OXFORD, Miss. — Say this for Blair Walsh. Georgia’s ballyhooed place-kicker doesn’t run and hide when things don’t go well.
They certainly didn’t Saturday. The former Lou Groza Award finalist missed three field-goal attempts against Ole Miss. That’s as many as he missed last season and more than he missed his sophomore season.
Asked what went wrong, he said, “They were all different. I just wasn’t making them.”
In his defense, most weren’t chip shots. His first two misses were from 48 yards each. But the third was an uncharacteristic miss from 35 yards. Walsh made field goals of 36 and 43 yards, the last one with 4:16 remaining in the game to solidify the Bulldogs’ 27-13 victory.
Walsh has missed five field-goal attempts this season — he’s also made five — not including a miss against Coastal Carolina that was nullified by penalty.
“I’m going to break down tape like I do every Sunday, but I’m not that concerned,” said Walsh, who ranks third on Georgia’s all-time scoring list. “I know what happened. Fortunately we got a win, so I can be as upset as I want. The big issue is we got a win, and the missed field goals didn’t hurt us to that extent. I’m thankful to my teammates for stepping up.”
Coach Mark Richt was glad to see Walsh make his last kick, but insisted he hasn’t lost confidence in the senior.
“I’m glad he was able to kick it, but if we didn’t have another attempt, he’s still our guy,” Richt said. “He doesn’t have to worry about how I feel about him.”
Not so special
Georgia entered the season expecting to have the advantage every week in special teams, but that wasn’t the case Saturday.
The Bulldogs gave up their second special-teams touchdown of the season on a second-quarter punt return, and Ole Miss had another called back late in the game because of a block in the back. Meanwhile, Walsh missed three field-goal attempts and hit a kickoff out of bounds. Brandon Boykin had only 21 yards on two kickoff returns, and Georgia returned only two of the Rebels’ nine punts, for two yards.
“We regressed in the special-teams area,” Richt said. “We’ve got to shore it up. We’ve got a veteran group of specialists, but there are a lot of young guys at the rest of the positions. We need to get better.”
Gates plays with pain
Sophomore guard Kenarious Gates, limping badly as he walked off the field, estimates he was playing at 80 percent capacity, or less, with a sprained left ankle. But he played 100 percent of Saturday’s game.
The starting left guard had been out since the first half of the season opener, but returned this week because right guard Chris Burnette was sidelined with a knee injury in practice Tuesday. With Burnette on crutches, Gates’ backup Dallas Lee slid over to right guard, and Gates played every snap on the left side. The starters played all 82 plays.
“All week my teammates kept telling me, they need me, they need me,” Gates said. “They motivated me to just get better and fight through it. I’m always going to do all I can and do the best I can to help my brothers. The O-line fights as a unit; we play as a unit; we win as a unit.”
Car crash sidelines Wooten
Backup flanker Rantavious Wooten did not make the trip because of injuries he suffered in a car accident.
Wooten was involved in a four-car accident just west of the UGA campus at 7:37 p.m. Tuesday, according to police. Wooten was the last car among four headed east on Baxter Street. Wooten ran into the car ahead of him at a traffic light, causing a chain-reaction collision, according to Lt. Don Eckert of the Athens-Clarke County Police. Wooten was charged with following too closely.
No injuries were reported, but Wooten later was determined by UGA trainers to have suffered a concussion. Richt was hopeful Wooten will be back for Georgia’s next game, against Mississippi State.
Etc.
Wide receiver Chris Conley played Saturday, which brings to 14 the number of freshmen to play this season. ... Former Georgia defensive ends coach Jon Fabris was among the spectators at the game. He is coaches at nearby Northwest Mississippi Community College. ... Camden County quarterback Brice Ramsey, who is committed to Georgia, kicked a 57-yard field goal Friday night. It was one of the 10 longest in state history. ... Attendance was 58,042.
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