Attitude and defense are better, Dogs say
ATHENS – Thursday night’s post-practice interviews brought upbeat assessments of two key components of the Georgia football team: its attitude and its defense.
- Without naming any past offenders, inside linebacker Christian Robinson made it clear he likes the attitude of this team better than last year’s.
Christian Robinson is a projected starter at inside linebacker. (AJC photo/Curtis Compton)
“I think the guys that are here and that are playing right now and that coach [Todd] Grantham has trust in are those guys that stayed positive and kept working,” Robinson said. “Our whole thing is just being intense and doing what you’re supposed to, and I think the guys we have out there at this point are those guys who will make those plays and do what they’re told.
“I mean [if you have] a cancerous attitude, if you don’t have the right attitude, if you’re a ‘me’ guy –- we can’t have that. . . . I think the guys we have right now are the guys that are going to do it right, and you don’t have to worry about having off-the-field issues, things like that. The guys that are here, that are going to stay here, that are doing the right thing — we don’t have to worry about. And if they do [wrong], they know the consequences.”
Robinson suggested an issue with “people talking down” in the locker room last year.
“It’s a general attitude,” he said. “I think that at this point the guys we have are going to talk positive. There are going to be days you’re tired, you don’t want to be out there, it’s hot and the coaches are on you, and I think everybody is mature enough in this group that when you go out there it’s time to work and [coaches] are going to push you and you just got to deal with it.
“I think the guys we have here . . . know how to contribute to the team where it’s not all about themselves. I think we have guys that care about each other.”
- Meanwhile, coach Mark Richt made it clear he is encouraged by what he has seen from the defense in the first three sessions of spring practice. The unit spent last year adjusting to Grantham’s 3-4 scheme.
“You can already see the kids are getting better at … the technique of their job, of their position,” Richt said. “You’ve always got to learn what to do first, and then you’ve got to learn how to do it well. Last year there was a whole lot of time spent on just knowing what to do, and now that they have a better idea of what to do, they’re learning how to do it better. So techniques are improving. I think that’s the biggest thing I see defensively.
“And they are playing faster. They are playing with a little more certainty as to what they’re doing, so they’re able to turn it loose a little bit better.”
Reflecting on last season, “I don’t know if we ever turned it loose as a [defensive] group,” Richt said. “There were probably certain moments in time when it looked like we were getting it, but as an entire group, I don’t know if we ever played as fast as we hope we will this year. I think we’ll do better this year in that regard.”
– Tim Tucker, AJC
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375 comments Add your comment
RMikel58
March 26th, 2011
7:02 am
I still think it’ll take 3 years to know where our Defense is but i like our chances on Defense rather than Offense. Bobo can get 5 Star players all day long but if he is gonna continue calling bone head plays, nothing will change.
Grantham vs Bobo is like night and day.
With Grantham i have more hope of improvement but Bobo has me very worried about how really good our offense could be without him.
I think that Georgia and all that great talent will keep going to waste……as long as Richt allows Bobo to be Offensive Coordinator. Bobo will never step down unless he gets a better offer from another team. But you have to ask yourself this question…………. Do you think that any team would give him an offer as either Head Coach or Offensive Coordinator?
If you know then tell me, it would make front line news………maybe the Athens Banner.
Out of 148 Offensive Coordinators in College Football i’d say he’s ranked 185th because theres more Highschool OC’s better than him out there.
Yeah maybe we’ll win games this year but that’ll be because of our Defense or Special Teams and not the Offense. I’m being truthful folks………. If we dont have an established RB in the offset in the 1st game you’ll see Bobo go back to more passing like last year.
Plus Bobo needs to not use the draw on a Pro-Style Offense because its uneffective, ignorant and usually gets negative yardage. How many times did we see that last year 1st and 20 2nd down an 20?
How can so many educated people at UGA not see how dumb very dumb Bobo is and he’s using us a stepping stone to better possibilities in coaching?
Be honest with yourself is he really qualified or experienced enough to call plays on Offense at a College Level? He has no answers for very good Defensive Coordinators on opposing teams cause they eat him up. Bobo is so predictable that the knuckle head makes no adjustments at half time and goes right back to the same play calling as he did when the game started.
I dont know what goes on up there in Athens but the reality whether you like it or not is that as long as Bobo is at Georgia we will never be a great Offensive team and most certainly will not play for a National Title.
Call me what you want im just a realists and i see that the biggests problem we have is Mike Bobo as an Offensive Coordinator and until theres a real change at UGA we will always be a mediocre team……atleast on Offense.
If i didnt love Georgia and where its heading then i wouldnt say anything but this guy is only self serving and totally oblivious to know how to run an Offense.
He needs to leave period! But he wont….too much money and prestige and so he’s just buying his time and after he leaves then maybe you’ll see Georgia do better.
Paddy
March 26th, 2011
7:05 am
Virginia Dawg……..you just didn’t say the Jap’s bombed Pearl Harbor not the Germans? Did You??
Major, big time mistake on your part. People are laughing.
Hard Truth Soldier
March 26th, 2011
7:10 am
Just win, and all this talk is mute. With all these nat’l titles around us, could this be our year? We’ll know from game one if we can play, Boise State won’t “just show up”, they’ll come to play.
savannahdawg
March 26th, 2011
8:25 am
There are still players on this team who need to go!!!! You know who you are!!!
Stinger
March 26th, 2011
8:43 am
I have one question. Did Jamie Hood play offense or defense?
Buckeye
March 26th, 2011
9:24 am
DawginLex,
Congratulations and good luck the rest of the way.
Not sure if good defense causes 32% shooting or 32% shooting makes for good defense.
I would have like to have had at least one of your three overtimes you predicited!
Happy to see Sullinger and Buford returning as we welcome Mr. Georiga Basketball (ironic) to Ohio State next season.
Beast from the East
March 26th, 2011
9:26 am
Buckeye,
Congrats on a great season. That UK team is very gritty as we Gators saw in Atlanta.
Buckeye
March 26th, 2011
9:27 am
Foe those of you thatr want to take your shots, I am in denial. I will return to spar once I reach the anger stage.
For the recrod, plenty of SEC blowhards showing up on the Dispatch blogs.
Buckeye
March 26th, 2011
9:31 am
Beast,
Thanks. It was a fun run. Good luck to you.
Buckeye
March 26th, 2011
9:34 am
Thank goodness Jamie Hood surrendered before the end of the game. And the “hostages” parading out…… Pulease.
Beast from the East
March 26th, 2011
9:39 am
Buckeye,
Yeah, they sure appeared to held at their own will, didn’t they? Looked more like a house party to me.
dawgforever
March 26th, 2011
9:44 am
uga just needs a drive to win, learn to sack people and get interceptionsif we can do that and our recruit are as good as their supposed 2 b we will be headin 4 the aec championship in no time!!! o ya dont 4get we hav one of the best redshirt freshmen qbs in the sec !!!!!!! u can go ahead and cout those wins against auburn,gt,and florida!!!!!!!!
dawgforever
March 26th, 2011
9:45 am
sorry meant sec championship
It Ain't Rocket Science
March 26th, 2011
9:55 am
Turn the psoitive attitude into a positive attitude with aggression and they will do OK. They have the player skills, so if they utilize them, 10 wins is attainable. If not, something needs to be done to shake up the team and give them a new perspective on the game and how to win them.
Buckeye
March 26th, 2011
10:06 am
Beast,
As one looks at the apartment/crime scene photo on the front page of ajc.com, I wonder if they are in the “Hey” or the “Ho”!!
dawggone
March 26th, 2011
11:23 am
bubba j dawgman, drinking the koolaid again I see.
dawggone
March 26th, 2011
11:26 am
dawgforever, your definitley a uga grad by the way you type and spell
dawggone
March 26th, 2011
11:26 am
roll damn tide
It Ain't Rocket Science
March 26th, 2011
1:12 pm
Why don’t you roll right back over to the Bama blog, if you have anybody in the state of Alabama that can write one, or fo that fact, can even read one. I know, they don’t bother because the cartoons are too hard to draw.
ClinchCountyDawg
March 26th, 2011
1:57 pm
Buckeye
SEC!! SEC!! SEC!!
Buckeye
March 26th, 2011
3:01 pm
Clinch,
I see you are being gracious and humble in Kentucky’s victory. Good to see. Kentucky beat Ohio State. The SEC did not beat Ohio State.
Dawg bone
March 26th, 2011
10:54 pm
buckeyes choke in football and now basketball. They need some new coaches if they are ever going to win anything big.
Elliott
March 26th, 2011
11:09 pm
Team looked great with Mettenberger last G-Day, great chemistry when he was leading the team. Guys just made plays for him. When Richt kicked Mett off the team, I think that was the end of the 2010 season.
Guys didn’t make plays for Murray last G-Day, or last year against ranked teams.
You need leaders people react to by winning games.
It Ain't Rocket Science
March 27th, 2011
6:18 am
Not that I am any fan of the OSU buckeyes, but I think I would have settled for their record this year in football and basketball for our DAWGS. Hopefully, we will turn it around this season and be a much improved football team and get a few more bodies in Basketball and be competitive as well. I have a funny feeling though that UGA will always be a Football school first, so it is going to be harder for Basketball to improve.
East Cobb Dawg
March 27th, 2011
9:35 pm
S&C will prevent 4th and 1 foot from ever happening again…we’ll be picking up 1st downs on 3rd and…
can’t wait for G-Day game, nor game vs Boise State in the dome in the evening…
Go Dawgs…