Georgia News and Notes for Tuesday

The wheel route. It’s a play Florida ran to near perfection last year against Georgia. Kirby Smart and defensive coordinator Dan Lanning are still having nightmares about it.

For Bulldog fans, it was difficult to watch. The Gators ran the play successfully eight times to their backs for over 200 yards of offense.

Those are numbers Smart said Tuesday his top-ranked Bulldogs cannot afford to allow again.

“You’d have to define the term. I know the layman’s term is a wheel route, but there are a lot of different ways to describe that wheel route,” Smart said after practice Tuesday. “They really did a great job, and we really did a poor job of covering that. Ninety percent of that is eye control. If you look at the right thing, then you tend to cover the thing.”

However, it’s not always that simple.

“There’s also the eye, but there's also making the play. Sometimes the guy is just better than you, and he goes up and gets it, or you’re not even covering him, which is a lack of discipline, or we’re not doing a good job of coaches as far as what we’re playing,” Smart said. “I can’t tell you it won’t happen again, because they run the same plays this year as they did last year.”

Although Smart acknowledges he and Georgia’s defensive coaches have worked on defending the play, Georgia’s coach warned that focusing solely on stopping the wheel would be a mistake.

"We’re not changing our entire defense because of that. We’ve got answers for it, but there are things that can hurt you when you just play for the wheel that can hurt you in other ways. I certainly don’t want to give up explosive plays, whether that’s a back out of the backfield, a tight end, a receiver, whatever it is, so we’re going to do all we can to make sure that doesn’t happen,” Smart said. “They also lead the country in rushing yards per attempt, so you can only protect the wheel so much, when they’re running for six and seven yards per clip."

Smart said wide receiver Arian Smith (knee contusion) continues to improve and believes he will be ready for Saturday’s game against Florida.

"Yeah, we're hoping to get Arian back. He's been closer each week, and it's a lower leg contusion that's really bothering him when he plants and runs,” Smart said. “He's much closer this week. He's been on about a 50 percent pitch count. He's been repping with the twos. He's getting reps, and I think he's looked better this week than he has in the past. We've got to hope that continues the rest of the week.”

Smith has missed the last five games with the injury.

Jermaine Burton (groin) and Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint (ankle) also continue to improve and should be able to handle more reps Saturday, after seeing only brief action last week against Kentucky. "Jermaine has been bothered by the groin. He's fought through that. He's not 100 percent. Justin Robinson has a little bit of a hamstring now, so he's banged up. (Dominick Blaylock) is still out, so I feel like we're better off than we were going into the Auburn game, but I don't feel like we're near where we need to be in terms of wide receivers,” Smart said. “But I do think Arian will be back, and (Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint) has done a good job this week. Jermaine has been out there practicing. Just those three alone is a huge boost."

Wide receiver Ladd McConkey attended his first Georgia-Florida game last year in Jacksonville.

However, his seat was no different than those of approximately 75,000 other fans.

“I didn’t travel last year, but I was in the stands watching them,” McConkey said. “Before, I'd just watched it on TV, but this was the first one I'd been to.”

Other than the final score, McConkey enjoyed the show.

“It was crazy,” said McConkey, who leads all Bulldog wide receivers with 17 catches for 295 yards and two touchdowns.

“I just had to be there supporting my team,” he said. “It wasn’t the same as being on the field, but it was a fun experience, even though I was in the stands.”

The Saturday, Nov. 20, non-conference game between Georgia and Charleston Southern will kick off at noon, according to an announcement Tuesday by the SEC. The game will be carried on the SEC Network+ and ESPN+. As part of the SEC-ESPN contract, ESPN has the right to air at least one non-conference game per school on ESPN+.

… Challenges of facing a Dan Mullen offense and favorite Halloween candy: "Sour Patch Kids. The best thing about Dan Mullen is that he has packages of plays to accentuate his playmakers. So, whether it was Kyle Pitts, Kadarius Toney, whoever it might be, he's always had the ability, even at Mississippi State, where he may not have as many playmakers as he's had at Florida. He knows how to get them the ball. He does it in ways that he creates confusion, moves people around. I think he's gotten better. There were times at Mississippi State when I thought he'd done the same thing for a long time. Now he's got more presentation to what he does, and he did a good job of that last year. I mean, we all learn from other people, so it's like a copycat element to what we all do defensively and offensively. But he's taken what NFL teams and other college teams do well, and added it to his offense to get his players the ball."

… Heisman talk for Jordan Davis: Crazy or not?: “I think it’s unfortunate that defensive players don’t get mentioned for it. I’m not necessarily advocating Jordan; I’m advocating defensive players. Because I feel like the NFL values that. And if you look over time, outside of the quarterback position, which they have to draft, they get drafted every year, four to five guys on average at quarterback, outside of that you have defensive players taken in the top 10 every year, because they can change the game. Whether it’s pass rush or corner, or somebody locking somebody down, whatever the position may be. It is what it is. It’s an award that has become quarterback-receiver-running back heavy. And I have nothing but respect for the award. But certainly, some defensive players across the country deserve some kind of recognition. It’s almost like you wish you could take one every year to New York, because it’s such a great event.”

… What has the secondary done well this season, and in particular at the cornerback and Star positions, with turnover there in personnel? “Well, they’ve done their job. They’ve been effective in keeping our edges in run support. A lot of people have tried to get out on the edge on us to avoid interior run game. We’ve given up some explosives, we’ve given up some 50-50 balls, but they’ve been the beneficiary of good rush, and they’ve made some plays when they’ve gotten the opportunity. Those guys have made some picks. Chris, Lewis, Kelee, and DK (Derion Kendrick) have all made them. You punish people when they make mistakes, and you’ve got to capitalize on those when they happen. We have not played our best game in the secondary. We have not played perfect. We are not where we need to be, but we’re a work in progress there, and the front has helped us buy some time to do the work."

… On the linebackers, is Nakobe Dean playing as well as Roquan Smith, and will Adam Anderson play more star against Florida... “I don’t like comparisons. I never have. I don’t think they’re always fair. We think Nakobe has done a great job. He’s the commander-in-chief of making our calls, he’s very physical, he sees things really well and is a very instinctive football player, which Roquan was as well. Adam gives us the luxury of having a really fast, athletic guy, but the best thing Adam does is rush. The best thing Coach Lanning has done is allow him to rush. There were some times early in his career when we asked Adam to spy, run down the quarterback, and chase him down, but that's not a lot of sack production when he does that. So, (Lanning) has freed Adam up to do what he does best, which is rush against the other team’s offensive tackle. I can assure you there are a lot of teams that would rather see Adam spy than rush their tackle. He’s done a good job of doing that. He’s also become a more complete player where he can play first and second down and do some more things.”

… On how they’ve used last year’s loss as motivation this week: “Outside of the tape, using the tapes of plays repeated, or the looks we may get because a lot of the coaches are the same, not a lot. I don’t try to use those extrinsic things. I’ve never had great experiences with that when you count on emotion to do that. I don’t want the players emotional the whole time. That’s what the fan wants, but I want them thinking about what they’ve got to do to win this game, and last year’s game has nothing to do with this year’s game.”