‘New guys’ bring unknown to UGA kicking game
ATHENS – On the eve of Georgia’s football season, a key question about the team centers around two untested freshmen. And no, this does not concern the much-hyped rookie tailbacks.
Today’s question: How will placekicker Marshall Morgan and punter Collin Barber, each of them 18 years old and three months removed from high school, fare in roles vacated by two seniors who graduated to the NFL?
The most honest answer probably is the one Georgia coach Mark Richt offered when asked this week if Morgan is ready to kick in front of 92,000 fans Saturday against Buffalo: “I don’t know. I don’t know how ready Marshall is. … I think in time he’s going to do extremely well. What will he do the first game, what will he do his first kick, I don’t know. It’ll be interesting to see.”
Then Richt added: “And of course Collin is kind of in the same boat.”
Freshman placekicker Marshall Morgan (UGA photo by Steven Colquitt)
Morgan, from Fort Lauderdale, is positioned to take over the field-goal and extra-point duties from Blair Walsh, who held both jobs the past four years and now is the Minnesota Vikings’ placekicker. And Barber, from Cartersville, is poised to succeed Drew Butler, Georgia’s punter of the past three seasons and now with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The footsteps in which Morgan and Barber follow, as well as the expectations surrounding a No. 6-ranked team, compound the pressure on the freshmen to produce.
“I’m just going to try to zone it all out, to be honest with you,” Barber said. “I’m just going to pretend I’m back home in Cartersville … me, myself and the ball.”
Said Morgan: “We’re the new guys. So everyone is going to judge us and every single kick is being watched.”
Like most kickers, Morgan and Barber began as soccer players.
Morgan started playing soccer at age 6 and discovered a new sport when he rode his skateboard to a football practice in sixth grade.
“The coaches said, ‘Who can kick the ball?’” Morgan recalled. “I told them I could.” He made a 25-yard field goal on his first try, “and ever since then, they made me the kicker.”
In high school, he was credited with a career-long field goal of 59 yards, although he insists it was 60, and was ranked the nation’s No. 5 kicking prospect by espn.com. He committed to Georgia early in the recruiting process after also receiving an offer from Florida State.
Similarly, Barber branched out from soccer after a suggestion from a friend that he try football.
Freshman punter Collin Barber (UGA photo by Steven Colquitt)
Barber began kicking in ninth grade, and by 12th grade, he was ranked the nation’s No. 6 punter prospect by 247sports.com. He averaged 45 yards per punt last season for Cartersville and fondly recalls an 80-yard “bomb” in an all-star game.
He caught Richt’s eye during a camp after 11th grade. Richt offered, and Barber accepted, a scholarship on the spot.
Now Barber and Morgan are roommates, living a shared experience.
“Everybody talks about it, you know. ‘Hey, Collin, you’ve got big shoes to fill.’ Marshall, same things,” Barber said. “But I believe you can do anything you set your mind to. … Yeah, it’s probably going to be tough to fill [Butler’s shoes]. But I want to fill them and I want to outgrow them and leave bigger ones.”
Morgan and Barber expressed satisfaction with their preseason performances, although scrimmage results were mixed. Morgan made a 42-yard field goal in one scrimmage and badly missed a 57-yarder in another.
As expected, the freshmen were listed as the No. 1 placekicker and punter on the depth chart released this week. But Richt said non-scholarship players Jamie Lindley (kicker) and Adam Erickson (punter) provided competition during practice and did not rule out giving them a chance in games. On kickoffs, Richt said both Morgan and Lindley have performed “well enough to do it.”
“It’s definitely going to be mind-blowing,” Morgan said of his Sanford Stadium debut. “I may get goosebumps not because I’m nervous but because it’ll be a feeling I’ve never experienced.”
Morgan and Barber follow players who made a mark in the record book. Walsh’s 76 field goals rank third on the UGA career list; he made 55 of 68 attempts in his first three years before slipping to 21 of 35 as a senior. Butler had a career average of 45.4 yards, the UGA record, and won the Ray Guy Award as the nation’s top punter in 2009.
UGA players are intrigued about how the freshmen kickers will fare Saturday.
“It’s a little bit different when you go out there and it’s not just your teammates watching,” linebacker Christian Robinson said. “There’s people seeing if you’re going to live up to the hype, and I think they can.”
– Tim Tucker, AJC
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- Richt evasive on status of Bacarri Rambo, Alec Ogletree
- Keith Marshall dazzles teammates with ability ‘to juke’
- A close look at the Buffalo Bulls
- Howard, Williamson fired up about 20th season on radio with the Dogs
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- Two positions for Washington; Samuel ‘1B’ at fullback?
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- Notebook: Georgia ‘wins’ scrimmage; Ken Malcome likely starter at tailback
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- Branden Smith still looking to ‘take it to the house’
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111 comments Add your comment
AltamahaDawg
August 31st, 2012
10:22 am
Vandy can easily beat a team like SC, too. As we saw.
dawgfan
August 31st, 2012
10:26 am
Alabama was in the red zone 3 more times than Georgia, and scored 2 less TD’s. Do you think their fans are complaining “It would be nice to just pound the rock down people’s throats close to the goal line like great teams do, but (McElwain) seems to have very little interest in that.” ?
I don’t think their fans are complaining about anything since they are the reigning National Champions. I also don’t think their fans use stats against Kent State and Georgia Southern to pump up their offensive coordinators accomplishments. They could probably point to some impressive red zone stats against teams like Florida, LSU (the second time) or Penn State. Are seriously going to sit here and suggest that Bama, with its mammoth O-line and Trent freaking Richardson toting the rock, was NOT a better team in the red zone than us last year? You truly are delusional beyond all belief.
Thanks.
Big Crimson 75
August 31st, 2012
10:28 am
King & Alt — I’m thinking y’all picked the wrong year to move the S.C. game back to mid-season.
Based on what I saw last night, y’all would smoke em next weekend!!
AltamahaDawg
August 31st, 2012
10:29 am
How much do you want to bet me, that in those games you mentioned. the sequence of plays that you described did NOT always goes something like that?
See you problem is that you make very innacurate statements in here, then when called, you always revert to the same thing.
Well yea, but we stink , bla bla .
I still laugh about your retort “well what about that LSU game!”, when you ran out of any argument on that completely unrelated topic to the (reasons we lost the LSU game)
SO trying to drag you back on topic. Our best option was an injured freshman, or his 160 lbs replacement……..tell us how YOU as OC would have had a clue and pounded that rock againts the top defenses last year.
Nothing Could Be Finer
August 31st, 2012
10:31 am
Big Crimson 75
August 31st, 2012
10:28 am
King & Alt — I’m thinking y’all picked the wrong year to move the S.C. game back to mid-season.
Based on what I saw last night, y’all would smoke em next weekend!!
————————
Based on what I saw, the dogs wouldn’t be able to handle Lattimore (as is tradition).
AltamahaDawg
August 31st, 2012
10:32 am
No, I am not sitting here and telling you that we were a better team running the ball in the red zone last year. I am directly refuting what you said we DID do in the red zone.
Try as you may to change it now, I DO remember what you said, and the reason that I corrected you on it.
Mike Bell 790
August 31st, 2012
10:33 am
FIRST!!
rhbDAWG1
August 31st, 2012
10:39 am
Amen LHarding Dawg – As far as Vandy & Sc. Vandy got robbed! And it happened right in front of a referee.
Just Saying
August 31st, 2012
10:40 am
Where are all the obnoxious SC fans today? The silence is deafening!!!!
Nothing Could Be Finer
August 31st, 2012
10:47 am
Carolina got 5 sacks facing a pretty good Commodore OL.
They will be teeing off against a pretty bad Dogs OL in October.
Sights of Clowney tossing Aaron Murray like a rag-doll again will be in order.
AltamahaDawg
August 31st, 2012
10:49 am
Quick check of the MSU game. Not even close to what you described as (play selection) in the Red Zone.
Pulpwood Smith
August 31st, 2012
10:49 am
Roll turd Roll , nice spelling. Did you graduate from Bammer?
kingdaddy
August 31st, 2012
10:54 am
Twink
I’m not sure how old Clint is, but you know that was a factor. My Dad was a very good speaker, but age takes a little toll. He wasn’t on a tele-promter, he refused. It was real, not scripted…
Top Row Dawg
August 31st, 2012
10:59 am
Oh man, the Central Scrutinizer…….He was a very nice boy, he use to cut my grass. Frank Zappa in the UGA blog, gotta love it.
These two kickers only have to replace the leading scorer in the history of the SEC and a Ray Guy winner. Just kick it in the endzone on every kick off and I’ll be happy, that will do more to help the kick off coverage team than anything. Long legacy of Georgia Kickers:
Leo Costa
Durward Pennington
Bobby Etter
Jim & Bill McCullough
Kim Braswell
Allan Leavitt
Rex Robinson
Kevin Butler
John Kasey
Kanon Parkman
Hap Hines
Billy Bennett
Brandon Coutu
Blair Walsh
Long legacy of Punters
Bill Hartman
Zeke Bratkowski
Jimmy Orr
Bobby Walden
Kirby Moore
Spike Jones
Jimmy Shirer
Don Golden
Bucky Dilts
Mike Garrett
Jim Broadway
Chip Andrews
Chris Carpenter
Joey Hester
Scott Armstrong
Dax Langly
Jonathan Kilgo
Gordon Ely – Kelso
Brian Mimbs
Drew Butler
Keep the foot in football boys. Go Dogs for a special season!
kingdaddy
August 31st, 2012
10:59 am
Hey gamecluck
I didn’t know a “Gamecock” could lay an egg, lol…
I gotta go. Back a little later. Doggies, don’t let them “bushwhack” me too bad, lol…
WDE
August 31st, 2012
11:05 am
@Nothing Could Be Finer if you can with a with a straight face say your impressed with the showing our bunch put in YOU are a kool-aid drinker of the first order. A much smaller and slower Vandy team gave your bunch all they could handle nearly put your QB down for the count and put a butt kicking on your stud RB. Wait till you face a team that matches up in size and speed , and really has the Visor ever done a worst job coaching than he did last night?
AltamahaDawg
August 31st, 2012
11:06 am
Tony Scarphonie…….
Big Crimson 75
August 31st, 2012
11:11 am
I saw NO “IT” factor from S.C. last night.
Aside from Lattimore, they are weak on Offense.
This is not going to be a “sleeper” team in the SEC.
What’s up with Spurrier?
Did y’all notice he & Shaw were not exactly communicating during the game?
Also, 11 passes by Shaw!! That was not Spurrier ball.
dwagdawg
August 31st, 2012
11:13 am
that dawgfan is just one miserable basstard. Do everyone a favor and kill yourself, dwagfan.
Nothing Could Be Finer
August 31st, 2012
11:15 am
WDE
August 31st, 2012
11:05 am
@Nothing Could Be Finer if you can with a with a straight face say your impressed with the showing our bunch put in YOU are a kool-aid drinker of the first order. A much smaller and slower Vandy team gave your bunch all they could handle nearly put your QB down for the count and put a butt kicking on your stud RB. Wait till you face a team that matches up in size and speed , and really has the Visor ever done a worst job coaching than he did last night?
—————-
Butt kicking on Lattimore? Thats pretty laughable. 110 rushing 2 tds.
I guess that is a butt kicking to dogs fans who are used to experiencing worse.
Oh and Spurrier was obviously sandbagging the play-calling last night. Don’t want to use the entire playbook in the opening game. Football 101, bud.
AltamahaDawg
August 31st, 2012
11:25 am
Tell me you did NOT just say “Football 101, bud”…………
AltamahaDawg
August 31st, 2012
11:29 am
Vinnie Colaiuta
DawgNation
August 31st, 2012
11:40 am
Alt. Yes he did! I am laughing so hard that the coffee shot through my nose.
WDE
August 31st, 2012
11:46 am
@Nothing Could Be Finer Bud he put the ball on the ground the very first time he touched it, Vandy knocked him around all evening.And dude when is the last time Spurrier sandbagged anything? If you think anyone in the SEC is scared of SC after that showing you really need to brush up on Football 101.Try and get better we need you to be undefeated when you play us. After all your SUPPOSED to be the toughest team on our schedule…try and keep up..thanks
dawgfan
August 31st, 2012
11:49 am
“How much do you want to bet me, that in those games you mentioned. the sequence of plays that you described did NOT always goes something like that?”
So you’re countering my supposed speculation with speculation of your own? Brilliant argument genius. You sit here and demand strict proof of my argument but you are free to talk out your arse. You sound like a Techie.
“See you problem is that you make very innacurate statements in here, then when called, you always revert to the same thing.”
Why are my statements inaccurate? Because you say so? Where is your proof? You cited some overall season statistics on red zone offense. How does that prove my statements wrong? Like I said, I know we scored at will on New Mexico State, Coastal Carolina and Georgia Tech. I don’t need you to tell me that.
“SO trying to drag you back on topic. Our best option was an injured freshman, or his 160 lbs replacement……..tell us how YOU as OC would have had a clue and pounded that rock againts the top defenses last year.”
Excuses, excuses, excuses. Maybe it would help if we didn’t have a 160 lb. freaking 2nd string running back. That is simply laughable. He would get laughed off the damn field at LSU or Bama. How would I pound the rock against the best defenses? What the hell difference does that make? I’m not making nearly $1 MILLION a freaking year to make those decisions. Mike Bobo is. He needs to freaking figure it out or we should find someone who can. Your damn right I keep reverting to the same arguments on this. I will continue to revert to the same arguments until Mike Bobo has proven he can get it done against a great defense. That has never happened. Despite all your excuses and supposedly fool proof arguments, you can’t point me to a single solitary freaking game where that has ever happened. Riddle me that Mr. Know It All.
You are full of nothing but excuses for our coaches. You are no better than a Tech fan.
“Do everyone a favor and kill yourself, dwagfan.”
Dream on Techie. Better go get your mommy.
AltamahaDawg
August 31st, 2012
12:07 pm
No I am not speculating in the least. Don’t think for a second thatIi didn’t already know the answer to that question before I bet you that you didn’t. And I don’t require you to have strict proof, but a rational explaination for your comments is a minimum, IMO.
Claiming that the playcalling in the red zone is clueless, (when nit’s not even what you described it to be) then by stating If we had Trent Richardson we wouldnt pound the rock better only contradict your very point…..is not rational.
And I don’t call pointing out where your were completely factually incorrect, “making excuses”. Making excuses to me would be something like, just being unhappy about something and stating something with no basis just for the purpose of complaining about it.
AltamahaDawg
August 31st, 2012
12:09 pm
We were better than 80% redzone scoring against only SEC teams last year, too, an FAR more TD than FGs. New Mexico State, Coastal Carolina are not in the SEC. Is that specific enough?
Zandy
August 31st, 2012
12:29 pm
Mt name is Zandy, and I’m a moron troll!
7576DAWG
August 31st, 2012
12:29 pm
Had to make one comment about Kyle Carter getting arrested for weapons violation.
The Athens police department has stooped to a new low on this one. Carter asked a girl in his dorm room to leave that his roommate had invited in and when that didn’t work he thought he would scare her out of the room by grabbing his bat, because he is on the baseball team. What he should have done was asked security to get her out or he needed to get a new roommate.
The girl should have been charged with being a Bit@@.
7576DAWG
August 31st, 2012
12:31 pm
Either South Carolina is overrated or Vanderbilt is underrated.
AltamahaDawg
August 31st, 2012
12:36 pm
UGA scored 7 out of 10 trips to the red zone against top 10 teams last year. (the only ranked teams they played). 5 TD and 2 FG. So, again I ask..what games are you talking about that he wasted 3 downs on philosophical grounds before kicking the inevitable FG attempt?
AltamahaDawg
August 31st, 2012
12:40 pm
Since we are now pretending that what you really meant by “always happens” ,…..is in very specific situation playing the top teams. Despite you making that post in a article about Buffalo.
docdawg
August 31st, 2012
12:41 pm
You can yawn about kickers but they win and lose tight games with field position and points. These 2 I think will be a nice surprise, both very sold, good range.
Say What???
August 31st, 2012
1:05 pm
@ Nothing Could Be Finer… So you are saying that, in order not to show his entire play book, the OBC held back and risked losing the first game of the season to a usually easy SEC opponent?? Seriously??? Well, that tells me what I need to know – you can add nothing to any of the conversations on this board….
Oh, by the way, you need to stop posting on this board, proceed directly to the house of worship of your choice, hit your knees and thank the good Lord above the entire officiating team had a collective stroke on Vandy’s 4th down play. That play would be considered a felony in at least 27 states!!!
AltamahaDawg
August 31st, 2012
1:05 pm
Alabama was dead last in the SEC last year in: Red zone against ranked opponents, TD%. 1 TD, 5 FGs.
AltamahaDawg
August 31st, 2012
1:22 pm
“Why are my statements inaccurate? Because you say so? Where is your proof? ”
It’s called records. Records of what actually happened. In NOT ONE of the 4 loses last year did anything remotely as you described happen in the Red Zone play calling. I can post every single play , from every series from every game if you really want to call me on that, but we both know what it would say.
If anything, we RAN the ball more in the red zone. The only way you even hit on anthing that matched is that you said
the word “pass” somewhere.
dawgfan
August 31st, 2012
1:30 pm
“UGA scored 7 out of 10 trips to the red zone against top 10 teams last year. (the only ranked teams they played).”
We also went a big fat 0-4 in those games. A lot of good it did us, eh? But I’m sure none of that is Bobo’s fault right? No, of course not. And 10 trips to the redzone in 4 games is absolutely freaking pathetic. That’s 2.5 trips per game. You think we can win a championship by making it to redzone 2.5 times per game against ranked teams? You are on crack. Again, not Bobo’s fault I’m sure right genius? Let’s blame the water boy. Yeah, that’s the ticket.
Okay, so maybe you got me on something. Busted. I’m caught red handed. You da man. But guess what? WE WERE STILL 0-4 AGAINST RANKED TEAMS LAST YEAR genius. No amount of excuses and nitpicking at people’s statements will change that. You are in a dreamworld.
You just don’t get it. Let’s talk results. You don’t want to talk results. You’re like a Tech fan. You only want to criticize people’s arguments while ignoring the results. The results speak for themselves: WE HAVE NOT WON A BIG GAME SINCE BOBO TOOK OVER AS OC. Try to prove me wrong on that one smart guy. Show me one top 10 team that he has beaten. Just one. He’s been the OC for 5 years now so he’s had plenty of time to display his genius. It shouldn’t be hard since, according to you, he’s doing such a fine job as our OC. The floor is yours….
Rudy
August 31st, 2012
2:05 pm
These guys will be great. They’ll grow together, both being freshmen. And Marshall Morgan will be a great kicker. I hear Barber is booming punts 40-50 yards a pop. Yes, they will be nervous tomorrow but as they get more and more experience, they’ll be just fine.
Clowney is Da Man
August 31st, 2012
2:10 pm
You scared puppies are in for a tale whuppin when you visit the WB.
Rudy
August 31st, 2012
2:31 pm
It’s so obvious that every hater on this blog are GT fans. Makes no sense to come on here and admit your envy and jealousy of UGA. It’s crazy.
North Georgia Dawg
August 31st, 2012
2:34 pm
I love the moronic comments about how “bad” our defense was against Michigan State. They didn’t dominate, but they actually played very well for most of the game. If you don’t think they did good, please look up the stats, specifically the run defense. Bell has about 50 yards rushing and he was averaging around 100 I believe. The only weak area the Spartans exposed was the inability to cover their tight end. Cousins exposed us a little bit in the fourth quarter, but for the most part he didn’t play anywhere close to his usual self. The defense played well in overtime and would have won if it wasn’t for missed field goals. You have to keep in mind that John Jenkins was out hurt for the last drive of the fourth quarter and overtime and Gillard and Tyson were out as well. That surely impacted our depth.
Also, Georgia fans anticipate a better defense because of improved depth in the front seven. We seem to have a lot more guys out there to rotate.
North Georgia Dawg
August 31st, 2012
2:36 pm
You mean like the way the Gamecocks whooped Vanderbilt last night? Your team has no down field passing game so far and your secondary has serious holes.
Fair n Balanced
August 31st, 2012
2:37 pm
Ga schedule just got harder…..or easier. Is Vandy good? Or is SC not so good? It’s the first game of the season…..too early.
AltamahaDawg
August 31st, 2012
2:39 pm
Try making a point and actually sticking it to it first. THEN you can pretend to be the expert on what other people think.
Destin Dawg
August 31st, 2012
2:42 pm
Spurrier looked old, tired, stressed out, and relieved to squeak out a close one… not holding anything back … Lattimore and Shaw looked beat up.. whole team looked tired, hands on hips, etc… ESPN even said S.C. was lucky to be playing Vandy and Not GEORGIA !!!!
North Georgia Dawg
August 31st, 2012
2:46 pm
Vandy’s defense is pretty solid in my opinion, but South Carolina’s lack of a down-field passing game and Shaw’s inability to throw the ball at times has to be a concern for Gamecock fans. If South Carolina plays like that against Georgia, they will almost certainly lose. But the thing is that teams often open the season sloppy and both teams last night played sloppy. So it’s hard to know if South Carolina will work out the kinks or if they will look like that without Alshon Jeffery at receiver.
AltamahaDawg
August 31st, 2012
2:50 pm
“You think we can win a championship by making it to redzone 2.5 times per game against ranked teams? You are on crack”
Unlike Alabama that averaged 2 times per game vs the ranked teams they play last year? I TD total against ranked team last year.
AltamahaDawg
August 31st, 2012
2:51 pm
red zone
Huh?
August 31st, 2012
3:10 pm
There is usually a game, maybe two, in a season where the kicking game/special teams play a huge part in winning or losing the game. Great teams usually have very good special teams. Time will tell how the two new kickers will do, and if UGA has shored up it’s ability to stop long punt/kick returns.
dawgfan
August 31st, 2012
3:12 pm
“Try making a point and actually sticking it to it first.”
I will continue to stick to my point that Bobo cannot win a big football game until he does. You can crunch the numbers all you like. It makes no difference to me. At some point you have to ask yourself, why are we not winning the big games? Have you ever asked yourself that Altamaha? It doesn’t sound like it. Sure, the defense hasn’t helped Bobo much during most of his time. I’ll give you that. But in 5 years as OC you would think there would be ONE GAME against a top team where you could say yeah, Bobo did a pretty good job there. I mean just ONE GAME dude. There isn’t one. Not a single one. You like facts and stats well there’s your facts and stats. How do you explain it Altamaha? How does an OC who has been blessed with NFL 1st round talent and 5 star running backs out the wazoo fail to win a single solitary BIG game in 5 YEARS? Can you explain that for me genius?
Do you know Bobo? Is that what this is about? I have nothing personal against the dude, okay. I saw him a couple of times on the North-South bus. Seemed like a perfectly nice fellow. But geez man, he’s getting paid the big bucks. This isn’t a freaking pee wee league. The objective isn’t to just have fun. The objective is to win.
Good grief. Tech fans are easier to get through to than you are.