Home / Hotline Reports / Bulldog Hotline - Sept. 19, 1999
Bulldog Hotline - Sept. 19, 1999
Printer-friendly version
Send to friend
High speed game now causes contact fumbles, and lack of the one inch tee results in more blocked PKs, especially longer FGs.
Fans should know the coaches and team are working hard on fundamentals…JD apologized to a caller last week for seeming to joke about it.
UCF coach Kruzcek doing a good job with his passing background and in working with that program. JD also noticed some things about Tech while studying the UCF film, especially Hamilton protecting the ball. Also, UCF seemed to lose steam as Tech continually pounded on ‘em last night.
DL is a slightly higher priority than OL this year, but we plan to sign 3-4 OL simply because so many good ones are out there this year. As for early committments, we have no problems waiting on guys to make the right decision, and think we’re as far along as we’ve ever been.
About UF’s Alex Brown being offsides…JD explained the offsides rule and thought he did a great job of anticipating the count! He seemed to have a great rhythm with the center. JD also noted this is not the first major SEC game in which at least 20 penalties were called (both teams combined). Funny how Florida’s defense suddenly went from a joke to not missing a beat in one night. UT may not have changed its count due to crowd noise. Neither UF or UT seemed to take advantage of opportunities with the TE.
You have to play a good blend of defense against UF and UT, based on the different things they do.
JD wants fans to be paying more attention to UCF…they have some firepower and have scored quickly in all three games. JD thinks they are comparable athletically to a number of SEC teams, especially those that will play in Sanford Stadium this year. UCF does a good job with a 2-back passing game, but does not use as many formations as Utah St.
Charles Grant worked almost exclusively at RB during the open week, taking advantage of an opportunity to learn more, as well as injuries at that position. How many carries he gets will depend on flow of the game; we are very pleased with him as an all-around player.
JD hopes we’re able to run the ball in the big games at least as well as Florida did last night against Tenn.
Coaches are pleased with the overall play of the defense, especially all the negative yardage plays. One caller thought we weren’t getting hands up on defense against the pass, upon which JD reminded the caller we tipped two on the first series against SC (second one picked off). Don’t get too concerned about all those 3-step drops Utah State ran.
Ramsey’s stint at UT should help us some, but UT has a new offensive coordinator.
Injuries - Spoon and Miilican back. Green will practice this week and could play in an emergency. Of course, Thornton out for the year - we will apply for a hardship - and Arnaud out several more weeks. JD reminded a caller that Thornton had to have surgery to have his wrist stablized. He could be available late in the season, but would be starting over. JD thinks Thornton has a lot of talent and potential.
We hope to have Labrone Mitchell ready as a backup QB. JD also pointed out he was happy to see Ben Leard have success at Auburn after what happened to him last year.
QC was about to come out of the SC game, but SC scored with about 4 minutes left and we kept him in to run the clock out. However, JD now thinks having him run a naked bootleg for a 1st down was not a good idea, and we need to make sure he does a better job of sliding. Cory Phillips has had some problems with fumbled snaps. He is a good field general with a good arm, but still figuring out what to do in some areas.
Hopefully we will get Kelvin Williams back at OT. Also - good competition between Reggie Stargill and Kevin Breedlove at RG. The plan is to continue rotating them for now.
We don’t plan to play any home and home OOC anytime soon other than Tech, given the current parameters (in reply to a OU fan that called). We sell out our home games and have the new skyboxes coming online in 2000, and need to supplement the budget for the other sports. JD took a moment to compliment OU on its 2-0 start, but noted that its schedule would pick up soon. He dodged the caller’s question about why Nate Hybl transferred, suggesting that the caller ask Hybl.
A caller notes Georgia Southern is on the schedule, and wonders why we’d play a team like that with nothing to lose. (They went to the wire with Oregon State last night.) We base our schedule on the long-term goal of winning the SEC title.
JD recited the redshirt rule for a caller (5 years to play 4); we usually decide who to redshirt after 2-3 games, after talking with the player and his parents. No sense playing someone only in limited mop up duty. JD can’t comment on Reggie Brown since he has to be re-recruited, but Durrell Robinson is on campus as a partial qualifier and is practicing with the team. JD also joked about learning what "matriculation" meant after he enrolled in college at N.C. State.
Robinson has the receiving skills and physical attributes to be a SEC receiver..that T. Edwards is still picking up, for instance. Edwards makes up for it by being an outstanding athlete.
JD simply attributes negative calls (to talk shows, for example) to modern society, with lots of avenues for people to express their opinions.
JD took an opportunity to point out a number of UGA players, especially on offense at several positions, who have gone on to the NFL in recent years.
JD reminded the team of our overall goals at today’s meeting, and that he thinks we’re probably ranked a bit higher than we should be right now. However, he also thinks we’re very close to making the next step and that everyone has Georgia on their mind (as "Georgia on My Mind" was playing in the background as closing music).
- Add new comment
- 123 reads