I just got home from Nashville about 30 minutes ago. I was sitting in a BP parking lot in Chattanooga for Mark Richt's teleconference and typed my story in the cab of my truck while hijacking a wireless signal at a Krystal in Cartersville...all that said to explain why I won't be doing a full transcript of the teleconference today.
Enjoyed Nashville, though. I went to Cooter's Dukes of Hazzard museum and gift shop while killing time yesterday afternoon. I believe my buddy from Macon, Josh Kendall, was legitimately disappointed that I didn't follow through on my offer to buy a General Lee onesie for Baby Kendall while I was there. It's quite an establishment, though. You can get your picture made in the General Lee, Daisy Duke's jeep OR Rosco P. Coltrane's cruiser for a few bucks...If you told 5-year-old me such a place existed, I'd have been saving my pennies. Anyway...
The main news item today was that Kregg Lumpkin's knee and ankle injuries are going to keep him out for quite some time, perhaps the rest of the regular season. They're hoping Thomas Brown will be back for Florida, but if not, Richt said Jason Johnson, Shaun Chapas and Kalvin Daniels can back up Knowshon Moreno, and Brannan Southerland might even work out of some one-back sets. Otherwise, he said they came out of the Vandy game pretty healthy. Haverkamp held up and Rennie Curran got in there some. There was also a lot of talk of the team apparently jumping on the Vanderbilt "V" logo after the game and Richt's exchange with Bobby Johnson after the game. He said the meeting was not heated -- that he apologized to Johnson if that ticked him off and that Johnson said not to worry about it. I didn't see any of this stuff as I was trying to get through the crowd to the field at the end of the game, but he said their interaction was as cordial as it could have been considering the circumstances.
Here are some of the quotes I transcribed today:
On Lumpkin's injury situation:
I wouldn't count him out for the entire season all the way to the bowl, but it doesn't look like he'll be back anytime soon.
On how the injury occurred:
I don't really know for sure. He felt like on one of his runs, he got kinda stood up a bit and as he got hit, I think there was a little bit of hyperextention on the knee. He also had a high ankle sprain along with it. I think it happened on the same play.
More on Lumpkin:
Ron Courson called me and said this doesn't look good for the near future and maybe the majority of the season. I don't think it'll go as far as saying it'll end his season or not, but it doesn't look like he'll play here any time soon. He had a high ankle sprain that coulda kept him out a good bit, but his knee also was hurt. Ron was saying that it's an injury that they're gonna let it settle down and there's a chance that it'll require no surgery other than possibly a little bit of scope for some cartilage.
More on extent of injuries:
They're gonna have to wait a little bit to decide, but they're very optimistic that it will not require any major surgery, just a scope of a cartilage.
On tailback depth:
Anytime you don't have a lot of depth at any position, you've gotta really guard that guy. That's where Knowshon is right now. There's an outside shot that Thomas Brown could make it, being that it would be at the four-week mark. We're not gonna count him out. Jason Johnson definitely knows what to do and he's a very physical football player, and a senior who's been in some contests before, been in some wars before, and Chapas also knows what to do at that position.
(He said Daniels will probably come over from the scout team and work with the first- and second- team offenses in practice.)
On Knowshon Moreno's fatigue level after running 28 times Saturday:
(He's) pretty good. I'm sure he's tired. I'm sure he's a little beat up, but this day off will be a blessing for him as it will for the rest of the team.
On Thomas Brown's chances of being ready for Florida:
I'm not saying he's gonna make it, but it's possible... Florida would be the four-week mark, so there's an outside chance he could be ready for the Florida game.
On taking a win into the bye week:
It is great to have a win before we've got two weeks to prepare for the next opponent. I didn't want anybody to think about football today at all unless they wanted to watch some NFL or something like that. I don't want the coaches -- I told the coaches not to come in at all and to just Monday morning get going and start working on wrapping up on Vanderbilt and beginning their work for Florida. I'm not gonna say a coach here or there didn't go in there individually or take a computer home.
More on getting a win before the bye:
It's definitely good medicine because if you're sitting there with a loss, it just gnaws at you. A loss gnaws at you. If you have to let it get after you for two weeks instead of one before you get a chance to redeem yourself, it's tough.
On hoping to get the injured guys (Brown, Miller, Washington, Bryant) back before the Florida game:
We might have just about everybody back other than Lumpkin.
It sounds like it's going to be a semi-relaxed week. The team will practice on Tuesday and Thursday, which will allow the coaches to get out and recruit a couple days this week. I'll have a few things this week, but the volume of posting will probably be down. Will try to have a Q/A or something every day, though, so keep checking with me.
dc
Sunday, October 14, 2007
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4 comments:
David,
Would Lumpkin be eligible for a medical redshirt if he has to miss the rest of the season?
Thanks
You do a great job with your blog and print articles. You're my only source for UGA football. I was wondering if you could pose a few questions to Coach Richt in the near future.
1. Before the season started, Richt stated that Joe Cox would enter every ballgame for at least a series or two. However, Cox has only played when the game was out of hand. Why the change of heart? Will we see Cox in this manner later in the year?
2. Vince Vance was supposed to see action this year, but we haven't seen him at all. Can you update us on his progress?
3. Is there any thought to replacing Asher Allen as the primary kickoff return guy?
4. Since this is an off week, maybe you can get him to update you on some of the redshirts and how they have looked in practice. Most notably, I'd like to hear how Logan Gray and Caleb King look in practice.
5. This is a crazy one, but worth asking I think. How about bringing back Pollack for the Florida game? His energy is infectious. Let him give the pregame speech. Let him lead the team onto the field (we walk onto the field anyway). And why we're on that subject, why do we walk on to the field? Do the players want to do this, or is it the coaches that instruct the players? As a fan, it doesn't really get me too pumped up. So I'm assuming that the players don't get too fired up either.
To the first commenter, no he would not be eligible for a medical redshirt. somebody asked richt about that on the teleconference yesterday and I was surprised the questioner didn't know the answer. Lumpkin has played in five games, carried the ball in three. that's far too much football to be given consideration for a sixth year.
To the second commenter, I can answer a couple of those for you.
1. He never said Joe Cox would play in every game. I was sitting there when that topic arose and can tell you with certainty he was misquoted. He DID say he would LIKE to get Cox in every game, and hoped the circumstances would arise to play him as frequently as possible.
2. Vince Vance has appeared in every game except for South Carolina. He is backing up at both guard and tackle.
3. I'm not sure about that. Thomas Brown may be back for the Florida game, but even if he is, I don't know that he'd go right back to returning kickoffs. The No. 2 kickoff return man going into Vandy was Knowshon Moreno, and I can just about guarantee you he won't be returning kickoffs without Brown or Lumpkin healthy.
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