Tuesday press conference + notes

The G-Day game is on CSS right now. I haven't been able to watch the replays of any of this since covering the game back in the spring. Holy cow, Ramarcus Brown and Asher Allen were moving on those interception returns for TDs that day. Those guys will be fun to watch.

Coach Richt had his game week Tuesday press luncheon/conference today, which basically means two things:
1) Lots and lots of quotes
2) Since the conference is really for the people who don't necessarily cover the team every day, very few of those numerous quotes concern anything new.

But there was still some interesting stuff. I might use some of it later, but I'll go ahead and put some here. Here's some of it, and I'll put some practice stuff at the end:
"This is my favorite press conference of the year," Richt said, "because we’re undefeated and we haven’t done very many dumb things yet."

He talked some about Western Kentucky, which I'll get to a little more later in the week. Basically he said you'll see a lot of running from the Hilltoppers, that they're pretty experienced on offense, particularly at quarterback, where Justin Haddix has started all 36 games in coach David Elson's WKU career:
"He is the guy that makes it go," Richt said. "He’s a very tough kid, he runs well, he makes plays on the move. He reminds us a little bit of (D.J.) Shockley in that he will create on you when things break down and make plays for you."
Richt also talked about how Dennis Mitchell should be a I-AA all-America candidate at cornerback and kick returner and that kicker Chris James (from Fayetteville Ga.'s Starrs' Mill High) is very, very good.

Of course, the people who aren't there every day aren't quite as tired of the quarterback subject, so there was a lot of discussion of that. I've kind of gotten into this before, but here's what Richt said about what Tereshinski brings to the offense and what they need him to do:

"I always have an expression for the quarterbacks: Don’t turn a bad play into a catastrophe. I’d say if you do things we ask you, you will probably throw to the right guy about 90 percent of the time. I don’t think any system is perfect where you can always be guided to the right man. If you read your keys and do what we ask you to do, you’re gonna go to the right guy most of the time. If you progress properly and know what your sight adjustments and your blitz pickups are, you’re gonna have a pretty darn good career if you can hit your target. But there are times when things break down. It should be protected beautifully, but a guy misses a block, it should be open but the guy runs the wrong route. We think it’s a good play, but they happen to have a good defense called at that moment and there’s nothing you can do. Now, what are you gonna do now? Are you gonna throw it up for grabs, are you gonna run around and be a hero? Are you gonna get a 15-yard sack because you’re trying to scramble around and do something phenomenal? Or are you gonna manage that situation and throw the ball out of bounds or step up in the pocket and maybe get a 3-yard sack instead of a 15-yard sack because you decide you’re gonna spin out of that and do something spectacular. He’s just done a really nice job of not turning any bad situations into a catastrophe – a turnover, a big sack or those kind of things. And that’s been really good for us and for him. Basically again, I just told him to do what he’s been doing and we’re gonna be just fine."

That stuff is why I think Joe T's gonna be fine at quarterback. He's no dummy and he won't make many plays that lose games for you. If you just don't screw up, Georgia can probably out-talent most teams they play...But I will say this: Joe T was throwing the ball a lot of places in the early part of practice we watched, when he and Cox were working on pass routes with the receivers. One of those places was rarely the receivers' hands. He didn't look too good. And of course, my opinion on the subject means very little. I'm just saying what I saw.

Here's some more Richt on Joe T and last year's Florida game:
"Sooner or later they’re gonna get out there on the field and then we’ll really see what kind of students of the game they are. In the one opportunity Joe T had, in the Florida game, to have a gameplan put in front of him and have to make decisions at the line of scrimmage, he was excellent. He was outstanding in that game. I think, and I’ve said this before, some of the things we asked him to do weren’t that wise. Sometimes we’ll say, ‘If you see this look, check to this play,’ and usually we’re smart enough to get to the right one, but in that particular game, some of the things we asked him to check to – which he did exactly the way we asked him to – were not that good in hindsight. We just didn’t block certain runs as well as I thought we could against some of their looks. But as far as having a gameplan and knowing what to do in this situation and knowing what to do in that situation, in the meeting rooms and the practice field and trying to carry that out onto the field, he did an excellent job of that. I’m really confident that he’ll continue to do that."

Richt said Stafford's understanding of the offense continues to grow, as does Barnes'. He recounted something from Monday's practice:
"Yesterday I was taking a knee with Stafford predominantly, but Blake a little bit, just asking on every single play, even though he wasn’t getting a lot of reps, ‘What do you do on this? What do you do on that?’ before the ball was snapped and he was very right-on with his answers, so he’s staying fresh, as is Blake Barnes – as fresh as they can not getting as many reps as the other two are. I’ve seen just a great attitude. They still have a very good camaraderie."

He says the kickoff return team should be better than last year's, which ranked 10th in the SEC and something like 82nd in the nation, after ranking in the 100s the previous two seasons:
"I think our kickoff return team will definitely go up in the charts. I think we were 116th or something like that, so we’re working first to get into the double-digits. Once we hit 99th in the country, we’ll really feel like we’re on our way. I think we’ll be good. We’ve got good personnel on that team and coach Ball’s done a very nice job of teaching it. So far we’ve been beating the heck out of the scout team, so we don’t know what’s gonna happen. But we’re definitely hoping we’ll do a lot better."

Thomas Brown, Asher Allen and Mikey Henderson, in that order, worked with the kickoff return group today. You'll see a lot of prominent guys on that return team, so they're certainly not ignoring it.

Other Richt stuff:
* He says he's still not sure how much Cox will play or if a third QB will play, but he did say that "we’re gonna make sure Joe T gets off to a good start." Translation: expect to see a lot of Joe T.
* He said all three tailbacks will get significant carries, and all will play in the first half, but that Thomas Brown will get the most work.
* Bryan Evans, Asher Allen and Prince Miller should all get significant playing time Saturday in the cornerback rotation.

Mohamed Massaquoi, on the difference between him now, as a sophomore who better understands what to expect, and last year as a true freshman entering his first game:
"I’m a little more mature and have a better comfort level. I understand what’s going on now, but last year I was out there second-guessing myself on a lot of things, so I’m a little more comfortable."

After interviewing Massaquoi a time or two, I didn't expect him to say they were looking past WKU to South Carolina. He's not that kind of kid. He didn't surprise me:
"Each week you know you’re gonna get your opponent’s best effort. So just saying that we have no choice but to respect Western Kentucky. We can’t overlook them and go onto South Carolina because each week you have to go out there and play and prepare yourself, because everybody’s talented at this level."

Danny Verdun Wheeler's a pretty interesting guy. I hear he's got a pretty unique Georgia Bulldog custom interior in his car, but I haven't seen it. Anyway, he will likely start at strongside linebacker, but he'll play more than one position, although he doesn't know how much at any of them:
"I haven’t got an idea of it right now. I think I start off at Sam and last couple weeks, I hardly ever rep it hardly. I’m really repping hard at will, so I know I’ll get a bunch of reps at will in the game Saturday and I’ll get reps at Sam. I think Brandon (Miller) might even get some reps at inside backer. I think the rotation’s gonna keep everybody fresh and it won’t get like it was last year."

He said playing the Sam (strongside) linebacker position might be the most physically demanding, because of the responsibility of keeping up with the tight end all game, but it's not much moreso than Will (weakside) where you're more likely to knock heads with an offensive lineman:
"Physically you’re going with the tight end all game long. That can be a grind and it can really wear you down, whereas at will, you lay back a little more and see things and watch things, but also you have to watch out for the linemen. It’s about the same, really."

Tra Battle joked that the defensive backs were inspired by a scene in the movie "Little Giants" where one of the players puts glue on his hands. He said that's the reason they've been intercepting so many balls in practice. That's what he said. I'm just repeating it.

Seriously, though, here's what he cited as the reason they've done it well:
"Really it’s just a matter of concentration and a matter of holding each other accountable. We really made it a point to cause turnovers and catch the interceptions. In previous seasons, it wasn’t a matter of us not being in position to catch the interceptions, it’s that we were dropping a lot of them. What we did as a unit, the secondary, is we began to punish ourselves – running a gasser if we dropped a pick in practice, and that really has had the greatest impact, us holding each other accountable."

Coach Willie Martinez said they won't make a call on whether Asher Allen or Prince Miller is the top nickelback until gametime.
"They’ll both play. We’re just not gonna make that call until gametime, but they’ll both play that position."

"For freshmen, they’ve done about as good a job as you can do. They’ve made a lot of mistakes and we’re gonna curtail it. We’re not gonna do a whole bunch – hopefully just play hard."

The most notable stuff from practice was that Ray Gant (shoulder), Bryan Evans (knee), Des Williams (knee) and Tony Wilson (shoulder) were all out of the green jerseys and participating in practice Tuesday. NaDerris Ward (shoulder) remains in green, as do Dannell Ellerbe (shoulder), John Miller (shoulder), Brandon Wood (shoulder) and Sean Bailey (knee).

Gant said he thought he could play Saturday, but he was uncertain if he would. My guess is the coaches are leaning toward him playing little to none.

It was looking like Jason Johnson was going to be back for Saturday's game -- Richt said as much as the prepractice news conference -- but it looked like he had a setback during kickoff return practice. He was helped off the field, favoring his ankle, so I don't know where that puts him now. He stood to get fairly significant playing time Saturday with Brannan Southerland the only completely healthy fullback and both Johnson and Des Williams coming off injury.

I got some other good stuff today, but I think I'll save that for stories later this week and next.