Georgia Football: Tuesday Press Conference
By Danny Bishop
Oct 8, 2011; Knoxville,TN, USA; Georgia Bulldogs head coach Mark Richt during warm ups prior to the game against the Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports
Georgia head football coach Mark Richt and a delegation of players met with the media Tuesday during the Bulldogs’ weekly press luncheon. They offered the following comments:
Head Coach Mark Richt
Opening Statement…
“This is actually the sixty-third time Georgia and Clemson are playing each other. A lot of the younger Georgia fans wouldn’t realize what a rival game this is, but it certainly has a lot of rich history to it. We’re looking forward to adding to it.”
“They have really highly-skilled guys and very dynamic players that we have to find some answers for.”
On the effectiveness of younger players during preseason…
“When you start evaluating players once you get them on your campus, you can do something just as simple as one-on-one drills where you have defensive backs against receivers. You run those drills every single day. You watch them compete, you see if they can do a good job of sticking with the guy and you see if they can make a play as well as the receiver can. Those guys have those skills, and so it’s big. It builds confidence in a young player if he can get that turnover. The other thing is that in a game like this, if one or both of the offenses is having their way, the best way to stop it is to get a turnover here and there. That stops drives, and that stops possessions. Field position is big in the kicking game, but turnovers are even bigger.”
On the youth of the defense this year…
“I’m curious to see how they’re going to do, but I’m not concerned so much. I am concerned about the injuries we’ve had, and the lack of practice time that some of these guys have had. I think even a week from this game, we’re going to be in better shape from a safety standpoint, as far as health and guys that are available to play. Do we have all hands on deck right now? We don’t, but the guys that are in there have to step up and play and do well.”
On the availability of Jonathon Rumph and Corey Moore…
“I don’t think we’ll have either one of those.”
On the use of substitutions during the Clemson game…
“We’ve got to substitute. There’s no doubt. I don’t really care how many plays they get, just as long as we win, but it’s going to be interesting to see. Both offenses have the ability to go at a pretty good clip. If both teams are snapping that ball (early in the clock), there’s going to be a lot of plays run, and that’s just the way it’s going to be. The goal is just to make sure that we get them off the field and force some kicks instead of extra points and field goals.”
On other teams that have an offense similar to Clemson…
“I can’t really think of any teams off the top of my head that are quite like Clemson. Tennessee was somewhat similar in that they had these prolific receivers on the edge and a quarterback that could really get it to them, in Tyler (Bray). I think that would be the first team that would come to mind.”
On the success of quarterbacks Aaron Murray and Tajh Boyd…
“If you like quarterback play, I imagine a lot of people will really enjoy this game. You’ve got two guys that are very accomplished and have played a bunch of games. They’ve won big games, and they’ve lost some big games, too. They have complete control of their offensive systems and have complete respect for their coaching staff, their team and their fan bases. It should be interesting, and if you’re looking for a subplot, that’s a pretty good one.”
On the challenges of preparing for Clemson’s defense…
“You can gauge most of what you decide on (as an offense) based upon what they were doing towards the end of last season. There is new personnel obviously, and that’s going to be a little bit tougher for us to know what we’re going up against. Of course, they probably have a bigger problem with that. They have a better idea, scheme-wise, of what we’re going to do, but they probably have less of an idea of what our starters are going to look like. I don’t think they’re going to reinvent the wheel. I just think a great majority of what we’re seeing on film right now is what we’ll see in the game.”
On his son, Jon, beginning his college career at Clemson…
“It was a good experience for Jon. He got a chance to see what BCS football was about, and Clemson is a really fine program. As it turned out, he decided to make a change. It gave him an opportunity to be a four-year starter and a leader, and he had a great experience at Mars Hill College.”
On continuing the Georgia-Clemson series in the future…
“A lot of our scheduling has already been done for years down the road, but we’ll just have to wait and see. I think it will have to do with what we do as a league. If we go to nine conference games, it will be a lot less likely (to continue playing Clemson). If we stay at eight games, it will be a lot more likely.”
Offense on Wednesday, Defense on Thursday