Offensive line: Starting a summer series of synopses up front
I’m on vacation, so the UGA blog is on quasi-hiatus. But rather than shutting down entirely, I thought we could use this lull for a leisurely look at the 2010 football team. I put together synopses of the various position groups, and one will post each weekday. Then the floor will be yours — at least those of you not on a beach somewhere. I hope everyone has a great summer. Just 82 days, by the way, until the season opener between the hedges.
THE OFFENSIVE LINE
- Returning starters: LT Clint Boling, LG Cordy Glenn, C Ben Jones, RG Chris Davis and RT Josh Davis.
- Others to watch: Trinton Sturdivant and Tanner Strickland are due back from knee and shoulder injuries, respectively, and redshirt freshman Chris Burnette could make his presence felt.
- Key losses: All of the players who started at the end of last season are back, but one player with starting experience graduated (Vince Vance) and another shifted to the defensive line (Justin Anderson).
- Key fact: Georgia’s roster boasts players who have started an impressive total of 155 collegiate games on the O-line –- 38 by C. Davis, 36 by Boling, 23 by Glenn, 23 by Jones, 14 by Sturdivant, 12 by Anderson and 9 by J. Davis.
- Key fact II: Georgia had double the rushing yardage per game in the final seven games last season as in the first six –- improvement that coincided with a reconfiguring of the line when J. Davis took over at RT.
- Key question: Will Sturdivant, who has missed almost all of the past two seasons with knee injuries, be able to pick up where he left off as a freshman and reclaim his spot on the starting unit? (The latest from Mark Richt is that Sturdivant’s rehab has gone extremely well, that he should be ready for preseason practice and that there’s every reason to expect the best for him and from him.)
- Recent developments: Boling had arthroscopic surgery to “clean up” an ankle but is expected to resume full workouts soon. Glenn was a dominating player in spring practice, which culminated with him being named Offensive MVP.
- Outlook: Excellent. If the unit stays relatively healthy for the first time in three years, it should be the strength of the team. And it needs to be.
- Your turn: What say you about the offensive line?
Tomorrow: wide receivers.
Click here for Georgia’s latest football depth chart.
And please follow @ajcuga on Twitter for the latest on the Bulldogs all summer.
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158 comments Add your comment
Dave In Tampa
June 14th, 2010
5:44 pm
Enter your comments here
Murray the Midget
June 14th, 2010
5:50 pm
Has not played football in two years nor in college against or any sec team…going to be a long season guys.
Hobnail Boot
June 14th, 2010
5:50 pm
I think the line can be as good as anyone’s as long as they.
1.) Hold their water and don’t jump offsides. (DRIVES ME CRAZY)
2.) Play as a unit
3.) Get nasty and bust somebody in the Mouth every play.
Dave In Tampa
June 14th, 2010
5:52 pm
It will be a long season for Tech.
how2fish
June 14th, 2010
5:53 pm
Hobnail Boot 3 very good points if the do those 3 and can stay healthy we will be fine.
Blind Homers Club
June 14th, 2010
5:59 pm
Yep I was disappointed in the job Stacy Searles did last year. Dawgs were not as dominant as they were said to be. You could just simply watch the play of the line which wasnt that great on run blocking. The line did well in protecting the red headed step child though. Dawgs are really going to have to man up to even think of a championship.
BigDawg
June 14th, 2010
6:08 pm
82Dawg,
Tide Roll’s just happens to be partially correct as we haven’t always played our best players but what he doesn’t realize that sometimes these guys get attitudes that are contrary to the team’s and their own best interests and need to be taught a lesson that hopefully will make them better men.
Lance
June 14th, 2010
6:15 pm
We Run this State!
Joe
June 14th, 2010
6:16 pm
I hate to be the fly in the ointment but……we have been in this place before. Of any position in recent memory, its our offensive line that has failed to live up to expectations more than not. Hope its different this time around…..we shall see
CHDawg
June 14th, 2010
6:40 pm
Let’s not forget that two of these guys were true sophs last year and they were blocking defenses like Florida. The extra year makes a big difference at that stage and age–I think they are, at least, a good line. Three seniors this year, and there is something about the last year–desire to finish strong and a desire to get drafted. At best, they will be dominant and nobody will be able to stop the run…much less the pass.
willie be gone
June 14th, 2010
6:46 pm
HAROLD PLEASE TELL US WHO YOUR TEAM IS
Tide Pride
June 14th, 2010
6:58 pm
I’m worried about our offensive line this year. We got pushed around prety good in the SEC Championship game last year and most of the yards we got during the bowl game were due to the individual effort of Mark Ingram. Julio Jones in my opionion has been a major disappointment. He just doesn’t make the kind of plays he needs to based on his size.Our passing game has got to get better or teams will stack the line and shut is down.Last year is long gone we’ve got to focus on the new season or risk losing everything we’ve previously accomplished. I’m worried about Auburn. They almost beat us last year and will surely be better this coming season… so that game is not an automatic win for the Tide.
skeered
June 14th, 2010
7:19 pm
Outside of Florida, UGA didn’t play any good defenses the last 7 games of the season. It was no coincidence their yardage suddenly spiked.
Tide Roll
June 14th, 2010
7:46 pm
Big Dog, Thanks for admitting UGA doesn’t play their best players on the offensive line. What you left out was: THAT’S WHY THEY LOSE ! At least you’re honest and aren’t hitting me up with “they don’t know the system”or “they can’t understand the playbook” and other “Boboisms”
Gratefuldawghead
June 14th, 2010
7:47 pm
Fired up about the “O” Line!
“F” the Haters!
GO DAWGS!!!!!
dan
June 14th, 2010
7:54 pm
I disagree when people say it doesn’t matter how the QB plays as long as the O-Line is good. Uga’s O-Line only gave up something like 12 sacks last season which is really pretty good, and it just goes to show how lousy some of Joe Cox’s decisions were. I will say that I think Uga’s O-Line is better when they establish the run first and then go to the pass. They’re not a horrible pass blocking unit, but they seem to do better when they are physical off the bat. Of course a lot of the offense’s problems last year were due to the fact that our defense couldn’t stop anyone. When the team is playing from behind, they’re forced to pass block more, which isn’t this teams strength. AJ proved that he can put a team on his back if need be which speaks volumes for his talent. But I think it will be better for AJ in the long run if they can establish the run.
I-DOG
June 14th, 2010
7:56 pm
I believe the UGA offensive line did underachive in 09, particulary in the first half. Losing Sturdivant in the first game didn’t help,but I don’t think Searels got what he expected out of this bunch until the last 4 games or so. I don’t know why. As has been noted, we played some really bad defensive squads toward the end.
I am high on Searels and think we will have great O-line play this year.
Tide Roll: How can you pencil in Burnette at center when nobody on the planet has seen him take a snap in a college game? He might end up being better than Jones, but how would you know that at this point? I hope he is better, since that would make him an All SEC candidate as I have no problem going to battle with Jones at center.
I hope we can bench AJ Green in favor of another receiver too!
Harold. Find the caps lock key on your keboard and give lower case a try. You might enjoy it.
Line O Type
June 14th, 2010
8:12 pm
ETAOIN SHRDLU
WestOfAthens
June 14th, 2010
8:12 pm
Thy news is sweet is to one’s ears. This unit will be quite impressive, if “healthy” is in the equation.
Thanks for the work Tim, i need a vacation myself
Coraline
June 14th, 2010
8:17 pm
The big question on everyone’s mind is how many of these players will be arrested and suspended before or during the season. With at least 39 arrests in the past three years, it’s a good question, especially since it’s clear that Mark Richt has no control over his players.
HD
June 14th, 2010
8:23 pm
I’m hoping the line is the best in the country, but why should anyone believe that they are? With the exception of the GT game, THEY NEVER HAD A DOMINATING PERFORMANCE last season. MEDIOCRE against BAD defenses like Auburn, UK, Texas A&M. What made everyone go from “these guys are underachievers” to “these guys are the strength of our team? Was it one single performance against Tech? I’m not buying it just yet.
UGA 1ST mascot was a goat
June 14th, 2010
8:24 pm
same old crap from all you dumb ugay fans.
Dawg Pride
June 14th, 2010
8:25 pm
I hate to be the fly in the ointment but……we have been in this place before.
And we’ll have results again this year. Players come and go, but Mark Richt is the common denominator if you’re looking for reasons why UGA can’t beat Florida or several other SEC schools consistently.
Get a winning coach and we’ll have a winning team. Or keep Richt and we’ll continue to wallow in mediocrity.
UGA 1ST mascot was a goat
June 14th, 2010
8:26 pm
tn,fla,ky owns ugay.
Coraline
June 14th, 2010
8:28 pm
Tuck Fech, go back inside your single wide and have another Ripple, you moron.
AltamahaDawg
June 14th, 2010
8:50 pm
They didn’t give up many sacks, a good thing, but also a bit misleading. You would never give up a single sack if you throw the ball away every down. That’s not the stated goal of the game however. Never make a first down, but those sack number look good. Cox threw at least a third of his picks while trying to avoid the sack or throw the ball away under pressure and we would have been better off obviously in those situation to just have him eat the ball. That’s Cox’ fault but the pass protection stats were helped by that. I think they were a decent pass protecting unit, but I don’t assume that there’s not a lot of room for improvement in that area as well.
techboy
June 14th, 2010
8:53 pm
Uga fans are so weak i just punched one of them for talking this same nonsense.
BigDawg
June 14th, 2010
8:57 pm
Instead of insulting other people try to coherently make your point either why the Dawgs will be better this coming year or worse. But please leave the infantile insults out of it. I know that is saying a lot for the haters on this blog but you might find it more interesting to stay on topic occasionally.
Go Dawgs
BTW Georgia’s inconsistency on offense the last few years was caused by a lot of different things some of which belongs squarely on the shoulders of BoBo and Richt and their offensive play calling.
Urban Meyer
June 14th, 2010
8:58 pm
I asked the Pope to help me not to have a nerveous breakdown this year without Timmy…hope my players are as tough as I am!
guy
June 14th, 2010
9:28 pm
This group will either get mean and aggressive or we will see a lot of offensive coaching changes after the season.Why can’t we get with it like Fl. and Al. on both sides of the ball? Same old story!
AltamahaDawg
June 14th, 2010
9:34 pm
turkeycaller, I think you just got conditioned to think we were kicking it off short in 2009, but that’s just not the case. We had 17 touchbacks. Most teams weren’t even close to that. Half the SEC had single digits. We had a better KO team that Bama did. In terms of average distance, there was a couple of guys longer, but only a yard or so. As far as coverage (as bad as that was) UGA was within 3or4 yr per kick of anybody in the league. That aspect gets WAY too much attention for the minimal difference there actually was between us and them.
Read the box from a game like Ark or SC where we kicked off a bunch and see how many of those were short kicks. Or just look up the individual stats for the entire year. Walsh’s average kickoff was 63.9 yards. That’s the 6 yrd line. And that’s skewed slighly because the 17 touchback max out at the goal, no matter how deep they are. His true average is probably 65/66 yrds.
Old Coach
June 14th, 2010
9:46 pm
I have coached for a many, many years. I have coached Georgia High School Football. Coach Mark Richt has 2 problems that the biggest line can never solve. 1. NO DISCIPLINE. He needs to take control of his team. His own players don’t take him seriously. I believe he has started to recognize this and he has begun regaining control of the reins. 2. POOR WEIGHT CONDITIONING. The weight coach cannot be the players friend. He must be feared and hated…like a drill sergeant. This team is plagued with injuries every year that keeps them from achieving their goals. It all boils down to strength and conditioning. The best way to keep players healthy, increase strength. Van Halanger needs to go. Sorry to say.
Warrior Queen Boudica
June 14th, 2010
9:59 pm
Please ! No more about Trinton Sturdivant. Coach Richt has been using him as a “crying towel” for two years. The Dawg Nation wants Trinton Sturdivant to step up and perform and earn recognition. This O-line has had the same players for two years, they are experienced, yet have underperformed with mediocre running stats and results for two years. The Dawg Nation wants “Championships Plural” like Alabama, LSU and Florida. This requires an offensive line and running backs that are posting rushing stats at the top of the SEC. This Offensive line has rushed poorly against SEC opponents
athdog
June 14th, 2010
10:25 pm
One,two,free,fo,fi…you have the greatest ‘handle’ on the entire blog! I still crack up when I hear that illiterate idiot speak…the sunshine state’s version of Cynthia McKinney.
That Percy Harbins was a great player. Urban Meyers’ is a great coach. We’re gonna get y’all this year, though.
superDawg
June 14th, 2010
10:29 pm
I love UGA football.
athdog
June 14th, 2010
10:30 pm
It’ll take us 3-4 games to play the new defense at full speed, having it come naturally. This is the key, I think.
athdog
June 14th, 2010
10:31 pm
I have to agree with many of the posters, though. It is time to man up and play with the big boys if we want to be big boys.
superDawg
June 14th, 2010
10:44 pm
It’s hard being a no.ave.nerd they don’t get out much just ask Harold.
JT
June 14th, 2010
10:58 pm
A good chance that the running game had more yardage later in the season may have had something to do with the excess in the passing game early in the season. The Offensive Line should be built to run first and pass second with the backs we have. Sometimes three passes and a punt puts too much emphasis on the defense as well as excessive time on the field for the defense. Clock management and running the ball are really important. A balanced scheme of runs and passes will allow the OL to become more efficient and less able to show tendendancies that will give away a pass or a run to the opponent.
turkeycaller
June 14th, 2010
11:58 pm
Altamaha, I have suffered two strokes and realize I have lost some mental awareness but old buddy I remember raising hell about UGA kicking short and directional and all it did was put the defense on it’s back from the get go. The reason it finally stopped was somebody,somehow either realized their stupidity or listened to folks constantly pointing it out. Agree totally with your statements regarding sacks. Either Cox was being pressured or when he did have time didn’t always make the best of it. It is just not an accurate way of measuring the line against sacks. They ought to be better, little more maturity and acquainted with what is called for. Our kids are big and fast enough I think.
turkeycaller
June 15th, 2010
12:02 am
Altamaha, There is no question we had a kid who could put it in the endzone repeatedly. He was not given the opportunity to do so until on in the season because of coaches so called strategies.
Dawgforlife
June 15th, 2010
12:05 am
roll tide….first of all, I am having a hard time figuring out why it matters to you what the configuration the line…and second, you didn’t answer my question…are you honestly saying that a team with like 7 or 8 players on the three deep deoth chart that are white…are you seriously trying to say UGA has an anti- black bias?…sometimes the white guy is the better player..I’ll admit not very often…but, sometimes…ie Joe Thomas, Steve Hutchinson, Brian Buluga, Mike Kenn, Dan Dierdorf, Bill Frailic, Nick Mangold, Ron Yary, Mike Webster…oh and the best Bama lineman of all time…John Hannah…I have every confidence that UGA will play the best 5 offensive linemen…and I will supposrt them regardless of their color cause they all represent the bulldog nation
meansonny
June 15th, 2010
12:23 am
Old Coach,
I have to disagree with you about the weight training and the S&C Coach.
Even the strongest and most fit players can blow their knees. Every player is susceptible to a concussion.
S&C is one of the better aspects of the Bulldawgs. Look at our stats each year. They’ve improved every year since Van Hallanger arrived on campus.
Regarding the kickoff problem…. it’s been magnified for a few reasons.
1) we should never kick out of bounds. that happened way too much last season. Moreso than our competition (this is a guess, but I’d reason fairly accurate).
2) Coverage stunk. OSU and LSU were horrible games.
3) We’ve got a leg. I think most fans would rather attempt to shoot it through the back of the endzone (even on a line drive). I’d favor those odds of a touchback greater than the odds of kicking it out of bounds.
turkeycaller
June 15th, 2010
12:25 am
Atta boy.
meansonny
June 15th, 2010
12:25 am
The OL is obviously a question mark going into 2010.
We ran poorly against every good defense last season. We bullied all of the weak teams.
We even struggled in the first half of the A&M game. That goes to show how thin we really are at OL.
The good news is that we don’t play many of the teams that we struggled against.
1) no OSU
2) no LSU
3) No ASU
4) UF lost all of their top playmakers
5) Tennessee is in shambles. Who knows, they might still find a way to embarrass our offense this season (but they’ll have to do it without Monty).
I’m optimistic about our run game next season. Not because we’ve improved.
But because our competition is so much weaker than in 2009.
76-Dawg
June 15th, 2010
2:35 am
The bottom line for 2010 will be our Quarterback , Murray. If UGA had a 1-A SEC quarterback in 2009 they would have won 2 maybe 3 more games. Cox was the best available QB for 2009 which wasn’t even close to being good enough. If Murray can live up to his billings then UGA will surprise a lot of people. If UGA beats SC and Arkansas they will be finish 12-0 or 11-1..
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AltamahaDawg
June 15th, 2010
8:36 am
sonny , obviously nobody “wants” the ball kicked out of bounds. I’m pretty sure no coach ever told his player to do that. BTW, the actual number is 4 times. That’s out of 75 attempts. Given that he kicked it 17 times into the endzone, (not counting the ones that were returned from the endzone), I’d say that pretty much answer the question of if the startegy was to go deep or go OOB. Those 4 are what we call flubs. As far as the rest of the SEC, 3 was the average. Somebody had 5. UF by comparison had 4 also, coached by the Nexium poster boy himself.
The first 3 games of the year:
OSU, Walsh averaged 65.3 yrds on KO. Thats inside the 5 yrd line.
SC, he averaged 67.4. thats inside the 3 yrd line. first 3 of 4 in the endzone.
Ark the first 4 of 5 were in the endzone.
When was all this short directional stuff happening early on?
I’m not making this stuff up.
Just for the record, the best kicker in the NFL kick the ball for a TB maybe 30% of the time, And that just a couple of guys. Most are more like 20%. Are we really thinking that we had a freshman or even as a sophmore (last year) college kicker that should have been way better than anybody doing it professionally for a decade?
Or if you think that its a simple matter of the coaches just telling them to do it, something must be seriously flawed with the NFL coaches too.
The problem in 2008, by his own admission is that the first year placekicker and KO guy wore out halfway through the season and started making mistake. His words. Halfway through the season. That’s exactly when the KO started being an issue, had not been till then. Compounded by the coinciding of running out of able bodies to actualy field the coverage team.
2009, although the actual stats point out the KO coverage was about the middle of the SEC, I really think we still didn’t have the best personel for the job. Curran, Southerland, Boykin can only play so many down. We need to develop depth at LB and DB to have a better special teams unit as well. Tackling the man would help as well. And some Energy.
Coach D
June 15th, 2010
10:35 am
HD
I agree with you somewhat. I think the O-Line had better than a mediocre performance vs. Auburn. They actually protected Cox pretty well in the Kentucky game giving him time to make throws that he didn’t complete. Cox and the defense just played a LOUSY game in the second half. As for Texas A&M, sometimes you have to give the other team credit. Their DC Joe Kines came up with a good game plan with inferior talent mixing it up with 8 or 9 guys in the box with multiple stunts. Turnovers is what buried the Aggies, and towards the end of the game UGA’s size and conditioning was able to wear the Aggie defense down.
Another part of the problem is that not only did the coaching staff not find the right combination on the O-Line, but they also didn’t play the right RB’s until late in the season. Knowshon Moreno was able to compensate for some of the O-Line’s weaknesses with his elusiveness, while a guy like Richard Samuel is a North and South runner that needs an O-Line to open up holes for him. Ealey and King don’t have Knowshon’s talent, but they are consistent backs capable of big games( even though if I have to pick between the two, I’d go with Washuan since he tends to be more consistent).
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[...] Offensive line: With 155 career starts, the strength of the team? [...]