Richt: UGA offensive line must improve

By Tim Tucker

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Athens — Georgia’s offensive line — expected to be a pillar of the team this season — did not get good reviews from coach Mark Richt for its play in Saturday’s win over Arizona State.

“We definitely have to get better up front,” Richt said Sunday.

His assessment came after Georgia was held to 92 rushing yards on 31 carries against the Sun Devils.

“There’s been some games they played beautifully,” Richt said of the offensive line. “This game definitely wasn’t the best of the year, I can say that.”

“We’ve got to be more focused,” right tackle Clint Boling said Sunday. “We all know that we can be playing better right now, and we just need to go out and do it.”

The Bulldogs played with a reconfigured line Saturday, Cordy Glenn shifting from left guard to start at left tackle — the Bulldogs’ third starter this season at that key position. Trinton Sturdivant started the first game, in which he suffered a season-ending knee injury, and Vince Vance the next two.

On Saturday, Glenn played the entire game at left tackle, with Chris Davis and Vance rotating at left guard. Davis started.

“We have to decide whether that’s how we’re going to do it this week or not,” Richt said. Georgia plays LSU in Sanford Stadium on Saturday.

Tailbacks Caleb King and Richard Samuel had 11 carries apiece against Arizona State, gaining 55 and 25 yards, respectively.

“Quite frankly, I think they’re both still learning,” Richt said. “The key is to get better as you go, and they will and they are. But we’re still not where we’re just totally comfortable and sure everything is happening up front.”

Cox feels Tebow’s pain

Georgia quarterback Joe Cox gasped at the jarring hit that sent Florida’s Tim Tebow to the hospital Saturday.

“I saw it [Saturday] night when we got back to the locker room, and I cringed,” Cox said Sunday. “I was, like, ‘Man, he’s a 240-pound guy. If somebody hit me like that, I might be broke in half.’ ”

Cox, meanwhile, said the two interceptions he threw against Arizona State were the exact same play — “a little skinny post down the middle.” Georgia called the play only on those two occasions, and both passes were intercepted by ASU safety Jarrell Holman. Cox said he should have checked down to a secondary receiver both times.

Richt said on the first interception, “we missed a stunt inside and [Cox] was about to get blasted in the mouth and threw it a little bit sooner than maybe he wanted to. The second one, he definitely could have gone to his secondary receiver.”

A.J. on special teams

The story behind A.J. Green being on the field to make his key block of an Arizona State field-goal attempt late in Saturday’s game:

Assistant coach John Jancek, who handles the field-goal block unit, lobbied for Green, who is known for his vertical jumping ability, when Georgia was putting together its special teams in preseason.

Richt acknowledged there was some internal debate about the injury risk of using a key playmaker on special teams. “But we felt like, hey, if we got into a situation where [the unit] could win or lose a game, who better to have than A.J.?” Richt said. “So we went ahead and did it, thankfully.”