The No. 2-ranked Georgia Bulldogs are prohibitive favorites in their 3:30 p.m. Saturday home kickoff against Central Michigan, but that does not mean the Chippewas will not pose a threat. That threat will start with their do-everything quarterback Dan LeFevour. Last year, LeFevour became only the second Football Subdivision/Division I-A quarterback to pass for 3,000 and run for 1,000 yards, joining Vince Young, as Central Michigan won their second consecutive Mid-American Conference championship. “His stats speak for themselves,” said Georgia linebacker Darryl Gamble. “He’s a complete quarterback.”
The 6-3, 226-pound junior is as experienced as he is successful, having already started 27 collegiate games. To stop LeFevour, the Bulldogs will try to keep him off balance by mixing up their defense moreso than they did a week ago against Georgia Southern. “You’ve got to be diverse in what you give him,” said Georgia head coach Mark Richt. “We must do the best we can to disguise our intentions and give him much more than one or two things to look at.”
“We’re going to be playing some new stuff,” Gamble said. “It’s going to be a different game plan.”
The Bulldogs will do that with a defensive formation that will mostly include two linebackers in Rennie Curran and Dannell Ellerbe as an extra defensive back will be needed to combat the Chippewas’ four-wide receiver sets. Gamble, who started and registered six tackles at SAM linebacker against the Eagles last week, will backup Ellerbe in the middle this week.
Complicating matters, however, is that this will be the first game Georgia will play without injured defensive tackle Jeff Owens. “He was a leader to the D-line and the defense as a whole,” said Bulldog defensive tackle Geno Atkins.
Starting in Owens’s place will be the slightly lighter, but quick, Corvey Irvin. Irvin’s insertion into the starting lineup might be a plus this week as the Bulldogs will want to get penetration from the linemen in order to disrupt LeFevour and the Central Michigan offense. LeFevour is not just a one-man show, however, as he is surrounded by two receivers who both had over 1,000 yards in receiving last year, as well as two running backs that combined for nearly 1,150 yards on the ground
Offensively, the task the Bulldogs are facing is a lot easier as the Chippewas gave up an average of 27 points per game last year and gave up over 40 in six games. Central Michigan does have defensive end Frank Zombo, who was third in the MAC last year with 7.5 sacks and had 2.5 in the Chippewas 31-12 season-opening win over Eastern Illinois. Also, in the secondary, Warthen, Ga., native and Washington County High School product Josh Gordy starts at cornerback. He led the team with four interceptions a year ago. With the Chippewas’ struggles on defense last season, Georgia could put up huge numbers rushing or passing. Tailbacks Knowshon Moreno, Richard Samuel and Caleb King all ran hard in Georgia’s victory over Georgia Southern. Also, junior wide receiver Kris Durham had the game of his career against the Eagles and could emerge as a go-to guy when quarterback Matthew Stafford dials up the deep ball. “With the running backs we have, [opposing teams] will try to box in the defense and that leaves the receivers a great chance to get downfield and make big plays,” Durham said.
Still, Richt says his offense will not go out of their way in trying to exploit Central Michigan’s potential weaknesses. “We try to do it within the framework of our system,” Richt said. “The main thing is trying to execute well.”
An area where Georgia’s execution will be critical is on special teams, specifically when they will have to kick to Chippewa returner Antonio Brown. Brown, one of his team’s two 1,000-yard receivers from last year, also averaged over 10 yards per punt return and over 26 on kickoffs. “If you’re punting you try to punt it away from him,” Richt said. “Kickoffs, […] you want to kick it high enough to where you can cover.”
This game breaks down similarly to Georgia’s Sugar Bowl matchup with Hawaii last season, except Central Michigan has more talent surrounding their superstar quarterback than the Warriors did. Richt even compares the Chippewa offense to last year’s Troy unit that put up 34 points against the Bulldogs. Yet, even if their offense is able to find some success moving the ball against Georgia, Central Michigan’s defense likely will not play well enough to put the outcome of the game in doubt in the second half.
Butler can be reached at jbutler@scoreatl.com.
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