Head Coach Mark Richt
Opening statement…
“We are going to Baton Rouge and one of the most storied
stadiums in the country, a place I can truthfully say is the loudest place I’ve
every been. My strongest memory of being there in 2003 was when we were down
10-3 late in the game and threw a screen pass that went 90-something yards and
tied up the score with a couple minutes to go. I was expecting hush from the crowd. Usually when the opposing team does well
the crowd quiets down. All I began
to hear was a chant L-S-U, L-S-U. It got louder and louder and louder. It was the loudest I’ve ever heard a
stadium. The only other time it
got about that loud was when we were playing Tennessee in ’01 and they threw
that screen pass for 90-something yards and that place started shaking. Those are the two loudest memories I
can remember in opponent’s stadiums.
LSU is the defending national champs. They have won more games than anybody
else in our league the last five years.
They have won two national championships and three SEC championships
recently. Coach (Les) Miles is
winning at a rate that is unprecedented in the league. They are big, strong, fast and
talented. They are really, really
good. Offensively, I think
(Brandon) LaFell is number one in the league when it
comes to catches per game. They
also have Richard Dickson and Demetrius Byrd who get involved. Trindon
Holliday gets involved in everything.
Their offensive line is veteran.
They are big and very physical.
They have a couple of tackles who are athletic
as you could hope for. They have a
guard who is 6-7, 375 pounds.
Their runners are tough.
Charles Scott is a very physical, pounding-type back where Keiland Williams is a little bit more shifty. They have a gigantic fullback who is
athletic. They have everything
that you could expect on offense with (Jarrett) Lee and (Andrew) Hatch at
quarterback.
“On defense, Tyson Jackson was last week’s player of the
week. He is a guy who is so hard
to block. It looks like Ricky
Jean-Francois is back off of an injury.
When you watch his film from a year ago, you just try to figure out how
we are going to block the guy.
They really have eight to 10 interior defensive linemen who can play and
play extremely well. They have a
couple of Georgia boys at linebacker in (Perry) Riley and (Kelvin)
Sheppard. They are very good
football players. When they
recruit they look for guys who are just a little bigger than everybody else,
and they do have that. That holds
true in their secondary. They have
defensive backs who look like linebackers, quite
frankly. The have linebackers who
look like defensive ends and defensive ends who look
like defensive tackles. They just recruit that way, and that do a good job of
getting in the weight room. and they can run. The have safeties who are big and
physical and will hit you good.
The longer the season goes, I keep looking at
another set. Tennessee had two of
the finest in the country and now we are looking at two more who are just as
good if not better.
“In special teams, Colt David has only missed one kick and
it was over 50 yards. He has made
everything else. Trindon Holliday is going to return kicks and punts, and
they will let Chad Jones return some punts. Right now Holliday would be considered number two in the
United States in punt returns. He
has already returned one for a touchdown this year. Their punter is averaging 40 yards per kick. They actually have two punters.
“They are very-well coached. It’s going to be a great challenge and a very, very
difficult challenge for us.”
On how Dannell Ellerbe performed in Monday’s practice coming off
an injury…
“He didn’t look quite as agile as we hoped. We are still going to let him go today
and see how he does. I wouldn’t
say I came out of there more optimistic.
I probably came out of there a little less optimistic on his ability to
play. There are still a few more
days.”
On the importance if
winning with style points…
“Winning to me is pretty stylish. If we keep winning I’ll be happy, I promise you that. I think people equate a lot of
offensive points to a superior team.
When I first got here I would keep track of where we were nationally
ranked in offense, defense, all these categories like I did when I was at
Florida State. Then after a season
or two I check SEC stats and that’s all I check, because that is the best gauge
we have on how we are doing.”
On Georgia’s kickoff
returns and punt returns…
“I felt like we were very, very close to breaking them. We were getting some good returns. We saw Richard (Samuel) return one in
that game. We thought he could get
to that last guy and break a tackle, maybe be a little more
fresh than Ramarcus (Brown). We weren’t dissatisfied with Ramarcus. Here
is a young kid who is a freshman, and to see the amount of energy on that one
return, we thought maybe he could give us a boost. Then, quite frankly, we quit blocking as well. We didn’t feel like Richard was hitting
it where it should be hit, too, so we put Ramarcus
back in there, and Ramarcus will be the return
man. In punt returns, I know we
have experimented around pretty good, but we have settled in pretty good as
Prince (Miller) as the main guy.
Of course we have Logan Gray back when they are in a punt safe
situation. It’s a different type
of return I guess. You don’t
return many of those kicks.”
On Tripp Chandler’s
injury status…
“I would also say Tripp would be in the category with Dannell. We
didn’t come out of yesterday’s practice more encouraged. There is some soreness today, which
doesn’t necessarily end his week of practice, but we were hoping he would have
come through it a little better.”
On Geno
Atkins…
“Geno is playing great. He’s not the only one playing great on
a consistent basis, but he’s one of the guys I will watch during the game. I get excited when I see him knocking
people back and playing as hard as he plays and creating a new line of
scrimmage. Of course he’ll
probably be tested more this game than maybe other than the Alabama game. He has played very, very well.”
On DeAngelo
Tyson and Ricardo Crawford getting more playing time…
“Tyson has been playing a pretty good bit, but I would have
to say Tyson will play more and Ricardo will have to be ready. Ricardo would be the next guy to get
some work. He has come a long
way. He is getting himself an
opportunity. When guys know they
are going to get an opportunity they tend to step up and play well. I would hope if Ricardo does get that
chance he will do well.”
On whether A.J. Green
leading the SEC in receiving is a surprise…
“To be leading the league it probably is. I was hoping he would make an impact on
the team just watching his high school film and hearing the veterans talk about
him in the summer. He has done great.
He has a ways to go but he has done well. He is still thinking—coming to that line and making
sure he has the right split. He is
getting more and more comfortable.”
Senior fullback, #36
Brannan Southerland
On head coach Mark Richt having such a successful record in opponent’s
stadiums…
“The last couple of weeks we’ve made some changes in what we
do here in the home games in not going back to the Butts-Mehre
but going straight to the stadium. I think that’s going to help our home focus.
The thing is though, when we go on the road you get on the plane, go to the
hotel, you’re away from everybody and basically you’re right there. You go
straight to the stadium for the game, you get dressed and then the game goes. I
just think the sequence of events is why it’s like that, and I think that’s why
we changed up how we do things for home games – to try to mimic the way
we things on away games.”
On blocking against LSU’s defensive front…
“It’s definitely going to be a big key. We are going to need
our offensive line to handle their defensive line. We’re going to need some
time for (Matthew) Stafford to throw, and we’re going to need some running
lanes for Knowshon (Moreno) and Caleb (King) to run.
They are very fast, big, athletic and experienced, so it’s going to be a good
match up. Our offensive line is going to need to play very well come Saturday.”
Senior split end, #1
Mohamed Massaquoi
On playing on the road
at LSU…
“It’s one of the toughest places to play in the country.
Their fans come every week with a lot of noise and a lot of passion to pull for
the Tigers.”
Junior quarterback,
#7 Matthew Stafford
On if the team is
close to playing a solid all-around game…
“I think we are. I think we are working hard towards it.
Nobody is ever going to play a perfect game, but you at least try to get a game
were all three phases of the game are clicking well and see what happens. We’re
young in some spots, but guys are playing better and better each week, which is
good to see. We’ll just see what happens.”
On whether or not the
team left anything on the field the last two weeks…
“Obviously, we could have put up more points the last couple
of weeks if we would have executed a couple of times and didn’t turn the ball
over. But a win is a win, especially in the SEC.”
On if there is any
concern with freshman place kicker Blair Walsh as an offense after the
Vanderbilt game…
“No, not a all. I think that guy is a really good kicker and
has a really bright future. More than anything, I think that he’s got a really
good head on his shoulders, especially for kicker. He misses and obviously
feels bad for missing but comes right back out the next time and hits the
second kick good. If it hit’s the post, it hit’s the post. Then the third one
he crushed down the middle. I’m not worried about him. His kickoffs were great
the whole game, and he’s been doing a really good job for us.”
Redshirt sophomore tailback, #24 Knowshon Moreno
On facing LSU’s defense…
“It’s definitely a challenge. All four guys up front are
really good athletes and players. They are really making big plays right now,
so I think that will be a challenge for us upfront. Their linebackers are
really fast, and they float to the ball really well. The safeties make big hits
and make plays also. All-around on their defense they are a really good team.”
On playing on the road
at LSU…
“It’s going to be an exciting atmosphere and a tough place
to play, but it’s a business trip for us. We’re going to go down there and play
the best we can play.”
Sophomore WLB, #35 Rennie Curran
On preparing for a
loud environment…
“It really starts during the week with your preparation and
how your practice goes and how well you communicate during the practices. Once
you get into that stadium, and if you’ve never worked on that communication,
it’s hard to turn that switch on and get it right.”
On how to limit the
LSU offense…
“Their offense is a team that likes to pound the ball and
run it at you with the tailbacks. They like to throw it up when they get into
that situation, too. We are going to have to stop the run and we are going to
have to make them one-dimensional.”
Redshirt sophomore WLB, #50 Darryl Gamble
On the atmosphere at
LSU…
“I heard it’s very loud and the fans are crazy. I think it’s
going to be a great challenge for our offense, not as bad for our defense
because the crowd quiets down when their offense is on the field, but it will
be a challenge.”
On playing in a big
game against LSU…
“I’m taking every game as a big chance in my career, I’ve
seen a lot of their teams on TV and LSU just won a national championship. It
would be big for me to play well against LSU.”
Senior DE, #55 Jeremy
Lomax
On improving at
pressuring the opposing quarterback against Vanderbilt…
“I think it was a step forward. If we aren’t getting
pressure, then things have to change. But we are getting pressure, we are happy
and that’s all you can ask for. If we can get the quarterback to throw into
coverage or throw off his back foot, we can get turnovers. Whoever wins the
turnover ratio is probably going to win the game. Turnovers are key.”
Senior SS, #47 Andrew Williams
On being able to get
on the field more this season…
“It’s really fun; I haven’t been able to play a whole lot of
safety since high school. It’s always fun to play. The more you do it the more
fun you have.”
On Georgia’s schedule…
“Looking at the schedule, we knew coming into this stretch
of games that we wanted to be in the driver’s seat. We wanted to control our
own destiny. Each win gets bigger and bigger and it’s awesome to be in that
situation.”
On the skill of the
LSU offense…
“They have some really big skill players. Their receivers
are guys that are 220-plus pounds and have legit 4.4 or 4.3 speed. Any time you
can combine speed and size, that’s a pretty good 1-2 punch.”
Junior SC, #2 Asher Allen
On what game might
have been Georgia’s best this season…
“Arizona State was a good game; our defense stopped an
offense that was very good at passing and running. Offensively, we were able to
put points up and in special teams we were able to do good things there. That’s
the most complete game we’ve had so far.”
On the impact a
low-scoring SEC game might have on voters…
“I think on paper it looks better (to score a lot of points)
but I think people understand how the SEC is. It’s so close in talent level and
competition that when a score gets up pretty high, it’s usually the offense,
defense and special teams scoring when scores are like that.”
On the competitiveness
within the conference…
“Every time you play an SEC team, you know it’s going to be
a low-scoring game and it’s going to be tough. You know you got to play four
quarters. The talent level and competition is so high. You know that going into
the game. “