FOOTBALL
Coach Mark Richt
On Georgia’s special teams…
Early in the year we were doing some things fundamentally extremely well. Then it got especially sloppy in this last ballgame. Guys were just not avoiding blocks in the right direction. If everybody avoids blocks properly, then you’ve got all your gaps taken care of. You have guys just kind of ad-libbing, then you get these creases. So that’s part of it, but also personnel. We are challenging a lot of the guys who play more scrimmage downs to get involved in more than just the opening kickoff. I think everybody can understand how crucial that that play is, so there will be other guys involved personnel-wise. We have to kick the ball in such a way that there is enough hang time to get everybody down there too.
We have some true freshmen on there. It’s the same bunch of guys that really did a fantastic job earlier in the year. A lot of it became fundamental. Are you running as hard as you should be? The main thing was are you avoiding blocks properly. The number one fundamental of that team is the number one thing we work on. For whatever reason, a few guys decided they would avoid any way they felt like. We’ll get that straight.
On Aaron Murray…
He missed a couple, but it was tighter coverage than we had experienced all year long. The margin for error is less. Give credit to Florida and their defensive backs and safeties. I thought they did a nice job. We knew going in that’s what they’d do. We didn’t think for a minute they were going to change their philosophy. We knew we’d have to make catches in tight coverage. We’ve been getting guys more open than we did in that ballgame, but when you are dealing with zone coverages and concepts, if you have good concepts you are going to get people open. When you play man coverage, no matter what the concepts are, there is usually going to be somebody sticking with them. The ball has to be placed in a shorter window.
On Hutson Mason's progression at quarterback…
I think Hutson is progressing extremely well. He treats practice like a game, and he functions very well. He does a great job.
On if the third spot in the tailback rotation is open for competition…
Yeah. It's open season. It sure is.
On offensive line backups…
I would say first guy in is still David Andrews. Right now, hopefully none of this happens, but if we lost a tackle it would probably be Kenarious Gates. If Gates goes to tackle, you got to insert somebody so you probably insert David. You put David at center or you put him at guard. I'm not sure where we would put him. He could go either spot. Of course, Ben Jones could fill in at the guard. If a guard left, David could come in at guard or center, same thing. At one time I think Gates was out and Dallas Lee was in, and if a tackle went out at that point, we probably would have put Ben Jones at tackle. With Gates back in, we think he could handle that.
Safety Shawn Williams
On returning home…
It’s been awhile since have played a game at home, but I have been focusing on just getting ready for games. I’m excited to get back and play in front of the home crowd.
On the play of the young players…
We have a lot of players who have stepped up and made plays for us this season. Mike Gilliard isn’t a young player, but is getting an opportunity to play, is playing really good football right now. Amarlo Herrara is another guy who stepped up and played well when we had some injuries to the linebacking corps.
On New Mexico State…
They are a very athletic team. They have a playmaker at every position it seems like. The quarterback has a strong arm and knows how to get the ball to his receivers. I think they have a whole bunch of guys on the team that could play in the SEC. They pass a lot and I hope to be able to get my hands on a ball or two and come up with some big plays.
Defensive End DeAngelo Tyson
On beating Florida…
It was a great win for the team and meant a lot to the senior class. We haven’t beaten Florida since we’ve been here and we didn’t want to leave without beating them. I think every senior on our team left everything out on the field Saturday night. It was a great feeling afterwards, but we have to keep pushing, keep winning games if we want to reach out goals, which is to make it to the Georgia Dome.
On playing at home…
It’s very exciting to return home and play in Sanford Stadium. It’s hard to win on the road, especially in the SEC, because of the noise in the stadium. You just have to prepare for that and be tough. It feels good coming back to 85,000 fans that are yelling at the other time instead of you. Hopefully, we will continue to do what we do and play well.
On playing New Mexico State…
We can’t take New Mexico State lightly. They are just like any other team we’ve played this season. We’re going to prepare and compete like it’s the biggest game of the season. We’re on a good streak right now and can’t slip up if we want to reach our goals.
No comments:
Post a Comment