FOOTBALL
Coach Mark Richt
Opening statement:
We have Florida this week. They are No. 1 in the nation, 17-game winning streak. No ones had a lot of success versus Florida lately. Coach (Urban) Meyer has done a great job with that program, no doubt.
On changes on the offensive line:
We really don't have a lot of choices, so I don't see a lot of change there. The guys that have been playing will continue to play. We may move them around a little bit, but Im not even sure of that. But the same guys will play that are playing the two Davises (Josh and Chris), Cordy (Glenn), (Vince) Vance, (Clint) Boling, Ben Jones and (Justin Anderson). They will all play.
On Florida's defensive line:
They are outstanding. It's probably not a one-man job to block those guys. We will do what we do against a lot of the great pass rushers and try to get some help from backs, get some help from tight ends, get some help by just sliding a protection toward a certain guy and know that if a tackle gets beat inside there will be a guard there hopefully waiting to help out. All those types of things will have to be considered. Then we just hope we dont get into too many situations where we just flat out have to throw the ball. We hope to be in downs and distances that will afford us not to get into that type of situation.
On playing in the warm weather on Saturday:
The heat and humidity can certainly become a factor in the game. We know early in the season it does become a factor, so we have to make sure we are ready to substitute, no doubt.
On the comparison of Tim Tebow to Herschel Walker:
I think they are both legends. One is still playing and the other one of course hasn't played in quite some time. There is no question that Tim Tebow has made his mark on Florida football, on Southeastern Conference football and on the entire nation. He'll be one of those guys who will be remembered as long as people care about college football. Herschel is the same way.
On Herschel Walker:
He was the man. You'd see him running guys over and diving over the top. He was just such a big, strong man to be able to do some of the things that he could do physically. I do recall him getting interviewed some where along the way and thinking that he was very, very humble and pretty country. He just looked like a Georgia boy. He was something special.
On whether there is carryover from the 2007 and 2008 games into the game on Saturday:
I don't know. I think every season has its own issues. We certainly have ours and they don't have many. Any issues they have, they've been able to solve with victories. I think we are most concerned about what its going to take to win the ballgame more than anything else.
On whether the era of big, fast tailbacks like Herschel Walker and Bo Jackson is ending:
I just think one day another guy will come along that fits that description and somebody will probably decide not to let him play linebacker in high school and let him run the ball. I think Herschel was one of a kind. Not to say Bo Jackson wasn't special, because he was. They were a little bit different in their type. I wouldn't be surprised to see another big, giant guy become the thing again. They just don't come along that often period, I don't think.
On whether Mike Bobo will coach from the field again:
I didn't even ask him, but Im assuming yes.
On whether the team made strides against Vanderbilt:
We did. We definitely got better. I thought we got better as a team in general. We ran the ball better than we've been running it offensively. We didn't have the big turnover issues. Defensively I thought we played very sound really all but one drive. I thought they played dominating football other than the first drive of the second half. I thought our special teams overall played very well that day. I think if you look and see what everyone has done against Vanderbilt this season, we performed pretty well against them when you look at what other people have done. Vanderbilt, I know their record isn't all that great right now, but they're in just about every ballgame they play.
On Joe being a first-time starter in the Georgia-Florida game:
The only thing that is really unique about it and it doesn't really affect the quarterback as much because he's only in there half the time, but it is live the whole game. When you have half-and-half as far as the fan base, you have enough people to create enough noise to cause problems. When we have the ball we know Florida is making all the noise they can, and when Florida has the ball we know Georgia fans are making as much noise as they can. What's different about it is the constant volume of the noise throughout the entire ballgame, where if you were playing at Alabama, they are going to be loud, LSU is going to be loud, but when they have the ball they are going to be quiet. There is really no quiet time, maybe on a punt or something or at the commercial breaks, but the fans will definitely get a workout.
Tightend Aron White
On making his first-career touchdown reception against Florida last year
It's definitely bittersweet to score a touchdown like that. I hadn't got a whole lot of playing time up to that point in the season, and to get put in with about two minutes left you want to go in there and play hard. At the same time, its hard to come in and have a lot of fire and fight when you already feel the game is beyond your control and you can't do a whole lot. Luckily, I got a chance to get in there. Joe (Cox) put a great ball up and I made a play. To catch that ball meant a lot to me.
Safety Bryan Evans
On playing Florida after Urban Meyer called two timeouts with one minute to go last year:
It is a big motivating factor. We have it hanging up in the locker room and every time we see his hands in that time out position it reminds us of what happened last year and hopefully that can drive us as a team. We will never forget that image and that is something that we don't want to experience again.
On the game being in Jacksonville, Evans hometown:
I do like it. I wouldn't say its a neutral site on both sides just because of the distance, but I think its a good atmosphere for the game and its big down there.
On the constant stadium noise:
It is never quiet at this game. It is a game that just has so much emotion in the crowd and on the field at the same time. It is just a different atmosphere and it is something that we can't experience at any other game but this one.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Monday, October 26, 2009
Green Semifinalists For Biletnikoff Award
FOOTBALL
Sophomore flanker A.J. Green has been named one of 10 semifinalists for the 2009 Biletnikoff Award, according to an announcement from the Tallahassee Quarterback Club Foundation.
The Biletnikoff Award is presented annually to the nation’s top collegiate receiver.
The award is named for Fred Biletnikoff, who was an All-American receiver at Florida State before becoming a member the College and Pro Football Halls of Fame.
The next vote for the top three finalists will take place Nov. 16 and close on Nov. 19. A third vote starting on Dec. 4 will determine this year’s winner.
Green, a 6-4, 207-pound native of Summerville, S.C., is leading the Southeastern Conference in total receiving yards (682), receiving yards per game (97.4) and receptions per game (5.9) through the Dawgs first seven games. Green is tied for the league lead with six receiving touchdowns. He has a pair of 100-yard receiving games this season (137-Arkansas, 153-Arizona State) and has four career games with more than 100 yards receiving.
In addition, Green blocked his first career field goal late in the fourth quarter against the Arizona State to help secure the Dawg’s win.
Green is the only player from the SEC picked as a semifinalist.
The other nine semfinalists are: Freddie Barnes (Bowling Green), Dezmon Briscoe (Kansas), Vincent Brown (San Diego State), Eric Decker (Minnesota), Marshwan Gilyard (Cincinnati), Jordan Shipley (Texas), Demaryius Thomas (Georgia Tech), Golden Tate (Notre Dame) and Mike Williams (Syracuse).
Sophomore flanker A.J. Green has been named one of 10 semifinalists for the 2009 Biletnikoff Award, according to an announcement from the Tallahassee Quarterback Club Foundation.
The Biletnikoff Award is presented annually to the nation’s top collegiate receiver.
The award is named for Fred Biletnikoff, who was an All-American receiver at Florida State before becoming a member the College and Pro Football Halls of Fame.
The next vote for the top three finalists will take place Nov. 16 and close on Nov. 19. A third vote starting on Dec. 4 will determine this year’s winner.
Green, a 6-4, 207-pound native of Summerville, S.C., is leading the Southeastern Conference in total receiving yards (682), receiving yards per game (97.4) and receptions per game (5.9) through the Dawgs first seven games. Green is tied for the league lead with six receiving touchdowns. He has a pair of 100-yard receiving games this season (137-Arkansas, 153-Arizona State) and has four career games with more than 100 yards receiving.
In addition, Green blocked his first career field goal late in the fourth quarter against the Arizona State to help secure the Dawg’s win.
Green is the only player from the SEC picked as a semifinalist.
The other nine semfinalists are: Freddie Barnes (Bowling Green), Dezmon Briscoe (Kansas), Vincent Brown (San Diego State), Eric Decker (Minnesota), Marshwan Gilyard (Cincinnati), Jordan Shipley (Texas), Demaryius Thomas (Georgia Tech), Golden Tate (Notre Dame) and Mike Williams (Syracuse).
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Dawgs Ready For Commodores
FOOTBALL
Saturday's contest is the second of three consecutive road games for the Dawgs. They fell to Tennessee in Knoxville, 45-19, on Oct. 10 to open the road swing. After this week's game against Vanderbilt, the Dawgs will have a bye on Oct. 24 before meeting top-ranked Florida in Jacksonville on Oct. 31. The Dawgs will have gone 35 days without playing a game at Sanford Stadium when they return home to face Tennessee Tech on Nov. 7.
"We need momentum," coach Mark Richt said in regards to the importance of the game against Vanderbilt prior to the bye week. "You gain momentum by executing well and by ultimately winning the ball game. It's like I said Sunday to the team – priority one. There's no priority but to focus on the preparation of this football game. The best thing that can happen to us right now is to win this game, but we got to earn it. This game is crucial. It's big."
Richt named this week's team captains. Three of the four captains will be tackles -- Geno Atkins and Kade Weston on defense and Clint Boling on offense. Redshirt freshman Sanders Commings earned the first captain's "C" of his career to represent the special teams.
The last time the Dawgs played in Nashville was in 2007, they defeated the Commodores, 20-17, with a Brandon Coutu field goal as time expired. Last year, UGA won its second-straight game over VU by a score of 24-14 in Athens. Vanderbilt's only win against UGA during the Richt era came in 2006 in Sanford Stadium by a 24-22 margin. In the all-time series between the schools, the Dawgs lead 49-18-2 overall including a 22-7-1 mark in Vanderbilt Stadium.
Junior linebacker Rennie Curran has been named one of 12 semifinalists for the Rotary Lombardi Award, according to an announcement from the award’s committee late Wednesday.
Injury Report:
Starting fullback Shaun Chapas is doubtful due to “burners,” which are injuries to one or more nerves between your neck and shoulder and are common among athletes who play contact sports like football. If Chapas is unable to play, junior Fred Munzenmaier would be in line to make his first career start and senior Justin Fields would be the backup.
Gymnastics
Courtney Kupets received the Sportswoman of the Year Award for individual sport athletes Tuesday at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City. She was honored at the Womens Sports Foundations 30th Annual Salute to Women In Sports Dinner.
As a senior in 2009, Kupets led the Dawgs to their fifth straight NCAA Championship title, and she won the all-around, bars, beam and floor individual competitions. She became the first gymnast ever to win a national title in all four events and received five First-Team All-America honors, making a total of 15 for her career, the maximum for only competing three years.
Kupets is the all-time NCAA leader with nine individual championships and was named SEC Athlete of the Year, as well as the AAI National, NCAA Southeast Regional and SEC Gymnast of the Year. Kupets became the third Gym Dawg ever to record a 10.0 in all four events, and she had seven 10.0s in 2009, including three at the NCAAs.
She was a National Honor Society member, was chosen as ESPN The Magazine First Team Academic All-American and was a recipient of NCAA and SEC postgraduate scholarships. She was also a member of the Blue Key Honor Society and a recipient of the Richard B. Russell Student Leadership Award. She won UGAs Marilyn Vincent Award as the senior female student-athlete with the highest GPA.
It was a great night and a great honor for Courtney and our program as a whole, head coach Jay Clark said. It was a who's who of female athletes and former female athletes in New York and it was great for her to be able to share the stage with them. It was a tremendous honor for her personally and we are awfully proud of her.
Saturday's contest is the second of three consecutive road games for the Dawgs. They fell to Tennessee in Knoxville, 45-19, on Oct. 10 to open the road swing. After this week's game against Vanderbilt, the Dawgs will have a bye on Oct. 24 before meeting top-ranked Florida in Jacksonville on Oct. 31. The Dawgs will have gone 35 days without playing a game at Sanford Stadium when they return home to face Tennessee Tech on Nov. 7.
"We need momentum," coach Mark Richt said in regards to the importance of the game against Vanderbilt prior to the bye week. "You gain momentum by executing well and by ultimately winning the ball game. It's like I said Sunday to the team – priority one. There's no priority but to focus on the preparation of this football game. The best thing that can happen to us right now is to win this game, but we got to earn it. This game is crucial. It's big."
Richt named this week's team captains. Three of the four captains will be tackles -- Geno Atkins and Kade Weston on defense and Clint Boling on offense. Redshirt freshman Sanders Commings earned the first captain's "C" of his career to represent the special teams.
The last time the Dawgs played in Nashville was in 2007, they defeated the Commodores, 20-17, with a Brandon Coutu field goal as time expired. Last year, UGA won its second-straight game over VU by a score of 24-14 in Athens. Vanderbilt's only win against UGA during the Richt era came in 2006 in Sanford Stadium by a 24-22 margin. In the all-time series between the schools, the Dawgs lead 49-18-2 overall including a 22-7-1 mark in Vanderbilt Stadium.
Junior linebacker Rennie Curran has been named one of 12 semifinalists for the Rotary Lombardi Award, according to an announcement from the award’s committee late Wednesday.
Injury Report:
Starting fullback Shaun Chapas is doubtful due to “burners,” which are injuries to one or more nerves between your neck and shoulder and are common among athletes who play contact sports like football. If Chapas is unable to play, junior Fred Munzenmaier would be in line to make his first career start and senior Justin Fields would be the backup.
Gymnastics
Courtney Kupets received the Sportswoman of the Year Award for individual sport athletes Tuesday at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City. She was honored at the Womens Sports Foundations 30th Annual Salute to Women In Sports Dinner.
As a senior in 2009, Kupets led the Dawgs to their fifth straight NCAA Championship title, and she won the all-around, bars, beam and floor individual competitions. She became the first gymnast ever to win a national title in all four events and received five First-Team All-America honors, making a total of 15 for her career, the maximum for only competing three years.
Kupets is the all-time NCAA leader with nine individual championships and was named SEC Athlete of the Year, as well as the AAI National, NCAA Southeast Regional and SEC Gymnast of the Year. Kupets became the third Gym Dawg ever to record a 10.0 in all four events, and she had seven 10.0s in 2009, including three at the NCAAs.
She was a National Honor Society member, was chosen as ESPN The Magazine First Team Academic All-American and was a recipient of NCAA and SEC postgraduate scholarships. She was also a member of the Blue Key Honor Society and a recipient of the Richard B. Russell Student Leadership Award. She won UGAs Marilyn Vincent Award as the senior female student-athlete with the highest GPA.
It was a great night and a great honor for Courtney and our program as a whole, head coach Jay Clark said. It was a who's who of female athletes and former female athletes in New York and it was great for her to be able to share the stage with them. It was a tremendous honor for her personally and we are awfully proud of her.
Weekly Press Conference, Part 3
FOOTBALL
Coach Mark Richt and several football players met with the media Tuesday during the Dawg's weekly press luncheon. They offered the following comments:
On his role in playcalling:
What I do, and again I think it's the way to do it right now, I will watch film separate from the staff because if you sit in there with the staff you are all kind of thinking on the same line sometimes. One guy might want to look at one thing and another guy might want to look at another thing. I have the ability to look at film without having to put all the nuts and bolts together of the run checks and the protections. I can just basically be a resource for Mike (Bobo) for ideas. If it's base or certain personnel groups or field positions or down-and-distance tendencies, if there is something I see that I like I will jot it down and hand to him and say if you like it, use it and if you don't, don't. I understand being in his position.
There are always good ideas but you have to decide how many of these ideas do we use in this game plan that we can execute properly. I don't want to get him off of the train of thought that he has too. I've had times when coach (Bobby) Bowden, especially game day, would want to insert this or that idea. It was difficult sometimes to keep my focus on where I was going. We laugh about it now and we'd laugh about it on Sunday, but there were a couple of times I went into the office and said, Coach, if you would like to take this thing back over I've got no problem or if you want this series or that series its fine with me. If we are going to have some of these suggestions, let's at least get them in between series. He would always say, I wasn't trying to mess you up, buddy. I can understand where Mike is in the heat of the game, he's in the heat of the battle. If I do make a game suggestion, I try to make it in between series.
There are many times where we are crossing the 50 and I'm saying, Mike you have four downs to get this thing or you have three downs to get this thing. He needs to know on third down if he has two plays to get this thing or one. A lot of things like that happen even to decide should we try to move the ball down the field on a two-minute drill before the half or should we just let the clock run or whatever it may be. I'm heavily involved in those types of things. I might say if its fourth and less than a yard we are going, if it's more than a yard we are punting, so I have to alert those guys too. Those are more of the decisions that Im making game day.
On the Dawg's defense:
I think when we get people in the third and long situations, the possession down, we need to nail it more often. We need to get off the field when we get them there. There are a lot of things we have to improve on all the way across the board with the entire football team. We've gotten ourselves in that position on enough occasions where if we could just finish it I think the outcome of a couple of our games would have been different too.
Safety Bryan Evans
On feelings after the loss on Saturday:
Kind of struck. We are 3-3 now, so we are 500. Last time I remember being 500, was in 06 when we went 4-0 then we lost four games straight. We had a pretty strong finish so that is just something that we have to get turned around.
Comparing the 06 season to this season:
In 06 it was worse than this. We lost 4 straight including losses to Vanderbilt and Kentucky. We just have to go out and win against Vanderbilt and try to get this win streak going.
On contributions that helped turn around the 06 season:
Just never giving up. There were a couple of days where you felt like throwing in the towel, but it's just not our nature to give up so anytime that we can go out and try to get a win and get our win streak up that's what we are going to do.
On not being a front runner in the SEC East:
It's very strange. This loss really set us back a lot. The way the SEC is played it can change at any minute, so you can never say it's not going to happen. Right now, it just feels very weird.
Linebacker Rennie Curran
On feelings after the loss in Knoxville:
Everybody is just ready to get back to work. We all realize what we need to do to get better. Getting in the film room more and doing everything that it takes. We realize as players that our time is limited being college students. At the same time, we have worked so hard this season, and in the off-season, so we can't just let that go for nothing. We just have to continue to fight hard and bounce back, and that is what everybody is doing. We are staying optimistic, not getting down and realize that there are going to be failures, but we just have to continue to fight hard.
On playing smarter and having less mental errors as a defense:
We all want to win, we are all fighting hard and playing our hearts out every single game, but at the same time we have to focus on playing smarter and that starts with our preparation. Coach Martinez could coach his heart out, but it's up to us to stay in the film room for an extra 30 minutes or whatever it may take to learn those formations and those tendencies that will help us on the field when the offense comes out and does something that you haven't seen before. That is only going to come with the time you put in as a player and being a student of the game.
Coach Mark Richt and several football players met with the media Tuesday during the Dawg's weekly press luncheon. They offered the following comments:
On his role in playcalling:
What I do, and again I think it's the way to do it right now, I will watch film separate from the staff because if you sit in there with the staff you are all kind of thinking on the same line sometimes. One guy might want to look at one thing and another guy might want to look at another thing. I have the ability to look at film without having to put all the nuts and bolts together of the run checks and the protections. I can just basically be a resource for Mike (Bobo) for ideas. If it's base or certain personnel groups or field positions or down-and-distance tendencies, if there is something I see that I like I will jot it down and hand to him and say if you like it, use it and if you don't, don't. I understand being in his position.
There are always good ideas but you have to decide how many of these ideas do we use in this game plan that we can execute properly. I don't want to get him off of the train of thought that he has too. I've had times when coach (Bobby) Bowden, especially game day, would want to insert this or that idea. It was difficult sometimes to keep my focus on where I was going. We laugh about it now and we'd laugh about it on Sunday, but there were a couple of times I went into the office and said, Coach, if you would like to take this thing back over I've got no problem or if you want this series or that series its fine with me. If we are going to have some of these suggestions, let's at least get them in between series. He would always say, I wasn't trying to mess you up, buddy. I can understand where Mike is in the heat of the game, he's in the heat of the battle. If I do make a game suggestion, I try to make it in between series.
There are many times where we are crossing the 50 and I'm saying, Mike you have four downs to get this thing or you have three downs to get this thing. He needs to know on third down if he has two plays to get this thing or one. A lot of things like that happen even to decide should we try to move the ball down the field on a two-minute drill before the half or should we just let the clock run or whatever it may be. I'm heavily involved in those types of things. I might say if its fourth and less than a yard we are going, if it's more than a yard we are punting, so I have to alert those guys too. Those are more of the decisions that Im making game day.
On the Dawg's defense:
I think when we get people in the third and long situations, the possession down, we need to nail it more often. We need to get off the field when we get them there. There are a lot of things we have to improve on all the way across the board with the entire football team. We've gotten ourselves in that position on enough occasions where if we could just finish it I think the outcome of a couple of our games would have been different too.
Safety Bryan Evans
On feelings after the loss on Saturday:
Kind of struck. We are 3-3 now, so we are 500. Last time I remember being 500, was in 06 when we went 4-0 then we lost four games straight. We had a pretty strong finish so that is just something that we have to get turned around.
Comparing the 06 season to this season:
In 06 it was worse than this. We lost 4 straight including losses to Vanderbilt and Kentucky. We just have to go out and win against Vanderbilt and try to get this win streak going.
On contributions that helped turn around the 06 season:
Just never giving up. There were a couple of days where you felt like throwing in the towel, but it's just not our nature to give up so anytime that we can go out and try to get a win and get our win streak up that's what we are going to do.
On not being a front runner in the SEC East:
It's very strange. This loss really set us back a lot. The way the SEC is played it can change at any minute, so you can never say it's not going to happen. Right now, it just feels very weird.
Linebacker Rennie Curran
On feelings after the loss in Knoxville:
Everybody is just ready to get back to work. We all realize what we need to do to get better. Getting in the film room more and doing everything that it takes. We realize as players that our time is limited being college students. At the same time, we have worked so hard this season, and in the off-season, so we can't just let that go for nothing. We just have to continue to fight hard and bounce back, and that is what everybody is doing. We are staying optimistic, not getting down and realize that there are going to be failures, but we just have to continue to fight hard.
On playing smarter and having less mental errors as a defense:
We all want to win, we are all fighting hard and playing our hearts out every single game, but at the same time we have to focus on playing smarter and that starts with our preparation. Coach Martinez could coach his heart out, but it's up to us to stay in the film room for an extra 30 minutes or whatever it may take to learn those formations and those tendencies that will help us on the field when the offense comes out and does something that you haven't seen before. That is only going to come with the time you put in as a player and being a student of the game.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Weekly Press Conference, Continued
FOOTBALL
Head coach Mark Richt and several football players met with the media Tuesday during the Dawg's weekly press luncheon. They offered the following comments:
Coach Mark Richt:
On the Dawg's running backs:
No one has really stood out. No one has really asserted himself to the point where he's our guy. Part of Caleb's issue has been messing around with injuries all the way throughout. Richard (Samuel) has been solid. I think they've all been kind of solid, nothing spectacular. No one really has made the offensive line look better than maybe they are blocking at times. We have pretty much been getting what we've been blocking for, which statistically hasn't been a whole heck of a lot.
I do see improvement. Guys don't get better until they get experience. I think there's improvement. Washaun (Ealey) has shown some sparks here and there. He's still learning what to do on all the little things. Carlton (Thomas) did a nice job this last ballgame. We may see a little bit more of him. It has been a situation where no one man has really separated himself.
On Damon Evans:
I think he said he had concerns about the season if I'm not mistaken. I have concerns about the season of course with the way we've played. As far as the program, we have a very strong program, finishing in the coaches poll No. 10 last year and No. 2 in the AP the year before and six out of seven years in the top 10, that's not bad. That's the past, I understand that. But when you start talking about a program I think you have to start looking at where we've been in the recent history here.
The other thing is the season is not over, its just not over. When some of your main goals not necessarily fall by the wayside, but become less attainable, it's tough on everybody. We are very concerned about how this season has gone, and we are battling as hard as you can possibly battle to get things moving in the right direction this year.
On Marlon Brown:
Marlon is smoothing out his game, I guess is the best way to put it. He is a very good worker, he has a very good attitude. He is a talent, he just needed to get more reps to become a smooth competitor, a smooth receiver. He has proved to be a pretty tenacious blocker. You can tell he wants it, you can tell he's getting better. He has earned a right to play more snaps for us and hopefully he'll get more opportunities to catch the ball because he has good hands.
He's big, he's strong, its just taking him just a little while to get used to college football. He came from a relatively small program. When I say that I'm not trying to demean where he came from because they've done a wonderful job, but I guess the competition level that he played against was an awful lot different from the Southeastern Conference. I think he's just learning how to play with the caliber of athletes on our team and in our league.
On drawing from the 2006 team and they way it finished the season:
It's hard to measure a team's ability to withstand pressure. I think a lot of teams fold under that kind of pressure. A lot of coaching staffs fold under that kind of pressure and we never did. We were very resilient. We were very persistent. We stayed the course. We didn't make a bunch of wholesale changes, whether it was players, coaches or anything like that. We just kept grinding, we kept banging away. You just never know how close you are to success until you live it out. I was pretty proud of that team considering what they went through and how we finished. Even that last ballgame I think we were down 15 or 18 at the half to the No. 1 defense in America. It didn't look like we had much of a chance, but we found a way and there is a lot to be said about that. I might be as proud of that team as I was any team at Georgia considering what everybody went through.
Quarterback Joe Cox:
On Vanderbilt:
They're a good team. You hear about them struggling and think they are having a down year, but they're not. You watch them on film, especially on defense, and they are a real hungry team that's really played well against everybody. They played LSU well, they played Ole Miss well, and they lost a couple of close games that could have gone the other way. They are a well-coached team, and they are every year. They're always disciplined and have really smart players. This year they're hungry. I know they are going to want to get a win versus us more than anything, and we need a win versus them. It's going to come down to who executes the game better and who really wants it more.
On the importance of big plays:
It's huge to have anybody make big plays. Big plays build momentum, and we didn't have any this past game. It's definitely something that we need in this weekend's game against Vanderbilt. Big plays turn the momentum for both sides of the ball, especially big plays in the running game. If you run the ball well, a play-action pass works out a lot better. It just helps out everything about your offense, so we know what needs to be done and we know we need to put a lot more big plays up this weekend.
On the running game:
That's probably been the most frustrating thing is that we know it's there but it hasn't been working. It's something that we got to just keep chipping away at. We know we have good backs, we know we have a good line and we just got to get it going so we know we can do it.
Head coach Mark Richt and several football players met with the media Tuesday during the Dawg's weekly press luncheon. They offered the following comments:
Coach Mark Richt:
On the Dawg's running backs:
No one has really stood out. No one has really asserted himself to the point where he's our guy. Part of Caleb's issue has been messing around with injuries all the way throughout. Richard (Samuel) has been solid. I think they've all been kind of solid, nothing spectacular. No one really has made the offensive line look better than maybe they are blocking at times. We have pretty much been getting what we've been blocking for, which statistically hasn't been a whole heck of a lot.
I do see improvement. Guys don't get better until they get experience. I think there's improvement. Washaun (Ealey) has shown some sparks here and there. He's still learning what to do on all the little things. Carlton (Thomas) did a nice job this last ballgame. We may see a little bit more of him. It has been a situation where no one man has really separated himself.
On Damon Evans:
I think he said he had concerns about the season if I'm not mistaken. I have concerns about the season of course with the way we've played. As far as the program, we have a very strong program, finishing in the coaches poll No. 10 last year and No. 2 in the AP the year before and six out of seven years in the top 10, that's not bad. That's the past, I understand that. But when you start talking about a program I think you have to start looking at where we've been in the recent history here.
The other thing is the season is not over, its just not over. When some of your main goals not necessarily fall by the wayside, but become less attainable, it's tough on everybody. We are very concerned about how this season has gone, and we are battling as hard as you can possibly battle to get things moving in the right direction this year.
On Marlon Brown:
Marlon is smoothing out his game, I guess is the best way to put it. He is a very good worker, he has a very good attitude. He is a talent, he just needed to get more reps to become a smooth competitor, a smooth receiver. He has proved to be a pretty tenacious blocker. You can tell he wants it, you can tell he's getting better. He has earned a right to play more snaps for us and hopefully he'll get more opportunities to catch the ball because he has good hands.
He's big, he's strong, its just taking him just a little while to get used to college football. He came from a relatively small program. When I say that I'm not trying to demean where he came from because they've done a wonderful job, but I guess the competition level that he played against was an awful lot different from the Southeastern Conference. I think he's just learning how to play with the caliber of athletes on our team and in our league.
On drawing from the 2006 team and they way it finished the season:
It's hard to measure a team's ability to withstand pressure. I think a lot of teams fold under that kind of pressure. A lot of coaching staffs fold under that kind of pressure and we never did. We were very resilient. We were very persistent. We stayed the course. We didn't make a bunch of wholesale changes, whether it was players, coaches or anything like that. We just kept grinding, we kept banging away. You just never know how close you are to success until you live it out. I was pretty proud of that team considering what they went through and how we finished. Even that last ballgame I think we were down 15 or 18 at the half to the No. 1 defense in America. It didn't look like we had much of a chance, but we found a way and there is a lot to be said about that. I might be as proud of that team as I was any team at Georgia considering what everybody went through.
Quarterback Joe Cox:
On Vanderbilt:
They're a good team. You hear about them struggling and think they are having a down year, but they're not. You watch them on film, especially on defense, and they are a real hungry team that's really played well against everybody. They played LSU well, they played Ole Miss well, and they lost a couple of close games that could have gone the other way. They are a well-coached team, and they are every year. They're always disciplined and have really smart players. This year they're hungry. I know they are going to want to get a win versus us more than anything, and we need a win versus them. It's going to come down to who executes the game better and who really wants it more.
On the importance of big plays:
It's huge to have anybody make big plays. Big plays build momentum, and we didn't have any this past game. It's definitely something that we need in this weekend's game against Vanderbilt. Big plays turn the momentum for both sides of the ball, especially big plays in the running game. If you run the ball well, a play-action pass works out a lot better. It just helps out everything about your offense, so we know what needs to be done and we know we need to put a lot more big plays up this weekend.
On the running game:
That's probably been the most frustrating thing is that we know it's there but it hasn't been working. It's something that we got to just keep chipping away at. We know we have good backs, we know we have a good line and we just got to get it going so we know we can do it.
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