Georgia coach Mark Richt smiled too big and had entirely too much fun when it came to Wednesday’s discussions about how the Bulldogs might line up Saturday in the secondary.
Richt again played coy with the media, which grilled him incessantly on that subject following Wednesday’s practice. It’s the last time he’ll be available for interviews before Saturday’s season opener against Clemson at Sanford Stadium (5:30 p.m., ESPN).
“I think my No. 1 answer will be, ‘I know, but I’m not going to tell you,’” Richt said with a laugh as he first sat down to take questions in the second-floor interview studio in Butts-Mehre Heritage Hall. “I’m just trying to be honest on the front end.”
And Richt held true to that promise.
Asked how the first-team secondary lined up during Wednesday’s closed practice, Richt said, “You mean you want to know who’s starting? I know, but I’m not going to tell you.”
Richt said during Tuesday’s weekly news conference that the coaches would meet late into the night to determine the rotation in the secondary for the opener. That meeting took place, and the coaches settled on a pecking order.
“I know, but I’m not saying,” Richt repeated.
Jeremy Pruitt, Georgia’s first-year defensive coordinator and secondary coach, has declined all interview requests for the past two weeks, so he wouldn’t have to be bothered with the question. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs’ players seem to have gotten the muzzle memo as well.
“I’m not really going to say,” said senior cornerback Damian Swann, who Pruitt has identified as the only solid starter in the secondary.
“I kind of have an idea (who’s going to start), but it’s subject to change every game up until game day. Guys are competing, and that’s what it’s all about. We’re going to try to get the best guys out there that are going to help us win.”
Despite Pruitt’s stated refusal to produce a depth chart since spring practice, the Bulldogs were forced to produce one Friday to exchange with Clemson. That breakdown was released to media this week, then summarily discounted by Richt at his news conference Tuesday.
“I wouldn’t go too crazy about it,” Richt warned.
As it was, it featured a freshman at nickel back (Dominick Sanders), a redshirt freshman walk-on at free safety (Aaron Davis) and a junior who has started one game in his career and no games last season at conerback (Devin Bowman). But that, other players of asserted, is just where the musical chairs stopped on that particular day.
“I couldn’t tell you who’s back there; I see a new person darn near every play,” defensive end/outside linebacker Jordan Jenkins said. “I don’t know if they’re substituting or coach Pruitt is still trying to find people. But he’s sending people in there, and if you know what to do, you’re going to play.”
Therein is the bottom line. At this point the Bulldogs just need to be sure that whoever’s in the game is not going to blow his assignment. That happened too often last season, including against Clemson. The Tigers had 77- and 31-yard touchdown catches in their 38-35 victory.
“We’re going to be playing guys that, some of them, have never played college ball,” Richt said. “None of them have played in this system. And of all the places on the defense, the backfield is the one that if they make a mistake, it’s usually a real large one. You can make some mistakes up front and usually have some people cover it up and no one will know it.
“DBs are the most exposed out there, and they’re the ones with the least experience overall. So, yeah, it’s a concern.”
Just don’t bother asking who’ll be back there.
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