Dawgs Attention Turns To New Mexico State

FOOTBALL

The Dawgs look to continue their 6-game win streak when they host New Mexico State this Saturday in Athens.

“I have seen just a tad of their defense and they are very aggressive,” coach Mark Richt said on Sunday. “You can see them making big hits and making plays. I think our guys will see a very talented team on film and a team that can make big plays on both sides of the ball.”

The Dawgs (6-2, 5-1) are fresh from a victory over Florida, while the Aggies (3-5, 1-3) are coming off a loss to Nevada. Georgia is 3-0 all time against New Mexico State and has not faced them since 2002.

Georgia’s defense will look to continue to improve under second year defensive coordinator, Todd Grantham.

“When we hired Todd, we were wanting to see a championship defense built and I think we’re well on our way to doing that,” continued Richt. “They played exceptionally well Saturday. I think the guys have caught on well. I think they’re believing, they’re playing really hard, they’re playing fast and they’ve made very few mistakes. They’ve made very few penalties all year long. They’ve done a great job.”

The Dawgs will work on improving the kickoff coverage this week, after allowing two kickoffs to be returned for touchdowns in the past two weeks.

“There’s no question that Blair’s capable of kicking the type of ball that will give our guys the ability to get down there, be in position and make the play,” said Richt. “We started out pretty darn good and then all of a sudden, I don’t know if we lost some confidence or what, but once we got exposed a little bit it just kind of festered and we’ve got to stop it.”

Coach Richt also talked about Richard Samuel’s productive game against Florida. Samuel had 17 carries for 58 yards.

“It was great,” said Richt. “He’s a great young man; he just loves Georgia and loves his team. Reading his comments, that’s exactly the way he feels; he just wants to help us win. When he made the position change, he said ‘If it will help Georgia win, that’s what I want to do.’ To make that move and then have a game like that where there’s a significant contribution in his mind and in everybody else mind, and maybe more so in his mind than any other game he’s played at Georgia, it made him feel good.”

Georgia and New Mexico State will play Saturday at 12:30 p.m. The game will be televised on CSS.