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Editor Vance Leavy

Editorial & Ad DirectorCheri Leavy

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SportsMurray Poole

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Spring issue, April 24, 2012

From the editor : vance leavySpringtime in Georgia … isn’t it glorious to be a Georgia Bulldog?While practically everything in this issue of BI has to do with our

beloved football team and its fans, it just doesn’t seem right not to begintalking about this year’s Masters.

It began somberly with the absence of longtime AJC columnist Fur-man Bisher who departed to heaven just weeks prior to the tournament.Like so many, I was huge fan of Mr. Bisher. His God given writing talentsand his uncanny nose for the story certainly helped shaped my love ofboth sports and journalism. I will never forget when he complimentedour publication saying it was something he knew every Georgia fanwould love. How cool, coming from a man who had basically coveredmore sports than anyone in the world. You are certainly missed Mr.Bisher and I am so happy that I was there back in 2009 when you werenamed a Grady Fellowship (pic-tured right). A deserving honor,indeed.

Even though Mr. Bisher was-n’t there, you can bet he waswatching from above as formerGeorgia Bulldog and graduate,Bubba Watson hit a historic hookshot off pine straw to the secondplayoff hole to secure the greenjacket. What an awesome mo-ment for Bubba and for the Uni-versity of Georgia. And then thetears began flowing and not justfrom Bubba. I looked next to me onthe sofa and Cheri was jubilantly sobbing. What a special Easter Sundayfor Bubba his wife Angie, their new son, Caleb and all of us in the Bull-dog Nation.

Springtime in Georgia … isn’t it glorious to be a Georgia Bulldog? And then a week later, the Georgia sports scene moved from Au-

gusta to Athens for all the festivities surrounding this year’s annual play-ing of the G-Day game. From Charley Trippi Day to the inaugural Circleof Honor Gala to the spring game itself, UGA fans were treated to whatmakes being a Bulldog so special. We love our university and we love our

teams that represent it, which naturally leads us tolove all the student-athletes who helped build andshape such a historic program.

Kudos to the UGA Athletic Department folksin charge of turning the G-Day game into a full-fledged weekend event that I think will only getbigger and better in the coming years. And natu-rally, we at BI did our very best to capture as muchof the festivities in this issue (pages 6 and 9). Enjoy!

And while we do realize and accept that what

folks really love most about our publication is our photos, we are proudof the sports coverage we provide. Murray Poole and Jeff Dantzler, asusual, don’t disappoint with their coverage in this issue.

Murray spent a week at spring practice and certainly dug up somenice nuggets. His articles about nose guards’ John Jenkins and KwameGeathers and the Georgia running game (page 12) will certainly get yourjuices flowing for what we can expect when the season begins this fall.And don’t miss Murray’s five questions with Coach Richt and his depthchart movers story (page 8) to better comprehend what took place dur-ing spring practice. Good stuff indeed.

And one page over (4), JD is wasting no time in his assessment that2012 is an “all-in” year for the Dawgs. You’ve gotta admit our programhas a ton of talent coming back this season and has a manageable sched-

ule (to say the least). However, I think I’ll leave my own

prognosticating for our Season Previewissue that will come out June 5. Fornow, I’m more focused on my sincerehope that the young men on our foot-ball team have learned their lessonsfrom some of their fellow teammateswho found trouble over the last fewmonths. This team has an incredibleopportunity to have a special season.Hopefully they will realize that and towthe line the remainder of 2012.

I will never be one that thinksthese 18 to 22 year-olds aren’t going to

have their ups and downs. I was in a fraternity at Georgia where we hadanywhere between 85 and 100 guys (much like the number on the foot-ball team) and I assure you there were always a few (including me) whohad to learn lessons the hard way. You can only hope that our players,much like brothers in a fraternity, try their very best to look after one an-other.

Enough of that, I’m beginning to sound very much like a personwho is just a few months shy of 40 with gray hairs popping up daily.Scary stuff, indeed.

Also don’t miss Murray Poole’s column on longtime athletic boardmember, Bob Bishop (page 5). In our future issues, we hope to catch upwith other members of the board, but thought it was only fitting to beginwith Mr. Bishop who has graciously served on the board for 30 years.

Finally, check out photos from the UGA Alumni awards and a cou-ple of fraternity spring events on page 14. It will certainly bring a smileto your face to see folks doing great things for UGA and seeing studentssoaking up the best four years of their lives.

Gotta run now … Springtime in Georgia … isn’t it glorious to be aGeorgia Bulldog?

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May 11TH

4 Bulldawg Illustrated

Despite the attrition and suspensionsthat have marred the off-season, expectationsare sky-high for Georgia on the gridiron in2012. The Bulldogs figure to be the consen-sus favorite to capture the East Division titleand return to the Southeastern ConferenceChampionship Game.

The goal, the minimum – a return to theSEC Championship Game with a record bet-ter than the 10-2 mark the Bulldogs took tothe Georgia Dome in 2011 ... with wins overTech and Florida again.

There are facts, questions, concerns,musts and needs to be dealt with.

Facts

Georgia beat Tennessee, Florida,Auburn and Tech in the same season for thefirst time since the powerhouse SEC cham-pions of 1981.

Georgia went 1-4 vs. ranked teams ayear ago, and is 1-9 against ranked foes thelast two years. Tennessee had a losing recordand Florida went 7-6.

Three SEC teams finished in the top fivenationally a year ago. Georgia didn’t play anyof them in the regular season, though didmeet LSU in the SEC Championship Game –losing 42-10. For a second straight year, theDogs don’t play Alabama, LSU or Arkansas.

Musts

So despite the aforementioned attritionand suspensions, and with the obvious no-tion that any SEC schedule is going to betough, this slate is very manageable. That lastfact gets back to the original. With no Bama,Bayou Bengals, or Bobby Petrino-less Razor-backs, anything shy of 11 or 12 wins and areturn to Atlanta would be disappointing.

In a league that has captured six straightnational titles, with this schedule and withwhat Georgia has coming back, if the Dogsdon’t go to Atlanta at 12-0 or 11-1 with acrystal ball in the crosshairs, the red andblack faithful are bound to be asking, “If notnow, then when?”

To get there, the first thing the Bulldogsmust do is stop beating themselves. Georgiathrew four pick-sixes a year ago, three inlosses. In a crushing 45-42 loss to SouthCarolina, the Dogs had an interception and afumble returned for touchdowns, an inter-ception returned to the five and a fake punt70-yard run by a defensive end for a score.That type of performance obviously won’tyield a title.

Beating Florida and Tech is essential. From 1990 through 2010, the Gators

went 18-3 against Georgia, the darkest eraagainst a rival since the infamous eight-gamedrought against Tech from 1949-56. But cul-prits like Steve Spurrier, Urban Meyer andTim Tebow are gone. History. WillMuschamp, who was 0-4 in the series as aGeorgia safety, is headed into his second sea-son at the Gator helm. For the first timesince the interim Gary Darnell in 1989,Florida has a coach with a losing recordagainst Georgia. This is a real opportunity toturn the series. The Bulldogs have better ma-terial back. For Georgia to get to college foot-ball’s ultimate height, controlling the series inJacksonville is a must. Losses to Ron Zookcoached Florida in 2002 and 2003 cost theBulldogs shots at the national title.

Amongst Mark Richt’s greatest successesis a 10-1 record against Tech. As painful as

the aforementioned losses to the Gators were,the loss that stung the most was to Tech in2008. That would have given Georgia eightstraight in the series. But the Dogs have wonthe last three. If Georgia has a 10-1 or 11-0record and a date with LSU on horizon, theremust be no looking past Tech. Georgia fanslike putting up Christmas trees, and you can’tdo that if you lose to Tech.

Questions and Concerns

Georgia’s scholarship numbers aredown. Down to the point of a team that is onprobation. Of course the Bulldogs are not,but attrition and a less than full boat have theDogs around a dozen down from a full boatof 85.

Depth is a concern, particularly in thesecondary out of the gates, as Georgia mustdeal with a rash of suspensions. Missouri hasa high octane passing game, and the Dogshave had to move over star receiver MalcolmMitchell for at least the first two games.Three of Georgia’s starting four are reportedlysuspended for at least one game.

Georgia must get production out of sev-eral highly touted incoming freshmen on de-fense. As good as the stop unit was a yearago, the fact is Georgia couldn’t stop BoiseState in the second half. Georgia got gashedby Marcus Lattimore and South Carolina inthe fourth quarter. LSU sliced up the Bull-dogs defense in the second half after a dom-inating first 30 minutes from the Bulldogs.And Michigan State cut through the Dogs totie up the Capital One Bowl, which the Spar-tans eventually won in overtime.

The Dogs D must be fresh when thechips are down. Freshmen will have to helphere while also earning reps that will be ex-tremely valuable come 2013, when Georgiawill likely have to replace eight to nine de-fensive starters.

These freshmen should also be able tohelp on special teams, an area that was againbeyond shaky in 2011. Poor field goal kick-ing, the fake punt run for six, the punt re-turn for six by LSU and an F-minus showingthat nearly cost the Dogs the game at Vandystand out as sore points. Georgia must re-place one of college football’s all time greatpunters in Drew Butler as well as return aceBrandon Boykin. A couple of incomingfreshmen figure to inherit the kicking andpunting jobs. That’s big time pressure. Butin general, in all areas, becoming sound againin the kicking game is a huge question mark.

As is the offensive line. There seems to be a good corps coming

out of the spring. Kolton Houston and jun-ior college transfer Mark Beard gave the Dogsa lift in the Spring. John Theus, a five starleft tackle should do the same in August. Butit would be nice if he’s a luxury, not a neces-sity.

Georgia has been down this road beforeand still had strong seasons.

Can the Dogs do that again, like in ’03and ’07, but with even greater success?

Bottom Line

This is an “all-in” year for the Dogs.With the talent returning and this schedule,there is no reason to be anything but opti-mistic and strive for the highest of aspira-tions, the wildest of dreams. As I wrote acouple of months ago, it’s daring to be great.

This is an all-in year for the Bulldogs

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Bishop continues to enjoy athletic board role

Bob Bishop admits that he wasn’t much ofan athlete. But because he was so adept in thefield of banking and finance, Bishop has gottento remain close to the athletic program at hisbeloved University of Georgia for the past threedecades.

“I’ve been on the UGA athletic board prettyclose to 30 years, either 28, 29 or 30, I’ll have tolook it up in a minute,” said Bishop, speakingfrom behind his desk at SunTrust Bank in Athenswhere he’s actually retired from the active bank-ing business but still fills a chair on the firm’sboard of directors.

“But I’ve been on the athletic board longerthan anybody I guess,” said Bishop. “When wefirst decided to add on to the (Sanford) stadiumback in 1980 and build Butts-Mehre, nobody onthe board I guess was familiar with all the outerbanks and banks around the state. Fred Davison(UGA president) was a good friend of mine andAllan Barber, the treasurer, was a good friend ofmine so they asked me would you help get thefinancial gifts and in those days all I had to dowas go over there and ask my friends to partici-pate and they did. That’s gone now, though. Butthat’s why I got involved and they put me on theboard. I guess it was 1982 so that’s 30 years now.”

Bishop, now 73 and also a member of theuniversity Foundation, pointed out with pridethat he’s been in the banking business 50 yearsthis year.

“I started in January of 1962 and I’ve beenin it since then,” he said. “I’m on the board, Idon’t work now. No question about it, my ex-perience in the banking business led me intobeing requested to come on the athletic associa-tion board of directors. In those days we changedthe by-laws two or three times. When I went onthere then it was two years for four terms for atotal of eight years, then it’s been changed againto where now you’ve got three years for threeterms for nine years and I’ve been on it 30 years.So I got caught between and some years theyasked me to stay on because of some things thatwere going on.”

Bishop always knew athletics held a pre-dominant place in the university’s storied historybut after these 30 years with the athletic board,he realizes that fact even more so today.

“Serving on the board this long, I think I’velearned more than anything how important ath-letics is to the University of Georgia,” Bishop said.“We can raise money a whole lot quickerthrough football and basketball and there isn’tany question about it. It’s just a great thrill andhonor to serve on the board, No. 1, to knowwhat’s going on, how it goes on and why it goeson,” he said. “And getting to know so many peo-ple, I get calls all the time from people I didn’teven know I knew. Course, I’m out of the ticketbusiness now,” Bishop joked. "But I made a lot offriends, I got to travel with the team to the foot-ball games. It’s just a great honor to be on thatand also a pretty good responsibility, too. We area corporation, a 501C3 corporation that is tax-free. But we are a board and we legally have topass the budget next month. We’ll meet on thatabout two hours. Our board meeting is May 25,I believe.”

Bishop pointed out the addition to SanfordStadium, the building of the Butts-Mehre ath-letic complex and all other athletic facilities oncampus were financed strictly through athleticrevenues and the student fees. “We build it andthen we deed it over to the board of regents.Then we turn around and lease it back fromthem. So they own it but we lease it back fromthem after we pay for it. It’s kind of a funnyarrangement but it’s worked very well,” Bishopsaid. “And we do a lot for the university. We do-nate money to the academic side most everyyear.”

But, mind you, Bob Bishop’s role on theuniversity’s athletic board hasn’t been confinedto simply offering advice on financial matters.

“When we hired Ray Goff as head footballcoach, I was chairman of the search committee,”he recalled. “That thing got all messed up. I toldhim when we were walking down the hall at6:30 in the morning, and Chuck Knapp was thepresident then, ‘Ray, I hope we’re doing you afavor.’ But we had a bunch of directors on therethen and we got along pretty good but the searchgot entangled a little. When you’re searching fora football coach to replace Coach Dooley theworld closes in on you, wanting to know what’sgoing on. But I thought Ray was a good footballcoach then and I still think Ray was a goodcoach. Course, we got a great coach now (inMark Richt).”

Bishop graduated from Georgia’s business

school in 1961 and has other relatives with UGAties.

“At the time of graduation, I was in San An-tonio, Texas lying on a concrete floor in back ofthe mess hall with my head on a helmet, soundasleep,” he related. “And I said, ‘Damn, I justgraduated from college.’ I was out there in bootcamp. That’s when things were starting to heatup in Vietnam. I got in the Georgia Air NationalGuard and Dean Tate told me, ‘you’ve accom-plished what you need to accomplish (at UGA)and you go and work for the country now.’ Andthey mailed me my diploma.”

Bishop had an older sister, Martha Jo, who’snow 83, attend UGA, as did one of his threebrothers, Elder. “My wife (Janet) went to Auburnand her father was the blocking back in the sin-gle wing when Shug Jordan (late Auburn coach)was the center,” he said. “Our daughter Allisongraduated from the Georgia business school andthen got her master’s degree in teaching.

“And our youngest daughter, Jennings,graduated from Wake Forest and then camedown here to Georgia and got her master’s degreein social work.” Bishop continued. “And then gother LCSW (licensed clinical social worker) andshe hung up her shingle and practiced for a cou-ple of years but then decided to go to nursingschool and now she’s a nurse at St. Marys Hos-pital (in Athens).”

Bishop points out that UGA’s athletic pro-grams and coaching staffs rank with the best inAmerica.

“Overall, I think our athletic program is inas good a shape financially as any I know about,”he said. “I’m sure there are some just as good.But financially, our athletic program is strong.Management-wise, it’s strong. On our athleticboard David Shipley, who used to be dean of thelaw school and is professor at the law school now,he’s our secretary and that job is technically calledfaculty representative. You’re representing thefaculty on the board. And Tim Burgess is ourtreasurer and is also very strong. And then you’vegot president (Michael) Adams who I think isthe best.

“And I think Coach Richt is one of the finestpeople we could have in the job. As you and Iknow, football goes in cycles,” declared Bishop.“Coach Richt came in here with a bang and wontwo SEC championships and then started off badthe year after that and people got to moaning. Itold them ‘just hang in there because it goes incycles.’ And then last year we won those 10straight games and of course lost to that team(Michigan State) in three overtimes in the bowlgame. So he’s back in everybody’s good gracesnow. The baseball program, I think (Dave)Perno’s a great coach ... I’m in the business side,I don’t know much about the technical aspectsof athletics. I wasn’t a good athlete myself but I al-ways loved athletics. And I think we’ve got a dog-gone good women’s basketball coach in AndyLanders. I don’t know Mark Fox (men’s coach)as well. I see him every now and then. I knowhe’s from Salina, Kansas, near where the movie InCold Blood took place. But everybody I’ve talkedto about him says, technically, he’s very good. Ofcourse, Jack Bauerle is our swimming coach andis a diamond in the rough. Every time I intro-duce him to somebody, I say, “this guy has neverlost a meet as a student or as a coach to GeorgiaTech.’ He’s won national championships and he’snever lost to Tech and that makes you reallyproud of him.

“I just feel real good about our programs inthe sense that we’ve got people who, if we havea mistake made, they correct the mistake,” saidBishop. “Unfortunately, we’ve had some footballplayers who did incorrect things but I thinkCoach Richt has handled it very well. He’s a sterndisciplinarian and you’ve got to stay with that.You’ll lose the whole team if you don’t.”

poole shotsBy Murray Poole

Kid, Coach and Bish - John Terrell, Bill Hartman,Bob Bishop at the "Athens Tailgate" now known as "Kid's Tailgate"

InauguralCircle

of HonorGala

Sue Bush and Jane RauchHonoree Billy Payne and Vince DooleyGeorge Patton and Don Leebern Mark and Kathryn Richt Greg McGarity and Taylor Smith

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Erica, Keith, Kristy, Donna and Ed Kowal Mike Cavan. Billy Payne and Bill Stanfill

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andKathy

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Mark and Cindy Fox with Pam and Andy Landers

Peggy and Charley Trippi with Greg McGarityGovernor Nathan Deal and Michael AdamsBill Saye and Mark Maxwell

Sonny Seiler and Charley Trippi Cliff Kimsey - Oldest LivingLetterman with Coach Richt

Vince Dooley and Fran Tarkenton

CharleyTrippi

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1955 Senior Bulldogs - Matthew Arthur, Jimmy Harper, Len Spadfino, Walter White,Bobby Garrard, Don Shea and Bill Saye

Andre Pulpwood Smith and Mike CavanGarrison Hearst and John BrantleyA.J. Green and Akeem Dent Bennett Lairsey and Chad Braswell

Perry Langston and Joe Cox Dale Stewart, Andy Myers, Will Myers and Jimmy MizeSteve Carter and Chip Carter

Honorees Kristy Kowal, Jack Baurele and Courtney Shealy Hart Bill and Andrea Archer with LaVerne and Alan Barber

Bob Bishop and Allison Bishop Hays

Charley Trippi DayWally’s Boysand G-Day

More Than A Ribbon CuttingIt’s the start of a new day for Jekyll Island.

This May, the new Jekyll Island Convention Center will open its doors to an exciting new future. The Jekyll Island Authority will host a series of community events to celebrate and thank you for your support!

Make plans to join us and delight in the wonderful new convention center and completed Great Dunes Park.

May 5: College of Coastal Georgia Commencement Time p.m. Ticket Price Complimentary

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Spring depth chart moversCompetition at all positions is just what thedoctor ordered for a team seeking championshipsBy Murray Poole

veryone in Bulldog Nation is aware of the Georgia play-ers who made major contributions to last season’s 10-4SEC runners-up and are expected to be the ringleadersfor the Bulldogs again in the upcoming 2012 campaign.

Indeed, such names as Jarvis Jones and Bacarri Rambo – bothfirst-team All-Americas – Aaron Murray, John Jenkins, KwameGeathers, Kenarious Gates, Tavarres King, Malcolm Mitchell, ShawnWilliams, Alec Ogletree, Michael Gilliard, Christian Robinson, Bran-den Smith, Isaiah Crowell, Marlon Brown, Michael Bennett, ChrisBurnette, Cornelius Washington, Richard Samuel, Amarlo Herrera,Abry Jones, Dallas Lee, Mike Thornton, Garrison Smith andSanders Commings will be bringing the needed experience andleadership roles to a team that is expected to crash the Top 10 of sev-eral preseason rankings.

But, that said, Mark Richt and his assistant staff will also be re-lying heavily on rising young players, guys who have yet to see start-ing action for the Bulldogs but are going to be counted on this fallto answer the opening whistle in some positions as well as providethe needed depth that every good team must have.

And if you listen to the Georgia coaches, there was a numberof rising Bulldogs who tossed their playing hat into the ring duringthe recently-completed spring practice and made some noise onthe team depth chart.

Just three young guys catching the eye of defensive coordina-tor Todd Grantham were sophomore safety Corey Moore, redshirtsophomore strong safety Connor Norman and redshirt freshmandefensive end Sterling Bailey.

“Those guys are doing a good job,” said Grantham. “Corey,his second year through, is definitely showing some progress. He’sa physical guy and is working hard to try and be a good player soI’m encouraged by him.” In the Bulldogs’ second scrimmage thisspring, Moore recorded nine tackles and also managed a pass in-terception. “He’s coming,” offered head coach Richt. “Corey’s a veryaggressive football player when it comes to coming up to make atackle. He’s a good athlete. He’s learning a lot. He’s getting a lot bet-ter. He’s going to have to play for us. He’s going have to be able tofunction for us.”

Grantham had equal praise for Norman, a walk-on who con-tinues to impress the Georgia defensive staff.

“Connor has shown his value back there,” Grantham said. “Heknows where to be and knows how to make the adjustments weneed. He’s a guy with the process we’re going through right now,where we give guys a chance to play and we’ve put him in somespots where we’re going to challenge him. He showed up this timelast year. We had some injuries back there last year, and I think heplayed 100 plays in the scrimmage for us, the one (G-Day) we havecoming up. Based on what he did there, he showed that he has theability to help us and we’ve put him in some spots where he couldbe functional for us.” Likewise, the Georgia defensive coordinatorhas been pleased with the progress of the 6-3, 259-pound Bailey.

“Sterling's going to be an inside guy, too,” said Grantham. “He'sa guy who has really grown since he’s been here. He’s got really goodflexibility, shows initial quickness. He’s got some size to him and hecontinues just to get big. He’s going to continue to get bigger,”Grantham said. “The more he lifts, grows and eats, he’s going to bea pretty big man one day and those kinds of guys create mismatches

inside, and that’s what you want totry and do.”

With the talented OrsonCharles moving on to the NFL andsteady senior Aron White havingpicked up his diploma, the Bull-dogs are going to be seeking majorproduction at tight end this seasonfrom rising junior Arthur Lynchand highly-touted redshirt fresh-man Jay Rome. The 6-5, 272-pound Lynch has bided his time thepast three years behind Charles andWhite and is now on the verge of carving out his own niche at theposition. And Rome, the 6-6, 254-pound product out of football-crazy Valdosta, opened eyebrows in the spring drills with severalsparkling receptions.

“Obviously,” related UGA tight ends coach John Lilly, “ArthurLynch is a guy who’s been in the program for three years now andhas gotten a chance to play and play in some big games but hasnever kind of been in the position to be the guy, to go out there andto know when he wakes up on Saturday morning he’s going to play50 snaps or whatever it would be. He’s the kind of guy you certainlypull for because he’s been patient, he’s kind of waited his time andtried to improve and even after playing as a true freshman, took aredshirt the next year just to give himself a little bit of separation fromsome of the other guys,” said Lilly. “He’s had a couple of good springgames for us so he’s a guy who certainly has some ability and hassome natural leadership to him and has had a good spring this time.I’ve been pleased with the way he’s kind of embraced the role he’sin.

“And Jay Rome,” continued Lilly, “is a guy who’s in a positionthat while difficult, it’s one he knew he was going to be in becauseof trying to play two sports. And obviously, the conditioning is dif-ferent from football to basketball and then it becomes again a totallydifferent transition from basketball back to football, and he did misssome time through the off-season work, whether it be in the weightroom or some of the conditioning things or individual work, thingslike that. So he’s still kind of getting back in football mode. You cansee him as days go by picking up things a little bit better but I’d sayhe’s probably a little bit behind where he would have been if he hadbeen in football the whole time. I think Jay’s at a good weight rightnow, what we’re asking him to do. I think him redshirting last yearwas probably a good move for him because the amount of snapshe would have played had he burned a year in there probablywouldn’t have been worth it from the experience he would havegotten. Jay is a young man who grasps concepts very well and Ithink will do everything he can to be ready to play a significant rolein the fall.

“I’d also like to mention Hugh Williams, who’s been a walk-on offensive lineman for us,” said Lilly. “He moved over (to tightend) about halfway through. He’s done a nice job for us, particu-larly in the running game. A guy who’s played all across the offen-sive line is going to be a pretty decent blocker and Hugh has kindof accepted the move pretty well.”

Georgia inside linebackers coach Kirk Olivadotti has also no-

ticed several Bulldogs, young and veteran alike, who are makingtheir push in his area.

“I’m blessed in my area,” Olivadotti said. “We have competi-tion, real competition of guys that have played a lot of football forus and have won a lot of football games with them in there. Wehaven’t even talked about depth chart, really, this whole spring hasbeen about just improving. Shoot, Christian Robinson has takenreps anywhere from first team to third team and that’s just becausewe have a lot of guys who have played football so it’s kind of hardfor me to point out certain guys, just because we haven’t done it thatway,” he said. “Now guys who have taken steps to improve, I thinkall of them have in areas. I think (Soph.) Ramik Wilson is a guywho has started to catch up with everybody else, which is a goodthing because he’s probably the one guy who didn’t play as muchon defense as the other guys that were in there. And we’re pleasedwith that. (Soph.) Kosta Vavlas has done some nice things for usand then you’ve got Alec (Ogletree) and Mike (Gilliard) and Amarlo(Herrera) and those guys are getting better at the things they weregood at and at the things they weren’t good at.”

One of the most prominent young players mentioned on theoffensive line this spring was redshirt sophomore Kolton Houston,the 6-5, 291-pounder from Buford who sat out the 2011 season dueto an undisclosed NCAA issue. Houston started much of the springat left guard before, in somewhat of a surprise move, being shiftedto the starting right tackle slot in the week leading up to the G-Daygame.

“I love having Kolton playing next to me,” junior right guardChris Burnett said. “I feel like he plays with great effort, a very ath-letic guy. I feel like us playing together is going to be great if that’sthe way it shapes up in the end.”

Of course, the above are just a few of the young Bulldogs thatmade impressions on both their position coaches and fellow team-mates in these spring practice sessions. Other names mentionedprominently were speedy freshman tailback Keith Marshall, whomissed half of the spring with a hamstring injury, sophomore de-fensive end Ray Drew, redshirt freshman receiver Justin Scott-Wes-ley, sophomore center David Andrews, junior tackle Austin Long,sophomore cornerback Damian Swann, and of course MalcolmMitchell, the Bulldogs’ ace freshman receiver last year who showedsigns this spring that he’s also developing into a shutdown cornerfor Grantham’s defense.

All of these up-and-coming Dogs could evolve into house-hold names before autumn turns into winter in 2012.

E

photos by Rob Saye

Georgia head coach Mark Richt sat down with Bulldog Illustrated writer Murray Poole during spring practice andgave the following answers to five questions concerning the Bulldogs’ 2012 outlook:

How do you see the offense going this season? I know you always preach balance, but is there a chance the Bulldogs will lean onthe running game if it's proving to be successful? And would that help the young offensive line as it matures on the fly?“The balance for me is being able to run the ball well enough when they play two-deep coverage and then being able to throw the ball good enoughif they put too many guys in the box and they outnumber you in the run game. And that’s really where you’ve got to be able to counteract that typeof defensive scheme. If you say, hey, we’re gonna run the ball because that’s gonna be helpful to the offensive line, well the offensive line might blockeverybody, the fullback might block his man and the tight end might as well but you still might have an unblocked safety two yards from the line ofscrimmage, so if they do that you got one-on-one coverage so you better be able to throw and catch good enough. So you can’t just sit there andsay, ‘you know, we’re gonna run that ball no matter what!’ On the other hand, if you can’t run it well against two-deep coverage, they can double yourreceivers and play zone and make it tough to throw and still hold up against the running game, then you’ve really got a problem there, too. So unlessyou’ve got a quarterback who’s truly a runner you’ve got to be able to have that kind of balance, I think. Of course, when you’ve got good runnersyou’ve got to get them the ball, and I think we have that. We’ve got some on campus already and we’re certainly waiting on Todd Gurley. And withKeith (Marshall) already being here, we’ve got some good backs on campus right now that are doing a good job. I tell you one guy who’s been apleasant surprise to me has been Ken Malcome. Ken’s growing up, he’s so much more mature than he was a year ago … just going about his busi-ness academically, going about his business at practice, his approach to life right now has really changed in a real positive way and I’m happy for him.”

Five questions for Mark Richt

1.

How excited are you about the progress of the Georgia defense under the leadership of Todd Grantham?“It’s been very good. It’s been a gradual progression of, trying to think of the word here … just getting things done. We’re producing in a really goodway. I think we’ve got a lot of guys that know what they’re doing, got a lot of guys that are more mature football players than they were a couple ofyears ago. Everybody knows the system better. They’re bigger, stronger and there’s a bunch of seniors in that bunch. It’s a heavy senior and veterangroup.”

2.What are the three things that Aaron Murray needs to improve on this season?“Well, I still want him to be very protective of the football. I still want him to make the plays he needs to make and all but he still needs to make surehe respects that ball, just like he has. You know the older you get, the more you think sometimes you can do things but you’ve still got to understandhow crucial that ball is, how crucial it is to maintain possession whether you’re throwing or running the ball, and you’ve got to have good ball secu-rity. We don’t need turnovers – we don’t need to give the game away. So I want him to always be mindful of that. I want him to just continue to getus in the right plays like he does. I think he is an accurate quarterback. He’ll get it to the receivers in a pretty good fashion but I’d like to see him be-come even more of a pinpoint passer where the guys can really get the yards after the catch, hitting them on stride, don’t make a guy jump, put theball in their body rather than making them reach for a ball in the middle, just put it on ‘em. And with Aaron, there will be some QB run elements tothe game but I don’t see him gaining 50 to 100 yards a game rushing, anything like that.”

3.

How hard is it to deal with player suspensions when you as coaches are doing everything you can do to encourage the kids to make good decisions?“It’s definitely discouraging. It’s the one thing I hate about this job, having to deal with that kind of thing. It hurts your momentum as a team, it hurts the player and his family. It hurts the coaching staff, ithurts the fan base and it hurts everybody. It’s not enjoyable but again, when those things do happen we just have to make sure we’re disciplining properly and we’re learning from it. These guys have got tobe able to learn from it. I’ve seen so many cases of guys that have. It happens all the time. People tend to forget … I don’t want to even name names because you’ll bring up some stuff but there’s certainguys that have gotten in trouble and have turned it around and finished so wonderfully and everybody loves those guys. And they don’t even think of the times they were in trouble, they think about the greattimes and so unfortunately you have those things happen but that’s kind of part of the growing up process; you make mistakes and you hopefully learn from them as you go and become better for it.”

4.With so many scholarships available (Georgia’s at a total of 73 or so now), what is your strategy for this year and next for adding more?“Well, you’re allowed to bring in young men, if they do well academically enough to come in at mid-year, you can actually count some scholarships back if you have room, which we will. So, hopefully, therewill be a healthy number of mid-year enrollees along with being able to move forward with that number as well. But some of the young men can count backward toward last year’s class and some can countforward. You know, we’ll see (about UGA possibly signing around 30 players next February). That would not be impossible at all. We’ll be working toward a good number of guys to replace but again, to havea high number, you’ve got to have a good many mid-year guys.”

5.

photo by Rob Saye

- Compiled by Murray Poole

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Other than Herschel, who is your favorite Bulldog and why?DJ Shockley. My freshman year was 2005 and he waited so long to be a starter. He took us to the SEC Championship; he’s just a damn good dawg.

Who is your favorite player on the current UGA roster and why?It’s tough to pick; we have a lot of good players. But I think Shawn

with a lot of emotion and passion and he really cares about Georgia.

What makes you a true Bulldog?My Georgia fanhood isn’t any more so than anyone else. But my dad is from Athens and both my parents went to Georgia. I grew up in the tough years of being a Georgia fan and learned how to keep cheering. No matter what, you gotta support them. Nowadays I just cant stop being so serious about the dawgs. I just really love the dawgs.

What is the most memorable play you have experienced in person?In 2005, Georgia vs. Tennessee in Knoxville. Thomas Flowers took a punt back to the house. Since it was an away game, I was crowded into one small section with all these Georgia fans and we all went nuts when that happened. I thought the house was going to go down. It was awesome.

Which one of our rivals do you enjoy beating the most?I really dislike Auburn and love beating them. A lot of my high school friends went there and beating them just feels so good.

What makes your tailgating scene so special?I don’t get to tailgate as much as I wish I could, but when I get to go now it’s a big event. Living a couple states away, it feels so good to be back and be among my friends. It’s always my family and folks I went to school with, people I’ve been tailgating with since freshman year. The people really make the tailgate.

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G-Day game rewindBy Murray Poole

ixty-three total points were put on the Sanford Stadiumscoreboard in Georgia’s annual spring G-Day game onApril 14 with the Red team nipping the Black team 32-31, but don’t let that offensive explosion fool you – the

Bulldogs’ No. 1 defense is still expected to rank with the top unitsin the country in 2012.

But still, in what they couldn’t accomplish early on in this year’sspring practices, the No. 1 offense of coordinator Mike Bobo, whichmade up the Red team, still made its share of big plays against ToddGrantham’s Black team, which consisted of the Bulldogs’ starting de-fense.

And also, the Black team offense, which fielded mostly Geor-gia’s No. 2 unit on that side of the ball, made some plays, whichmeans that, just like the team’s highly-touted defense, the mem-bers of the Bulldogs’ offensive team have reason to carry much-needed confidence into the new season this fall.

“We’ve done some good things in all three scrimmages thisspring and moved the ball,” said Bobo. “Today when you’re play-ing a bunch of guys, the defense got some turnovers and put us ingood position but I’ve just been preaching to our guys and the othercoaches all week just keep fighting. We’re going against a prettygood defense and if you’ll come out there and fight and work to getbetter every day, we’ll get better. And our guys have taken it a littlebit personal they want to come out and try to play well every chancethey get against our defense. It’s easy to lose confidence going againstthat defense every day in practice but I thought we showed somegood leadership and guys fighting and coaches doing a good job ofkeeping encouraging our guys to go out there and keep fightinghard every day in practice and even in today’s last scrimmage.”

Both Bobo and head coach Mark Richt were pleased with theshowing of the Bulldogs’ running back corps. Richard Samuel of theBlack team led all rushers with 43 yards on eight carries – all in thesecond half – rising sophomore Isaiah Crowell dashed for 39 yardson 10 carries for the Reds and redshirt sophomore tailback KenMalcome tacked on 32 yards on eight trips.

“I thought they did a nice job,” said Bobo. “You know it’s hardto get any running room in there when you’re in a 21 personnelgroup-based fullback, tight end but I thought they ran hard. Therewere some creases. We got to hold onto the ball – I don’t knowwho fumbled but it wasn’t one of our main guys. Turnovers weren’tgood but I thought we broke tackles, made some guys miss in thesecondary and when we did get them on the corner we saw somespeed out of all the guys out there. Ken Malcome ran hard, ranthrough some tackles on both touchdown runs. Richard Samuel,he is what he is, he’s a bruiser and came in there and they weregoing to kind of pound him and he had some success. And Isaiahshowed his versatility going in and out and then Brandon Hartonand (Kyle) Karempelis out of the backfield made some nice catches.What I’ve been saying all spring,” added Bobo, “is that it’s good tohave depth at that position and we’ve got Keith Marshall who did-n’t even get to play today and we’re real excited about him and the

growth of those young backs. Isaiah and Kenwere both young backs last year and thegrowth and maturity of those guys have comea long way. We’ve still got a long way to go butif we stay together and work, we’ve got achance to be pretty good.”

For the record, the Black team’s scoringcame via a 46-yard field goal by Adam Erick-son, a 7-yard pass from Hutson Mason toRhett McGowan, a 2-yard run by Samuel, aGarrison Smith recovery of a Red fumble inthe end zone and a 66-yard touchdown strikefrom Christian LeMay to redshirt freshman tight end Jay Rome,which came with just 59 seconds to play and just after a 68-yardfumble (forced by Reuben Faloughi) recovery run by big outsidelinebacker Ricky Lowe (6-7,258). Lowe’s improbable touchdownproved to be the Reds’ winning score after a two-point PAT pass forthe win by LeMay was batted away. In addition to Lowe’s big de-fensive play, the Red team got Malcome touchdown runs of 6 and10 yards, a 26-yard field goal by Jamie Lindley, and a 33-yardtouchdown pass from Aaron Murray to Tavarres King. The Reds led10-3 at the half before the offensive sparks began flying in the sec-ond.

Because of his long TD bomb to Rome, redshirt freshmanLeMay led the quarterbacks with 7-of-10 completions for 154 yardswith the one touchdown and one interception. Murray was 7-of-17 for 112 yards including the 33-yard toss to King on a swingpass and Mason, who’s expected to be redshirted this fall barring aninjury to Murray, played for both teams and hit a combined 9-of-12 for 133 yards and also one touchdown. Little Harton led all re-ceivers with six catches out of the backfield for 52 yards, JustinScott-Wesley snared three balls for 46 yards and King, MarlonBrown, Michael Erdman and Rome all showed two receptions each.

“I think we did well, going against our No. 1 defense,” offeredtailback Crowell. “I know they’re one of the top defenses in thecountry so I think we did very good and we’ll be ready for anyother defense. I felt 100 percent today and I think that makes a dif-ference in how you play.”

“I thought we had a great day offensively,” said Murray. “We’vebeen getting better week after week and I know the guys on of-fense are excited about our far we’ve come this spring and we’ve justgot to keep the momentum up, keep working hard this summerand in camp and offensively, we can be pretty special next year. Therunning backs are definitely coming along and I think the biggestimprovement is in the offensive line. Those guys have done atremendous job of getting better every single week – those guys are10 times better and you’ve got to give them credit for how hardthey’ve worked this spring.”

“We’re a pretty good defense, we know that,” said All-Amer-ica outside linebacker Jarvis Jones. “We can dominate them a wholelot but at the same time, you’ve got to give the offense credit for be-

lieving in themselves. I think they’re very competitive, they’re youngbut they’re smart and understand the game. It just will take themsome time to jell. The spring gives you time to get better and I def-initely think we took a big step on our offensive line this spring.”

“When you go up against a defense like we have, Jarvis Jones,Alec Ogletree, that defensive front, Bacarri Rambo, Shawn Williams,all those defensive guys, when you go up against guys that are greatlike that,” declared wide receiver King, “you get better ultimatelyand we did.”

“Like T.K. said,” interjected fellow wideout Michael Bennett,“we started off a little shaky offensively this spring but we kept play-ing against those guys and it kept getting us better and better andwe’re going to build off that into the fall and really become an eliteoffense.”

But don’t think it was all offense on this sun-kissed afternoonwith more than 44,000 of the Dog Nation showing up to watch.Georgia defenders on both sides made their presence felt, illustrat-ing once again that Todd Grantham will have plenty of talent towork with this coming season.

Linebacker Ramik Wilson paced the Red team with seventackles, including a sack, and he returned an interception 19 yards.Linebackers Kosta Vavlas and Amarlo Herrera each added six tack-les. Safety Austin Herod added an interception for the Red team.

For the Black team, linebacker Chase Vasser led the way withfive tackles and a pass breakup. Linebacker Alec Ogletree, outsidelinebacker Cornelius Washington, safety Bacarri Rambo and cor-nerback Devin Bowman all added four tackles. Ogletree had a 28-yard interception return.

After lauding his running backs, quarterbacks, offensive lineand receivers, head man Richt said this about the UGA defense:“First of all, you have to start playing the games and decide who’sdominant and who’s not but we’ve got a chance to be really goodup front. We have a chance to be really good on defense, period, inmy opinion. I’ve seen enough of us when we’re all healthy androcking and rolling, we’re gonna be a tough defense to deal with.So everybody just has to get in the best condition they possibly can,everybody has got to stay focused and everybody has to get to thegate and once everybody is up and running, I think we’ll be verystout.”

S

photos by Rob Saye

Aaron Murray

JustinScott-Wesley

Bulldogs' nose guards are quite the load indeedBy Murray Poole

magine the plight of an opposing center facing the Georgia defense this season.That offensive lineman continually attempts to block a 6-3, 351-pound senior nose guard

named John Jenkins but is getting his helmet handed to him on almost every down. “This guy’sa load,” thinks the center, “and I just can’t keep him out of our backfield but sooner or later, as huge asthis guy is, they (the Bulldogs) are going to have to substitute for him.”

And, yes, as the game moves along, Georgia defensive line coach Rodney Garner does opt to givebig Jenkins a rest and that opposing center breathes a huge sigh of relief as he notices Jenkins remainingon the Bulldog sideline for the next series.

But then, as the center looks up and across the line of scrimmage, to his proverbial horror there isanother mountain of a man glaring back at him. It’s a 6-6, 350-pound junior nose guard named KwameGeathers. And, thus, the punishment of the opposing offensive lineman continues unabated.

Pick your poison. Georgia opponents! In the persons of Jenkins and Geathers, the Bulldogs boastarguably the best 1-2 nose guard punch in the country for the upcoming 2012 football season.

After transferring to Georgia from Gulf Coast (Miss.) Community College, Jenkins appeared in all14 of the Bulldogs’ games last fall while making seven starts. He recorded 28 total tackles including 6.0tackles-for-loss, 3.0 sacks, 10 quarterback pressures and an interception, which came in the Outback Bowlagainst Michigan State. Jenkins, who hails from Meriden, Conn., was one of the Bulldogs’ Newcomer ofthe Year Award recipients. And at the end of this year’s spring practice, Jenkins was named as Co-MVPfor the defense along with All-America outside linebacker Jarvis Jones.

In Georgia’s 2010 season, Geathers was named to the SEC Coaches All-SEC Freshman Team. Then,last year, the Georgetown, S.C. native, who is the younger brother of former Bulldog and present Cincin-nati Bengals player Robert Geathers, appeared in 12 of Georgia’s games and made three starts. Geathersrecorded 14 tackles including a career-high four tackles against arch-rival Georgia Tech. Prior to the sea-son, Geathers was named preseason All-SEC Second Team by Lindy’s.

Garner and head coach Mark Richt’s words all but echo when they talk about their prize noseguards.

This, from Garner when asked during the recent spring drills about the progress of another up-and-coming player at the position, redshirt sophomore Mike Thornton: “Mike Thornton’s getting better, hehas a role here on this team and has a future here,” offered Garner. “He’s a compact, quick, powerful guywho has natural leverage. He just has the misfortune of playing behind Jenkins and Geathers, two of thebiggest men in college football and probably two of the most athletic men in college football. John andKwame both are really, really coming on. My thing is,” added Garner, “I just have to stay on them aboutfundamentals, just being hard on them about steps, pad level, hand placement, just little things. Even ifthey make a big TFL (tackle for loss), I don’t care, I’ve got to coach what you did wrong. I don’t want themto get a false sense of ‘we’re here,’ when you may not be quite here. But I’ve been very pleased with bothkids. John is having a great spring and Kwame is also having a good spring and I think the light’s start-ing to come on. The way he’s going, I expect a big year out of him.”

And, said Richt: “You’ve got two of the biggest nose guards around and maybe two of the better onesaround, too. They’re making it tough on our centers. Even when our centers do everything right, they’restill just big strong guys that know what they’re doing and are just penetrating into the backfield quiteoften.”

One of the happiest guys to have both Jenkins and Geathers on his side of the ball is Bulldogs’ de-fensive coordinator Todd Grantham.

“I think those guys have really improved, they’re big and they’re physical,” said Grantham. “I thinkthey’ve taken the approach they’re going to try and make themselves better and by making themselvesbetter, they take a team attitude and our team is better, so I’m pleased with those guys.”

Grantham said, even in the NFL with the Dallas Cowboys, it’s doubtful if he ever had a better 1-2punch at one position than he has with Jenkins and Geathers.

“Oh, yeah, no doubt,” Grantham responded. “We’ve even had some packages where we’ve playedthem at the same time because John’s an athletic guy that can move out and play end. And it’s just an-

other example of trying to get the next best guy in the game and John’s done that for us a little bit, andwe’ll continue to work that because Kwame has really shown up to be a physical guy and we’ll continueto move guys around and develop them and get the next best guy in the game.”

Offensive coordinator Mike Bobo has to see Jenkins and Geathers across the line of scrimmage eachday in practice and knows full well how tough the duo makes things for his offensive linemen. “John Jenk-ins, he’s just about impossible to block,” said Bobo, who has the same sentiments about Geathers.

As for Jenkins and Geathers themselves, they are extremely close as teammates and believe their playin the very middle of the trenches feeds off each other.

“We help each other,” said Jenkins. “It’s just like this energy. If Kwame doesn’t do something right,we talk about it and if I don’t do something right, Kwame will give me encouragement. And I mean byencouragement, we feed off each other’s energy and everything. As a defense this year, we’re just goingto try and be dominant,” said Jenkins, who pointed out he’d like to get his weight down between 330and 335 this year after playing right at 350 pounds last season. “As nose guards, we just try to demanda double, if not triple, team. We don’t worry about how many tackles we make because the thing is, it’sa job. So maybe one play I have all these guys blocking me and the linebackers get in and then on thenext play they’re gonna try and pick up on the linebacker so you do your job and you’re going to makeplays within your job. That’s what I worry about, at least. Being in the system a second year, I feel a lotbetter. I know the plays and how to improvise in those plays and I just feel more comfortable in the sys-tem now. And I think our defense can be whatever we want to be this season.”

“I think we can be pretty good,” offered Geathers. “I think we can be one of the top defenses outthere this year if we just keep working every day. John’s right, we’re both competitive, we just go out thereand look at the mistakes we both make and try to fix it. We go out there and do what we can to be com-petitive and be good on that down and give it our all. Our goal is to be the best in college football andtry to make it to the top. That’s our goal … to come out there and try to be dominant. Our job as noseguards is try to disrupt that offensive line and stick in there, take on those blocks and try to make a play.You like to make tackles but setting it up for your linebackers is good, too,” Geathers added. “But youalways want to go out there and try to make tackles yourself, too. My weight is about the same now, about345, but I want to try to get down a little lower. I think I’m doing a better job this year at getting my padlevel lower but it’s pretty tough (with his 6-6 height) trying to stay low – you think you’re low but youain’t low. Coach Garner is a good coach … he’s tough and he pushes us but it’s all for the good becausehe just wants to get the best out of us.”

And, no question, Georgia’s 12 regular-season opponents in 2012, and then hopefully several in thepost-season as well, are going to be seeing the best out of those huge Bulldog nose guards wearing No.6 and No. 99, respectively.

I

photos by Rob Saye

Solid running attack could be key to Bulldogs' offenseBy Murray Poole

t’s a given that the Georgia Bulldogs can move through the ballthrough the air. Last season, in his second season as Georgia’sstarting quarterback, now junior Aaron Murray passed for

3,149 yards and a single-season school record 35 touchdowns.But still, the offense was inconsistent at times, due primarily to

a running game that never seemed to click on all cylinders. Startingtailback Isaiah Crowell was sidelined down the stretch with injuriesand off-the-field problems and the offensive line, which featured threeseniors in Cordy Glenn, Ben Jones and Justin Anderson, sometimeswasn’t productive against the top defenses Georgia encountered.

But that was 2011. Even though O-line coach Will Friend ishaving to rebuild that offensive front, there seems to be rising talentamong the young offensive linemen who gained experience last sea-son and, combined with an infusion of depth in the Bulldogs’ tailbackcorps, that running game seems to have everything in place to beable to adequately complement Mike Bobo’s passing attack this com-ing fall.

Murray is one who feels confident as to what the Georgiaground game will accomplish during the 2012 season.

“I think we’re definitely heading in the right direction right now,”said the Bulldog quarterback, speaking during the third week of therecently-completed spring practice. “In the run game, I think thoseguys are definitely ready to step up and have a great year. They are ayear older and more mature. Guys like Isaiah (Crowell), I think he’shad an unbelievable off-season. He’s worked extremely hard and it’spaying off out there on the practice field so I think all facets of thegame are going to be ready to go this season.

“The running game is going to open up everything else so it’sgoing to be great,” Murray added. “Keith Marshall (early tailback en-rollee) looks great. He’s very smart. You don’t really have to continu-ally teach him, teach him, teach him – he’s a kid who’s going to learnit the first time; if he doesn’t he’s going to continue working as a re-sult and make sure he knows it. So he’s done a great job of learningthe playbook and out there in practice, he’s done a great job.

“And the biggest improvement we’ve seen offensively is in theoffensive line,” Murray said. “Those guys made humongous stridesfrom week one to week two (in spring drills), opening up runninglanes and giving me time to throw the ball so I think those guys willcontinue to get better and that’s what it all starts with. As long as thoseguys continue to get pushed and get better, we’ll be fine.”

And as one listens to running backs coach Bryan McClendonbreak down his tailback and fullback corps, you can’t help but feel asense of excitement and anticipation about the Bulldogs taking thefight to opposing defenses on the ground this autumn.

“Starting off with the guys in the backfield, at fullback we’re try-ing Richard (Samuel) there in certain situations and I think it’s goingto help us,” said McClendon. “Richard does have a lot of toughnessbut it’s not like we’re moving him to fullback. We’ve just got himtraining in both places right now just to give us some options. But he’sdefinitely picking it up well and it’s easy for him to understand since

he’s been in the system so it’s not like he’s having to learn somethingbrand spanking new to him. Another guy I’ve been very impressedwith is Merritt Hall, a redshirt freshman from Wesleyan. He’s done areally, really good job at fullback. Also, Dustin Royston is a very goodwalk-on fullback for us. I’m been very impressed with those guysoutside of Zander (Ogletree), Zander being that constant guy there,too.

“At tailback,” said McClendon, “it’s been probably one of thebetter springs since I’ve been here. We have a lot of talented guysback there and the biggest thing with that talent, those guys havebeen reliable. And I tell those guys all the time that of all the ability,the best thing is dependability. That’s the biggest thing they need tofocus on because it’s not easy playing tailback in this league. You’vegot to have more than one guy and I think we have that right nowbut one thing not as many people understand as they should is thatthe tailback, they’re the one position those guys are getting hit everyplay. And if they’re running the ball the way they’re supposed to,they’re getting hit more than one time on that one particular play.But whether they’re pass blocking, they’re getting hit, whether they’replay faking, they’re getting hit. And a body is not made to take all ofthat so that’s why you’ve got to make sure you have more than oneguy, number one, to keep people healthy and, two, to keep peoplefresh. I’m not a big believer in just wearing guys down to a nub be-cause that’s when an injury will happen, when guys are tired and fa-tigued.

“But I definitely think our tailbacks have been competing well.Obviously, Keith Marshall coming in, it’s amazing how quickly he’spicking things up. And Ken Malcome has been working his butt off;

he’s progressed so much in pass protection that he’s really become avery good, reliable person with a lot of talent just like we mentioned.Isaiah has had a very, very good spring. He’s come to work every day,knowing no matter how he feels he’s coming out there giving greateffort. He’s had a very good off-season so far. And the thing both Isa-iah and Ken understand, they know what it takes to be successful inthis league. Both of them have played in this league and they knowyou can’t just walk in and do it.”

McClendon said there’s not much of a contrast in the runningstyles of Crowell and the speedy Marshall, who missed the last halfof spring practice and the annual G-Day game with a lingering ham-string injury.

“Both are very similar,” he related. “I think both have that big-play ability. Both run extremely tough between the tackles, very ef-fective between the tackles. They do a good job of protecting thefootball as well. They have that open field ability, are able to get thetough yards, too. They’re a lot more similar than they are different.Both are very elusive guys and have the speed to take it the distance,speed to get around guys on the corner but are physical enough andbig enough to take it between the tackles. Keith’s whole senior sea-son (at Millbrook High in Raleigh, N.C.), he ended up with nearly1,900 yards and 1,400 to 1,500 were between the tackles. A lot ofpeople fall into that because he’s such a fast guy and they want tolabel him an edge player but he’s not an edge player at all. I think rightout, if Keith and Isaiah raced, I think Keith would beat him but thenyou could say that for the majority of kids playing college footballright now. Keith is a fast guy, an extremely fast guy. He gets started veryquickly, very good short-area quickness and initial quickness. Keithhas legitimate fast track times and that’s what he’s done. So Malcolm’s(Mitchell) not the only guy on this team Keith can beat in a race.

“Now Ken Malcome’s not going to outrun many people in thisleague but that doesn’t mean he’s any less effective than those otherguys. In this league, you’ve got to live by getting tough yards andthat’s something I think he does very well. He’s a very hard guy tobring down, you never see just one guy bringing this guy down andmaking a tackle on him if he’s running the ball the way he’s supposedto do it,” said McClendon, who is also ultra-confident about the abil-ities of backup tailbacks Brandon Harton and Kyle Karempelis, whostepped up in Crowell’s absence last season.

And you must also know that the running backs coach is look-ing for the other recruit from North Carolina, Todd Gurley, to placehis foot in the tailback picture when he arrives on campus in June.

“Todd Gurley, he’s that rare combination,” said McClendon.“He’s a bigger guy that plays big, plays behind his pads very well. Hebreaks tackles and is a tough, tough football player who grinds outplays through pain very well and he’s a legitimate track guy, too. Heran in the Junior Olympics over there in Europe this past summer sohe has that rare ability to both run you over and outrun you. Rightnow, I don’t count on Todd Gurley redshirting. I plan on him com-ing in and competing for playing time … a starting job.”

I

photos by Rob Saye

Isaiah Crowell

Kwame Geathers John Jenkins

Ken Malcome

www.bulldawgillustrated.com 13

Countdown to kickoff fan festival

July 14, 20123:00 P.M. - 6:00 p.m.UGA practice fields, Athens, GA

Join hosts matt stinchcomb, jon stinchcomb, david greene and other uga and nfl football players for a day of autographs, photos, and fun!

Family pack - $754 tickets to the event & pennant for player autographs

individual tickets - $25

www.ugakickoff.com

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Bowie and Dennis Nunnally and Vince Dooley

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John and Victoria Simm and Vince DooleyElizabeth Suddeth, Barbara Dooley and Mary Virginia Jones

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Ashley Hancock, Amanda Davis, Jayda Hazell, JR Releford, Michelle Blue, EmileeMason and Kevin Brinson

UGA AlumniAssociation

AwardsLuncheon

Bob Cowsert, Amy Cowsert, Marty Kemp and Jeane and BobArgo (Alumni Merit honoree)Julie Cheney, Meredith Carr and Wanda Darden

David and Abbie Smith, Kathy Hutto and Bill Flatt (Faculty Service honoree) Tom Wilfong, Judy Milton and Nancy McDuff

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Trey Paris, Deborah Dietzler and David Williams Alumni Family of the Year - The Seiler family