The Georgia Bulldogs will jog onto Woodruff Practice Fields for the first official practice of 2014 on Friday afternoon. It’s hard to determine who is more excited about that, the players or the coaches.
“I think every football coach across the country, when it gets to this point in the year, you can’t wait to get started,” said Jeremy Pruitt, Georgia’s first-year defensive coordinator. “It seems like for me each year it can’t get here fast enough.”
Pruitt certainly has a lot to accomplish during the 29 practice opportunities allowed between now and the Bulldogs’ season opener against Clemson on Aug. 30 at Sanford Stadium. But that’s true of all 10 of Georgia’s coaches.
Here are the five most pertinent issues to be addressed:
1. Shore up the secondary. A lot of folks are fretting the loss of three starters in the defensive backfield after the dismissals of safeties Josh Harvey-Clemons and Tray Matthews and the departure of cornerback Shaq Wiggins. But Georgia managed to finish 84th in the nation last season in defensive pass efficiency (134.74 yards, 18 touchdowns, seven interceptions) with those guys and Pruitt figures he can improve on that without them. Doing so will come down to philosophy, technique and, of course, talent.
Only senior cornerback Damian Swann seems solid as far as locking down a starting spot. The primary focus will be on the the other corner, where redshirt freshman Aaron Davis will open camp with the No. 1 defense. But the other four spots are up for grabs, with J.J. Green (nickel), Corey Moore (strong safety) and Quincy Mauger (free safety) fighting to hang on to their spots atop the depth chart. Four signees will look to make an impact.
2. Establish a backup quarterback. Everybody is content and confident in fifth-year senior Hutson Mason succeeding the record-setting Aaron Murray as starting quarterback. But what happens if Mason goes down?
For all of Murray’s talents as a decision-maker and a passer, one of his most valuable traits as UGA’s quarterback was his durability. Before his season-ending knee injury in Game 11 of his senior year, Murray came out of games only a handful of times in four years as a starter. To expect Mason to be as resilient might be unreasonable. So establishing a clear No. 2 who is ready to take over in an instant is a major priority. Heading into camp, sophomore Faton Bauta has a slight edge over redshirt freshman Brice Ramsey for that responsibility.
3. Choose the starters on the offensive line. As ever, Mason's health and well-being ultimately will be determined by the protection he gets. How good Georgia's line will be is up in the air. The Bulldogs have to replace three starters from last season's group, which ranked sixth in the SEC with 22 sacks allowed. And Mason's ability to escape from a pass rush is expected to be less than Murray's.
First and foremost Georgia must address Mason’s blind side. John Theus, who started at right tackle the past two seasons, is expected to man left tackle. But Mark Beard, Kolton Houston and Watts Dantzler will be given a look. Only center (David Andrews) and right guard (Greg Pyke) seem settled going in.
4. Overhaul the special teams. The Bulldogs actually kick the ball well and have one of the SEC's best weapons in junior place-kicker Marshall Morgan, who led the league in scoring (10.3 ppg) and field goals (22-24) last season. However, protection, ball-handling, coverage and returns are all areas where improvement needs to made.
Nationally, Georgia was 122nd in punt returns, 108th in kickoff returns, 108th in blocked punts allowed and 66th in kickoff coverage a year ago. Coach Mark Richt restructured the Bulldogs’ special-teams coaching responsibilities for this season to make John Lilly the offensive chief (kickoff returns, punt returns, extra point/field goal) and Mike Ekeler the defensive chief (kickoff, punt block, etc.). They’re hopeful that the acquisition freshman return specialists such as Isaiah McKenzie, Rico Johnson and Shaq Jones will make a difference.
5. Improve team discipline. Athletic director Greg McGarity and Richt are furious over the offseason arrests that tarnished the team's image. So citizenship and behavior are going to be major topics of discussion during preseason camp. But the Bulldogs also hope the discipline extends to the field.
Georgia did not fare well last season in the areas of penalties and turnovers. The Bulldogs were flagged 83 times for fouls last year, and that was the third-most among SEC teams (LSU 90, Florida 89). Likewise, their turnover margin of minus-7 was the second-worst in the conference. Moving to the upper half of the league in those stats could go a long way toward improving on last season’s record.
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