Head Coach Mark Richt
Opening Statement…
“There are 22 Georgia boys that play for Auburn. Auburn
tends to recruit really hard in our state, and they get a lot of the really
fine players out of the state of Georgia. I think that’s one of the reasons why
it’s such a tremendous rivalry game. This is the 116th time that
we’re going to play Auburn, and they lead the series 54-53 with 8 ties. That’s
an awful lot of games to have that even of a series, and it’s for good reasons
because it’s a very heated rivalry. We don’t expect anything different. We know
that we’ve been recruiting against Auburn for years. We know they’ve got great
players. We know that they have outstanding coaches, and we have a lot of
respect for them. We know that the rival game certainly brings the best out of
both teams, so we’re expecting quite a challenge and quite a battle.”
“Going to Auburn, it’s a great atmosphere. It’s a great
tradition and a great rivalry for us. It’s a game that we know we’re going to
get into another 60-minute war, so we’re looking forward to that opportunity.”
On the impact of
Marlon Brown’s injury to the current receivers…
“We’re going to miss them (Marlon Brown and Michael Bennett). I’m not saying that the other guys aren’t physical, but they’re not
as physical. Marlon was a guy that liked contact. He’d get out there and block,
and he was very difficult to cover because of his physicality getting off the
jam or separating at the end of a route or whatever it might be. Michael Bennett
was very much like that as well, so we’re going to miss them. There’s no doubt
we’re going to miss them. Bennett was the leading receiver when he left, and
Marlon was tied for the leading receiver when he got injured. So it’s not a
good thing for us, but Tavarres King is an
outstanding player. He’s a veteran, and he’s a guy that we believe in and trust
to play well. Malcolm Mitchell has proved to be a playmaker without any
question, and there’s been opportunities over the last
couple years where Chris Conley has had a chance to make plays and he’s done
that. He’s come through for us most of the time, and he’ll bring a little bit
of physicality to the game, as well. Rhett McGowan has done well when he’s been
asked to do so, and the things we’ve asked him to do, he’s done well. I would
think Justin Scott-Wesley is going to get a little more opportunity. I failed
to mention (Rantavious) Wooten, but he’s a guy that
when he’s been called upon, he’s done a good job. So a guy like Wooten will
probably get more opportunities. McGowan may get more opportunities, Chris
Conley may get more opportunities, and TK (Tavarres
King) has been in the mix the whole way and Malcolm has been in the mix the
whole way. I think a year ago we weren’t really sure what a Bennett could do or
a Conley could do, but when you’re talking about the Florida game (from last
year), they really came through in that game. That was a little bit of their
coming out party, as far as making some big plays in big games, so I think
they’ve got some confidence to be able to do that.”
On whether Malcolm
Mitchell is still practicing with the defense…
“It’ll be diminished just a little bit more. When I say
diminished, it’s just that he’ll spend less field time with the defense but
there are still some things defensively that we want him to be prepared for.”
On whether it’s a
possibility that defensive players move to wide receiver…
“Not really. Branden Smith of course has given us some
offensive firepower in the past. That’s something we haven’t done much of this
year because we felt like we have some guys who are able to do those types of
plays. Wooten is a guy we didn’t have last year and we have this year, and
Malcolm Mitchell. Those two guys do the types of things that Branden Smith
could do. If we had lost those two guys and not the bigger guys, it might have
been the time to grab (Smith) and put him in there with some of those things. I
think with Wooten and Malcolm we can pretty much do those things.”
On injuries…
“Some years you’ll lose a guy a game or two, but to have
three guys be out for the rest of the year who were prominent players and
starters, that’s been tough. It’s been tough that two (Abry
Jones and Marlon Brown) have been seniors and their careers ended early for us.
The good news is the injuries they have are very correctable and they’ll get to
continue their careers playing ball. I think they’ll both play in the NFL. (Michael)
Bennett certainly was a bad injury, but we do feel like he can at least come
back and play for us another couple of years, which will be good for us and
hopefully good for him too. I wouldn’t sit here and say woe is me or anything like that. I hate it for each individual, but
I can’t say it’s been an awful year in that regard.”
On the status of Chris
Burnette and the consistency of the offensive line…
“Burnette, we’re just not sure. I
don’t think Burnette will go today. It’s not out of
the question this week for Burnette, but I don’t
think he’ll go today. As far as our consistency of our offensive line play, I
guess you could say we’ve been inconsistent, because we did start out pretty
strong in the first five games and ran blocked pretty well and definitely
protected well and scored a lot of points. We played a really good South Carolina team and they exposed some things for us as far as some pass
protection issues. We just didn’t run it quite as well. We were running the
ball better early on than I thought we could. Early on I just didn’t think we
could run the ball that well. We’re still running it pretty good now – it’s
not been awful by any means. I think we’re still effective at running the ball,
but just not getting the big numbers and the big, long home run plays. I think
they’re doing a good job overall considering where we started and where we are.
I’m very thankful for the job Coach (Will) Friend has done, and I think it will
only get better too in time. There’s not a senior in the bunch, and I think
we’re going to end up being pretty good before it’s over.”
On having two former
Georgia assistants on the current Auburn staff…
“There aren’t many secrets out there in the college football
world and the SEC world. First of all, every little bit of film that there is is given to each other freely. It’s just how we exchange
film. It’s not like you can’t get film on anybody and study what they do. Are we different offensively today than we were
back when (Brian) VanGorder was here? Yeah, we’re
very different. Maybe not as different as when Coach (Willie) Martinez was
here, but for the most part it’s changed a good bit, just as far as little
things and the fact that Mike (Bobo) is calling the game and not me. There’s a
difference there too. I think everybody gets enough information to put a good
plan together and play good defense.”
On whether Brian VanGorder and Willie Martinez have an advantage of knowing
Georgia’s tendencies and vice versa…
“You’d think you do, but Coach VanGorder
– he’s calling the defense and left Georgia in 2004, so it’s been a while.
He’s been at a few places since then. Obviously being with the Falcons he did some
things differently in the NFL than he did at Georgia. As you watch the tape of
his defense, it doesn’t say that’s exactly what he did at Georgia. It doesn’t
look that way. You just have to learn the new things that he does and likes in
certain situations. One thing I know about Brian and Willie Martinez is they are
really good at trying to force you to do things you just don’t like to do. A
lot of coaches preach that, but not many of them can figure out a way to do it.
I’ve always had a lot of respect for their ability – especially as a
tandem – to figure out what you like to do best and make you do something
that you’re a little uncomfortable doing. That’s maybe one thing I know about
them. I think most people try to do that, but they do a very good job of that.”
On Auburn’s season…
“I think the big thing is just our league itself. There is
truly a very, very fine line between winning and losing. There are a lot of
good teams in our league in my opinion that still might have a losing record in
league play. You lose some close games and sometimes you win the close games. Sometimes
you get a break here or there and you grab momentum, and it serves you well for
the rest of the year, and sometimes you don’t ever find it. Obviously I’ve been
coaching going into 12 years now, and it is a very fine line. Even the year we
went 6-7, how much of a different team did we have than some of the teams that
might have gone 10-2? Probably not a whole lot different. Not making a play here
or making a bad decision there as a coach or the other
team just making a play that day. It’s not all that mind-boggling to me because
it’s just a really tough league.”
On whether people
don’t appreciate how quickly things can turn from good to bad or bad to good…
“It’s a business where there’s a lot of people who are very
passionate about what we do. Everybody knows football to a certain degree, but
not everybody understands exactly what it takes to put a team together and to
put a game plan together and try to get players in the right frame of mind to
play every single week, and even as players to try to do it themselves. We’re
all human and there are ups and downs. There are probably more variables in the
college game than in the pro game because we are dealing with young people.
It’s kind of exciting. It is kind of a roller coaster, and sometimes you do go
up and down, and you just don’t know how close you might be to having a really
good football team if you’re just patient for one more year. I think a lot of
teams go backwards because they make changes when maybe they are on the verge
of something good happening and then if you make change and you start over
again, it’s hard for all the cumulative reps that you’ve had to all of sudden
blossom. I would imagine it’s hard to try to figure out as a decision maker if
that team is close or if they are not.”
On how he views the
ups and downs of college football as a coach…
“I just think you know it’s part of
the business. You just understand that’s the way it is and that’s why you have
to keep believing in what you do. You have to keep
grinding. You have to keep evaluating what you do, because if you need to make
change, you need to make change. If you need to recruit differently or train
differently in the offseason or try to do something different schematically, you
have to always be looking for ways to get better on a yearly basis. But I think
if you just totally abandon what you believe in and try to be something you’re
not, then you’re done.”
On what it would mean
to get back to the SEC Championship Game…
“I look at everything on a year-to-year basis. This is this
season, what is our goal, what do I think we can accomplish? What kind of a
team can we become? If we make it in 2012, then we accomplish what we set out
to do in 2012. Have we reached our full potential as a team yet? I don’t know.
I think at times we’ve seen the best of what we can do offensively and
defensively and maybe even in kicking. But have we done it all on the same day?
Not very often, and that’s still a goal for us to try to get to a point where
everybody can play their best week in and week out.”
On Georgia’s defense…
“I envisioned a defensive team that was going to get after
them like they’ve been getting after them the last two weeks. That’s for sure. Yeah,
that’s been exciting for me to see it happening during the game, but even more
so to go back and watch coaches’ tape on Sunday and just go, ‘That’s more like it.”
On the
continuity of the Georgia defense at the beginning of the season.
“We never wanted to make excuses, and we still don’t want to
make any excuses for what happened in the past, but if you have everybody from
the very foundation of the spring and the offseason and the fall and the
communication, obviously the more they play together, the better they are going
to play and the better they’ll communicate and the fewer mistakes they’ll make.
It has been a little bit of a juggling act, and we certainly know that either
through injury or suspension, or sometimes something happens to a kid personally
and they can’t be there, things happen. We know we have to deal with it. It’s
part of coaching. We can’t expect a perfect ride and a perfect season where
nothing ever goes wrong. It’s been our job to try to overcome it the best we
can. I’m just glad that now it looks like everybody is really gaining
confidence and everybody is playing with a lot of intensity. There are guys
flying to the ball. We’re getting more turnovers because of it in my opinion.
We’re just having more fun.”
On Justin Scott-Wesley…
“Justin has a great opportunity. He was of course eligible
to play this year; he wasn’t redshirted or anything, but he hasn’t had a lot of
snaps. Sometimes guys will say I’m not playing this year so I’m just going to
go over here and feel sorry for myself and wait until the spring. Justin has
not done that. He’s come to work every day to improve. We watch film as coaches
and his effort hasn’t gone unnoticed. I don’t know what’s going to happen. I
think he’s going to play more than he’s played, and if you are in the game you
could get a ball. We’ll call a play and we don’t know who
it’s going to go to a lot of the time. It just depends on the coverage and the
protection, so he may get his hands on the ball a couple of times and maybe
something good will happen and give him some confidence too and give us more
confidence in him.”
On Missouri and Texas
A&M and the way they have fit in the SEC…
“I think they are great additions to the league. I remember
as a first time head coach, but also first time in the league, I really didn’t
know for sure what to think about what was going to happen. I remember getting
to know Georgia, but I didn’t know how we were going to compare to the rest of
the league. If I had that same talent base at Georgia in the SEC I could have
had a pretty good idea what we could have done, but I had no clue what could
happen in our league. When the first season was over (in 2001), we went 5-3 and
there were two games that we could have won. If we had won one or two of those
games we might have been in the SEC Championship Game. I’m sure both of those
teams are saying we can compete in this league and why not us? I think it helps
to live through it one time.”
On Jay Rome…
“Jay has done well. He has gotten a few balls here and
there. Our tight ends in particular I think are doing a good job. We haven’t really
spent hours planning and figuring out ways to get the ball to our tight ends,
but they are part of our progression. Sometimes they get it and sometimes they
don’t when the ball is thrown to them. I think Jay is becoming a much better
blocker as well. He’s getting pretty serious about becoming a good player. His
production has been pretty good.”
QB Aaron Murray
On the injuries at
receiver…
“It’s tough losing those guys. Michael [Bennett] was our
leading receiver in touchdowns and receptions I believe when he was injured,
and then Marlon, he was having an unbelievable year and an awesome game. It’s
tough losing both of those guys, especially because they’re so physical. Those
are guys you can play on the weak side, in the slot, in both slots on the weak
side. You can move them around, which was huge in our offense. I feel bad for
Marlon, it being his senior year. It’s not the way he wanted to go out. But I
know we have guys who can step up like Chris Conley, and Rhett McGowan and
Justin Scott-Wesley. They’ve got to be ready to go.”
On Auburn’s defense…
“They’re going to come out and be pumped. It’s a 7:00 game,
the crowd will be rowdy and we’ll be dealing with crowd noise. Those guys are
playing for respect and they’re trying to ruin our season, so I know they’ll be
excited. We’re definitely going to have to be ready to go and we know we have a
huge challenge ahead of us.”
On Auburn’s season…
“In the SEC, teams are rarely consistently successful every
single season – there are too many good teams. You are going to have up
and down seasons. I don’t believe Auburn’s record reflects the talent they have
on that team. There were only one or two games they didn’t play up to their
potential, but every other game they’ve played really well. We have to be
ready.”
WR Tavarres King
On Damian Swann’s play
this season…
“He’s upped his level of play immensely. He’s a great
corner. He’ll continue to progress and get better. He reminds me of an Asher
Allen type corner. He’s always around the ball. It always seems to fall in his
hands.”
On Justin
Scott-Wesley’s chance to step up…
“I talked to Justin yesterday and told him it was time to
step up. He’s gotta be
someone we can depend on. He’s up for the challenge. Losing a guy like Marlon
is huge to this offense and our receiving corps. Justin has come a long way
since fall camp – he knows it’s his time.”
DB Damian Swann
On his role this
season…
“I’ve improved a lot in terms of getting accustomed to the
game speed and getting in the film room every week, and I think that comes with
learning from the other guys and players that have played here before me. It
really comes with the small things and being able to pick up on certain schemes
throughout the course of the game.”
On what former players
have influenced him the most…
“Once I got here I was behind [Brandon] Boykin, and that was
one of the guys that I studied a lot. That was a guy that I learned almost
everything from, outside of what I was getting from the coaches. I think that
really helped me separate myself from some of the other guys.”
On the improvement of
the defense as the season has progressed…
“We’re having a lot of fun. We’re winning and we’re playing
the defense we know that we’re capable of playing, and that comes with taking
things more seriously. We’re getting in the film room more, and practicing
harder and really paying attention to detail. It comes with everybody doing
their job and doing everything that we’re supposed to do.”
LB Amarlo Herrera
On playing an Auburn
team that has struggled this season…
“When you have nothing to lose, you can throw everything
you’ve got at the team you’re going against to try and upset them. That’s your
main goal in that situation, to upset their season just like your season has
been upset. You always have to play hard against a team like that because
they’re going to lay it all out there.”
On the importance of
setting the tone early…
“You always have to try and set the tone early. You have to
come out and start quick, and set the tone fast so you won’t help them out in
anyway. It’s very important for us to go out and play hard right off the bat so
that we can set the tone for the rest of the game.”
On going against a
freshman quarterback…
“You always have to get in a freshman’s face and put
pressure on him so that you put him in a position to make bad decisions. I
don’t think that freshmen really understand the game the same way that the
veterans do, so we have to try to get in his face and confuse him so that we
can rattle his cage.”