Dogs 6th in Playoff rankings, prep for Mizzou

The Georgia Bulldogs are sixth in the first College Football Playoff rankings, behind Ohio State, LSU, Alabama, Penn State, and Clemson. The Dogs are gearing up for Saturday night's game against the Missouri Tigers, a 7 o'clock kickoff in Sanford Stadium. 

From Catherine Harris, UGA Sports Communications…

The sixth-ranked Georgia Bulldogs conducted a two-hour practice Tuesday afternoon in preparation for upcoming Southeastern Conference (SEC) matchup against Missouri.

Georgia head coach Kirby Smart, junior defensive lineman Malik Herring and senior place-kicker Rodrigo Blankenship offered the following comments.

Head Coach Kirby Smart: 

Opening Statement

“The guys have been good, good energy. I think the cool air has helped with that. We’ve been outside and inside and preparing well and got a big task in front of us because I got a lot of respect for this [Missouri] team and they do some different things, things you don't see every week. So we'll have to prepare for those things and get ready. Got a lot more work to do tomorrow to get where we need to be though.”

On Missouri’s unique game-style and techniques… 

“It probably helps the coaches more than the players because we go back and pull the tape on Sunday, and say, ‘Remember we worked these guys for a period during the day,’ and we watch it analyze it. A lot of players don't remember what they did about week ago to be honest with you. We will show them the tape and it triggers memories and things like that—calls you make and the rules you make. So we have to do that with these guys.”

On the difference between Georgia’s defensive line this year from last’s… 

“Another year old, some more guys, probably a little more experienced on the edges— we were we were extremely thin last year on the edges and now we've got some more guys with experience—

pretty similar inside.

On what has contributed to the defense not allowing a rushing touchdown this season… 

“No, we haven't changed much philosophically. We’ve added some things to our package that have helped. We've played well in the red area—some of that's just a statistical, just draw. We've had some plays score from outside, the radio, some big passes, that that maybe those drives turn into a goal on possession and they score. It's a great feat to have but I would trade some goal-line rushes for some not-made plays, you know what I mean? I'd much rather not give up long passing plays, but the guys are proud of it, and they try to own it, and we work hard to keep people out of our end zone. We’ve always said to get in our end zone, you have to throw it in and try to make them one dimensional. But it doesn't always happen that way.”

On what contributes to the good-run defense overall… 

“It’s everybody. In today's world, every play has three plays, so they can throw at him, they can toss it to him, or he can keep it. It literally is you're at the point of attack at all eleven positions. So if you play good run defense, it's not that guy or that guy—it’s every guy! Football has just evolved to the point where that guy's cracking that guy. So the guy over there, he's got to go make the play. You're all tied into a string. You play well, they can they can find holes usually when you have a lot of plays tied into one.”

On overall development of Malik Herring… 

“Malik was a good athlete coming out and played really hard when he was young. He's gotten better. He had a really good game against Georgia Tech. I guess it was last year—it was a very different kind of game. It was right up his alley. He had played against that style of offense in high school, and it was it was unique, so that gave him confidence, but he's gotten better. He's worked hard. He's a good athlete. So he continues to develop.”

On how Rodrigo Blankenship’s work-ethic… 

“Rodrigo has a great psyche. I don't compare him because I've been fortunate and haven't had a lot of kickers. Rod has been our kicker. He’s got a great mental disposition. He's got a preparation mode that he goes through, and he handles the mental conditioning part really well, and he puts himself in a good place. I think he's bounced back really well.”

On game-time decisions and planning… 

“There was not a lot of contemplating—there was no time to contemplate. You’ve got 40 seconds, and you really got less than that, because you have to get the play down and get the call in and decisions made. I told you all every decision that we make, we try to make it before the game. You play the game well before the game, and you make those decisions well before the game. We have a Friday walkthrough that we do every Friday, and it's got about 30 to 40 items, and that was one of them. We did exactly what we did in Friday walkthrough. The kids had rehearsed and done it, and they understood the plan. The good thing is we're able to execute.

On how much the defense changes/loosens up in situations such as that against Florida, where Georgia had two touchdowns…

“I don't know that it changed a lot. [Florida] probably changed more what they were doing to counter what we were doing. We changed some because we had to play six DBs instead of five because [Florida] started throwing the ball more. I would just say that [Florida] made some made more plays than we did. We had opportunity to get off the field, and we didn't.”

On whether it is weird to think about recruiting another kicker after this season...

"The unique thing is that you go through that a lot in a lot of other positions. It's kind of rare that you have one kicker for this long. I guess it's rare you have any position for that long, but you get used to it as a coach. Kids move on, and they get opportunities, and you have to replace them. That's the beauty of college football, is that every team is different than the previous."

On what he and the Georgia coaching staff saw in Jordan Davis, despite him not being a four or five-star recruit...

“We were excited because we watched him do workouts, and we saw him go through bags. We saw his agility, and it just jumped off the screen. My history has been that someone that big and that athletic has been a really good player. It shocked me that he was not pursued heavier. He was in the Charlotte area and was recruited by good schools, but I think a lot of people thought he might be an offensive tackle, because he played some of that in high school. He was really athletic, but we just saw natural talent and natural ability. [He’s an] intelligent kid with a great mom. He’s just a wonderful kid, and he still hasn't reached his full potential. That's the hardest part for him to acknowledge, because he's very athletic for a large man. We’ve got to get the most out of him."

On what characters DJ Daniel has that allowed him to go from Georgia Military College (GMC) to helping UGA out in the secondary...

“DJ is mature. DJ has played at a high level. When you go and play the GMC schedule they play, they play some of the best teams in junior college. When you turn the tape on, he’s covered them. He’s fast, too, and those two combinations are pretty good. We probably didn't realize how good of a physical tackler he is— the guy isn’t afraid of contact. We felt like we had a good player, and we were excited about it."

On how he feels about the younger guys’ development and those who aren’t ones and twos…

“Everybody practices, so the beauty is I get to see them on both sides… We've had a really good history here of developing players to prepare them to play the next season, or maybe even play this season, should something happen. I love watching a guy, like Kenny McIntosh, who did not have a clue how to play special teams. I'm not saying he wasn’t buying into it— he just didn't know. Now, he loves it. He's fast. He embraces it, and he's taken ownership in his role. I thought Belichick said it best when he said if you want to find out if someone cares most about the team, you put them on kickoff coverage and put them on kickoff return. That's when you find out how much they care about the team. We have a lot of guys on board. They've done a good job."

On how he would assess the running backs/Georgia’s ability to rotate them in and out to utilize their skills…

"I think we've done a good job. We've got a good stable back, but it's a hard management because, do you not give the ball to No. 7? I want seven with the ball as much as possible. I want No. 35 with a ball, but James Cook does a good job. Zamir [White] has had flashes and done good things. It's not easy to assess how it's been done. What you can say is, we want the best players and the best opportunity to win, and I think those guys realize that and acknowledge that they all have different strengths. We try to use those strengths."

Junior DL Malik Herring: 

On his impression on the defensive play against Florida…

“I was impressed. I thought we played really well. We prepared for them, and I thought we took the field with a lot of intensity.”

On his expectations going in to the game against Florida…

“I don’t like thinking in ‘what if’s.’ I’m glad that we went in and got the job done against them. I thought we played really well because, in the moment, you don’t think about the things you can fix. We’re always working to get better, so every Monday we come in and watch film so Coach can show us what we need to fix.”

On how the defense is preparing for Missouri…

“We are just going with the flow. I know that Coach Lanning has mentioned that Kelly Bryant may or may not play. We’re practicing like we’re planning on it, but we’re prepared for anything.”

On not giving up a rushing touchdown all year…

“We try to take a lot of pride in that accomplishment, but Coach Smart always reminds us to stay humble about it. He jokes that the scout team scores on us, so it keeps us motivated, but it is a pretty cool statistic.”

Senior PK Rodrigo Blankenship: 

On some of the awards he has been considered for…

“It’s an honor to be recognized for some of these awards. Earlier today, it was announced that I’m a semifinalist for the Wuerffel Trophy award, and it’s really just an honor and a blessing to be considered. At the same time, I always want to be grateful for the opportunities that the University of Georgia has given me. I have such an amazing platform to reach out to so many communities and do so many great things throughout the country.”

On the mental aspect of being a kicker…

“When Coach Butler was here, he helped me a lot with my mental game. He was here in 2016 and 2017. He was a really great resource, not only for me, but also for all the specialists. He kicked in the NFL for so many years, so it was really great to be able to pick his brain and learn how he handled some of the mental aspects of our position.”