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Sunday, October 31, 2010

Richt defends use of Green, says team must play for 'honor'

Mark Richt was anticipating a question about A.J. Green only getting four catches in Saturday’s loss to Florida. So the Georgia head coach did some research before getting on his weekly teleconference.

There were 16 plays, according to Richt, in which Green was the primary receiver. There were eight more in which the star receiver was No. 2 in the progression.

“We weren’t saying that hey we’re gonna throw this ball to A.J. no matter what,” Richt said. “You still have to read the routes.”

The passing game was a heavy topic on the call, after Georgia’s 34-31 overtime loss to Florida. Freshman quarterback Aaron Murray had three interceptions, including one in overtime that basically decided the game.

On that play, Richt said one route was run deeper than designed, but that wasn’t the main problem with the play.

“The thing that was most problematic on that play was the protection, and Murray having to throw the ball sooner than he wanted to,” he said.

Still, after watching the tape, Richt believed Murray simply made a few mistakes, but was still good enough to go over the 300-yard mark.

“Overall the passing game was pretty solid,” Richt said.

The result, however, was still a loss, and the end of Georgia’s SEC East Division hopes. They enter Saturday’s game against Idaho State, an FCS team, just looking to get back to .500.

So what does Richt tell his team now?

“Right now we think about winning the rest of our games starting with Idaho State,” Richt said. “There’s honor in that. We have fans that have paid their money for their season tickets. We’ve got people that still love the Dogs and want to see them do well.

“And all these guys are not professional athletes, but they certainly have pride in what they do, and understand that they have a job to do. And they know that when they do that job they’ve gotta do the best they can. We’ll do that, and we’ve been doing that actually. Sometimes you lose a game like that and people might think an awful amount went right.”

Some other notes:

- Receiver Kris Durham is questionable for Idaho State after bruising his lung, according to Richt. That appeared to be the only major injury that emerged from the trip to Jacksonville.

- Richt said he’d think about changing the practice schedule, after nine straight games without a bye.

“We’ve actually been on pretty good shape on the injury front lately,” he said. “I’m not saying we won’t, but if we do, it won’t be a huge change.”

- The game time for the Auburn game should be announced on Monday, unless CBS elects to take the six-day window.

The events in Jacksonville would seem to lessen the chance that Georgia-Auburn will get that slot. CBS could opt for A.J. Green and the Bulldogs going against the No. 1 team in the country. But it’s a better bet it will be more intrigued by Steve Spurrier taking his South Carolina team into the Swamp with a division title on the line.

- Richt didn’t complain about Florida not being whistled for excessive celebration following Murray’s overtime interception. He pointed out that the Gators, having returned it to near the goal-line, probably thought they had won the game.

“The officials could’ve (called a penalty),” Richt said, but added: “I think it was a definitely judgment call on the officials. If I was an official I would’ve had a hard time calling it right there. I mean to me would that have been excessive considering they thought they won the game. I don’t think it was.”

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

If Mark Richt doesnt show vast improvement next year then his rear end should be canned. I cant believe that Florida almost returned the interception for a TD on overtime. Our team just quit. NEVER GIVE UP ! Our team still doesnt have a winnig and take care of buiness attitude. Florida still does.

BCSAV said...

If Arron Murray's game yesterday is a bad performance for him then he will go down as the best UGA QB ever. AJ needs to run his route properly and thats not a pick. White's pick went right threw his hands. The last INT was Murray's fault. But watch the film and how he never gives up on the play and is why Florida didn't return it for a TD. I love this kid and pound for pound is the best player we've had on offense this year.

Anonymous said...

With the relative easiness of next year's schedule CMR needs to win 10 games to keep his job imo.

D_Dot said...
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D_Dot said...
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D_Dot said...

Mark Bradley and Bill King state exactly what I think and feel about our Dawgs and the state of the program right now. As much as I like the fact that Richt is a stand up guy and good man I don't see him cutting the mustard anymore. During his tenure Alabama has gotten better than us Aubur has gotten better than us LSU has gotten better than us and Florida has remained better than us even when they weren't better than us.

Anonymous said...

I'm tired of the "Fire Richt" crap that every journalist (apparently Seth aside) is jumping on. (looking at you AJC) Coaching was NOT the reason we lost that game. Players failing to capitalize was why we lost the game. Catch your passes, collect your fumbles, and catch your interceptions, and its not even a game. Stop laying it all on one guy. PLAYERS made the mistakes, and the COACHES had them in position to win.

Anonymous said...

13-11 since the 2008 Tech game. If Georgia wants to be the east version of Arkansas then we are right on track. I'm not saying CMR needs to go but changes need to keep happening, because Georgia has far to many resources, money, and advantages to be a .500 program.

Anonymous said...

AJC is garbage. Anyone trying to validate a point using Schultz, Bradley or King as a source for commentary is sadly mistaken. There is absolutely no sophistication to their opinions.
The Senator at Get the Picture did a great analysis on the game and current state of the program.

D_Dot said...

I wonder if this is a blog about bulldog football or a Richt loyalist forum at times. Any and every comment and or opinion not pro Richt it met with the utmost opposition here.

D_Dot said...

Anonymous would you be kind enough to post a link to the blog by the Senator.

Anonymous said...

http://blutarsky.wordpress.com/

Anonymous said...

There are some valid points of contention with this coaching staff. It's just does not warrant justification letting them go..

Anonymous said...

Me thinks D Dot isn't a UGA fan. UGA has become the worst fan group on the intenet. Average mental age appears to be about 13. Good thing is most Dawg fans are better than this type.

D_Dot said...
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D_Dot said...

Anonymous you couldn't be more wrong. I am a unyielding fan of the Dawg program. I however realize that the program is bigger than one man or coaching staff in present iteration. I happen to belong to a group of fans who are no longer satisfied with the mediocrity that is the current program. You happen to belong to a group of fans that are satisfied with the mediocrity that is the current program, at the very least a group of fans that refuses to blame Richt. I will not claim to be anymore of a fan than you are. I simply say we view the matter differently.