wlayton wrote:
Just heard that Mikey Henderson and Sean Bailey are the starting wide receivers right now with MoMass at THIRD string. K Harris is ahead of MoMass but the coaches are very pleased with the receiving corp so far. Also that Stafford is feeling very comfortable with the offense and has a good handle on what they are trying to do. The bad news is there have been a lot of sacks given up by the OL.
Just a followup on your thread wlayton.
Playing to a draw
Neither side claims victory in team's first scrimmage
BY DAVID CHING
Staff Writer
ATHENS, Ga. - The outcome of Georgia's first full scrimmage of the spring depends on who you ask.
Neither side was willing to claim victory on Saturday.
The offense scored on a pair of touchdown passes and both Kregg Lumpkin and Knowshon Moreno broke a handful of impressive runs. But the defense came up with stops on three out of four goal-line series and was able to sack the quarterback more than coach Mark Richt would have liked.
It was a welcome change from Friday's practice, when Richt decried the team's lack of energy.
\"I just thought overall effort and speed and running after the ball defensively was the best it's been since spring started,\" Richt said, \"just the gang-tackle mentality I thought was really there for the first time.\"
Richt's opinion that the defense had the better day was music to the ears of junior free safety CJ Byrd, one of seven new starters on a rebuilding defense. Richt singled out Byrd for having one of the biggest hits of the day.
\"I think it's good that he says that. I think we're starting to mesh together now,\" Byrd said. \"This spring I can feel us getting together and being a defense as one and not a whole bunch of individuals.\"
Defensive coordinator Willie Martinez saw things differently than the head coach Saturday. The Bulldogs' defense is largely unproven, with so many starting spots to fill between now and the Sept. 1 opener against Oklahoma State -- including six of the front seven.
Martinez saw a group playing sloppily, with youngsters still struggling to learn the proper assignments.
\"We've got a long way to go. I wish we would've played with a lot more energy,\" Martinez said. \"From my standpoint, we've got to get a lot better. We're young, we're inexperienced, and it shows.\"
Quarterback Matthew Stafford connected with Mikey Henderson for a touchdown pass, backup Joe Cox hit Kenneth Harris for another score and Michael Moore made several impressive catches. But a rebuilding offensive line -- dealing with temporary depth problems caused by minor knee injuries to tackles Vince Vance and Josh Davis -- struggled to consistently protect the quarterback or open holes for the tailbacks.
\"It went OK,\" Stafford said. \"I know we'll be a lot better in two weeks (at the April 7 G-Day game).\"
Richt said Lumpkin struggled to make it out of the backfield early in the scrimmage, but strung together some lengthy runs near the end. He said it was the exact opposite for Moreno, with the redshirt freshman doing his damage early before getting shut down late.
\"When they did have space, they ran well,\" Richt said.
The coaches' hesitance to lavish praise on their units is understandable, considering the numerous questions that remain unanswered on both sides of the ball. With all the new faces playing significant roles, Richt and Martinez know it's too early to gauge how an offensive line with only two starters back will fare, how well an all-new linebacking corps will play or who will emerge from a deep field of possible receivers.
\"A lot of these kids are learning for the first time, especially the freshmen that were redshirted,\" Martinez said. \"Now we're putting them into that arena where they're asked to be counted on now -- and they're making a lot of mistakes. We've just got to eliminate those.\"
