Offensive problems begin with banged-up line

By Andy Johnston

For the AJC

ATHENS -- Three starting offensive linemen missed Georgia’s scrimmage Saturday, leading to a sluggishness that coach Mark Richt said “got sloppy at times.”

“That’s the kind of day that it was offensively,” he said. “I’m glad we have three more weeks [before the opener]. The defense gained confidence, but I’m not sure the offense did.”

Center Ben Jones sat out with a knee injury and will have arthroscopic surgery today. Richt said he should return in time to start the Sept. 4 opener against Louisiana-Lafayette. Jones was joined on the sidelines by guard Cordy Glenn (mono) and tackle Josh Davis (ankle).

Richt said it's best for Jones to have the surgery instead of trying to play through pain and have his knee lock up during the season, which would force him to miss two or three games.

“I guess it’s a meniscus or something, some cartilage issue in there,” Richt said. “We feel like if we clean it up now, we’ve got a chance to go for the season.”

Georgia pieced together a first-team offensive line with Chris Burnette at center, Tanner Strickland at left guard and A.J. Harmon at right tackle, along with regulars Clint Boling and Chris Davis. Trinton Sturdivant also saw some action in third-and-long situations.

“I want to temper my words,” Richt said. “The defense certainly dominated the scrimmage. I’m not sure, we might have gotten two first downs in the first half.”

Quarterback Aaron Murray was 8-for-20 for 133 yards, with a 46-yard completion to Logan Gray, who was perhaps the lone bright spot on offense with three catches for 70 yards. Hutson Mason was 8-for-18 for 48 yards, and Washaun Ealey had 78 yards on seven carries, but Richt said that included a long run.

A.J. Green had one catch.

“We really didn’t get into a great rhythm offensively,” Murray said. “There were some flashes, but overall, not very consistent. But hey, we have three more weeks to keep working at it.”

There was goal-line and short-yardage work in the second half, and Richt called that “dead-even” between the units.

“In the second half, we put the ball on the 12-yard line going in and had a couple of drives,” he said. “It was four-down territory, and the offense did convert there and scored. So that was good for them.”

Offense down, defense up

Georgia’s defensive players didn’t want to step on their offensive teammates while they were down, cornerback Brandon Boykin going as far as to blame the offense's issues on the rainy weather.

Still, linebacker Justin Houston was proud of the defensive effort, which included his three sacks and a fumble recovery for a touchdown.

“We started off getting sacks,” he said. “They couldn’t get the ball off. We were making plays, tackles for loss, knocking down passes, doing what the defense is supposed to do. Causing turnovers. All the right things.”

Linebacker Darryl Gamble also had three sacks, and linebacker Akeem Hebron had five tackles and a fumble recovery. Hebron liked what he saw of the defensive line.

“Our D-line played really well,” he said. “They really helped the defense out a lot. Kwame Geathers was in front of me. I know he had a real big hit on a play early in the scrimmage.”

Catching on catching passes

Gray, a converted quarterback, is making a home for himself at receiver, which is just fine with Murray.

“I love Logan at receiver. He knows what we’re looking for,” Murray said. “He can play all the positions because he knows every play. Receivers come in and learn one position. They learn the routes for that position. He can play X,Y, Z, all three positions at receiver.”

Gray, who played quarterback and on special teams last year, had a 46-yard catch in Saturday’s scrimmage.

“In practice the other day, he had two unbelievable catches, jumping over guys,” Murray said. “He’s definitely looking good. He’s a great athlete, and he’s definitely turning some heads out there.”

Smith back in action

Boykin said fellow corner Branden Smith, who missed eight practices while resolving eligibility issues, played well. Smith had two tackles.

“He had to come in and learn the things he missed throughout the week, so him being able to do that and coming in and playing as well as he did, I think that was pretty good,” Boykin said. “He was able to keep his breath and keep up with the players. He’ll be all right.”