Tanner extremely confident in Shockley

ATHENS – Russ Tanner spoke with Dean Legge for a short time after one of Georgia's fall practices.

Dean Legge: Can you talk about what’s different for you and the line compared to 2003?

Russ Tanner: It doesn’t really compare. That year we didn’t know what we were getting into. We didn’t really know what it was going to be like on game day as a starter, or what was going to happen. We’ve all been through the fire together, and we know what we are getting into. We know what to expect out of one another, and that will give you a lot of confidence.

There’s a lot of things that have changed in the last three seasons, one of them is the new scoreboard at the stadium. What do you think about all of that?

It’s great for the fans to have our facilities getting to be as good or better than everywhere else in the country. It makes game day that much more fun and enjoyable. I am all for it.

What would you think of painting the field red at Georgia?

That would be different – maybe we should look into that. Maybe we should talk to our field crew and see if that is something they can do on a trail basis.

What are you looking forward to the most about playing on Saturday?

Just getting out there, and getting out there in front of our fans – the locker room before the game, and hopefully the locker room after the game.

How confidant are y’all with D.J.?

We are extremely confidant with him. He’s done nothing more than show that he’s ready to play all during camp, and we know what he can do. We’ve known what he can do for four years. Now he has a chance to show it.

Has that been the number one question of the fall?

It has been in my direction. “How’s Shock going to respond?” But we are confidant in him; that’s not a question with us.