Sitting here at Stegeman Coliseum, where we’ve just been through the first game-week press conference of the football season. Can you feel it? Oh, you can feel it.
Georgia head coach Mark Richt went over the entire Louisiana-Lafayette starting lineup, including special teamers and some backups. He did so for about 10 minutes. I’m gonna skip over this part for now.
There was a lot of discussion of Aaron Murray. The emphasis for Richt didn’t change from all preseason, saying the freshman didn’t have to be a hero, and keeping expectations low.
“Hopefully our fans will understand he’s a freshman. He’s a rookie, he’s gonna make mistakes,” Richt said. “He probably won’t be lights out as far as his accuracy, his decisions, all those things. He’s gonna be finding his way. Hopefully his teammates will help him out.”
I followed up by asking Richt if he worried that the freshman success of David Greene and Matt Stafford had raised expectations on Murray. The coach had an interesting response, by disagreeing with the premise. Greene had a good, “unscathed” freshman year, according to Richt, while Stafford had growing pains.
Still, Richt finished his answer by pointing out that Stafford won his final three games: At Auburn, Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech. That’s why people remember Stafford having success.
And that’s the point: The general working theory is that Stafford and Greene did well as freshmen under Richt, so if Murray doesn’t … You finish the sentence.
That may not be fair, because Stafford was a future No. 1 overall draft pick, and Greene was one of the best winners in program history.
On another front, could the backup quarterback be … Bacarri Rambo? Well of course not. Probably not. But Richt, when asked about the sophomore safety, got so fired up about his athletic ability that he said of Rambo:
“He’d be a heck of a quarterback too. He’s got a knack for doing some of those things,” Richt said.
That’s not as far-fetched, since Rambo played quarterback in high school. But I suspect he’ll stay at safety.
And last note, at least for now: Richt still wouldn’t answer whether everyone would be clear for the game from the standpoint of the NCAA inquiry.
“Well, this is a subject that I’m just not allowed to have any comment on,” Richt said.
Interesting that Richt (and A.J. Green and McGarity and everyone) continue to not comment. There’s still no sign that anyone is worried about players not being able to go Saturday. But if the school is completely clear in this particular inquiry, no one’s saying so yet.
Follow this link: Notes from Richt presser
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