would have it -- for Gilliard and perhaps for Georgia -- he's managed to work his way into the starting lineup for the past two scrimmages, and the Bulldogs' coaches have been impressed with what they've seen.
“He’s gotten a lot of work because of Dewberry’s situation," Richt said. "He’s progressing, and he’s gotten a lot of work with the No. 1 unit."
His progress has been so impressive that Richt is all but certain that Gilliard won't be redshirted this season, regardless of the amount of playing time that may be available.
"I don’t think there’s much doubt we plan on playing him," Richt said. "When everybody comes back healthy, I don’t know where he’ll end up on the depth chart, but I think he’s played enough to where we wouldn’t be afraid to let him play some scrimmage downs and I know our special teams coaches are trying to find every one they can get.”
SLOWED, BUT STEADY
Akeem Hebron hasn't enjoyed a lot of consistency in his career. He arrived highly recruited, but injuries and academic issues have plagued his time at Georgia.
So far during fall practice, there's still a bit of rust, but Richt said the reports from Hebron's coaches have been encouraging.
“I don’t know if he’s 100 percent healthy from what he was coming out of high school, so I don’t know if he’s really hitting on all cylinders," Richt said. "But he’s smart, instinctive, he’s made good open-field tackles, and coaches like him.”
Richt said Hebron has been working mostly at the Will linebacker position behind Rennie Curran and Nick Williams.
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