Georgia ‘wins’ practice game; Malcome likely starter at tailback
Georgia coach Mark Richt said Wednesday he's "pretty sure" sophomore Ken Malcome will get the start at tailback in the Bulldogs' season opener against Buffalo on Sept. 1. (UGA photo by Steven Colquitt)
ATHENS — Georgia coach Mark Richt was having way too much fun with this whole “practice game” theme on Wednesday. He excitedly announced that the Bulldogs’ “won” Wednesday’s scrimmage at Sanford Stadium 49-48 over “Buffalo” in overtime.
That may sound somewhat distressing to UGA fans until they realize that Georgia played just one half and its traveling squad spotted the scout team (aka Buffalo) 35 points. Also, one of the Bulls’ touchdowns came after Richt placed the ball on the Georgia 11-yard line.
“But we could have stopped them or forced a field goal,” Richt said with a grin.
Fictional scores aside, Wednesday’s “dress rehearsal” scrimmage was an important component in the Bulldogs’ preparation for the Sept. 1 season opener. Georgia went through their entire pregame routine, including bussing to the stadium and playing under all the constraints of a regular game, with a working clock, referees, substitutions and live kicking.
“To be honest, it was like a real game,” said senior wide receiver Marlon Brown, who led the Bulldogs with 98 yards on 7 catches. “We left from the Butts-Mehre, went to the stadium, went to the locker room, did the team and individual warm-ups, listened to Coach Richt’s speech and went out there and played. It’s good because it’s Georgia versus somebody else instead offense against the defense all the time.”
It was a closed scrimmage but UGA’s Sports Communications staff kept statistics. According to them, quarterback Aaron Murray had a huge day, completing 20-of-25 passes for 253 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Freshman tailback Todd Gurley was the leading rusher for the third straight scrimmage with 54 yards on six carries and a touchdown. Sophomore Ken Malcome added 50 yards on six carries, freshman Keith Marshall had three for 17 (with a 30-yard TD called back due to a holding penalty) and Richard Samuel had three for 10. Marshall and Michael Bennett each had touchdown catches and Georgia had no fumbles or interceptions.
Defensively, the Bulldogs were led my linebacker Mike Gillard with 4 tackles and Amarlo Herrera had 3 stops and returned an interception 23 yards for a touchdown.
“I didn’t like that they got spotted so many points,” Herrera said. I don’t like seeing 48 points up there from anybody; that’s way too many. Nobody’s scoring 48 on us.”
Richt said “Georgia” had a chance to win in regulation. But freshman place-kicker Marshall Morgan missed a 57-yard field goal, his only attempt of the day. Murray scored the winning touchdown on a two-yard quarterback sneak.
“But it was kind of unfair I guess because they can’t tackle me,” Murray said.
“Buffalo” scored on its ensuing overtime possession but lost the game when on the attempted two-point conversion.
“It’s always fun to go out in Sanford Stadium and play and go through the whole routine, do all that,” Murray said. “It was fun. I thought it was a great day.”
Malcome likely starter at tailback
Richt was hesitant to discuss the pecking order of the tailbacks or which one might start the opener. But after some cajoling he admitted to reporters after the scrimmage that Malcome most likely will get the nod against Buffalo.
“I’m pretty sure Ken Malcome is going to start,” he said. “But something could change between now and then.”
Richt said he might not make an announcement until the night before the opener and then it may be only to the team.
“I don’t know for sure,” he said. “I even haven’t talked to the staff yet about how we’re gonna do it. Even when we do that I doubt I’ll announce the thing because I don’t even want them to know. I want them to keep fighting and competing. We’ll tell them the night before the game maybe.”
Informed after the scrimmage that Richt was leaning toward starting him, Malcome was unmoved.
“I mean, it’s not that I don’t care,” he said. “That’s what I was already thinking anyway. But I’m gonna keep pushing. I’m not going to let that one little statement go to my head.”
For what it’s worth, here are the tailbacks’ rushing stats in the three scrimmages: Gurley — 19 carries for 199 yards with 4 TDs; Malcome — 16-117-1; Marshall 15-63-1; Samuel 9-50-1.
This & that . . .
Richt said he was misunderstood and did not close the rest of the Bulldogs’ practices this week because he was mad at the media.”If anything I’m mad at myself,” he said of having a competition period opened Tuesday in which reporters saw Marshall get shaken up on a hard hit. Richt said only Thursday’s “situational scrimmage” at Sanford Stadium is off-limits. There will be designated media observation periods as per normal routine for Friday’s and Saturday’s workouts. . . . Though the Bulldogs’ starting lineups are pretty much set for the opener, Richt wouldn’t say who the starting safeties are going to be. All-American free safety Bacarri Rambo is thought to be suspended for the opener but Georgia hasn’t made an announcement to that effect. Same for starting inside linebacker Alec Ogletree.
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193 comments Add your comment
AltamahaDawg
August 23rd, 2012
3:20 pm
Well, I am reasonably sure you don’t like to see a bunch of dead people, so I felt pretty safe I could go there.
AltamahaDawg
August 23rd, 2012
3:27 pm
dawgface, saying that a running back has to keep his QB from getting sacked is a “fall back” is like saying Grantham likes to use tackling as a fall back.
They can ALL run. So no, that’s not the only issue. Who can help us win thye football game the most, is what Richt has always used as the criteria.
PerroGrande
August 23rd, 2012
3:46 pm
Joey, for someone who appears to be hypercritical of Coach Richt, you don’t take criticism to well, do you? You were the one who brought it up, not me. I was merely carrying your joke through to its conclusion. I just get sick and tired of “morons” and “dimwits,” to borrow your words, criticizing CMR’s faith on a football blawg. My apologies if that wasn’t your intent. I’m all for discussing football and having fun at it.
SCDAWG
August 23rd, 2012
4:06 pm
It does not matter who the starting RB is they will all get the rock. Plus it’s BU
AltamahaDawg
August 23rd, 2012
4:07 pm
Well in all fairness, it’s not like he voted for Obama!
Newman
August 23rd, 2012
4:09 pm
WDE…Does it matter? Reveals his mindset, desire and heart.
Joey
August 23rd, 2012
4:24 pm
Perro, I don’t mind criticism – just not with a Holier-than-thou attitude – over a flippant joke, no less.
But now we get to what’s bugging you – not that I was making light of a supposed catastrophy in Haiti, only that I am critical of Mark Richt. “Hypercritical,” in fact.
I have always prefaced my criticism of Richt by saying that he is a good or great man, just not such a great coach. I, as a Christian, have never criticized his faith. Never would.
I made a joke, and probably will many times from here forward, of his tendency to leave Athens and head south for his mission work. I even make a point that I bet Saban and Miles aren’t in Central America during the summer. And I’ve never called Richt a nimwit or moron. I saved those words for you, for making a big deal out of a joke.
While admirable, and absolutely none of my business, I always make a joke that I wished he would “send a check” and stick around and make up some new plays, and, ya know, earn that $3M salary. Again, none of business, but it is my “comment” – you know it says at the bottom of the page, “Add your comment?”
At any rate, I made a joke. You attacked. Don’t worry about an apology. It’s simple – I’ll skip your posts if you’ll skip mine.
Rough Season Ahead
August 23rd, 2012
4:31 pm
Wow, apparently Murray will break all SEC passing records for a single season. For those wanting a rushing attack, you will be sorely disappointed. Backup RBs with a mediocre OL spell T R O U B L E.
Joey
August 23rd, 2012
4:48 pm
“Backup RBs?”
************
Keep dreaming techie – by the time we get to our favorite cupcake, the OL and those backup RBs will run over Al Groh and his porus D, and PJ will drop some f-bombs and GDs with the cameras rolling.
AltamahaDawg
August 23rd, 2012
4:50 pm
S. America is a long way from Lake Burton.
Joey
August 23rd, 2012
5:05 pm
Who wrote about S America?
Get it right AD, and what’s the Lake Burton connection?
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[...] Notebook: Georgia ‘wins’ scrimmage; Ken Malcome likely starter at tailback [...]
AltamahaDawg
August 23rd, 2012
5:10 pm
south, central, you know.
Saban spends his vacation time on Lake Burton. Boating and what not. I was just going along with the meme that where a coach spent his vacation days, matters.
PerroGrande
August 23rd, 2012
5:17 pm
Got it, Joey. You don’t think Richt is a great football coach, and you don’t think great football coaches go on mission trips to Latin America in the summer on their own time and money! I would just ask you to think about this. If you had one of the top records at your profession, and some bozo who didn’t know a hundredth of what you know criticized you constantly, even how you spent your off time helping other people, I would bet you couldn’t handle it. You can’t even handle discussing this with me.
Joey
August 23rd, 2012
5:43 pm
Mark Richt is not a “great” coach in my opinion. And I would LOVE to discuss football with you. This is your first attempt at FOOTBALL. You last posts were trying to put a guilt-trip about Haiti on me.
UGA football? Let’s go. Why don’t we break down Richt’s record at UGA into, say, halves?
I realize you fan-boys want to lump it all together, so, how about your job? If your boss said, “dang, Perro, since you had that good year in ‘07, you have been barely average.”
Do you think you would hear, “But since you were great in 2002, I’m gonna give you a raise and give you 5 more years to get back above average?”
Hell no, he would say, “I can get somebody else that can do better.”
Joey
August 23rd, 2012
5:46 pm
Yeah, AD, that Saban is a real loafer – “boating and such.”
I bet he never checks in at the office til Friday before games.
You are way too smart to go there . . .
Joey
August 23rd, 2012
5:49 pm
This is my last post – got to go out for dinner, but a silly proposition to insinuate that Richt and Co are as well prepared for football season as Saban and Co.
Richt would be a full time missionary right now if not for Todd Grantham.
Dawg Tired
August 23rd, 2012
6:29 pm
My view:
Start Gurley against Buffalo. Let him get his feet under him against a weaker opponent. IF he is as good as the players think he is, he needs to get as much experience early as possible. As a freshman he should improve significantly with meaningful playing time. Malcome looked good against MSU. He should be splitting time with Gurley. Samuel has great character but limited ability. His playing time should also be limited. Marshall may ultimately be very good, but may see limited action this year. Seems to be a good receiver out of the backfield and should be used to exploit his speed. While this seems simple, I doubt this is the way it will go.
I have never said CMR intentionally plays the weaker player. I think he actually believes he is playing the best players. However, last year it was obvious that Walsh had become an absolute head case and had zero confidence. When that happens to a kicker he is done. CMR didn’t figure that out. Murray may be our best QB. However, when he goes into a funk, it seems reasonable to get him out for a series so he can get it together. Any serious college football contending team should be able to put a backup Qb in from time to time. CMR just won’t do that. It has hurt the team and will continue to hurt the team unless he starts giving his backup QB some meaningful reps.
You can agree or disagree, but that’s how I see it. I would prefer those that disagree with my view of the situation not act like an insane jerk and get all twisted out of shape. Disagree? Fine, but don’t get all superior about it.
PerroGrande
August 23rd, 2012
6:45 pm
Joey, out of 10+ years, Richt teams have finished 2nd, 3rd, 7th (twice), 10th and they have had several top 20 seasons! He has one of the top winning percentages of any head coach. He recruits very well; he is a great mentor to coaches and players; he has had a number of 1st rounders he has recruited and coached, and he has even coached Heisman winners! He won the SECE last year, and is ranked 6th preseason this year! I guarantee you that if you were in the top 10% at your school, or in your profession, and somebody was trying to criticize you like you are criticizing Richt, you would think it laughable. Just admit it, nothing will satisfy you but a NC and until you get that NC, you will continue to criticize and pitch your fit. I’m just sayin’ that if you finished second, third, seventh, and tenth in your class of hundreds, you wouldn’t tolerate a lot of criticism from people who insist you are not a good student unless you are the valedictorian. I want the NC, and I guarantee you Richt does, too. Maybe ‘12 is the year, and maybe not. But I will enjoy watching how it plays out.
PerroGrande
August 23rd, 2012
6:53 pm
Should have added 2 SEC championships, and 5 total SECE championships. Over…
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August 24th, 2012
12:12 am
[...] Notebook: Georgia ‘wins’ scrimmage; Ken Malcome likely starter at tailback [...]
Dawg Tired
August 24th, 2012
8:00 am
Our running game has been weak the last few years (since Moreno left). While there are no doubt several factors involved, I believe one factor is using too many RBs. Splitting playing time between 2 seems ideal. Even very good backs need to find their rhythm and too many sharing the load prevents that from happening. There is certainly no need to be playing someone like Samuel who has, except for one 1/4 against Florida, been pretty ineffective.
AltamahaDawg
August 24th, 2012
8:45 am
Go where? You got to be kidding to try to put it off on me that I was calling Saban lazy. You were the one insinuating that Mark Richt proves that he is not committed to his trade because he spends a few of his well deserved vacation days In central America..as opposed to Saban who he doesn’t do that. MY point is that Saban spends a few of his well deserved vacation days on a lake. Tell me where I was calling Saban lazy for that.
Where you and others run into problems with folks like PG, over matter as he describes as critisising his faith……is when you say things that sound like “I respect and admire the man he is, I just wish he wouldnt do the things that make him the man he is”.
I actually DO think that Saban would go to a third world country and help if he could. That’s just not something he happens to line up.But I bet he does spend time on charitable ventures AND time on purely personal pursuits. Time away from his chalk board.
personally I just wish we didnt have to compare everythign to What would Nick Saban do. We are not the University of Alabama.
AltamahaDawg
August 24th, 2012
8:59 am
It’s also a complete exageration that if something happened to Richt’s job here at Georgia that 100 schools wouldn’t be lined up to intervierw the man to be the Head Coach of thier football team. And the obvious thing is that Richt would continue to do just that. Coaching IS how he lives his beliefs.
As if somehow he is just waiting to be done with this particular job to go be a “full time Missionary”.
I know at my church , the entire place is filled with successful business leaders, teachers, (and a few full time coaches), many of whom do travel or do charity work all the time. A person can do both, and not short change either one.
Joey
August 24th, 2012
11:18 am
Who said “lazy?”
“Boating and such” implied that Saban liked to loaf, which is the word I used.
Anyway, heading out to Daytona in the morning for a week, unless the Wyndham kicks us out due to that (Haitian killer) Issac.
The Richt-fan-boy Club won’t have to kick around for a week, but you’ll miss me, AD in particular. Seems I’m the inspiration for most of the words you write around here.
Joey
August 24th, 2012
11:26 am
Oh and I did snicker to myself over the “100 schools lining up” remark. Yeah buddy. Richt’s alma mater, Miami, has gone through how many HCs in Richt’s tenure here? 3? 4? And never even any interest? FSU neither?
Never a peep – and we saw Richt’s agent in action last December when he floated the A&M rumor, so we KNOW we would here about offers.
You may be right though. Who knows? We may see that 100 school line (or lack of) one day . . .
Nash Nance's Dad
August 24th, 2012
12:25 pm
My son is playing D-3 ball and Duh-Rick is out.
Nice job I did here.
I should become a full time agent.
PerroGrande
August 24th, 2012
12:34 pm
>Anyway, heading out to Daytona in the morning for a week, unless the Wyndham kicks us out due to that (Haitian killer) Issac.<<
I wish you would stay home and just send a check to Daytona…might do your job better!
AltamahaDawg
August 24th, 2012
1:23 pm
No, boating and such means that I didn’t have access to his exact agenda, while he was at Lake Burton this past summer, so I took some liberties.
“Recreating in some type of lake related activities”
Joey
August 24th, 2012
3:19 pm
Do you realize how stupid you seem writing that? When I take a week off, it affects only me and my income. When I send a check anywhere, the funds damnsure didn’t come from tax-payers, or by donations to the Athletic Dept of UGA. And I have never had a $3M salary.
Tell you what, PG, I will compare charitable donations with you anytime. Just say the word and we will trade tax returns so we can see who talks the talk, and who walks the walk.
Nothing Could Be Finer
August 24th, 2012
3:36 pm
Doesn’t matter who the dog start at RB.
That OL is still turrible.
CHDawg
August 24th, 2012
4:10 pm
Joey, that angry boy keeps coming out in you over the slightest jokes/criticisms–you ever heard, “he can dish it out, but he can’t take it?” I thought that was funny and almost a perfect analogy to what you said about Richt. You really want to go to the beach, paid for by your hard work, and you take offense that I would joke about it. Yet, that is exactly what you were doing with CMR! He isn’t being paid to go down there, and he could just go to the lake or the beach. Your strange idea that he is paid by fans, so he should get his activities pre-approved by the fan base is silly. He is paid well, but UGA football brings in millions in profits every year. If you could win the SEC every year, you could make more than that.
Joey
August 24th, 2012
6:28 pm
How many names you got, CHDawg/PerroGrande/?/?
So, you can “take offense” with my post – a joke about Haiti, but I am a “angry boy” when I take offense to your post?
See, I like Mark Richt – who doesn’t? I never questioned his drive, his smarts, his staff, as long as he won, and his team didn’t embarrass the fans in games – no matter who we played. All of that ended during and after ‘07. He started losing to underdogs, and losing games that could have put his Dawgs in the Big Game.
I am happy for you for enjoying those Top 10 rankings – though again, it’s been a few years, right? Going on 5 years. I enjoyed ‘07 – the near miss of getting in the BCSCG. But, I also wondered, with that team, with all that talent, how did we lose to SC? UT? I think about what could have been. I watch my DVDs of those games we lost, and see the mistakes, the lack of imagination, and yeah, the damn beatdowns by teams that we shouldn’t even be losing to, teams that have less talent than our Dawgs have on the field.
Didn’t it give you just a little, tiny bit of pause, after the 6-7 debacle, that Richt said he was going to “start studying football – cutting-edge football?”
For a decade-long head coach, making $3M a year, promising to “start” doing anything, was amazing – so . . . either Richt hadn’t been studying at all, or he was studying old stuff?
CHDawg
August 24th, 2012
6:46 pm
Joey, I was just busting your chops a little…have fun at the beach! And let’s hope CMR makes you eat all your words this season. Although, championships are a team accomplishment, and there is a lot more to it than just the HC, as many have pointed out–Go Dawgs and we’ll talk more when we see how they actually do on the field.
Josh Smith for 3
August 24th, 2012
10:13 pm
It’s understandable to start Malcome, there’s no need to throw in Gurley or Marshall on the 1st snap of their first real college game. All sounds good though, can’t wait for the opener.
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Joey
August 25th, 2012
8:13 am
Agreed.
Go Dawgs!
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