What’s the biggest concern on Mark Richt’s to-do list?
Mark Richt has some work ahead of him if he wants to have another celebration like this in 2012. (Associated Press)
Outside the Bulldog Nation, Mark Richt’s 2012 team is being viewed as a preseason Top 10 lock, thanks to returning talent (including virtually the entire defense) and a favorable schedule. But all that enthusiasm is being tempered among many Dogs fans by concerns about some of the things on Richt’s offseason to-do list.
The head coach himself has listed improvement on special teams as a top priority for the offseason, saying “there’s no doubt that we’ve got to be a whole lot better on special teams top to bottom.”
In the absence of naming a special teams coordinator (which many of us still would like to see), that’s likely to come down to a commitment to play more starters on the punt and kick teams and an overall greater emphasis on preparation in that area of the game. Of course, the Dogs also will be breaking in a new placekicker and a new punter, so those remain question marks, too.
Then there’s Georgia’s anemic running attack, which limped its way to near-irrelevance in the last couple of games of 2011. Bringing Keith Marshall and Todd Gurley into the backfield is a big step, but there’s still the shorthanded offensive line to deal with.
Not exactly a major strength this past season, it has to basically be rebuilt thanks to graduation, and there wasn’t a lot of depth to start with. Can an OL that’s likely to start a true freshman get the job done? As Richt said, “That’s going to be a big challenge for us breaking in some new linemen offensively.”
There’s no mystery who’ll be Georgia’s starter at quarterback, but as we’ve discussed here at length, Aaron Murray still needs some polishing, and with Hutson Mason planning on taking a redshirt season the backup duties most likely will fall to the promising but untried Christian LeMay, who hasn’t played football in a couple of years. So there’s work to be done developing depth there as well.
And while the Bulldogs overall looked to be in better shape in 2011 thanks to a revamped strength and conditioning program, there’s still improvement needed there, as Richt noted after the defense looked gassed late in the bowl game against Michigan State. As the coach summed up, “we’ve got to make sure we can finish games like we start them.”
So there’s still quite a bit of work for the Georgia coaching staff before the team is ready to live up to those preseason expectations.
Which aspect of the 2012 Dogs concerns you the most, and what would you like to see Richt and company do about it?
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413 comments Add your comment
kerryb
January 20th, 2012
4:30 pm
The players posted is what we will have next year. Some of those players red shirted last year which caused some of the depth problems. We will be deep at those positions next year,
BIGBOY
January 20th, 2012
4:31 pm
TDF you are sniffing Grantham’s jock a lil bit too much.If you think our defense is not the culprit in the losses to SC and MSU there really is no further point of arguing the issue.They folded…there simply is no way around that fact…now you can get creative and come up with all kind of excuses as to why they folded but the fact remains that tthey couldn’t “Finish the drill” to quote CMR.You better believe Grantham knows it too.
TDF
January 20th, 2012
4:33 pm
GTBob
January 20th, 2012
4:28 pm
It because they cant always look like fools. They have to still cater to GA subscriptions too. Thats why they made the new category of multi purpose back for Marshall.
They clearly missed the boat on him and magically after hundreds of complaints finally moved him up. Thats why the site is bogus. If you are going to change things bc fans are crying thats just pathetic.
Anything else you want to try or you going to run away again??
BIGBOY
January 20th, 2012
4:33 pm
I don’t see us subbing a lot this season either.Most of our D will be in their 2nd or 3rd year starting.Why the hell would we be playing unproven players in crunchtime against good teams when we have so many returning starters?2013 is going to be ugly on D…mark my words
kerryb
January 20th, 2012
4:34 pm
GTBob
January 20th, 2012
4:28 pm
they completely missed the boat on Gurley???
Gurley was a 3 star athlete before signing with UGA. He signs with UGA and he becomes a 4 star RB. Oh the horrible bias against UGA.
____________________________________________________________-
Again you don”t know what you are talking about. It was widely known that Gurley was moving up to a 4 star the next week when the new rankings came out before he picked UGA. Rusty Mansell with 247sports said that he saw both Marshall and Gurley this year and thought Gurley was better than Marshall.
Joey
January 20th, 2012
4:35 pm
Paragraph 7 is where I got it, plus Richt’s, post game remarks and radio shows. If he (and his assistants) aren’t accepting some responsibility for the second half woes with the 3-and-out parade, then he is blaming the players. I have never once heard Richt say “we didn’t prepare the players properly for this game . . . It’s always execution.
If he isn’t blaming his staff, but “execution,” then the implication is that it is on the players
TDF
January 20th, 2012
4:36 pm
BIGBOY
January 20th, 2012
4:31 pm
hahahahahahahahaha thannks for showing your stupidity so early.
SC scored 17 points on our def. 17 out of 45. So please tell me how that the def. fault.
MSU also didnt score all of their points on our def. And when we had the chance to run the clock out by simply getting a first down what happens??? 3 up the gut and no time off the clock. 1 first down ices it and keeps the def on the sideline. They were gassed and had nothing left against the passing attack, couldnt pass rush, could stick the coverages plain and simple. Thats a lack of quality depth issue.
TDF
January 20th, 2012
4:37 pm
BIGBOY
January 20th, 2012
4:33 pm
Players get subbed in when someone needs a breather
TDF
January 20th, 2012
4:39 pm
Joey
January 20th, 2012
4:35 pm
In that small sentence you got the impression he threw the players under the bus??? by saying we need finish as strong as we start??? Sounds like he is referring to the team as a whole and not just the players. This isnt manboobs fish fry who throws every kid under the bus.
corkylovesbeer
January 20th, 2012
4:40 pm
dawgs will play trojans in mnc…time to book my motel on south beach
Midtown Dawg
January 20th, 2012
4:40 pm
Bobo, Bobo, Bobo are the top 3 concerns: We will never win a SEC Championship with his lack of designed plays and certainly with him calling plays. If you don’t believe me, join me at the games and watch. You read it here………
BIGBOY
January 20th, 2012
4:40 pm
CTG is full of it with the”we are going to put the best 11 on the field” crap too.There is no way in hell C.Robinson could have been considered better than Gillard or Armarlo.I hear TJ Stripling and Derrick Lott were killing it in practice too.Neither got a sniff at playing time either,Makes me wonder how many other guys are sitting on the bench that can ball too.
JAW JAW HOMER'S MOMMA
January 20th, 2012
4:41 pm
Well, Bama had the #2 offense in the SEC and 24th in the Nation. Top 5 in T of P and ran the ball over everybody., Who the heck thinks they were just a great D??????
BIGBOY
January 20th, 2012
4:44 pm
IDK Midtown…maybe you missed Les the genius gameplans against Bama in both games.Hell he wasn’t all that creative against US.
TDF well if subbing is for when guys get tired that blows away your whole lutte they were gassed argument don’t it?
TDF
January 20th, 2012
4:44 pm
BIGBOY
January 20th, 2012
4:40 pm
Really you think a team captain had no reason to be on the field???? Good lord how dumb are you??? Robinson earned his spot on the field, got hurt and the other guys got there shot and didnt waste the chance.
Thats is the dumbest thing I have ever heard that CTG keeps great players on the bench….. WOW
Joey
January 20th, 2012
4:44 pm
BIGBOY = little techie.
tony
January 20th, 2012
4:45 pm
SOUTHGADAWG88
January 20th, 2012
1:48 pm
It’s funny how much Murray gets blamed for the SC and MSU losses.Last I checked we had at leat a td lead in both games with only a little time left on the clock.Both times the D allowed the other team to drive the length of the field and score a td to boot.That is not on Murray/Bobo or Richt that’s on the defense.They didn’t finish the job.If you asked any of the defensive players they would tell you the same thing.That was on them
_______________________________________________________
I tried to find a reason to agree with you but I can’t and here’s why:
1) turnover differential and winning in the 3rd and 4th quarters are the two stats most significantly correlated with winning football games.
2) Offense sets the tone – Turn the clock back to the 2006 SB(WV vs GA) Ga defense did get blasted on that 1st drive but the offense couldn’t sustain drives in the 1st quarter to give the defense a breather and enough time to make the necessary adjustments it needed to make. The score was 21-0 in the 1st quarter. Once the offense started making progress in the 2nd qt it allow the defense to make the adjustments it needed that’s when the defense started slowing down WV high power offense(Ga 21 WV 10 in the 2nd qt). Our defense shutout WV in the 3rd qt and they only scored 7 points in the 4th qt but they were unable to overcome that large deficit from the 1st qt(final score 38-35).
3) Again, the offense sets to tone – Before 1980 the dawgs defense were average at best. In 1980 the offense sent shockwaves not only through the defense but through the entire nation because of my man Herschel Walker. We had one of the smallest defense in the country but because of HW’s brilliancy that he displayed on the football field and the excitement that he created in college football, he elevated the defense to another level. I can’t even recall when the offense turn the ball over during that time but I do know this – the fans didn’t complain about poor play calling and turnovers.
Until the offense can show me that it’s capable of sustaining drives and stop turning the ball over like Vince Dooley’s offense and the defense allow teams to go the length of the football field and score I can not agree with you.
TDF
January 20th, 2012
4:45 pm
JAW JAW HOMER’S MOMMA
January 20th, 2012
4:41 pm
We all know thats all you are. Look at SOS 22 spots down from UGAs. And wo TR you got no one sorry
kerryb
January 20th, 2012
4:48 pm
BIGBOY
January 20th, 2012
4:31 pm
TDF you are sniffing Grantham’s jock a lil bit too much.If you think our defense is not the culprit in the losses to SC and MSU there really is no further point of arguing the issue.They folded…there simply is no way around that fact…now you can get creative and come up with all kind of excuses as to why they folded but the fact remains that tthey couldn’t “Finish the drill” to quote CMR.You better believe Grantham knows it to
____________________________________________________________
That’s wrong. What happened to the defense in the bowl game was too many three and outs by the offense keeping them on the field too long in the second half, and not getting a first down with 2 minutes to go to ice the game. The mistake Grantham made was going into a prevent defense with less than 2 minutes to go with a Senior QB instead of attacking. In the SC game the defense only gave up 17 points. The problem in that game wasn’t the defense collapsing it was the offense turning the ball over giving them a short field. In the Boise St game the offense went 3 and out on most every possession on the first half. They came out and gassed us running no huddle after the defense had been on the field the whole first half. We also lost Ogletree on the first series of the game. Georgia’s problem was not the defense this past year. It was an offense that was inept at times.
TDF
January 20th, 2012
4:50 pm
kerryb
January 20th, 2012
4:48 pm
Thanks Kerry always enjoy your posts and insight.
I think the folks at LHB would love to have you.
Leatherhelmetblogs.com Check in on the recruiting threads. Big news being posted soon!!
kerryb
January 20th, 2012
4:50 pm
BIGBOY
January 20th, 2012
4:40 pm
CTG is full of it with the”we are going to put the best 11 on the field” crap too.There is no way in hell C.Robinson could have been considered better than Gillard or Armarlo.I hear TJ Stripling and Derrick Lott were killing it in practice too.Neither got a sniff at playing time either,Makes me wonder how many other guys are sitting on the bench that can ball too.
_________________________________________________________
You hear? Where did you hear? I’ve read just about everything UGA this past year and I NEVER heard that. You’re just making that up.
tndawg
January 20th, 2012
5:01 pm
The part that needs to hold on to a lead when it has it. The choke squad! The second half boys!
JAW JAW HOMER'S MOMMA
January 20th, 2012
5:03 pm
TDF
We all know thats all you are. Look at SOS 22 spots down from UGAs. And wo TR you got no one sorry
What the hell are you saying. You must be a Jaw Jaw gradjewit
dmr
January 20th, 2012
5:06 pm
1. Still 6 – 8 scholarships left…Get at least 3 more offensive linemen (maybe JUCO)
2. Need to add BULK to our running backs. I.C. should work with Thomas Brown all off-season.
3. Special teams scheme…employ Coffin Corner on punts…teach punt returners to put heels on the 10.
4. Bobo MUST be less predictable next season or be gone…change formations and play calls for better strategy and creating better match-ups.
5. Use quick patterns and three step drops to avoid sacks.
6. USE STICK PATTERNS…If it is 3rd and 6, don’t send everyone on 12 -20 yard patterns.
7. PAY MORE ATTENTION TO DETAIL.
TDF
January 20th, 2012
5:07 pm
I be mo smarter than dem Bamer boys.
joe
January 20th, 2012
5:07 pm
Get rid of “run left” bobo.
TDF
January 20th, 2012
5:10 pm
Why is I be pullin fo the loser Dwags Anyway. I could be fo a winner like Bama.
Elmer
January 20th, 2012
5:15 pm
Weirdly my big concern is at quarterback. That seems odd, I know. But I think our situation now is that he’s good but not elite. So there’s a temptation to stay with the experience and what have been excellent reviews from others. But I think with a quarterback like that you also are going to be good, but not elite. My point is a difficult one for me to defend but I honestly think that – more than the offensive line – will hold UGA back from any sort of greatness. Instead, with luck, we can legitimately expect to have another good, but not great, year.
TheTruthHurts
January 20th, 2012
5:17 pm
Same old coach. Same old problems. Same old results. Look for 2012 to be a carbon copy of 2011. Then, after the season, the same old crap about what needs to be done for 2013.
michael
January 20th, 2012
5:19 pm
The Dawgs biggest weakness by far is their offensive coordinator. Everyone knows this but nothing ever changes. I would take anyone instead of Bobo, just like I would take anyone instead of Obama for President!
Bobo's Wife
January 20th, 2012
5:22 pm
Getting rid of the thinking that 10-2 and an Outback Bowl is a good year. That crap gets coach’s at LSU and Bama fired.
SEC Fans for Richt
January 20th, 2012
5:24 pm
I’d say the biggest concern is getting fat and happy off that cupcake schedule and then getting your hat handed to you by ANY team that comes out of the West. If UGa wins the East, the line would be UGa +14 if they played ‘Bama, LSU or Ark.
Dawg48
January 20th, 2012
5:28 pm
Richts biggest concern? Well I would have to say………..if all the Monday morning HC or QB’s actually became football savvy he may could have a concern about his job. But so would every other coach in america.
The Truth
January 20th, 2012
5:31 pm
The one thing that will fix the entire offense for the 2012 season. FIRE MIKE BOBO as offensive coordinator and get one with a brain. Why would you make 185 pound tailbacks run dive plays up the middle. That’s what the fullbacks are for. Mark Richt knows he has to make a decision on that but keeps avoiding it.
In short, FIRE MIKE BOBO and UGA will be in better shape than people want to believe.
and that’s The Truth.
Dawg48
January 20th, 2012
5:33 pm
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ there is one^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
BigWheel
January 20th, 2012
5:45 pm
Grantham is #1 concern. Coughed up 39 points a game in the big 4 games this year. And coaghed up 15 td’s out of 17 red zone attempts in those 4 games.
Pathetic.
UGAly
January 20th, 2012
5:45 pm
The offensive line is the biggest concern. Next, is the offensive play calling
3-12 Against Ranked Teams
January 20th, 2012
5:46 pm
Yup….I agree with whoever earlier says that 2012 be a carbon copy of 2011, go 10-2 or 9-3, win the East and then get DEMOLISHED by the West’s winner…..and then be the only SEC team to lose again to a BIG 10 team
….then in 2013, when faced with that MONSTER schedule, go 5-7 and wonder why we didn’t get rid of Richt in ‘10
…..”loyal” Dawg fans never learn….
4KUGA
January 20th, 2012
5:47 pm
OL!!!OL!!!OL!!!
3-12 Against Ranked Teams
January 20th, 2012
5:49 pm
Ya know…..I wish all these Richt apologist would come clean and just flat out say that winning a National Championship is NOT THAT important to them…..and that keeping Richt is MORE important because he’s a “good man”.
I mean, anyone can clearly see he hasn’t done squat to keep his job since ‘05…….why pretend???
Jack Wood
January 20th, 2012
5:51 pm
Conditioning. Dawgs wilted after halftime. Any team can hold four fingers in the air after the third period. It means nothing if you’re out of gas.
greg spain
January 20th, 2012
5:55 pm
Avoid the BS, Fire Bobo NOW !!!
Jack Wood
January 20th, 2012
5:58 pm
Another thing… 185 lb. ball carriers will not do well against 300 lb. defensive linemen, Bobo. Jot that down.
stan
January 20th, 2012
5:58 pm
Have those bunch of thugs go to class instead of smoking pot and getting arrested….
mars
January 20th, 2012
5:59 pm
Please, Please, Coach Richt….if you want to do the best thing for the program, and end the suffering of every TRUE Bulldawg fan, the way to do that is easy; leave. Don’t look back. You have accomplished this season the best that you are going to. You defeated every second rate team on the schedule loaded with second rate teams. Your fans (which is not the same thing as TRUE bulldawg fans) can continue their denial without reality ever slapping in the face if you walk out the door “on your own term” with head held high, pretending that you actually you “accomplished” something great. This chance may never happen again. Not with the evidence I have witnessed over the past decade. Leave now with head held high, or leave later in shame. It doesn’t take a genious.
BigWheel
January 20th, 2012
6:06 pm
Over 75% of tries, he coughed up a td in 2010 (12TH IN sec).
Over 81% of tries in 2011, he coughed up a td (12th in SEC).
This needs to stay UNDER 50% AGAINST RANKED TEAMS like Alabama does.
Fix this, and you might go undefeated.
BigWheel
January 20th, 2012
6:11 pm
I mean, Grantham has to fix his red zone defense against ranked teams, allowing a td 81% OF THE TIME IS horrible!!!!!
Sonny B. Layne
January 20th, 2012
6:12 pm
Start by getting rid of Carlton Thomas, up the middle, when you need yardage. You are as well off taking a knee. I have never understood this. I will be glad when he graduates. You cannot use a back of his size, in that way, against SEC defenses. You have to use a small back in different ways when the offensive line is suspect anyway.
kerryb
January 20th, 2012
6:20 pm
mars
January 20th, 2012
5:59 pm
Please, Please, Coach Richt….if you want to do the best thing for the program, and end the suffering of every TRUE Bulldawg fan, the way to do that is easy; leave. Don’t look back. You have accomplished this season the best that you are going to. You defeated every second rate team on the schedule loaded with second rate teams. Your fans (which is not the same thing as TRUE bulldawg fans) can continue their denial without reality ever slapping in the face if you walk out the door “on your own term” with head held high, pretending that you actually you “accomplished” something great. This chance may never happen again. Not with the evidence I have witnessed over the past decade. Leave now with head held high, or leave later in shame. It doesn’t take a genious.
________________________________________________________
Ladies and gentlemen. The award for the most moronic post of the night goes to……………….Mars
SLAWDAWG
January 20th, 2012
6:24 pm
DAWG FANS…….I’m tired of reminding everyone……..His name is COACH BOZO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!