Georgia returns to the practice field on Wednesday looking to get to work preparing for its Capital One Bowl opponent Michigan State after working on fundamentals over the first few bowl practices. Ordinarily, the first few bowl practices for most teams is a chance for younger players to get valuable repetitions and more acclimated to schemes.But, like in a great deal of other areas of the team this year, injuries have wreaked havoc on the Bulldogs’ younger players, meaning that many of them missed out on the extra practice time. “We have so many younger guys in slings and braces and foot boots, it’s not really been a time where we can do that,” said Georgia head coach Mark Richt. “We are practicing all hands on deck right now. Every guy we’ve got is practicing that’s healthy.”
“We talked about 18 season-ending injuries, but we’ve got a bunch of guys that are banged up enough where they couldn’t practice [last Saturday],” Richt added. “I didn’t count it up, but I know it’s way over 30 guys that normally could be practicing that aren’t.”
However, the coaching staff was able to do the usual work of college coaches this time of year. The Georgia coaches hit the recruiting trail and managed to get their first film work of Spartans in, forming opinions along the way. “The more you study their offense, the more you see the games that they threw the ball very well. They’ve made many more big plays in the passing game than the running game. The running game is just been very methodical,” Richt said. “[Javon] Ringer hasn’t had a lot of long runs this season. He’s mostly 3, 4, 5, 6-yard runs and drive-sustaining runs, grind-the-clock type stuff. Not that he’s not capable of breaking out, it’s just it’s been 31 carries a game and a lot of good solid carries.”
As for the Bulldogs effort in recruiting, Georgia hosted about a dozen prospects last weekend, with about a quarter of them not committed to the Bulldogs. The recruits got a chance to witness the team’s annual gala. “It [was] a big recruiting weekend for us,” Richt said. “Our gala is like none other. It’s a great showcase of Georgia football. It’s a great way to honor our seniors. I think when recruits and their families see how we treat our guys walking out the door, [it’s] a great thing.”
The recruits also got the rare opportunity to see Georgia practice. “This particular weekend we added the ability for them to watch a practice because of how the academic calendar went,” Richt said. “I think those guys really enjoyed watching practice, seeing the guys at their position, watching the guys that would coach them coach, just seeing what kind of energy we have around here. I think [Saturday’s] practice was a very good example of what they can expect.”
“You probably can’t draw up a better weekend other than a ball game,” Richt continued. “But most of those kids have been to a ball game.”
At the gala Knowshon Moreno won offensive MVP, while linebacker Rennie Curran took home defensive MVP and Matthew Stafford won the overall team MVP. Andrew Williams won special teams MVP and Mohamed Massaquoi was voted overall team captain. Also, A.J. Green was named SEC Freshman of the Year by the league’s coaches. Moreno fell short of the Doak Walker Award, however, as that honor went to Iowa’s Shonn Greene. Georgia will meet Michigan State in the Capital One Bowl on Jan. 1 at 1 p.m. in Orlando, Fla.
Butler can be reached at jbutler@scoreatl.com.
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