Sunday’s UGA notes: Offense or defense or both for Malcolm Mitchell?
Offensive coordinator Mike Bobo and defensive coordinator Todd Grantham filled in for head coach Mark Richt on Georgia’s weekly media teleconference Sunday evening. (Richt was tending to some family business, UGA said.) What they had to say:
- Not surprisingly, both Bobo and Grantham expressed a desire to have cornerback/wide receiver Malcolm Mitchell on their side of the ball. Mitchell missed the season opener with an ankle injury and played defense in Saturday’s win at Missouri. Now, with defensive back Sanders Commings returning from suspension for this week’s game against Florida Atlantic, it sounds as if Mitchell’s role is up for discussion again.
First, from Bobo:
“I promise you, I’m going to go in there politicking hard for him offensively. I already walked in there to Coach Grantham’s meeting earlier this afternoon and asked what kind of offense FAU runs, what kind of personnel groups, how many receivers they’re going to have on the field. He was trying to say they play five wides. I don’t think they play five wides. [He was] joking a little bit, like he had to have him.
“But that’s something we’ll talk about as a staff. He’s going to get back on offense some this week. We’ve already discussed about that earlier in camp. Whether it will be full-time yet, I don’t know. But I sure would love to have him on offense, and he did a good job on defense the other night.”
And then, a bit later on the teleconference, Grantham:
“I think he’s a guy that will still continue to play on defense, because there is a need for him and what he brings to our defense. I think for the first time out he did a good job. He’s aggressive. He understood the route concepts and what’s happening. I thought he played better the more he played. I think he’s only going to get better as a corner. I think he’s the kind of guy that can be a very valuable guy to us moving forward on the defensive side of the ball. So we’ll continue to use him and work him in as needed and use his skill set to help us be productive on defense.”
Sounds like a question for Richt at Tuesday’s press conference.
- Todd Gurley got the start at tailback Saturday after his breakout performance in the season opener. Bobo estimated Sunday, off the top of his head, that Gurley played 39 snaps against Missouri, Keith Marshall 22 and Ken Malcome 13. “It’s based off production,” Bobo said. “Todd obviously had the biggest production last night in amount of yards (65) and yards per carry (6.5).” Bobo said Gurley didn’t get as many carries (10) as Marshall (12) because “some of the situations dictated we were spreading it out and throwing it when he was in there.” Said Bobo: “I think all of them did a nice job. All of them ran hard. We obviously didn’t block the way we wanted to on every play. … All of them are progressing. This week again will be another competition, along with their first two games of how we grade them and their production, [to] determine who the starter is.”
- Not surprisingly, Grantham provided no update on the status of suspended players Alec Ogletree and Bacarri Rambo. “We’ll just have to see what happens as we move forward.” As for Commings and linebacker Chase Vasser, whose suspensions are completed, Grantham said the plan is to use them in the same way as last season. With Commings, that means getting him ready to play both cornerback and safety, Grantham said. Grantham said he had received no report Sunday on the status of nose guard John Jenkins and defensive end/outside linebacker Cornelius Washington, both of whom “injured lower parts of their body” against Missouri, Grantham said. “We’ll have to wait and see tomorrow.” (Richt indicated after the game that Jenkins did not appear to be seriously hurt.)
- The sprained ankle that sidelined freshman right tackle John Theus from practice for the first three days last week “hurt him a little” in the game, Bobo said. Theus “went through some adversity in the game, a couple of missed blocks and some missed assignments,” Bobo said. “But the guy continued to play hard and play physical. … We’ve just got to get him out to practice this week so he can get better.” Theus was flagged for three false-start penalties against Missouri.
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166 comments Add your comment
DIT
September 10th, 2012
11:25 am
Is there room for improvement? Yes, but the attitude of this team is so different from last year. Much better! I like the fact that they are stronger in the 4th quarter so far this year. That could pay dividends down the road.
ARdawg
September 10th, 2012
11:32 am
Insider
I can’t imagine any SEC would seriously consider Bobby Patrino to run anything more than a laundry room. The dude has major stigma, particularly in the SEC
Valdosta Cat...
September 10th, 2012
11:33 am
@@@@Neutral, dumptruck
I think some emotions if that’s beating on your chest to your teamates and getting each other “pumped” is ok.. That’s not ‘hot dogging or taunting. I don’t know about you but I want that out of my D…I want to see some excitement and reactions. Granted i don’t want them dancing and getting in the opponent’s face, that’s a tasteless. But to beat your chest or point at your teammates in a very high intense game does something for your team and also does something to the opponent mindset… IMO.
G-Dawg
September 10th, 2012
11:36 am
Mizzou looks like they should have been a ranked team prior to this game, even after it. Much needed win on the road. Have plenty of talent, and well coached.
In other reports, 2014 RB Bo Scarborough has given his verbal to Bama over the weekend. Kind of came outta no where, but not a complete shocker.
kingdaddy
September 10th, 2012
11:40 am
DIT
could UGA be heading towards the Perfect Storm? Beat Vandy first at home, a payback game for last years flap. Then, beat an improving UT at our house . One game at a time. By the S.C. game, we should be clicking on alll cylinders and I don’t believe we can’t beat the chickens. I know we can. Just because SC fans say we can’t win, that doesn’t make it so. Since when did S.C. become invincable?
kingdaddy
September 10th, 2012
11:42 am
Invincible not invincable.
ARdawg
September 10th, 2012
11:44 am
kingdaddy
Seriously. you don’t think we can beat SC?
kingdaddy
September 10th, 2012
11:45 am
The chickens couldn’t beat a horrible Auburn team. I guess they choked the chicken…
kingdaddy
September 10th, 2012
11:47 am
ARdawg
Read it again. I don’t believe we can’t beat them. That means “Yes we can”!!!
Georgia-Vanderbilt game time set | UGA sports blog
September 10th, 2012
11:52 am
[...] Sunday’s UGA notebook: Offense or defense or both for Malcolm Mitchell? [...]
GB's Hamburgers
September 10th, 2012
11:53 am
I didn’t get the game on TV but saw it afterward on ESPN3. It looked a lot different than it sounded on radio. Seeing it made me realized how hard Missouri played. We never did whip them. In fact, they stopped the run. We won when superior athletes stepped up to make individual plays. Mitchell caught a guy from behind that was headed for a touchdown. We stopped the fake punt and then there was Jarvis Jones. I haven’t been a Murray fan, but I don’t know who could have done better in this game.
kingdaddy
September 10th, 2012
11:54 am
ARdawg
This team should be awesome in 4 weeks. (Barring injury or another suspension) Oline should be ready. RBs ready now. Defense almost there. WRs look good. Aaron, well we’ll see about him, but I think he will have his best year this year. Special teams better. Yeap, I think we fry-up some chicken…
St Simons
September 10th, 2012
11:57 am
“I can’t imagine any SEC would seriously consider Bobby Patrino to run
anything more than a laundry room.”
then you don’t know Auburn people.
they might even rent-a-Scam for 6 months, but that would be extreme..
kingdaddy
September 10th, 2012
11:57 am
In either the 3rd or 4th quarter, Big John Jenkins caught Franklin from behind. The big man can run!
atl xman
September 10th, 2012
12:03 pm
haha..still see all the bobo haters lpop warner coaches on here thinking they could call a better game.than coach bobo…offense puts up over 38 plus again yet you still think he cant call a game when it obvious that somethings working when his offense is avg over 38 a points a game since he has been off coord…..you guys are really sad and should stick to coaching the little 9-10 year olds.its as simple as this..when his players execute the play it works..that means the offense has to block and so does the running backs…also his receivers need to catch the ball and when they dont have a false start or hold to push the ball back there is even a better chance of the play working.
atl xman
September 10th, 2012
12:04 pm
kingdaddy…i did notice that too..big boy can run..did you see the youtube video of him playing running back at his jr college in kansas? very good feet..
ARdawg
September 10th, 2012
12:05 pm
kingdaddy, okay, I got’cha now. I know we can beat them. We should’ve have beaten them the last two years. I see insecurity on Richt’s part. The old bawl sack has a whammy over Richt for some reason. Even in 2010 with Lattimore’s coming out party we should have beaten them. Lattimore was a surprise there was no adjustment for him in the second half. We consistently and historically are the better team than SC. I thought Holtz would change that, he didn’t. Spurrier hasn’t either but he has outcoached us. They’ve never outplayed us.
St Simons
I would expect I do and I hold AU to no high esteem. Bobby P is the lowest of low in coaching right now. I can’t imagine even AU would take a look at him.
Have a nice day
September 10th, 2012
12:10 pm
Plants are intelligent–Very funny stuff coming from a dildo plant. I laughed just because I marvelled at the funny and stupid words coming from a mindless plant with ED.
AltamahaDawg
September 10th, 2012
12:20 pm
Yea Kingdaddy I would call them fans. That’s not much of a standard to clear. Being a braggart is not that difficult.
AltamahaDawg
September 10th, 2012
12:23 pm
FWIW, did anybody else think it “felt” like UGA ran the ball a lot better than the actual numbers would indicate?
atl xman
September 10th, 2012
12:24 pm
murray had a ton of drops from his receivers that hurt his numbers..i think he played outstanding and by far is better than mettenburger..i love how his confidence is never shooked even after a dropped pass or int…he keeps going after the defense..made some really pretty throws for tds.
atl xman
September 10th, 2012
12:26 pm
i thought uga ran well aswell…i dont remember too many negative runs if any from the running backs and even felt like they were a few broken tackles from really big gainers..marshall was tripped upa few times when it looked like he was going to break a big one..
rawdawg
September 10th, 2012
12:28 pm
Just pick a position that is the best for the kid and stick with it. Dont mess him up by gpoing back and forth like they did with Richard and Bean.
tidog
September 10th, 2012
12:31 pm
So Florida St. has played 2 home games Murray St and Savannah St were the opponents. Oklahoma has played UTEP and Florida A&M at home. FSU and OU are ahead of UGA in the AP and Coaches Poll. How does that make sense?
Joey
September 10th, 2012
12:34 pm
Doesn’t Marshall run hard for a smallish RB? He looks smaller than Murray, but really finishes a run hard.
Paddy
September 10th, 2012
12:37 pm
Rab1452……Samuel did not play except for special teams, because other players beat him out. He is a DGD but he is on the field where he is needed the most. Our walk-on fb played great. He is not a running back that can crack this lineup But I do hope we see him more this season.
Joey
September 10th, 2012
12:37 pm
It doesn’t make sense, tidog.
But, if UGA takes care of business, the polls will take care of themselves.
ARdawg
September 10th, 2012
12:37 pm
Altamaha
I think so. Although, I was a bit frustrated in the 2nd and 3rd quarters with the little running we did. After Gurley’s early success in the 1st, I though for sure we’d keep pounding it. Seems Bobo opted to go pass happy. IMHO, Gurley was effective early
'94 UGA Alumnus
September 10th, 2012
12:40 pm
Commings better be replacing Conner Norman/Opie Taylor at safety. We need him far more at safety than conerback. We need Mitchell more for defense right now until Rambo comes back. Our starting secondary for the next 2 games should be Smith and Mitchell at corner and Commings and Williams at safety with Damian Swann coming in with the nickel package and backing up the corners. I don’t want to see Conner Norman and Devin Bowman in any critical situations again on defense.
Joey
September 10th, 2012
12:41 pm
Right Paddy, I’m sure glad Samual was on the punt-return team – he used those LB skills when he played off that block and made the tackle on the fake punt.
One of the big plays of the game.
CHDawg
September 10th, 2012
12:44 pm
I wouldn’t be surprised if we moved Comings to safety and kept Mitchell at corner, along with Swann and Smith, and Bowman–for the next two weeks. Man, Swann sure could have been a hero if he had caught his int opportunity. On O, we didn’t use the screen or TE much at all, so those are big opportunities as we move forward. The only thing I noticed on running is that I thought they used 4 in a lot of pound the rock type plays, and they seemed to use 3 on a few more sweep and sprint draw situations, and they used 24 relatively less. I think they ought to use 24 and 3 out of the I, and when they pound it, and then try to get the ball to 4 outside and on the sprint draws. Maybe he wasn’t in there because of blocking issues on pass plays? It was a great win, and good for team progression.
Georgia-Vanderbilt game time set |
September 10th, 2012
12:56 pm
[...] Sunday’s UGA notebook: Offense or defense or both for Malcolm Mitchell? [...]
Chris
September 10th, 2012
1:03 pm
A direct quote from Mark Richt when asked if Gurley would start against Missouri and how much he would play after getting only 8 carries against Buffalo.
Richt, ” I don’t know who is starting yet but I can guarantee you Gurley will have more carries than he did in the first game.”
Gurley had 10 carries. A grand total of 2 more carries. That is freaking ridiculous! He needs to carry the ball at least 15-20 times a game, and any coach in their right mind would give him the ball more than that. If we don’t start using the talent we have, i.e. run the ball more, we are going to loose some games that we shouldn’t. There were several instances in the game Saturday night when we obviously needed to run the ball, but Bobo, as usual refused to do so.
joe jenkins
September 10th, 2012
1:33 pm
I’m really happy about the win. We played a great fourth quarter…I just don’t understand why we don’t get the ball in our fastest players hands like JSW….branden smith and malcom mitchell….and get marshall out on the edge….The O-line is still a huge concern…I still predict they will cost us a game or two…we are in desperate need of koulton houston to become eligible….I’m still a little concerned where we are ranked defensivly…I thought we would be ranked higher than that….got to have rambo and tree back soon
7576DAWG
September 10th, 2012
1:36 pm
94 UGA Alumnus
I agree.
Norman and Bowman need to play but only when we are killing another team. They need to play as much as possible so they can get better but against a team with a great offense they are both over matched right now and lost. They seemed to have missed a lot of assignments but it will be interesting to know how each graded out when the coaches watch the replay.
Two to the shoe
September 10th, 2012
1:41 pm
Agreed Chris. But it will never happen. We were throwing the ball way too much in the 1st half. I think all of our offensive issue revolve around the Oline and it’s performance. They are just inconsistent, thats to be expected. Just about everyone on this blog agreed that the Oline would be an issue this year. I do, howver, think that they will improve as we get deeper into the season. I have been a critic of Murray and have high expectations for him. He did overthrow receivers but they dropped their fair share too. As someone noted, there is enough blame to go around.
I think this team is going to get better and better each week. Its scary how good our defense can/will be once we get everyone back. We need to keep working hard in practice and get our execution down. But you know, sometimes you have games like that where nothing is working. And to Mizz’s credit, they gave us everything they had. My biggest takeway is what this young team showed us. They never gave up and played with heart. Jarvis Jones, well, words will not do it justice. He is a difference maker and one of the best players in the country. One game at a time dawg fans and remember, “you dont grade them, you score them”. 2-0
AltamahaDawg
September 10th, 2012
1:52 pm
ARDawg, As well as it “felt” to me that we were running the ball better, I think that is purely by comparison. Picking up a few 3rd and short conversions is a major improvement IMO, and that does make you smile. That is why I said the numbers didnt seem to match the perception. But I do think the numbers do not lie in that the yards were that great, and I believe we would have lost had we just tried to run it much more. To me the game swung in our favor when we did start to pass it more. And it is most certain that if we were having some success running the ball early, Mizzou would have adjusted to that. I thought our problem last year was stubbornly sticking to the run , when it wasn’t working.
AltamahaDawg
September 10th, 2012
2:00 pm
One thing we learned was that Merritt Hall will not be pushing anybody for reps as a KO return man.
(BTW, R. Samuel did swing over there to take that short kick, but I don’t Mizzou ever got to KO again.)
AltamahaDawg
September 10th, 2012
2:06 pm
And let’s remember Gurley is returning a handfull of KO’s on top of his RB position. We HAVE to develop the other Rbs too. It’s not nearly as important if One guys get 20 carries, as how we get the whole offense on track. . The O-line is still the biggest factor,( the only one that matters), in the running game right now, not proving how much pounding a true freshman can take in his first 2 weeks of playing college ball.
Two to the shoe
September 10th, 2012
2:16 pm
Altamaha – good point. Gurley is returning KO’s and that take allot out of you. I still contend that once the Oline starts opening holes this kids going to be a monster. The FBs didnt block as well this past weekend too. Once Gurley turned the corner there was a DB and LB waiting on him. We’ll keep getting better if we can keep everyone healthy.
We’re only two games into the season and we have yet to have the offense and defense play at a high level for a full 4 qtrs. When/if it does, there isnt a game on the scheudle that I am worried about.
AltamahaDawg
September 10th, 2012
2:33 pm
No, the FBs are not exactly clearing anybody out. And for all the talk about Theus, but that left side of the line has a ways to go as well, run blocking. Seems to be holding up in pass protection so far, but in comparison, the other guys are loading up to rush that right side.
And yet, we are running it well enough to be a factor, which is what we were hoping for early on. It seems like (maybe wishing) that we at least can depend on a minimal threat going forward. There were games last year, that the total lack of a running game could just not be compensated for.
7576DAWG
September 10th, 2012
2:49 pm
AltamahaDawg
Now we know why Merritt Hall is the starter. This kid punishes people.
AltamahaDawg
September 10th, 2012
3:23 pm
Well, technically we threw on first down, so he didnt start this game. I joke.
I think we are fortunate to have such a kid, and its been a great story. Not sure we are punishing people right now, though. I imagine once Hicks learns a few more things, we will see a lot more of him.
wreckmaniac
September 10th, 2012
3:29 pm
.GA looked great this weekend. Makes me think that Missouri is very mediocre. But UGA looked strong in all phases of the game. Can’t really tell yet what this means for the remainder of the season for UGA.
McDawg
September 10th, 2012
3:35 pm
lets not have mitchell field punts
AltamahaDawg
September 10th, 2012
3:40 pm
You could see that disaster coming ……as the collective NO NO NO could be heard across the Bulldawg Nation.
ARdawg
September 10th, 2012
3:50 pm
Altamaha
RB by committee probably contributes to the appearing low running game production but I too was please with just about every run play called. Big gains and long runs are always good but several of those carries were the ball carrier moving them legs for a 2-3 yard pick up when it didn’t seem anything was there. Marshall ran much better that the stats project.
Along the same lines, the trolls and haters can say all they please. Murray was on his game. I saw one uncatchable pass, the rest were there. I as surprised Michael Bennett dropped so many. In a nut shell, Murray played better than the stats reflect too
Dawg Haus
September 10th, 2012
4:52 pm
Tim, have you been able to get in touch with Malcolm to see how he feels? Do you think he’d rather be a receiver, a cornerback or both? He seems like the kind of guy who would want to help the team in whatever capacity he can. We’re lucky to have him in red and black!
10-2 is a good year! Right?
September 10th, 2012
6:08 pm
Gurley played 38 snaps and got 10 touches, half of which were after he broke the long run.
Idiotic….The best, most athletic offensive player on the field, and they 1) have him returning kicks, just asking for an injury. and 2) you use him sparingly while you fling the ball all over the field and give the ball to the lesser back.
Can’t wait until Gurley tears up a knee on KO returns and he’s gone for a season or two. Georgia coaches are blockheads.
ugaclassof2004
September 10th, 2012
6:18 pm
Offense
Our WR’s( Bennett, Brown, King) are a bunch of 2# or 3# guys. Malcolm could be the go-to 1#. And can we not find a decent CONSISTENT receiving TE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD! What happened to the days when we used to have Larry Brown, Randy McMichael, Ben Watson, and Leonard Pope etc.? Those guys were oftentimes our 1# threat in the passing game.