Notebook: Mark Richt finally ‘fesses up about suspensions
ATHENS — For the first time since news of their indiscretions broke back in March, Georgia coach Mark Richt on Saturday finally admitted that Alec Ogletree and Bacarri Rambo are indeed suspended.
He’s still not saying for how long, however.
Ogletree, a star linebacker from Newnan, and the All-American safety Rambo, were among four defensive starters suspended for Saturday’s opener against Buffalo. The Bulldogs had already announced suspensions for cornerback Sanders Commings and linebacker Chase Vasser for off-season arrests.
But Richt and UGA had remained mum on Ogletree and Rambo, who reportedly failed school-administered drug tests after returning from spring break in March. Rambo’s high school coach has told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution both players are out for four games because theirs is a second offense of Georgia’s marijuana use policy.
Again, Richt wasn’t saying.
“Yes, they were suspended for this game,” Richt said. “We’ll find out what happens next week.”
Mitchell, Brown sidelined
The Bulldogs were also without two other players they thought they’d have entering the last practice of the week. Cornerback Malcolm Mitchell had to be scratched after suffering a fluke ankle injury in Thursday’s walk-through practice. Split end Marlon Brown was a game-day decision to hold out due a left hamstring strain suffered early in Wednesday’s practice. Both players are starters.
Mitchell’s loss was particularly disheartening because Georgia moved him from wide receiver to defensive back in order to shore up attrition in the secondary and get him ready for Missouri’s spread offense. Now they’re not even sure if he’ll be available next week.
“We never would have dreamed he would not have played,” Richt said. “We’re honing everything down Thursday and he ends up jumping up and coming down and landing on somebody’s foot and sprains his ankle and he’s out. Hopefully he’ll be able to practice and play this week, but I really couldn’t tell you.”
Brown was taken into the training room by sports medicine director Ron Courson early in Wednesday’s practice and flashed a thumbs-up sign when asked if he was all right. But the decision was made before Saturday’s game to hold him out.
Shortly before kickoff, Brown said, “I thought I’d be able go today,” but indicated he should be able to go next week.
Return expected for Theus
Georgia suffered two injuries on its offensive line during the game, most notably to right tackle John Theus. Theus, a 5-star signee from Jacksonville, went down with a left ankle injury four minutes into the fourth quarter and did not return.
“You never know with an ankle sprain,” Richt said. “With an offensive lineman, you have more guys who wrap it up tight and go. It’s tougher with skilled athletes.”
Right guard Chris Burnette went out with a bruised sternum at the 9:40 mark of the third quarter but returned later. He was still hurting after the game but said he “should be fine.”
Lineup shuffles
With all the absenteeism, Georgia had to shuffle its starting lineups. As expected, former walkon Connor Norman, a sophomore from Duluth, got the start at Rambo’s free safety. Sophomore Amarlo Herrera started at Ogletree’s Mo linebacker position. Redshirt freshman Devin Bowman got the nod at nickelback while Damian Swann slid over to play the boundary corner normally held down by Commings and Mitchell.
Offensively, Michael Bennett started split end where Brown would have been. Sophomore Merritt Hall got his first career start at fullback .
“Whoever’s out there has to play good enough to win is really what it comes down to,” Richt said. “That’s the way football is.”
In all, Georgia had five first-time starters in the game: center David Andrews, Hall, Theus, Norman, Bowman and Morgan.
Game Ball Relay
The game ball for Saturday’s game made a grand entrance into Sanford Stadium.
It came from underneath the Sanford Drive overpass in the arms of former head coach and athletic director Vince Dooley, was handed off at the hedges to Olympic gold medalist swimmer Allison Schmitt, who delivered it to UGA halfback legend Charley Trippi, who handed it to Georgia baseball player Chance Veazey at midfield. Veazey was paralyzed from the waist down in a scooter accident a few years ago and was treated at the Shepherd Center.
The ball delivery was part of the Game Ball Relay, an Olympic torch-style relay from Atlanta to Athens to that benefited Atlanta’s Shepherd Center. It started in Atlanta on Friday with members of Georgia’s 1980 national championship team getting the first carries, then handing off to members of the Army ROTC to make overnight trek to Athens.
No sellout for Sanford
Attendance at Sanford Stadium was announced as 92,446. That’s 300 below a sellout, which is exactly the number of tickets the Bulldogs said they would have on sale Saturday morning. Capacity is 92,746, so that makes it the first home opener Georgia did not to sell out since 1998.
Special teams update
Georgia was pretty rotten on special teams last year, finishing 116th nationally in punt coverage, 88th in kickoff return coverage, 79th in net punting and 65th in kickoff return average. It was a little better on Saturday.
The Bulldogs had two huge special teams plays, a 100-yard kickoff return by freshman Todd Gurley and a blocked punt by sophomore Chris Conley.
Outside of that they were pretty average. Freshman kicker Marshall Morgan was 1-of-2 on field goals and 6-of-6 on PATS and did a good job on kickoffs. The Bulldogs alternated freshman punter Collin Barber with sophomore walkon Adam Erickson averaged 38.4 yards on five punts.
“I think our special teams was the difference,” Richt said. “. . . If it weren’t for that we’re losing the game at halftime.”
Georgia was somewhat better on kick coverage. Buffalo averaged 21 yards on two kickoff returns but went for 33 yards on its only punt return.
Etc… .
The Bulldogs played 13 true freshmen on Saturday, the most under Richt. . . . . Conley’s block punt was the 20th by the Bulldogs since Richt became coach in 2001. . . . Aaron Murray’s 63-yard touchdown pass to Tavarres King was the 60th of his career. Murray now has 62 overall. King finished with 6 catches for 117 yards and now has 13 career TDs. . . . Georgia paid Buffalo $975,000 to play. It will pay a school-record $1 million to Florida Atlantic, its Sept. 15 opponent.
THE AJC’S COMPLETE COVERAGE OF SATURDAY’S GAME
Game story: Gurley’s dynamic debut overshadows lackluster game
Jeff Schultz column: Has Georgia duped us again, or was this performance just a hiccup?
Sidebar: Shaky start for Georgia’s vaunted defense
Video: Chip Towers recaps the game
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123 comments Add your comment
Blake
September 1st, 2012
11:38 pm
No doubt Gurley gets more carries next week, he did miss a block bad on one play that cost us a sack but other than that he was pretty flawless. Marshall looks to be pretty sharp too. He nearly broke a couple too. Murray I think was just a little too jazzed up early on. Once he settled down he was fine. He went like 9-12 in the second half. He’s gonna be just fine, and if there is a guy to take us to the promise land it’s gonna be Murray. All we really ran were go routes and quick hitches with a couple of bubble screens mixed in. We purposely held back and still nearly had 500 yds offense and put up 45. Gurley gets 10 more carries and we easily score 60. It was a good win, next week will be better.
Attendance
September 1st, 2012
11:47 pm
“Attendance at Sanford Stadium was announced as 92,446. That’s 300 below a sellout”
Are you sure you got that right, Chip? The game was nowhere near a sellout….I considered it a rather embarrassing turn-out even though it was Buffalo at noon….
JRW7
September 1st, 2012
11:58 pm
Dawgs beat a buffalo team that only won 5 games out of last 24 they played, but Gurley looked real good.
Vol 4 Life
September 2nd, 2012
12:04 am
At this point – Vols are looking like the class of the SEC East
UGA laid an egg today – your backups should beat Bufalo by 30.
Right’s staff has grown tired – and this team will struggle week to week.
Miamidawg
September 2nd, 2012
12:04 am
Typical CMR team. Plays down to the level of their opponent.
Unmotivated. Undisciplined. Sloppy. CMR football. Going to be a long season
Sick & Tired Of Being Sick & Tired
September 2nd, 2012
12:05 am
I just looked at UGA’s schedule. When will the Bulldogs stop playing all of these fluff games to pad their win/loss record… They do it every year and then rave about how many games they’ve won.
I mean really…..Buffalo (a big whopping 3 wins and 9 losses last year)…..Florida Atlantic….Georgia Southern…..give me a break!!!!!
Bug Squasher
September 2nd, 2012
12:06 am
Hey people! Did y’all read the article? UGA played 13 TRUE freshman. Did you really expect a blowout. It’s game one. Relax!
Bulldog_Greg24
September 2nd, 2012
12:14 am
Corners played soft and LBs played the run poorly at times. Gurley is a beast. He was considered the #6 best RB out of HS. These recruiting services are a joke. Offensively, a little disappointed in the O line. I thought we would come out and manhandle Buffalo’s smaller line. Gurley and Marshall got most of their yards after contact. I hope we can clean up the sloppy play by next Saturday.
Dynamic debut by Todd Gurley overshadows lackluster day for Dogs | UGA sports blog
September 2nd, 2012
12:32 am
[...] Notebook: Updates on suspensions and injuries [...]
Dawg Dawg Dawg
September 2nd, 2012
12:48 am
Why the drawn out drama after gunplay, girlfriend beatings, DUIs, etc?
Just tell us the truth. Be straight with us. Be a Christian.
Huh?
September 2nd, 2012
12:55 am
WDE and all the rest…say what you want…make excuses…UGA looked bad today. I’m not the only one saying it. ESPN said they looked iffy…other media outlets are saying the same.
If you want to blame it on whatever excuse you decide to make yourselves feel better, that’s fine. However, deep down you are worried. You won’t admit it…but it’s the truth none the less.
RED DOG 77
September 2nd, 2012
12:58 am
Oh Good Greif People!!!!!……………Lots of close calls around the country today [except for Alabama]. The first game of the year often times is a chance to get the kinks out. Georgia will have a pretty damn good team this year, but all champions need “old Lady Luck” from time to time………..Just look back at the champs and show me one that didn’t have a good bounce, a good call, miracle catch, stupid play, funky weather………..something that helped their cause……….Georgia will be fine with the D we have now, and even better when our bozos return………..Lighten-up people enjoy the season…………Gurley, Bennett, and Wooten rocked today…………….Along with a scrappy bunch of Oinemen who should only get better every week…………..RED
Huh?
September 2nd, 2012
1:01 am
Red…”all champions need old Lady Luck from time to time.” Please don’t use UGA and champion in the same sentence. It might confuse some folks.
Patrick
September 2nd, 2012
1:06 am
ESPN is pathetic …LSU won by a similar score but said LSU rolled. UGA struggled
.
Hmmmm, you would think UGA’s 45 to 23 win over Buffalo was worse than #12 Wisconsin’s 26 to 21 win over Northern Iowa or #23 Florida’s 27 to 14 win over Bowling Green or #21 Stanford squeaking by San Jose State 20 to 17. How bout #10 Arkansas tied with Jacksonville State or number 4 Ok tied with UTEP….dayum man. UGA had 7 first game starters in this game. This was a scrimmage to see what they have. ESPN bite me
Huh?
September 2nd, 2012
1:10 am
Patrick…you know what all of those teams have in common (UGA, Wisconsin, Florida, etc)? They all looked bad and are overrated. No way UGA looked like a #6 team. I doubt they will be next week.
Eugene
September 2nd, 2012
1:10 am
No matter what the game plan was or wasn’t, the football game that UGA played today could not in good conscience be called SEC football. I just hope they get their helmets screwed on right sooner than later. I will be closely watching to see if this Georgia team gives Missouri a proper welcome and orientation to the conference of the National Champion.
kingdaddy
September 2nd, 2012
1:57 am
Huh won’t talk about his team, only UGA. He knows his own team is an embarrassment and his obsession with the Dawgs proves they whip his team all over the field. What a loser, constantly bashing UGA because they beat his team, lol…
Destin Dawg
September 2nd, 2012
5:27 am
Hey we played a bad game… BUT not as bad as Floriduh!! and S.C. Gameclucks squeaked out a win over Vandy on a bad call…. Tenn. looked pretty good… SEC East should be exciting to watch !!! Go Dawgs !!
MajorDawgFan
September 2nd, 2012
6:38 am
Why are we suspending players who may have smoked a joob during spring break? My goodness. Was that a rival coaches idea, or our own? We deserve to lose if that’s the case.
Hobnail Boot
September 2nd, 2012
7:41 am
We better get it figured out before next week. The middle of the field was open all day long. We face a real running QB at Mizzo. We need to run Gurley and take the clock away at Mizzo. MLB got to stay at home and protect the middle of the field.
Just Stop
September 2nd, 2012
7:47 am
Good Lord people. UGA is not Bama!
You won the game. Looked pretty good at times, sloppy at others. That’s what UGA does. Every year.
Stop acting like you should have pitched a shut out and put up 80 points or something. You’re not all that! You take the win and move on. Quit crying that it wasn’t a good enough win, like you’re some kind of perennial football power like Bama and LSU. Hershel’s gone and he ain’t coming back.
ringleader
September 2nd, 2012
8:35 am
Enter your comments here
Bla, Bla, Bla,
All I know is Buffalo pushed the defensive line all over the field, and they were better prepared for the heat.
Mobile Dawg
September 2nd, 2012
8:41 am
Anybody see the pregame interview with Richt, then the halftime interview? Pregame, these guys are ready to play, halftime, we’re just not getting it done. Is Richt really that disconnected? I believe he is, these Dawgs were, for the most part, unprepared again. But hey, we got a W, so it could be worse.
BuzzMaster
September 2nd, 2012
8:41 am
Most players smoke weed—it’s no big deal. It should be legal anyway.
Mobile Dawg
September 2nd, 2012
8:43 am
OH, and don’t let me forget the part where Richt said we finished our preparations early this year, right before he said these guys are ready to play. And Big John, all your talk about taking food away from your family, just more talk. I watched Bama destroy Michigan, they were prepared.
kmarshall4
September 2nd, 2012
8:51 am
first off buffalo has a good offensive line, they play in the mac laugh if you want mac football is physical they pushed us around in the 1st half we settled in and took care of business good start now lets bust missouri`s tail and move on. check the records of the mac teams yesterday just saying
kmarshall4
September 2nd, 2012
8:55 am
is there rule that the suspensions of rambo and ogletree have to be the 1st 4 games or can they be any 4 games if so i say fla atlantic, ga southern and tech those should be easy wins anyway
Bulldog Born & Bred
September 2nd, 2012
9:21 am
We better be glad we dont play Ala or LSU Michigan would clean our clock
Tired dawg
September 2nd, 2012
9:46 am
When is homerville going to get it……same coach, same inconsistent identity, same lack of finish, same overhype.
9 wins in the easiest schedule ever, can’t wait for the excuses around how we just had too many injuries, too many suspensions and we were young……
Techster
September 2nd, 2012
9:51 am
So Richt wont tell us if Ogletree will play or not next week? Thts unacceptable. The school should require him to release any suspensions for next week.
Mike Franklin
September 2nd, 2012
9:57 am
This post smoking thing is a two way street.
On the one side, those guys knew the policies and knew the risks to their positions on the team should they violate them. You can play for the Dawgs and maybe land a carer in the NFL, making a bundle of money playing a kid’s game or… you can throw it all away because you wanna toke a joint.
The flip is that we all have our own lives and when not AT school, we shouldn’t have the same demanding our bodily fluids. we’ve surrendered so much of our liberty and privacy to the cause of national security and the war on drugs… both of which have left more footprints on our constitution than any REAL war in history.
kmarshall4
September 2nd, 2012
10:12 am
from mizzou website pressure on franklin was way to much for a fcs school inconsistancy on offensive line was expected but needs to get better in a hurry, omg i say 4 sacks at least for jarvis get plenty of rest james franklin you will be running for your life grantham will unleash the hounds this week believe that.
Georgia
September 2nd, 2012
10:18 am
Buffalo’s qb, wr, and rb(yes rb) looked better than what scarolina brought to Vandy. They were a big team and a good warm up contest. Its good to get a little competition to get ready for the heavy weight fight. Tenn looked better? well of course, Dooley is fighting for is job and they returned everyone. Ark gave up 24 to who? LSU won by 27 vs who? Relax, Georgia will be fine. 45-23
Blake
September 2nd, 2012
10:22 am
It’s amazing how most of you have no football IQ. They played a simple, watered down, vanilla game plan by design! They didn’t run hardly anything in the play book offensively, and virtually stayed in zone the entire game on defense. We still nearly had 500 yds total offense and put up 45 pts. Despite the QB running wild, which happens when you play zone the entire time. From the beginning of the second half until the late fourth quarter they were held to around thirty yards, so they easily shut them down when they had to. Not at all worried about Mizzou. They’ve got a rude awakening coming next Saturday.
kmarshall4
September 2nd, 2012
10:24 am
totally agree blake watch the game folks!!!!!
kmarshall4
September 2nd, 2012
10:27 am
i would send harvey clemons and jordan jenkins on alot of blitz packages two great athletes
zbulldawg
September 2nd, 2012
10:30 am
What a bunch of cry babies !!! I’m so glad ya’ll aren’t playing or coaching this team ! Thanks UGA for the 1-0 start !! LET THE BIG DAWG EAT !!
DOGGIE IN NC
September 2nd, 2012
10:38 am
Good Grief! 45 points is not enough for you people? Bobo sucks because we only scored 45? What would it take to make you happy? 60? 70? Is there no end to your stupidity!
Their quarterback was getting loose because we were not holding a linebacker back in the middle – he never ran around end – always up the middle. If you look at the 2nd half, you see us keeping 1 or 2 back, and he was not able to run loose. Believe they had less than 40 yards in the 3rd quarter.
Not sure why Murray gets over-hyped for games, but he needs to learn to control his emotions at the beginning of games. He settled down and looked good.
Defensive backs are going to have to step it up next week, or Mizzou is going to pick us apart.
The heat was a killer today – going to be a little cooler next weekend when we kick it off, which will result in the team having more energy and playing better.
GO DOGGIES!
The Lyin King
September 2nd, 2012
10:59 am
UGA will lose a game that they are supposed to win. They will drop out of the Top 10, and end up back in the Outback Bowl…
funny...
September 2nd, 2012
11:03 am
You idiots really think Georgia showed ANYTHING to Missouri? LOL
Both sides of the ball were so vanilla, so very base.
They held players out, they called like 6 offensive plays, and just played a base D.
gbal
September 2nd, 2012
11:07 am
I agree that we attempt the long ball too often, AM missed a couple that killed otherwise good drives we had goig..
he also seems to wait to long to scramble or release the ball when under pressure. Good to not throw the int yesterday but throw it away and not take the sack.
Cas
September 2nd, 2012
11:19 am
Did anyone notice that Gurley fumbled (let go of) the ball at the one yard line on one of his “touchdown” runs?
You have to cross the goal line “with ” the ball to be a touchdown
Reno64157
September 2nd, 2012
11:28 am
Who drug test players after spring break and why are the police always setting up check points around the Athens campus??? Do you think Saban, Meyer, Miles, etc… would put up with that???
He Hate Gator
September 2nd, 2012
11:47 am
Awesome performance by Gurley…best 1st game by a frosh since you know who….as for the rest of the teams performance, a bit disappointing..
jumpin dawg
September 2nd, 2012
12:22 pm
cas, you are absolutely wrong; Gurley did not fumble. You should have checked your tivo before making that comment; he was two steps past the goal before releasing the ball.
Chris
September 2nd, 2012
1:30 pm
Seven potential starters out for suspension or injuries. Our second best lb(ogletree)and one of the best in the SEC, best safety in the country(rambo), our best corner (commings) and another stating linebacker (vasser). Then our starting nickel mitchell, se brown, and rt theus all get hurt. I think we looked sluggish but almost 30% of our starters were missing
Little Richard
September 2nd, 2012
1:35 pm
Lolz – 92,000 fans. More like 80,000. Ole Richt better hope Bama doesn’t get a chance to bring the hammer and humiliate the Dogs again – see 2008 Blackout. Nothing has changed in Athens since 2008. Another bloated preseason ranking.
North Georgia Dawg
September 2nd, 2012
2:01 pm
Georgia looked sluggish yesterday without about half their starting defense out there. To me this shows how bad our secondary is without Mitchell, Commings and Rambo. At least Mitchell has a shot of returning next week. Who knows if Ogletree will play, though I am guessing he will not. I was afraid Theus was hurt a lot worse than he was… I’m glad he’s not going to be out too long.
North Georgia Dawg
September 2nd, 2012
2:13 pm
As Richt and several Georgia fans have pointed out- If we don’t get a lot better, the Missouri game won’t be close. But if we get Mitchell back, I feel that our defense will be a lot better. I think the main issue was the secondary, because the middle of the field was wide open whenever the quarterback decided to run. Franklin surely isn’t afraid to run up the middle against our defense right now.
North Georgia Dawg
September 2nd, 2012
2:17 pm
Where was the blitzing yesterday? Grantham normally has his defense play much more aggressive than that and I’m guessing he didn’t want to expose the secondary, since Norman and Bowman struggled badly filling in for the starters. A lot of teams play bad in the first game, however. Look at South Carolina, Arkansas and Florida. South Carolina barely won, Florida couldn’t put Bowling Green away and Arkansas gave up 24. It shows how rusty a team can be in its first game. Georgia better shake off that rust in a hurry though… and get Mitchell and Brown back for next week!