FOOTBALL
Head coach Mark Richt and several football players met with the media during the Dawg’s weekly press luncheon on Tuesday. They offered the following comments:
On how games that go down to the wire help a team:
Right now I feel very energized. Right now I feel very excited about where we are and where we are going. I think a lot has to do with LSU coming to town and us having a chance to play well and hopefully get a victory that could put us in great position. We’re competing for the SEC and it’s an SEC game, national TV, very highly ranked and highly regarded program. It’s the challenge that most competitors get excited about, this kind of game. Thats just kind of how I feel right now.
I think it builds confidence. I think when youre in the middle of a game and you hit that adversity everybody can look at each other and say, here we go again; lets go do it, rather than, here we go again, were in trouble. I think the first attitude is the one that we have at this moment and hopefully we continue to have it. I’ve said it ever since I’ve been at Georgia; I think we’re a good football team. I think we’re good enough to win the East and win the SEC, but the teams that win the close games are going to be the champions and so that has to be the first and foremost thing of importance is winning that football game. Thats what we are preparing for right now.
On Chad Jones and the LSU safeties:
They do match up well. They probably match up the best of any secondary that we have played so far this year. They match up in that they are talented but they are also bigger men. (Patrick) Peterson, is 6-1, 211. Thats a huge corner for a guy that can run like he can run and jump and have the ball skills. Sometimes you have a big corner like that and you put him in the boundary and expect him to be the eighth guy in the box and bring him on corner blitzes. He can do all those things but he’ll be the wide corner, their right and left. He can play out in space. Of course (Chad) Jones as weve mentioned already, his size and strength and athleticism, they match up well. When you look at (Chris) Hawkins, he’s not as big of a kid, but he has some pretty good height, and he’s 6-1. Were not going up against some small corners that wouldn’t have a chance against the jump ball situations that A.J. has been winning all along. Im sure by scheme and just by pure athleticism and size they will match up better than anybody we’ve played.
On similarities between what John Chavis is doing at LSU and what he did at Tennessee:
They are doing the same thing and for good reason. Coach Chavis has been one of the finest defensive coordinators in the SEC for years. Even last years team was second in the league, second in the country in some categories. What they do is very, very sound very difficult to deal with. When you insert the type of athletes that Tennessee and LSU have theyll have nothing but success.
On defending Brandon LaFell and Terrance Toliver:
It’s going to be tough. LaFell is one of the finest in the country. I think he’s a very high draft pick. I’m not saying Tolliver won’t be one day either but I think LaFell has proven that he has star quality and he’s a mismatch for anybody one-on-one, let alone whether they are our guys or not. When you look at Tolliver’s size, 6-5, 206, we might have one over 5-11 but most everybody is 5-11 or under. So I think just their shear size is going to be an issue for us.
On whether Georgia will use different backs besides Richard Samuel and Caleb King:
Not really. I think Richard and Caleb will be the guys. Im not saying we won’t see some of Carlton (Thomas), but right now those are the guys we are going with.
On whether Washaun Ealey would redshirt:
Its still too early to say.
On Fred Munzenmaier:
Fred has good running ability as a fullback. He’s definitely big enough to play the fullback position. He does have agility and good running skills. We saw that in his high school tape. Over the years weve had him play tailback for us in the spring, and he’s probably carried a couple in a game.
On balancing the desire to get the ball to A.J. Green relative to the turnover ratio:
You have to throw the ball. If you are going to get it to A.J. you have to throw it, thats for sure. Every time you throw it there is a risk of a pick, and every time you run in there is a risk of a fumble. You just have to play ball and keep working on the fundamentals of ball security and the fundamentals of making good decisions and good throws. The better we block, run block and pass block, the better chance we have of not having turnovers. It does all work together but we can’t say lets not throw it because we could throw a pick. We just have to play. Turnover ratios are important; what’s happened in the past I dont think is very important at all. The turnover ratio that is most crucial is what happened in this game. I’m more concerned about the turnover ratio Saturday than I am what weve had to this point, so hopefully we’ll get that thing turned around and be in a whole lot better shape.
Fullback Fred Munzenmaier:
On scoring touchdowns on each of the first three carries in his career and that streak coming to an end with multiple rushing attempts against Arizona State:
It was fun having a little streak going, but I was glad to get several carries the other night. Contributing is more important to me than getting the ball once in a while on the one-yard line, so I felt good to be able to help out more in those key situations.