Petrino’s return, Sturdivant’s comeback, Murray’s progress, etc.
ATHENS – Saturday’s game in Sanford Stadium will be Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino’s first in the state of Georgia since he abruptly resigned as the Falcons’ coach with three games left in the 2007 season.
“I haven’t even thought about it,” Petrino said Wednesday of his return to Georgia. “This game is all about our players.”
Petrino, who bolted the Falcons for Arkansas, is 15-12 (5-11 SEC) as the Razorbacks’ coach.
++++++++++
Georgia offensive tackle Trinton Sturdivant, who missed almost all of the past two seasons because of knee injuries, played just one series — three snaps — against South Carolina last week. It was his first action of the season after missing the opener with a stomach ailment.
Offensive coordinator Mike Bobo thinks Sturdivant will play more as he gains confidence in his surgically repaired knees.
“He’s healthy,” Bobo said. “Anytime a kid goes through two major knee surgeries, it’s something that is hard for anybody to understand what he might be thinking. But he’s out there practicing, he’s out there getting better every day, and I think it’s going to click sooner or later that, ‘Hey, I’m ready to go, I’m full speed.’”
++++++++++
Georgia beat Arkansas 52-41 last year in a game in which Bulldogs quarterback Joe Cox threw five touchdown passes and earned a national player-of-the-week award. So Richt was asked if Cox’s successor, redshirt freshman quarterback Aaron Murray, has progressed to the point that he is ready for a similar shootout.
“We have to let him shoot a little bit more than we have lately,” said Richt, referring to Georgia’s conservative game plan the past two weeks.
Richt said he generally finds it impossible to predict whether a game will be high-scoring or low-scoring.
“Of course, Joe Cox had a heck of a game [against Arkansas] last year,” Richt said, “and no one would have predicted that, especially after we played Oklahoma State [two weeks earlier] and didn’t have much offensive production. Then it kind of flooded.”
Richt and Bobo made it clear after last week’s game that it’s time to open up the game plan for Murray. Bobo, of course, isn’t eager to disclose exactly what that means going into Saturday’s game against Arkansas. “Just allowing him to make some more plays, I guess, would be the answer,” he said in his weekly chat with reporters Tuesday night.
++++++++++
After the debacle of poor tackling against South Carolina, Georgia has made its practices more physical this week.
“It got ramped up a little bit more,” Richt said Wednesday night. “Our practices have been good [previously this season] but apparently not good enough in regard to simulating tackling without tackling, which is what we call ‘thud.’ So we tried [this week] to make something a little bit more intense than thud but still a little bit less than grabbing guys and throwing them to the ground. When you tackle to the ground all day long in practice, you tend to get people hurt. … I’ll just say it got intensified a little bit.”
++++++++++
A couple of freshmen who are impressing Richt on the practice field: safety Alec Ogletree and inside linebacker Demetre Baker.
On Ogletree: “He’s one guy that will strike you, there’s no doubt about that. He loves to hit. … Because of that, I’m anxious for him to learn what to do and continue to get work and hopefully get some scrimmage downs.”
On Baker: “I don’t know if it’ll turn into any kind of playing time right now, but one guy on the scout team that has really kind of ramped things up has been Demetre Baker. He is showing signs of being able to really run and strike. He’s been playing with a lot of energy, so when you watch him, you’re like, ‘That guy’s going to be pretty good one day.’”
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388 comments Add your comment
Get over it
September 16th, 2010
2:46 pm
You all really need to get over this hating Petrino thing. So he left before the season was over…if he had been fired would you still be bitching like you are??? Or would that have been ok? Still would have left the team in turmoil…what’s the difference?
Nate the Great
September 16th, 2010
2:48 pm
Oh yeah and Claire, please do look at the program over the past forty years. Its something called a winning tradition. Thats why we alums take pride in our program.
Just answering…
PS Concrete Pete is right. We need a nasty, mean strength and conditioning coach. Thats what FSU had in the 90s and CMR brought with him here. Wins start in the weight room. But learning the fundamentals of tackling and hitting hard in practices sure as sh– helps
GO GEORGIA TECH
September 16th, 2010
2:49 pm
gt if only our defense was as good as north dakota states was we would have beat kansas
Ga Football practice
September 16th, 2010
2:49 pm
tiptoe through the tulips
Ga Football practice
September 16th, 2010
2:50 pm
tech lost to kansas
GO GEORGIA TECH
September 16th, 2010
2:51 pm
oxymoron=uga and tackling
GO GEORGIA TECH
September 16th, 2010
2:57 pm
oxymoron=tech holding a terrible kansas team to less than 28 points even know north dakota state held kansas to 3 points the week prior
Reggie Ball
September 16th, 2010
2:58 pm
1 – 2 – 3 – 5, we don’t take no jive in our hive!
I’ze gots me a great job wit da DOT filling pot holes!
Burner
September 16th, 2010
3:03 pm
I don’t think Arkansas will score a lot of points on Grantham’s defense, Lakatos’ pass defense is too strong to let that happen. And Grantham will make sure the LB’s get pressure on Mallet. Justin Houston will have another big day in sacks, gets at least 2. but the Georgia running game will return to form in this one. I got Georgia 24, Ark 17.
USC GAMEC0CK
September 16th, 2010
3:10 pm
and there goes Lattimore for another USC FIRST DOWN!!
dagnabit
September 16th, 2010
3:11 pm
Petrino didn’t treat Arthur Blank any worse than Blank treated a Hall-of-Fame coach a few years earlier. If Petrino is scum, then Arthur Blank is also.
GO GEORGIA TECH
September 16th, 2010
3:11 pm
Powderpuff football games are an annual tradition at many high schools and universities SUCH AS UGA,in the United States and Canada. The game usually puts girls from the junior class against girls in the senior class or cross-town school rivals in a flag football or touch football contest. Boys from the classes, usually athletes SUCH AS UGA FOOTBALL PLAYERS, will dress in drag and be the cheerleaders. Funds from the ticket and concession sales for the game typically go to charity, the senior class, to a dance afterwards, OR IN THE CASE OF UGA IT IS USALLY BAIL MONEY
On Saturday
September 16th, 2010
3:15 pm
uga played SC. The horn for the half sounded and the SC defense left the field. Three plays later uga scored
USC GAMEC0CK
September 16th, 2010
3:16 pm
and there goes Kansas for another KU TOUCHDOWN!!
Whatever
September 16th, 2010
3:16 pm
Yet something else for UGA fans to whine and complain about. You all definitely hold the market on that.
dagnabit
September 16th, 2010
3:19 pm
Now back to the game. Arkansas is ascending and Georgia bulldawgs are descending.
GO GEORGIA TECH
September 16th, 2010
3:20 pm
Losing to a terrible Big 12 team that lost to North Dakota State the week prior is an annual tradition at GT. Funds from the ticket sales of the lose go to feeding our fat COACH.
On Saturday
September 16th, 2010
3:21 pm
GO TECH GO TECH GO TECH
dagnabit
September 16th, 2010
3:21 pm
I Love The Jackets
Whatever
September 16th, 2010
3:21 pm
TECH BABY! WE BEAT KANSAS
Bobby P
September 16th, 2010
3:26 pm
I left town because of Vick and MeAngelo and The Dog Killer aka Babineau. Those were real classy folks, who Arthur Blank loved more than his team and fans. After the debacle on MNF, I had no choice but to leave. For all of those who deride me because of that, you must love gangsta and thug more so….oh, I forgot, you love the dawgs….the definition of ThuGA. UGA, #1 recruiting class over and over, and Fulmer Cup #1 over and over. But still SEC East middle dweller! Oh and Mark Bradley, you know I had to turn down your advances…HOGS roll 31-6!!!
Bobby P
September 16th, 2010
3:28 pm
TECH IS THE BEST TEAM EVER
GO GEORGIA TECH
September 16th, 2010
3:33 pm
uga team song after losing to SC:
Yesterday,
All my troubles seemed so far away,
Now it looks as though they’re here to stay,
Oh, I believe in yesterday.(1980)
Suddenly,
I’m not half the team I used to be,
There’s a shadow hanging over me, (SC, Florida, Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Kentucky, Tennessee)
Oh, yesterday came suddenly.
UGA Alum
September 16th, 2010
3:37 pm
To HawgMan, first off great name (notice my sarcasm), being from Arkansas you probably don’t understand. And who won last year? WE DID, WHO KICKED YOUR ASS IN THE SEC CHAMPIONSHIP? The answer, you back country hick is The University of Georgia.
GO GEORGIA TECH
September 16th, 2010
3:37 pm
I will be waxing all of the Jay Hawks knobs for the next month..only fair after the way they waxed our AZZES….
GO GEORGIA TECH
September 16th, 2010
3:38 pm
gt team song after losing to KU:
Yesterday,
All my troubles seemed so far away,
Now it looks as though they’re here to stay,
Oh, I believe in yesterday.(2008)
Suddenly,
I’m not half the team I used to be,
There’s a shadow hanging over me, (UNC, NC State, Wake, Virginia, Middle Tenn. State, Clemson, Va Tech, Miami, Duke, and of course the team that always beats us UGA)
Oh, yesterday came suddenly.
5150 P.O.A.D
September 16th, 2010
3:38 pm
Can’t wait for the live blog on this UGA v Arkesaw game it should be fun seeing all the dawgs cry for all the coaches heads by the end of the 1st qtr.
nmdawg
September 16th, 2010
3:40 pm
About the “live tackling” issue. It seems to me that most of the guys playing D-1 (or any college level) probably played tackle football earlier in their lifetime. I would also assume that they were tought fundamentals of tackling by their coaches, which would be pretty consistent as far as technique goes. If that is true, then it is safe to assume that it should not really be the defenive coordinator’s job to teach his prized recruits to tackle. He is responsible for recruiting guys who can tackle, putting them in the right position to make the play, and is responsible for removing players that are in the right place but don’t or can’t tackle effectively. I encourage anyone who has not been on or near the sidelines of a recent college game to do so, as it might dawn on them that people could be needlessly injured when too much tackling is done in practice. The old timers who say “man up” did not play in the days of year round workouts, defensive ends who are faster than running backs, etc. I also assume that Coach G knows considerably more about how to prepare a defense than anyone, myself included, that writes about it in a blog. GO DAWGS!
5150 P.O.A.D
September 16th, 2010
3:40 pm
I of course will be at the North Ave Tickle Pile giving head to any and all comers….
5150 P.O.A.D
September 16th, 2010
3:41 pm
I just hope my techies don’t have to play North Dakota State this year in a bowl game we will get killed!
GO GEORGIA TECH
September 16th, 2010
3:44 pm
considering tech fans obsession with video GAMES, you would think they would be able to take some pointers from Madden 2011 and learn how to stop one of the worse teams in the Big 12.
GO GEORGIA TECH
September 16th, 2010
3:51 pm
to take a break from messing around, Superior teams that are not focused lose all the time. Look at the undefeated NE Patriots, already anointed as only the second undefeated NFL team in history, and yet they lost to a team they had just beaten a few weeks early. As they they $hit happens
GO GEORGIA TECH
September 16th, 2010
3:52 pm
it is obvious that Tech took Kansas for granted and got beat
GO GEORGIA TECH
September 16th, 2010
3:53 pm
yes i just compared a college football game to an nfl game
Bdawg
September 16th, 2010
3:53 pm
Pretty good one day. After that lackluster tackling display, put the damn guys in the game and let them show the rest of the team how to hit. If I’m a heralded recruit, I’m coming to a program to make a name for myself and play to win, not sit on the sidelines. UGA, maybe that’s why we don’t sign more 5 star recruits. Sign them, coach’em and put on the field and let them play. All this secreacy that Bobo is going to do better playcalling is a joke. Don’t think it do it and prove us doubters wrong, but if we’re right, Bobo has to go. Nuff said.
5150 P.O.A.D
September 16th, 2010
3:53 pm
Fake P.O.A.D. are you a child or what? Just say what you have to say under your own name.
I would rather play North Dakota State in abowl than Idaho State in the regular season. What a joke. UGA needs a give me after the Gators beat you right? There can be no other explanation as to why the dawgs scheduled that team between the Gators and Auburn.
STINGER 90
September 16th, 2010
3:54 pm
You guys need to set an example and crush arkansas. What petrino did to the falcons.
Go yellowjackets!
GO GEORGIA TECH
September 16th, 2010
3:54 pm
it is obvious that UGA took South Carolina for granted and got beat
5150 P.O.A.D
September 16th, 2010
3:55 pm
Tech plays in the mighty ACC. Va Tech is awesome as is Miami and FSU. The ACC is the best
5150 P.O.A.D
September 16th, 2010
3:56 pm
Another power house is South Carolina State
5150 P.O.A.D
September 16th, 2010
3:57 pm
the Vols. LSU, USCe, and pick a Miss team are just the best too right fake P.O.A.D.? Bama is all the SEC has this year.
GO GEORGIA TECH
September 16th, 2010
3:59 pm
now where were we:
Robert Halls song:
The way you look tonight
I never will forget, the way you look tonight
The lady in red blood from me beating the crap out of her
The lady in red blood from me beating the crap out of her
The lady in red blood from me beating the crap out of her
My lady in red blood (I hate you.)
5150 P.O.A.D
September 16th, 2010
4:04 pm
So what if Va Tech lost to James Madison and FSU was dominated by Oklahoma and Miami was dominated by Ohio State and Tech was beat by a Kansas team that lost to North Dakota State the week before. The ACC is the best. Look at how many teams the ACC has ranked in the top 25 right now compared to the SEC. Way more!
Math Major
September 16th, 2010
4:07 pm
I just did the Math and here are the numbers for teams in the top 25!
ACC = 1
SEC = 6
It is official the SEC has only Alabama! The ACC Rules
Papadawg
September 16th, 2010
4:09 pm
Tried to tell you Techies your hope and dreams went to the NFL. Nothing left for your high school offense. Kansas, for real?
Yep
September 16th, 2010
4:10 pm
just like uga and Stafford and Moreno
Yep
September 16th, 2010
4:11 pm
GO TECH BABY
Yep
September 16th, 2010
4:11 pm
Tech and Ga two peas in a pod
Yep
September 16th, 2010
4:11 pm
Except Stafford and Moreno are playing in the NFL unlike the Tech players riding the pine.
Yep
September 16th, 2010
4:12 pm
Yep and Nope two peas in a pod