Off week coming at the right time for Georgia offensive line
For the Georgia offensive line, the season’s first off week is coming at the perfect time.
There are numerous areas for the Bulldogs to improve. But before anything else, Georgia needs to get healthy in the trenches.
That starts with right tackle Earnest Greene, who has battled back issues early in the season. Greene missed the second half of the win at Tennessee, with Michael Uini playing most of the snaps there before giving way to Bo Hughley.
“With Earnest, we took some time there in the Austin Peay to try to get him better and do some things with him rehab-wise and try to get him back,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said. “He certainly was not 100 percent and tried to go out there and go and give us all he could. I think his endurance and the stamina part was hard in that kind of game, to go out there and just jump back in and play.”
Right guard has mainly been handled by true freshmen.
Juan Gaston started the season opener before leaving due to an ankle injury. He missed the Austin Peay game before returning against Tennessee, although fellow freshman Dontrell Glover got the start.
“Any work helps them,” Smart said of the freshmen. “Walkthroughs help them, meetings help them. They’re just, the ceiling is, they’re so far from their ceiling because they haven’t had the same amount of work. But we also have to be healthy, which makes it hard, because you’re balancing health and reps and trying to get guys back healthy.”
The other three spots have remained fairly stable for Georgia. Left tackle Monroe Freeling, left guard Micah Morris, and center Drew Bobo each played all 95 snaps in the win against Tennessee.
Morris admitted he left Knoxville feeling pretty tired. But as the oldest of the Georgia starters, he knows its up to him to help bring the young players along.
“One of the main things I can pass on to the younger guys is just to stay focused and stay committed, just lock in on film,” Morris said. “As a younger guy, obviously, tendencies is a big thing that you’ve got to pick up on in the offensive line room. Whether it’s twists, stunts, linebacker location, when they’re off-balance, things like that. Just really honing in on film, because that’s half of the battle right there. If you know what they’re going to do, you can take that out of the mindset and just go play the ball, execute the play.”
Georgia now has 11 days until its next major test. Alabama comes to Athens for a marquee showdown at Sanford Stadium on September 27.
Over the next few days, the Bulldogs plan to wipe the slate clean and continue improving.
“I feel like nobody played perfect, so there’s room for improvement everywhere, whether it’s communication, technique, making sure we’re all on the same page,” Morris said. “One of the things we’ll be working on during the week is pretty much everything. I mean, we’re back to square one. It’s a new week, a new opponent, so take it from everything that we’ve done already. We’ve got to wash that away and focus on the next opponent and get back to it.”