Dawgs Sneak Past Cats 29–24

FOOTBALL

Coach Mark Richt

Opening statement…

“Very excited about the victory. It’s great to be able to go on the road in the SEC and get the win. I think Kentucky did a fantastic job tonight. My hat’s off to coach Joker Phillips and his team. I’m also pleased with our team to do what they had to do to win the ballgame. A lot of big plays had to be made. We had to play good down the stretch in order to win it. Again, very thankful and pleased with the victory. I want to also, like I said, let coach Phillips know that I thought his team was well prepared and they did a heck of a job.”

On Kentucky…

“I know coach Phillips is a very good coach. Their staff is very sharp. I think they have played much better at home than they have away so I knew them being home was going to be a factor. A lot of times when you do play young guys they tend to play better at home. I expected them to be well prepared and they were.”

On the onside kick…

“It was a great job by (the kicker), if that kick would have rolled just a tad bit faster he probably would have gotten it, but it was just kind of creeping along. Their kicker of course had to wait for it to go 10 and Connor Norman was heads up to go around there and snatch it and be strong enough to convince the officials that it was his. It was a huge play. There were a lot of huge plays in the game, a game that close, but Connor did a great job.”

On the passing game…

“A lot of things have to go well to throw the ball like that. You have to be able to protect, you have to be able to run good routes, you have to be able to put the ball on the money and catch and you have to have a good idea of what you’re doing. You’ve got to have a little bit of scheme involved in there. I think everything came together well, there was a sack or two that we probably could have avoided. There was a ball that probably would have been a touchdown if we caught it, there was another one that was overthrown that I think would have been another touchdown so I think there could have been even more damage done in the passing game.”

On preparation for the game…

“Kentucky had time to get their plan together and they’ve got good personnel. They do a lot of really good things. I have respect for what they have done in the past and how they played tonight. Like I said, I think they have played a lot better at home than they have away. We caught them at home and we got a good SEC victory on the road, I think there is a lot to be said for that.”

• Murray Sets Career TD Record and Completion % Mark in a Game: Junior quarterback Aaron Murray (30-for-38, 427 yards, 4 TDs) enjoyed a career night, setting the school career touchdown pass record with 75 while completing a career-high 30 passes for a career-high 427 yards. Also, he set a school record for Best Completion Percentage in a Game with at least 30 completions. He had a 78.95 mark, breaking current offensive coordinator Mike Bobo’s mark of 76.92 vs. Ga. Tech in 1997 when he was 30x39. And one more note, Murray’s 427 yards passing ranks as the sixth best in school history and most since Eric Zeier had 441 vs. Vanderbilt in 1994. Murray’s 427 yards tonight ranks as the second best in the SEC this year behind Texas A&M’s Johnny Manziel’s 453 against Arkansas.
• Murray opened the scoring with a 2-yard TD pass to senior flanker Tavarres King in the second quarter. Murray also had a 66-yard scoring strike to King and a 22-yard TD pass to sophomore flanker Chris Conley and a 10-yard TD to tight end Arthur Lynch. Seventy-five TD passes ranks in a tie for ninth in the SEC record books with Casey Clausen of Tennessee. Also of note, the Dawgs’ 97-yard scoring drive was its longest this season. It was the longest drive for the Dawgs since Georgia had a 99-yard scoring drive versus Ole Miss in 2011.

Junior Quarterback Aaron Murray

On bouncing back after a loss to South Carolina…

“It was huge for us offensively to be able to go out there, put some points on the board and have some great drives. We know we’re a very talented offense and we had one bad game two weeks ago but that’s far behind us. We understand we still have some work to do to. (We need to) continue getting better but I thought today was a great day offensively.”

On playing No. 2 Florida next week…

“We’re not worried about it. At the end of the day, it all depends on how we play next Saturday. We know we have to play an unbelievable game offensively, defensively and special teams if we want to have a chance to win that game so we just have to be ready to go.”

• King & Mitchell Lead Aerial Attack: Tavarres King had a career-high 9 catches for a game-high 188 yards and tied his career high with two TDs . This marks his fifth career 100-yard game and his second this season. He leads the team with five TD catches this season and has 17 in his career, which is fifth in school history. Sophomore split end Malcolm Mitchell finished with a career high 9 receptions for 103 yards. Tonight was the first time since the 2010 Florida game when the Dawgs had two 100-yard receivers in a game. That year, Orson Charles (108) and King (104) did it. By the way, Mitchell’s career high in yards is 126 versus Missouri earlier this season. Chris Conley’s TD catch was his first of 2012 and the third of his career.

Senior Flanker Tavarres King

On winning against Kentucky…

“It was big, it was huge. Any time you go on the road in the SEC, you know it’s going to be tough no matter who you’re playing, so it’s huge. It’s a big win for us.”

On going against a 1-6 team…

“It’s the SEC. Anybody can slip up on anybody at anytime and that’s why we’re the greatest conference in the nation. We play great football. That’s a good team, they’ve just had some tough breaks and they gave us their best shot and we survived it.

On quarterback Aaron Murray setting career-high numbers…

“It was neat. I’m just happy for him progressing, getting better and doing his thing. The kid is great and I can’t say enough about him, his work ethic and the way he goes about his business. He’s just like a pro. It’s very classy. He deserves everything he gets. He deserves more than he gets.

Sophomore Split End Malcolm Mitchell

On Georgia’s passing performance…
“They gave up the inside a lot so we just tried to take advantage of it. It is fun, but we have to get the run game in. You don’t want to just keep passing the ball.”

On his playing time as a wide receiver…

“I have to thank Coach Ball. During practice they said something is wrong and they gave me advice on how to get out of my routes. I hadn’t done it in so long. I have to get back into things.”

On the amount of effort it took to win this game…

“I just think about what we need to do as a team not what it’s going to take and did we do our job? Did we do our job well? I don’t know, but we won.”

• Series History: With tonight’s 29-24 win, Georgia holds a 52-12-2 edge in the series including 25-7 in Lexington and 16-4 in Commonwealth Stadium. The Dawgs are now 14-4 under Mark Richt following an open date.
• Lead At The Half: Freshman place kicker Marshall Morgan banked a 27-yard field goal off the uprights to give the Dawgs a 16-14 edge as the half expired. He was 5-of-6 on the year at that point. Morgan connected on his first PAT of the game but missed his second.

Freshman Placekicker Marshall Morgan

On the pressure of punting in this game…

“The one before the half, I really tried to do well because I didn’t want to let my team down. And I wanted to be up at the half, so we could have a little more momentum.”

• Tackles: Senior free safety Bacarri Rambo finished with 11 tackles, senior strong safety Shawn Williams and junior linebacker Alec Ogletree had 10 tackles apiece. Also of note, junior defensive end Kwame Geathers recorded his first career sack. Geathers finished with 4 tackles.
• Starters: True freshman outside linebacker Jordan Jenkins made his second career start. Jenkins started for junior Jarvis Jones for the second time this season after also getting the start versus Florida Atlantic. Jones missed the Kentucky game with an ankle injury.

Freshman Outside Linebacker Jordan Jenkins

On the start of the game…

“Well the first half was not good for me. The first play I got my neck cut up, the second play I thought I had a stinger and the third play I got my ankle rolled. I couldn’t set the edge because I didn’t want to hurt my ankle. I kept trying to do a soft play hoping that would open the seams.”

On Kentucky’s last offensive series…

“Well I don’t know. I think we are just glad to have this game over with. It seems like God wanted us to win.”

On focusing on the future instead of today’s games mistakes…

“Well Monday we have to look at film, but it is going to be pretty easy because we know we have to focus on next week. We can’t be depressed. It just goes to show that any team can win and any team can lose.”

• Injury Report: Senior defensive end Abry Jones left the game in the first quarter with a left ankle injury and did not return.
• Game Captains: Senior nose guard John Jenkins, true freshman safety Josh Harvey-Clemons, junior offensive guard Chris Burnette and senior defensive end Abry Jones served as Georgia’s captains. Harvey-Clemons is the first true freshman to be named a captain since Rennie Curran in 2007.

Up Next: Georgia (6-1, 4-1 SEC) faces No. 2 Florida (7-0, 6-0 SEC) in Jacksonville next Saturday at 3:30 p.m. (CBS-TV).

Dawg’s 2013 Schedule Released

FOOTBALL

Home games with South Carolina, LSU, Missouri, and Kentucky highlight the 2013 University of Georgia football schedule released Thursday by the Southeastern Conference.

The Dawgs will also host home games against North Texas and Appalachian State as well as travel to Clemson, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Auburn, and Georgia Tech. Georgia will face Florida in the traditional game played at Jacksonville. Two open dates also dot the Dawg schedule.

The 2013 schedule is considered a “bridge” schedule and not based on any other previous or future scheduling formats. The SEC Athletics Directors will convene in Spring 2013 to begin formulating schedules for the 2014 season and beyond.

“As we began working on the 2013 football schedule, it became apparent that the conference would need another year of the ‘bridge’ schedule to make everything work,” said SEC Commissioner Mike Slive. “I appreciate the SEC transition team and our athletics directors, who came together to put this schedule in place. We look forward to starting with our new scheduling rotation in 2014.”

The eight-game conference schedule consists of six games played inside the division and two games against teams from the opposite division. The cross-divisional common opponents that were previously announced by the conference will not take place until 2014.

In order to maintain a balanced schedule for the 2014 season and beyond, there are three games that will have repeat hosts from the 2012 schedule. Those games are Ole Miss at Alabama, Texas A&M at Ole Miss and Georgia at Auburn.

"There were so many variables in dealing with conference games, and the three repeat venue games, while not desired, provided the only solution to the complex scheduling issues,” said Slive.

"The 2013 schedule will obviously be very challenging,” said UGA Director of Athletics Greg McGarity. “Our number one priority throughout this process was to protect our long-standing rivalry game against Auburn, and in order to keep this series intact, it necessitated a return to Auburn in 2013. We will start working on the 2014 rotating SEC schedule this Spring, and we can confirm that Auburn will be returning to Athens in 2014."

2013 Georgia Football Schedule

August 31 at Clemson

September 7 SOUTH CAROLINA

September 14 Open

September 21 NORTH TEXAS

September 28 LSU

October 5 at Tennessee

October 12 MISSOURI

October 19 at Vanderbilt

October 26 Open

November 2 Florida Jacksonville

November 9 APPALACHIAN ST.

November 16 at Auburn

November 23 KENTUCKY

November 30 at Georgia Tech

Tuesday Press Conference ~ Defense

FOOTBALL

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

Coach Mark Richt

On Jarvis Jones being able to play against Kentucky…

“We’ll see. We’re not counting him out yet. He had been running on a treadmill underwater and did extremely well. We figured when we put him on land, he’d hit the ground running literally, but he wasn’t ready to practice.

If he’s healthy enough to play, we want him to play. There’s no thought of holding him out this game so that he’s 100 percent next game. I don’t know if anybody’s 100 percent this time of the year when you’re six games in. Just about everybody has something bothering them, but if he gets the okay to go, he’ll play this weekend.”

On the play of John Jenkins throughout this season and his career…

“Considering that he’s only been here less than two years and he was a junior college kid that came in for the purpose of trying to make us more stout up front in this 3-4 scheme, I think he’s done very well. He was very productive in the last ballgame, and he’s been difficult to move out of there. He’s put some pressure on the quarterback, and not so much with sacks, but with pushing lineman up in the face and he’s been stout against the run. I think he’s done very well, and he’s been a great team guy. He’s a pleasant guy that shows up every day with a good attitude, and he’s fun to coach.”

On the play of Garrison Smith…

“He’s done well for us. He’s been very productive and pretty stout against the run. He’s had some quarterback pressures, and we think he’s an SEC-caliber defensive lineman and we like what he’s doing for us. I think he’ll just keep getting more and more playing time as he goes.”

On Josh Harvey-Clemons being named a captain for this game…

He’s on three of our special teams, and every team that he was on, each coach felt like he played exceptionally well last ballgame, so he won the honor of being special teams captain for this game. It just doesn’t happen very often that a true freshman becomes a captain, whether it’s offense, defense, or special teams, but he’s got a lot of ability. He’s a great example of a very talented guy that just needs more reps on defense for the coaches to get comfortable playing him on defense on a consistent basis. But when he does, and you add another year’s worth of muscle and conditioning and knowledge, he’s going to be a heck of a football player. But if we threw him out there right now it would be tough on him, no matter how talented he is. That’s kind of what Kentucky’s been through a little bit. They’ve thrown some guys in there faster than they probably would like to do.”

On punt returns…

“Rhett McGowan and Malcolm Mitchell have been getting the work at punt returns, but Rhett is our number one guy right now.”

On the play of senior linebacker Michael Gilliard…

“Michael’s done very well for us. When Alec Ogletree wasn’t playing (earlier this season), Michael and Amarlo Herrera did a lot of the work, and Christian Robinson, too. You’ve got some guys that have gotten a lot of opportunity. When Ogletree came back, it did take away from some of Amarlo’s time and some of Michael’s time, but when Michael has been in there, he’s played very well. We have some good experience at linebacker right now.”  

Linebacker Amarlo Herrera

On moving forward after the bye-week…

“We’re ready to move forward. The off week provided us with an opportunity to improve on a lot of things and a lot of people have been working to get better. We’re just ready to work hard.”

On having the full defense back…

“We should never have had excuses for anything, no matter who was in or who was out. We’re ready to get back to the top defensive form we were in last year.”

On the miscommunication that has occurred on defense this year…

“Sometimes it’s something as simple as mixing up who is supposed to be covering the running back and sometimes it’s more complicated than that because we have a lot of things going on. If one person doesn’t understand what they really have to do then it could mess up anything. I’ve had one of those mistakes against Tennessee allowing the running back to score out of the backfield.”

Linebacker Christian Robinson

On the miscommunication that has occurred on defense this year…

“I think a lot of the reason is that we might have a certain coverage in and we aren’t communicating with each other about who needs to be where. I think we have guys in the same position that aren’t executing until the whistle. This bye-week has been huge in allowing us to talk things out and fix these problems. A lot of the reason is that we’re putting new stuff in every week. Because we’ve been in this defense so long we’ve been able to mix things up and add in things but that can cause confusion sometimes.”

On moving forward after the bye-week…

“I think we should perform a lot better moving forward than we have up to this point. I think we could have been doing that a long time ago, but when we sat down as a defense Coach Grantham pointed out on film that if we just need to do our job. That’s where we’ve been messing up, guys have been trying to do too much or they haven’t been doing the right thing at the right time and that’s where we’ve lost games.”

On executing assignments on defense…

“I think we all know what we have to do and how to do it, I think the problem comes in actually going out there and doing it. That’s what we haven’t done and if we can fix that then we will win and we will win big.”

Wednesday Practice Report

FOOTBALL

The 13th-ranked Dawgs conducted a 90-minute workout Wednesday as they are close to wrapping up preparations for this week’s game.

Coach Mark Richt said practice went well on a beautiful day in Athens.

“We had very few missed assignments with the number one unit, a few with the number twos, and we’ll do it again tomorrow,” said Richt. “We’re working on getting ready to play fast.”

All-America linebacker Jarvis Jones, who ranks among the SEC leaders in sacks with 5.5 this season, was held out of action Wednesday due to an ankle injury. Jones’ backup is 6-3, 257-pound freshman Jordan Jenkins. He started against Florida Atlantic earlier this season when Jones was sidelined with a groin injury. Richt was asked about Jenkins, who has played in all six games this year with 15 tackles and three sacks.

“I like him; he’s very disciplined in what he does,” Richt said. “You teach him something, and he does it. He’s got good practice habits and a lot of physical attributes for a guy at that position. He has good rush skills.”

Richt added that he is pleased with the freshmen class, and that the talent base is great.

“The learning curve for them is normal, and it helps when you get reps like Jordan and the tailbacks Todd Gurley, Keith Marshall and John Theus,” said Richt. “They have had the opportunity to learn, and they are better for it, but also they feel like I better learn it because I’m playing and people are counting on me. Then you have a guy like Faton (Bauta), and he is getting work in practice and through film study and meetings and has to get experience that way. I still appreciate his work ethic.”

The Dawgs (5-1, 3-1 SEC) face Kentucky (1-6, 0-4 SEC) in Lexington Saturday at 7:08 p.m. (FSN). The game will serve as UK’s annual Homecoming, and the Wildcats will honor recent Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee and UK football standout Dermontti Dawson. A center for the Wildcats from 1984-87, Dawson had a 13-year career with the Pittsburgh Steelers and was a six-time All-Pro selection.

Tuesday Press Conference ~ Offense

FOOTBALL

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

Coach Mark Richt

On Aaron Murray handling the news regarding his father’s health…

“Sometimes you just have to take off and forget about football, and that was one of those times. I think the family had some news before they told him, and they knew he’d have some time to come see family after the operation. As far as the timing, it was something they could time out in the open date, being a sports family like they are.”

On the experience that the offensive line gained against South Carolina…

“Anytime you play a game and you don’t have the success that you hope for, especially when we were rolling right along with running the ball and protecting well enough to put some good numbers up offensively, it’s disappointing. Then they (the offensive line) ran into a greater challenge and didn’t have as much success, so they had to look in the mirror, and they realize they still have a ways to go and need to get better. After a rough day, most guys want to come back and prove that they’re better than what they showed in the last one.”

On the play of Kenarious Gates…

“He’s done pretty well. We think he’s our best left tackle right now, no doubt about that. I think he’s done a good job. I don’t know (if he’ll stay at left tackle next year), so I wouldn’t say that he has nailed it down for the rest of his career.”

On the play of Malcolm Mitchell this season…

“Malcolm is playing more offense obviously, and getting more opportunities. He’s still getting more reps defensively. Today the majority of his practice will be defense, although he will get some offensive snaps today. Certain things are being installed, and we want to keep him up to speed offensively in case we have some issues with injuries because we don’t want to throw a brand new freshman in there. He’s very good on the kickoff return, although we think Todd Gurley is pretty good, too. Gurley can do it, as well, but Malcolm will start the game there.”

Quarterback Aaron Murray

On Kentucky’s young team…

“Their young players are talented and capable of making plays, but experience is big in SEC games. The more experience you have, the more comfortable you feel out there. We just need to be ready for whoever they put out there. We know they’ll be ready defensively, so we need to make sure we’re hitting on all cylinders.”

On the bye week…

“Obviously it’s great to have the bye week to get your body feeling better, but I kind of wish we had a game this past week just to get the bad taste out of our mouth from the South Carolina loss. We tried not to be sitting around thinking about it for two weeks – we put that game behind us and we know this is an extremely important stretch for us if we want to reach our goals. We need to win our next six games.”

Wide Receiver Marlon Brown

On Kentucky’s young defense…

“I feel like from playing in this league for a few years our team knows what to expect in these games and has the experience. It’s tough for a freshman at any position to step in there, but Kentucky’s players are doing it so we’ll see on Saturday.”

On Michael Bennett’s absence…

“We didn’t get a good chance to see how much we miss him vs. South Carolina because it wasn’t a big passing day for us overall. I think we’ll be fine as receivers – we’ve got guys with a lot of experience. Me, Malcolm Mitchell, Tavarres King, Rantavious Wooten, we’ve all got experience.”

On playing on the road again…

“Playing on the road in the SEC is always tough. We’ll need to keep focused and we’ll be alright.”