Tuesday Press Conference - Defense

Georgia head football coach Mark Richt, along with several players, addressed the media on Tuesday ahead of Saturday’s SEC showdown with South Carolina in Athens. They offered the following comments:

Coach Mark Richt  

On Georgia’s pass defense…

“Well, it's early in the year, so stats do get skewed pretty good. Like you said, when teams are behind, they start chunking it. You could have said how great we were in run category and part of it is because people -- we got ahead of people and they were slinging it. They weren't running it. They didn't stay true to maybe what their game plan was. I just think the stats are a little skewed early on. You might use them here or there to motivate them. Last week, there's only one game, but Vanderbilt is the No. 1 rush defense in the SEC. So you might be able to trick your guys for a game and say, you know -- I say trick them, it's only one game. Now, they are pretty salty. We broke some big runs, but how many times did we get one yard, two yards, minus two? A bunch. They stoned our run a bunch of times but we broke free and got those long runs and all of a sudden your yards per carry looks pretty good but they are pretty good at stopping the run.”

On Georgia’s kickoff coverage…

“We looked around a little bit and saw what people do, and quite frankly, most everybody will line up -- if they think there's an obvious on-side or at least the good possibility of an on-side kick, most everybody lines up just the way we did. Some people line up with even their deep return man even deeper.

“But everybody, even on that, everybody has got a job they have got to do and if everybody would have blocked who they were supposed to block with any kind of proficiency, they didn't have to just stone them. We would have had no trouble getting on it. And then there's things like, when you see the approach of the kicker, towards the end -- right at the moment of truth, you get a pretty good feel where that ball is going to go. So we've got to learn to anticipate better. We've got to learn to teach our return men to read that guy a little bit better and get a jump on it, so to speak. Alignment was a little bit of an issue that we didn't align just quite the way we should have. But yeah, we looked around a good bit and we feel like it was more of an execution issue.”

Senior Outside Linebacker Jordan Jenkins

On approaching the rivalry with South Carolina differently...

“I’m just really amped up and realize that my time is running out and I need to step my level of play up.”

On using previous losses to South Carolina as motivation...

“It’s definitely motivation in the back of your mind. You always like to look back at past years and look at some of the plays that you could’ve made but you didn’t and look at the reasons for why you lost and use that to get yourself really ready for the game.”

On South Carolina’s place among UGA rivals...

“In my mind, I feel like we have the most rivals of any SEC school. I feel like every team we play in the SEC is a rival because there’s either some guy you know on that team or some coach you got recruited by. In some way or another, every SEC team is a rival.”

On defending South Carolina’s ‘wildcat’ package...

“Having Pharoh Cooper back there definitely changes the way everyone has to rush. It changes the whole game plan pretty much. The guy is a great athlete. I heard he played quarterback in high school. He does it all. You really have to focus on your keys and see what you’re supposed to see and not worry about someone else’s job. You really have to focus in before the snap.”

Senior Inside Linebacker Jake Ganus

On how he feels going into the game against the Gamecocks...

“I feel good. I think we need to have a good week of practice. Obviously, they’re a really good football team and it’s big rivalry. Whenever it’s a rivalry game you have to put a little more emphasis into everything, so I’m excited.”

On being a newcomer to the series against South Carolina…

“I think it goes back to being a rivalry game. In rivalries at any level some teams get on runs, win a couple more than the other team. At the end of the day, in a rivalry game it’s whatever team plays the best. You see so many times in rivalry games where it’s a highly-ranked team upset by their rivals because that’s just how it is. We’ve got to really be focused and get prepared because it’s going to be a tough game.”

On scouting South Carolina...

“They’ve got some really good running backs. Good offensive line. They’ve got multiple quarterbacks that can play really well and some really good wide receivers outside. They’re a well-rounded offense. Defensively, we’ve got to be really sound, really sharp, and be really focused this week.”

On challenges when facing South Carolina’s offense...

“They do a lot of little things. I think Pharoh Cooper is a heck of a receiver and athlete. I think he can play anything. He’s a guy you’ve got to always be aware of because he can make plays. Like I said, they’ve also got really good running backs so there are a lot of things that we’ve got to just focus in on and it goes back to having a good week of practice.”

Junior Free Safety Quincy Mauger

On dropped interceptions against Vanderbilt...

“It was just one of those things where we’ve got to look the ball from our eyes to the tuck, and I think we just lost focus of the ball.”

On improvement in year two under defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt...

“Ball disruption, turnover ratios, those are very important. Especially in the game, or in a big game, a game changer can kind of dictate the outcome of the game.”

On facing the Gamecocks’ ‘wildcat’ formation...

“Every player has different keys. You just have to know how to play your role, read run-pass, not attack the blockers. Just attack the ball.”

On the overall defensive play through two games...

“We’re getting better. It’s an improvement every day. I can’t say we’re perfect, nobody’s perfect. I think we strive so much for perfection from our technique to ball skills. We were lacking a couple of things so we’re going to lock in and focus this week on perfecting those things day by day.”