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Georgia’s defense prepares to bring Alec Ogletree, Bacarri Rambo back into fold

3:22 pm September 26, 2012, by Chip Towers

Defensive coordinator Todd Grantham is not saying it just yet, but he's darn glad to have linebacker Alec Ogletree back in teh fold. (AJC photo by Brant Sanderlin)

Defensive coordinator Todd Grantham is not saying it just yet, but he's darn glad to have linebacker Alec Ogletree back in the fold. (AJC photo by Brant Sanderlin)

ATHENS – Georgia has survived the Great Suspension Plague of 2012.

While no one is still coming right out and saying as much, we know from outside testimony, school policies, indirect hints and good old-fashioned horse sense that star linebacker Alec Ogletree and All-American free safety Bacarri Rambo are returning from four-game suspensions this week. And they’re getting back just in the nick of time as next on the dance card is Tennessee and its high-octane offense.

Ogletree and Rambo are the last two of four defensive starters that were missing for the Bulldogs this first part of the season as a result of internal team discipline. Cornerback Sanders Commings and outside linebacker Chase Vasser were benched two games each for off-season arrests.

Retrospectively, some might say that there was no great challenge there; that it was only Missouri, Vanderbilt, Buffalo and Florida Atlantic and that the Bulldogs should have been able to handle them with four starters out. But nobody could have foreseen what the Tigers and Commodores would present heading into the season. And the book is still out on how good or bad Georgia’s first two SEC opponents are.

What we do know is Georgia, now ranked No. 5 and undefeated at 4-0, came through the ordeal unscathed. And it was a lot harder than it looked.

Not only did coach Todd Grantham have to get inexperienced players ready to play major roles — including converting receiver Malcolm Mitchell into a starting boundary corner — but he had to do so while also repping the suspended players in to the mix and making sure they stayed sharp.

“That’s probably been the most difficult thing,” said Grantham, in his third season as Georgia’s defensive coordinator. “You’ve got to look at developing guys and have a vision as the season goes along getting your best guys on the field. At the same time you have to get some young guys ready to play this moment.  So it’s a balancing act between preparing guys to play the game and do well in the game and continuing to develop guys who maybe weren’t playing for whatever reason. That’s been the challenge. I think we’ve done a pretty good job with it. Now we’ll try to continue to develop guys and play the best ones available.”

Now comes Phase II of the transition. Phase I, bringing back Commings and Vasser, was relatively smooth. Commings spoke of being a little rusty in his first game back at free safety in more than a year. But the secondary part of the Phase II would appear fairly simple. The Bulldogs will merely plug in their All-American back at free safety and Commings will roll back in at boundary corner, where he belongs.

The linebacker part of the equation is not quite as easy. First of all, the player that has been playing Ogletree’s “Mo” inside linebacker position — Amarlo Herrera — has been doing so at a high level. The 6-foot-2, 245-pound sophomore from College Park  leads the team and is ninth in the SEC with 30 tackles. He also has a couple of tackles for loss, two pass break-ups and an interception return for a touchdown.

“I’ve been doing pretty good,” Herrera said with a grin.

But Ogletree (6-3, 232) brings another whole element to the position. He’s faster, rangier and more of an up-field pressure threat. The combination of him on the inside and Jarvis Jones on the outside — with Big John Jenkins in the middle — is problematic for offenses.

For his part, Herrera says he’ll take whatever comes.

“That’s tricky because you know Tree’s going to play,” Herrera said. “He has to. He’s a great player.”

Said senior Christian Robinson, who splits time between both the “Mo” and “Mike” positions: “The way it worked last season is we had five different guys at inside linebacker all playing. I could see that happening again. It’s basically just the next guy in. You can’t win the whole season with 11 guys. You need a lot of guys to contribute. I imagine we’ll continue to rotate and we’ll have a bunch of hungry guys ready to make plays.”

Georgia’s defense hasn’t stunk without its full complement of players, but neither has it been the dominant unit everyone expected. The Bulldogs enter Saturday’s game against Tennessee ranked 7th in the SEC in points allowed (16.5 ppg) , 8th in total defense (343.2 ypg) and 8th against the rush (135.5 ypg).

The prospect of a deep and motivated inside linebacker corps has to excite the Bulldogs and certainly must unsettle Georgia’s opponents. And with the pass-happy Vols coming to town, it certainly is a relief to be back at full strength.

“I think as we move forward it will give us a little bit of depth,” Grantham said. He, too, was smiling.

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216 comments Add your comment

Huh?

September 26th, 2012
9:12 pm

WDE….Apparently, we are more similar that you might think. I cover a good bit of the country with my job, and I talk to a lot of fans of other conferences.

Most of the talk, before the season started, centered around the fact that Missouri and Texas A&M weren’t ready to handle the big boys of the SEC. Heck, most SEC fans felt the same way. I understand why the game was important to UGA…I even understand why some UGA fans were nervous considering the starters that UGA was missing due to suspensions. I just didn’t get the sense, from others outside of UGA/Missouri, that the game was huge. Most people felt UGA would win, which they did.

Huh?

September 26th, 2012
9:14 pm

Neutral…what else do you expect their coach to say? His team is playing their first game in a new conference against a traditional SEC power…Geez.

Again…I completely understand that Missouri and UGA fans feel that it was a big game…nationally, I don’t see the same thing. UGA vs. TN, UGA vs. SC, UGA vs FL are much much bigger games.

Mobile Dawg

September 26th, 2012
9:21 pm

The Mizzou game for UGA was a statement game. Even though they weren’t ranked like Boise was, a lot of UGA people including myself viewed Mizzou like we viewed Boise. In my mind last year, I couldn’t grasp that Boise had the atheletes to compete with UGA, but their players were smarter, better coached than ours and they “whipped” us. We feared the same thing could happen at Mizzou. For us, it was a huge game.

I made a Dooley

September 26th, 2012
9:22 pm

Tree is the best player on the team. Jones gets all the attention, but Tree I think we have all forgotten how good he is!

Huh?

September 26th, 2012
9:24 pm

Mobile…so what do you think about TN, SC, FL etc? Are they all huge games too?

I know a lot of talk has been floating around since before the season started about how UGA’s schedule was weak…I think some UGA fans are a bit sensitive about it, and feel the need to defend it at every turn.

'94 UGA Alumnus

September 26th, 2012
9:27 pm

Herrera has played great but ‘Tree is on another level and could be starting next year in the NFL.

WDE

September 26th, 2012
9:33 pm

@Huh? Mobile Dawg and many more of us know that EVERY game in the SEC is a huge game lose just one and most years your done as far as a SEC championship goes.and to us that is the holy grail a SEC championship win that and even if you don’t get to play for the MNC your always going to be in the conversation about that years winner. Your a UK fan so you just don’t have the personal reference points to understand that I think , and I have no problem thinking you and I are a lot alike..I make mistakes hell ask my ex-wives..at the end of the day we play UT this weekend and if we don’t play well they will kick our butts..that’s why we play the games and MAN its a great way to decide who is really better…

Neutral

September 26th, 2012
9:34 pm

Huh,
I agree with most of your comments at 9:14, but my issue with you was an earlier comment when you implied that no one else thought the game was “huge”. Well, it looks like millions including coaches and journalists all thought it was a “huge” game. Even one of the announcers said the mistakes early in the game were due to a level of tension/pressure rarely seen in a college game. It was a really big game for UGa and Missouri…..and the Dawgs prevailed.

Brainiac (CMR/UGA Fan For Life/J.Jones for Heisman))

September 26th, 2012
9:36 pm

@ Mobile Dawg:

I believe CMR has already proven to those who sincerely look at being informed and fair, that he is capable of winning it all. In his 11 years as UGA HC he has won 6 SECe Titles and 2 SEC Championships plus a No. 2 National ranking. And for Single Digit IQ crowd I don’t want to hear “He did it with Donnan’s recruits. If he did it with Donnan’s recruits that indicates he is a much better HC than Donnan and I surely don’t recall Donnan coming anywhere close to CMR’s accomplishments. CMR is the 4th winningest active coach in the nation. The three coaches ahead of CMR are NOT named Saban or Miles or Spurrier!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mobile Dawg

September 26th, 2012
9:37 pm

Huh, in the SEC most games are BIG. The schedule may appear weak but, on any given day one team can be up, the other down. The good teams will overcome this. I have to respect UT, mainly because of their, and our past. We should win going away, like UF. USC is for real, it will be a tough game, in their house, possibly a loss but I believe we have a 50/50 shot. UF, well they are UF, and have had our number for a long time, and it appears Muschamp has them on the upswing. I look at that game as 50/50 also. If we win both, we could march into a monumental game at the SECCG. Lose both or somewhere in between and we learn to live with disappointment, the key is we have to be competitive to continue making progress.

Huh?

September 26th, 2012
9:37 pm

WDE…I completely agree with you. I even said earlier that every fan thinks every game is big…it is. That’s what makes college football so exciting. My issue was never how a UGA or Missouri fan felt about it…more of on a national scale how “huge” the game was.

I think it was big from the newness of Missouri…but not from an SEC/National implication type deal. Most people saw UGA winning against a non-ranked team, and they did.

I also agree that a lot of UGA fans are over-looking TN and thinking SC…that’s a mistake.

James Braddock

September 26th, 2012
9:40 pm

When is Bobo gunna open up this offense? Also, I know Murray is a good athlete but why do we have him playing on kickoffs?

WDE

September 26th, 2012
9:42 pm

Ya’ll have a good evening I have to be up way early…Go Dogs!

Mobile Dawg

September 26th, 2012
9:45 pm

You’re entitled to your opinions Braniac, but it’s not my belief, it’s a “fact” that Richt’s greatest “years” of success was reached with Donnan’s recruits, and Richt’s recruits were heavily influenced by being around the likes of Pollack, Greene, Shockley, and others that followed.

I see a lot of character on this year’s team that’s been missing. I mostly fault Richt with losing his focus, his edge, for several years, which to me and others you choose to label as low IQ, is obvious.

Brainiac (CMR/UGA Fan For Life/J.Jones for Heisman))

September 26th, 2012
9:46 pm

Jarvis Jones likely will be a first round draft choice but I don’t believe Tree will go that quick although UGA should have 8 or 10 going in the first 3 rounds(Surely more than Bammy)

In my opinion Herrera is not that far behind Tree in talent and when his turn comes around he likely will be drafted pretty closely to where tree gets drafted!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Brainiac (CMR/UGA Fan For Life/J.Jones for Heisman))

September 26th, 2012
9:57 pm

@ Mobile Dawg:

I’m not trying to pick a fight but to win Championships using a former coach’s recruits, while the former coach never won any championship over a several year span certainly indicates CMR got it done when Donnan couldn’t/didn’t get it done.

I agree with you that CMR apparently became a little complacent for a couple of years and Van Gorder left for greener pastures contributed to those years problems.

kingdaddy

September 26th, 2012
10:06 pm

In the SEC all rivalries are huge games. If you want a NC, all games are huge…Every game we win takes us one step closer to our goal. If we lose a game, it will be a huge loss…

Huh?

September 26th, 2012
10:33 pm

kingdaddy…so you would call the FAU and Buffalo games huge? If so that’s fine…I don’t necessarily disagree with you. I think we are going in circles on the context of a huge game. Do you have to win all of your games to get to a NC? sure, so I guess you would say that all 12 of your games are “huge.” That’s not what I was talking about.

Brainiac (CMR/UGA Fan For Life/J.Jones for Heisman))

September 26th, 2012
10:41 pm

Kingdaddy = DGD = Could be our next president = Should be our next president = Knows all things = Loves his Dawgs!!!!!!!!!!!!

Huh?

September 26th, 2012
10:44 pm

God help us if kingdaddy is the next president…no offense kingdaddy.

Rainbow Tide Pride

September 26th, 2012
10:53 pm

Back yo!

Rainbow Tide Pride

September 26th, 2012
10:56 pm

10RC goes down by 24.

Cmdawg99

September 26th, 2012
11:00 pm

Sometime this season when the dawgs are up by 3 or 4 touchdowns, I would like to see Big John tote the pigskin when it’s 1st and goal on the 1 yard line. That would make the top 10 ESPN highlights.

Fidlin1

September 26th, 2012
11:35 pm

Tennessee will have to go for the big plays to move the ball over our defense. Time of possession will be very lopsided after this game as the Vols scores will be few and quick. If Bobo puts a good offensive plan to assist Theus on the end we’ll have all the time and points dissecting the Vols defense with our rotation of RB’s and Recievers. Keep the penalties down, hold on to the ball and special teams will never be a concern. 44-24, Dawgs

Mark

September 27th, 2012
8:02 am

If we protect the football, we win. Simple. Go Dawgs.

Columbus Dawg

September 27th, 2012
8:09 am

I think it will be important to run the ball with much success against the Pumpkins, Bray may connect on a couple of big plays, but overall no way they hang with top O like UGA now has. I think the players have finally got in their heads of how important perception is. In order to move up from five, they must impress every week.

MJ

September 27th, 2012
8:09 am

Will be interesting to see if Rambo and Ogeltree can help the team in big games, after all, they both started in the LSU 42-10 blowout, and it didn’t matter. Neither did enough to help UGA win the Bowl game either. So those looking for Saviors, need to keep looking elsewhere.

MJ

September 27th, 2012
8:13 am

As good as Grantham has been touted, he has yet to shut down a team that finished in the top 25 AP poll.

Grantham had 4 chances in 2011 to shut down great teams, the results were Boise scored 35, SC scored 45, LSU scored 42, and Mich St scored 33.

Guy needs to hold a great team to a td, allowing for a to or special teams gaffe.

need Grantham to start showing up and carrying his load. He’s been coasting for 2 years.

Time to buckle up.

MJ

September 27th, 2012
8:19 am

Grantham’s D averaged 26 points against ranked teams in 2010.

But got worse in year 2, allowing 38 points against ranked teams.

He needs to figure this out. Nobody is paying his to hold Vandy to 3 points.

What’s he gonna do against SC? UF?

WDE

September 27th, 2012
8:26 am

@MJ tell you what you keep your DC and we will keep ours….have a great day.

jc_dawgs

September 27th, 2012
8:30 am

UGA 37 UT 17

Joey

September 27th, 2012
8:54 am

“I believe CMR has already proven to those who sincerely look at being informed and fair, that he is capable of winning it all”
****************************************
Not to pick nits, Brainiac, but how has Richt proven he is capable of winning it all, until he “wins it all?” Close doesn’t count, buddy.

I do appreciate those #2 and #3 final rankings in ‘07 and ‘02, but the truth is, those teams were capable of winning it all, but managed to stumble vs underdogs twice and once respectively.

I pray to the football gods (not important enough to ask the Big Guy) that Richt gets it done this season, but Richt’s history tells us we will lose to somebody on the way – and unless it’s Bama that beats us, it will once again be a less-talented team that keeps the Bulldogs out of the Big Game.

But, here’s hoping this talented team does not stumble. Never seen so many weapons on both sides of the ball.

Go Dawgs!

Joey

September 27th, 2012
9:01 am

Nice ESPN.com read on Jarvis:

http://espn.go.com/college-football/

zbulldawg

September 27th, 2012
9:11 am

ALL aboard that’s going aboard !!! LET THE BIG DAWG EAT

Bazooka Joe

September 27th, 2012
9:21 am

While pressure is certainly the key – another big key is to hit Bray hard, and hit him often. He gets rattled when he’s being punished and will toss a few INT’s.
UT is a good program (and I am certainly not looking past them – we need our A game for 4 quarters), however in reality we SHOULD beat them, they are not as good as we are this year. I say we cover the spread….

MarkRichtHasGirlHips

September 27th, 2012
9:27 am

No drug suspensions or arrests this week! Woof!

zbulldawg

September 27th, 2012
9:32 am

Your real UGA fans already know this !! There’s along time connection between FSU & the DAWGS. Dooley hired an offensive cord. from Bobby Bowen’s staff way back. That off. cord. was the hotest at the time. Dooley saw that the game was changing back then. Well the next in line at FSU was Richt. A great recruiter & offensive mind himself. So Dooley hand picked Richt for the future. When Ray was hired Richt said he wasn’t ready to be a Head coach. So to keep the recruiting under controll Dooley hired Ray. So you can Cry moan & complain all you wish But this has been along time coming. Saban’s def. cord. is from UGA FLA’s head coach is from UGA Erk the king of 1AA UGA ETC So if you are a real fan or want to be. Do your homework people. Quit crying GET on board or Shut up !!

Jimmy Crack

September 27th, 2012
9:35 am

Thanks, Joey, good read.

41-17 Dawgs. I see Bray having some success later in the game after Georgia starts rotating heavily with a big lead.

Fair n Balanced

September 27th, 2012
9:59 am

We gotta win. I don’t care who plays or doesn’t play. We gotta win!

DIT

September 27th, 2012
10:04 am

Dawgs D has been playing better in the 2nd half up to this point. If UT is going to make any noise in this game they have to do it all in the 1st half and then hold on in the 2nd half. Just my opinion.
Bray will keep it close if we get no presure on him. If J.J. is in the back filed all game it could be ugly for the vols.
My concern is a let down after last weeks game. Going by the past, Dawgs have that let down against UT a good bit. Hopefully there is no repeat. Go Dawgs!

Tennessee Vol 94

September 27th, 2012
10:21 am

The Vols will roll over UGA.

Tennessee 42
UGA 17

Joey

September 27th, 2012
10:22 am

DIT, I think JJ is gonna have some company in the backfield this week.

Last season, Ogletree made a ton of sacks and tackles-for-loss, as did Rambo.

It is just huge to get them back for this game.

WDE

September 27th, 2012
10:25 am

Didn’t we break some part of Bray last year? Wonder if he will be hearing footsteps?

Joey

September 27th, 2012
10:31 am

Are you serious, Tenn Vol 94?

UT does have a good offense, and they WILL score some points. But what makes you think your D can hold our (even better and more balanced) offense to 17 points?

You look delusional, or like a bitter Techie writing something like that on here.

MA English 75

September 27th, 2012
10:35 am

Just stop already with the comments on drugs and arrests. Why can’t you be positive?

Da'Rick Dooley

September 27th, 2012
10:36 am

Vols win big (savannah state style) 86-11. We are so awesome!! Go big urange!

Tennessee Vol 94

September 27th, 2012
10:36 am

UGA has not played anyone!

After losing to UT, Florida will totally destroy all hope for dawg fans in 2012.

Soon, all of the whiners will be calling for CMR to be fired.

tulevol

September 27th, 2012
10:36 am

Wow, some crazy predictions here, gotta love UT vs UGA week.

Coach Vince "Coke Head" Dooley

September 27th, 2012
10:38 am

My son has created a powerful team at UT.
UT will beat UGA by 10 points.

Jock Sniffer

September 27th, 2012
10:42 am

Without Hershel Walker, Dooley would have long since been forgotten.
Take away the Hershel years and Dooley had a below average winning percentage.

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