Tuesday Press Conference ~ Defense

FOOTBALL

Coach Mark Richt and a delegation of football players met with the media Tuesday during the Dawgs’ weekly press luncheon. They offered the following comments:

Coach Mark Richt

On adjusting to a new 3-4 defense in one year…

“Anytime you do something new it’s tough. There’s a learning curve for everybody. A lot has to do with do you have the personnel to do it. I remember our first year we didn’t have the big nose guards, or at least Kwame Geathers wasn’t ready to be the player he is today. We didn’t have John Jenkins. We were playing DeAngelo Tyson if you remember, kind of an undersized guy for that position. Tennessee has a big beast in there who can do it and edge guys who can do it and play coverage in space as well. It doesn’t really change your perimeter much. They may have had better personnel year one to start it out than we did. Are they going to be better a year from now? I’m sure they will, but they’re still pretty darn good at it now.

On the similarities between Georgia’s defense and Tennessee’s defense…

“It’s very similar. Their defensive thoughts are very similar to the basic 3-4 scheme we employ, same as Alabama. Those three teams are kind of mirroring each other to a certain degree with the basic principles of how to run a 3-4.”

On Tennessee’s edge pressure and whether Georgia’s tackles have been tested to the degree they will be Saturday…

“We’re going to find out. We just have to keep working and start playing. We’ll have the ability to slide protections and chip the backs and use tight ends. We’ll also see if the tackles guys can do it on their own as well.”

On trying to make Tennessee a one-dimensional team…

“I was saying just the other day that if I had those receivers and that quarterback, I’d have a hard time trying to stay balanced. I like throwing the ball, and they’ve got great pass protectors. When you have those tackles like they do that don’t need any help, you can release five guys out and then you’ve got a guy that can spin it like Bray. I don’t know if I would sit there and say that I need to be totally balanced, but I think if you do shut down a running game and you just know someone is going to pass, it’s just much easier to defend. But they’re not that. They’re running the ball well, and they have good play-action pass. They’re really good at throwing and catching, I can tell you that.”

On what unit Malcolm Mitchell will practice with on Thursday…

“Just wherever needed. There will probably be some split time on Thursday.”

On the plan for Malcolm Mitchell in the game on Saturday…

“I would say his reps on offense will increase and his reps on defense will probably decrease, but it’s hard to say for sure on that.”

On the status of Bacarri Rambo and Alec Ogletree…

“During pregame we’ll have a really good idea if they are going to play. If they are in full gear there’s a good chance they’ll play.”

On what makes Jarvis Jones so disruptive…

“When you talk about a guy being long, he’s tall, he has long arms. He is very quick off the ball. He has some strength about him. Some guys are just speed rushers. Some guys will beat them on the edge and show them an upfield move and slip underneath. That causes problems. There are some great rushers, and that’s all they’ve got. Jarvis, every once in a while, he just decides to lift them out of there shoes because they are kind of on their heels trying to worry about whether he’s going inside or outside. Then he just runs them over. So he has a big bull rush as well. A guy with that ability and that kind of motor, you are going to make plays. If you notice he’s very stout against the run as well. He’s versatile enough in his knowledge of our system where Coach Todd Grantham can play him in the middle at times, mirror a quarterback if he takes off running or play the run from sideline to sideline rather than just play one half of the field. He’s a special player.”

On Cornelius Washington…

“Cornelius has taken on a big leadership role for us, especially in the spring and the offseason. From what I understand the motto that the seniors came up with was as much or more of Cornelius’ idea than anybody’s. I think he was the one who said we like ‘Finish The Drill” and G.A.T.A. We think it’s important at Georgia, but we’d like to have a slogan for this season that the seniors come up with. He was also very involved when Murray got together with the leaders this summer to divide the team up and have some accountability. He was one of the stronger guys in that area too. I like seeing him correct guys if they need to be corrected. When your veteran players drive the team in a positive way and say this is how we do it at Georgia, you are in a really good spot. That’s where we are right now.”

Linebacker Christian Robinson

On getting off to a fast start against Vanderbilt…

“I think it was really just a matter of honing in quickly. It’s not that we couldn’t make plays in the other games, we just didn’t. It was always a mental thing. We were on point against Vanderbilt this past week; everyone showed up and was ready to play. If you start strong then I think it’s easier to finish because you can just keep up what you’re doing and allow the coaches to just stick to the game-plan.”

On making Tennessee one dimensional…

“Our goal is always to come out and stop the run first. Tennessee has a great passing attack but it’s very tough to win in this league if you can’t establish a balanced offense. Coach Derek Dooley has said that he wants to be able to run the ball a little more, so we’re going to be watching for that. We’ve been good at defending against the run the past couple of years with big guys like Kwame Geathers and John Jenkins plugging up the holes so hopefully we’ll be able to keep it going.”

On Tennessee’s passing attack…

“That’s their strength for sure. They’re all clicking very well right now. We can tell, watching film, that Tyler Bray really trusts his receivers to come down with the ball. Some of the errors that he’s made recently had to do with him not seeing guys dropping out of coverage. We are going to have to bait him into throwing some passes sometimes. If we can change it up while keeping sound coverage and don’t give up any big plays then I think we’ll have a good shot at limiting them through the air.”

Linebacker Amarlo Herrera

On previewing Tennessee’s offense…

“Tyler Bray has a great arm and they have some very good wide receivers. They’ve been playing very well with each other this season. Everyone on their offense is a potential play maker so it’s going to be a challenge for sure.”

On making Tennessee one dimensional on offense…

“We try and make our opponent one dimensional every week. We try to stop the run first and then try and force them to pass. Then we cover their receivers with the great defensive backs that we have. They have a lot of great players in their passing attack but we also have a lot of great defensive backs, so it’s going to be a challenge.”