|
August 7 , 2013
In This Issue
|
Georgia Ranked #5 in Pre-Season Polls: 1st two opponents, South Carolina & Clemson #7 & #8
Georgia was ranked #5 in the nation in the USA Today Coaches' poll released Thursday. Considering the Bulldogs lost seven one-time defensive starters off last year's 12-2 team, the temptation is to think that might be overly optimistic. But then we learn that Georgia coach Mark Richt also picked the Bulldogs fifth. "I think that's about where we were in mine," Richt said during his news conference Thursday. "Five or six." But Richt said he just bases his initial rankings on where he's seeing teams in other preliminary polls. Georgia had generally been fourth to eighth in a lot of those. The Bulldogs finished last season ranked fourth in the coaches' poll and fifth in The Associated Press rankings.
Proof that UGA has one of the toughest schedules in college football is evident right there in the preseason rankings. Their first two opponents, South Carolina and Clemson sit and #6 & #7 with another team on the schedule, LSU at #13. Click Here for Full Story
Georgia Bulldogs
Official Websie
UGA fans hoping pre-season camp answers
question marks 
The SEC media have anointed Mark Richt's 2013 Bulldogs as the favorite to threepeat in the East, Georgia is likely to be a Top 10 team in most national polls and Mike Bobo's offense is expected to be among the most productive in the country, but as preseason camp gets under way at the Woodruff Practice Fields in Athens, an awful lot of question marks still hang over this team.
Not the least among them is the almost total rebuilding job on defense necessitated by graduation and players leaving early for the NFL. As a friend put it back at the end of last season, this year Todd Grantham is really going to have to earn those big bucks. Last year, he came into the season with what was supposed to be one of the nation's top defenses, loaded with talent worthy of playing on Sunday, and yet the defensive Dawgs proved decidedly ordinary. What can he do this year with a roster that's loaded with talent but extremely short on experience?
____________
Georgia Football Magazine Website
|
4 of Top 7 Teams in Preseason Coaches Poll are from the Southeastern Conference
Not only do 4 of the top 7 teams in the nation from the SEC, half of the top 10 are.
Defending natiional champion Alabama holds on to the top spot with UGA coming it at #5 followed by Texas A&M at #6, South Carolina #7 and Florida #10. Not far behind at #13 is LSU.
1. Alabama
2. Ohio State
3. Oregon
4. Stanford
5. Georgia
6. Texas A&M
7. South Carolina
8. Clemson
9. Louisville
10. Florida
|
|
News & Information on
The Georgia Bulldogs & SEC Football
|
|
Richt takes cautious route in allowing fans, media access to practices 
Fans of Florida, Mississippi State and South Carolina are allowed entry into at least some of their team's preseason football practices.
Don't expect Georgia coach Mark Richt to allow an all-access pass to one of his team's workouts this month before the Bulldogs open their season Aug. 31 at Clemson.
"I'm not interested in that," Richt said. "You just never know. One little thing can give a clue as to what we're doing and how we're doing it. Information, the less you know, the harder it is to prepare. The more you know, the easier it is to prepare. Especially if you're watching practice."
Richt said he wouldn't know where all of those fans would fit in at the team's on-campus practice fields, but the logistics aren't the main concern he would have. "Early on when it's mostly fundamental and all, you still may have a couple of new plays that you're running," Richt said. "The normal fan may not get it, but if it somehow it's videoed or whatever and it gets on the Internet and the GA or somebody ... looking at that stuff says, 'Hey, man, I just saw this at their practice and it looks a little bit different.' You might want to line up [Jadeveon] Clowney a different way. I don't know if I'd want everybody to see [how] I'm lining him up."
|
UGA Picture Day Festivities Set For August 17
The annual University of Georgia Fans' Picture Day will be held Saturday, Aug. 17, in the Reed Plaza area of Sanford Stadium and will feature Bulldog coach Mark Richt, players, cheerleaders, other UGA athletic teams and Uga IX.
Special ticket coupons are required for access to the location for Uga IX and Coach Richt. Those tickets will be distributed to the first 150 fans at 8 a.m. from the East End ticket windows on East Campus Road.
The Georgia cheerleaders and Hairy Dawg will be available from 1-5 p.m. Uga IX and other University of Georgia sports teams will be available from 1-3 p.m. Georgia football players will be on hand for photos and autographs from 3-5 p.m. in Reed Plaza on the north side of the stadium between Gates 2 and 4. Coach Richt will also be available from 3-5 p.m. for those with ticket coupons. Concessions and merchandise sales will be available in several areas of Reed Plaza.
Fans will be able to enter Reed Plaza through Gate 2 in the northwest corner of the stadium across from the Tate Student Center and Gate 4 through the East Campus Road entry into Reed Plaza. Both gates open at 1 p.m. Parking is available to the general public in all campus lots surrounding the stadium. Handicapped parking will be available in the Tate Center lots.
Click Here for Story
|
LB James DeLoach has thumb surgery
 James DeLoach, the fifth-ranked Georgia Bulldogs' projected starter at strongside linebacker, sprained the ulnar collateral ligament in his left thumb during Sunday's practice and underwent surgery Monday. Georgia coach Mark Richt said DeLoach should be back for the Bulldogs' August 31 opener at Clemson, though the sophomore will practice for some time with his hand covered by a cast when he returns in the next day or two.
"He knows enough of what to do that I don't think it will [set him back]," Richt said of DeLoach, who watched from the sidelines during Monday's morning practice while wearing a green non-contact jersey. "He can get all the mental reps, as well, so I think he'll be fine."
Freshman outside linebacker David Bellamy also sustained a left thumb injury -- a fracture -- during Sunday's practice and also had Monday surgery. Bellamy is expected to be healthy in time for the Clemson game, too.
"You've got a lot of hand-to-hand combat in there and your digits get pushed back sometimes and get damaged. So we're going to clean them up with the surgery and club them up to protect them," Richt said. "They'll be practicing relatively soon. You don't miss an awful lot off of that, and then we're hoping by the time the game rolls around, they'll have about every finger and thumb free."
DeLoach and Bellamy are among a number of young Bulldogs defenders who are dealing with minor injuries early in camp. And that comes at an inopportune time as several of the newcomers are competing to fill holes created by 12 departed regulars from Georgia's 2012 defense.
Freshman cornerback Shaq Wiggins was impressive in the first few days of camp, but was sidelined Monday by a groin strain. Freshman safety Tray Matthews - who claimed a first-team job in the spring -- practiced for the second straight day in a non-contact jersey on Monday after injuring his shoulder. And first-team cornerback Sheldon Dawson continues to practice through a knee injury he sustained in the spring
|
Georgia freshmen form formidable backfield duo 
Gurshall. Rhymes with Herschel. Walker, that is, the Georgia running back who ran for 1,616 yards as a freshman Bulldog in 1980 - winning the national title - 1,891 as a sophomore and 1,752 in his Heisman Trophy-winning junior campaign. No. 34 out of the I-formation, taking a toss pitch.
Thirty years later, Todd Gurley and Keith Marshall are Gurshall. Both are highly touted freshmen from the eastern part of North Carolina. They're roommates, too. Gurley - tall, lean, simmering - wears No. 3. Marshall - shorter, stockier, faster - wears No. 4. Put 3 and 4 together and you have Hershell's #34.
And they've done OK for themselves this year.
|
Advertise your business in the next issue of Georgia Football Magazine E-Blast Newsletter & Georgia Football Magazine weekly publication
Its a great way to get the attention of Georgia students, faculty, staff, alumnus and Bulldog fans on campus and in the
UGA neighborhood.
|
Lights, Camera, Action: Former Bulldogs brace for Hard Knocks glare 
A rather large contingent of former Georgia players will be returning to the state for a working visit when the Cincinnati Bengals hold a couple of combined practices with the Atlanta Falcons next week.
They also will be coming to a TV near you (well, if you get the premium channel HBO) starting on Aug. 6 for the debut of "Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Cincinnati Bengals."
Former Georgia offensive lineman Clint Boling was asked how much air time he thinks he might get "Hopefully none," Boling said laughing during his appearance at the Countdown to Kickoff fan festival earlier this month at the UGA practice fields. "Hopefully I'm not on it. I'm not too excited about it. There's not much you can do, but hopefully I'm not on it in any bad or good ways."
Given that the Bengals' roster includes (in alphabetical order) defensive tackle Geno Atkins, Boling, tight end Orson Charles, defensive end Robert Geathers, wide receiver A.J. Green, offensive lineman Dennis Roland and safety Shawn Williams, it might be hard for the cameras not to follow a former Bulldog or two in one of their storylines.
Boling said he thinks Green, the Pro Bowl receiver, will get spotlighted in the all-access reality show produced by HBO Sports and NFL Films that will run through Sept. 3.
"Everybody loves A.J.," said Boling, who started every game at left guard last season and who finished his Georgia career in 2010. "I would imagine they'll follow him around for a day, but I don't know how exciting it will be. He's usually a pretty tame guy."
Interestingly, the Bengals are in Atlanta this week for a two day joint training camp with the Falcons before their first pre-season game on Thursday night.
Click Here for Full Story
|
|
|
|
|
