Richt changes mind about Georgia’s penalties

Athens — Earlier in the season, Georgia coach Mark Richt was reluctant to make too much of penalties, not wanting to risk a loss of aggressiveness.

“My strategy and my thoughts were wrong,” Richt declared Tuesday.

With Georgia the most frequently penalized major-college football team in the nation, Richt has changed his strategy for dealing with the situation.

“I’m wearing them out physically — team and individual,” Richt said.

That, players said, has meant grueling up-down drills on the practice field as punishment for plays that would draw penalties.

“Pretty much the up-downs will spin your head,” linebacker Darryl Gamble said, “so I don’t think a lot of guys got multiple penalties in [Monday’s] practice.”

The Bulldogs have averaged 10.6 penalties for 87.4 yards per game this season. Not one of the nation’s 119 Division I-A teams has been penalized more times per game than Georgia, and only Florida State has been penalized more yards per game (90.0).

The Bulldogs vow to dramatically reduce their penalties against Tennessee on Saturday.

“As a team, I think no more than four [penalties] is the max,” Gamble said. “No more than four, or we’ll have to deal with it next week at practice.”

Georgia has been heavily penalized all season, but the issue was brought to the forefront when it helped Alabama build a 31-0 halftime lead en route to a 41-30 victory Sept. 27.

“Before, I was a little reluctant to make such a strong point that I was concerned about aggressive play and all that kind of thing,” Richt said. “[But the] penalties have not slowed down and have cost us. I did a poor job on the front end.”

Richt acknowledged, in response to a question, that historically, championship teams sometimes have been among the most penalized teams.

But “we’re past that point,” he said. “It’s just a much stronger accountability system than at the start of the year, I’ll say that.”

Cornerback Asher Allen said penalties can be reduced without sacrificing aggressiveness.

“We’re still going to play hard; we’re still going to play tough,” Allen said. “You’ve just got to look at the plays that have been called penalties and really work on what has been called. It’s just about … being smarter.”