2005 Fall Camp: Day 14 observations and opinions

ATHENS – Observations and opinions from Georgia’s 14th day of practice.

The Bulldogs practiced in another hot and humid day on Monday according to Mark Richt. “They had to suck it up, and they did,” he said.

The Bulldogs continued their work in unit drills featuring the number one offense against the number two defense. In 11-on-11 drills, the number one units both won, but the number one offense did not win the inside drills portion of the practice against the number two defense. Richt indicated that the team did a lot of scout work to get ready for the contest with Boise State.

Demiko Goodman, Nick Jones, Mario Raley, Drew Williams, Kedric Golston, Zeb McKinzey, Dannell Ellerbe and A.J. Bryant were all at practice, but were limited to non-contact jerseys during today’s practice.

It is amazing, however, that Bryant has already returned to practice after separating his shoulder on August 10. Bryant is “more probable” to play in the Boise State game now according to Richt. Bryant was supposed to miss six to eight weeks with the injury.

Josh Brock continued to sit out of practice with a concussion as did Ian Smith.

Danny Verdun Wheeler, who was slated to start at one outside linebacker spot before getting injured, is back to practice, but is at 90%.

Sean Bailey and Mario Raley were both back at practice (hamstrings). They seemed to be making real progress before being sidelined with injures earlier in camp. Both needed to get back into camp so that the receivers can get productive work. With Bryant, Bailey, Raley, and Mohammed Massaquoi (who is still out with a hamstring) out, the wide receivers were running heavy rotations to the point that Joe Tereshinski has, at times, filled in as a dummy receiver to make certain the receivers are not over worked.

Tony Milton said he was asked by the coaching staff to move to fullback, and that he was willing to do anything to help the team win. Milton was buried in the tailback depth chart behind a slew of running backs, but is now challenging Brannon Southerland for the starting spot at fullback.

The Bulldogs’ focus is turning more and more to Boise State. The work of the scout team means that the Bulldogs are already practicing against the formations of the Broncos.

“They are a lot like Arkansas’, Ole Miss’ and Clemson’s defenses when we played them,” said Richt.