O-Line focused on correcting little mistakes
Satisfied is not a word in the vocabulary of Georgia head coach Kirby Smart.
Even if you or an area of his team appears to be playing well, you can bet Smart will find something to improve. When the standard is set as high as it is in Athens, there’s no other way to be.
So, when the subject came up regarding last week’s play by the Bulldogs’ offensive line, Smart acknowledged there are areas he wants to see improve.
"We have the same guys up. We are always trying to clean up and play better. When you don't punt, it's hard to say you played poorly. If you had 500 yards of offense, it's hard to say you played poorly,” Smart said. “I always want to play better. There's not a guy out there—it's not the guards. You can point a finger at the quarterback, the center, the guard, the tackles, the receivers. Everybody can play better, and we can coach better, too, as coaches."
Hence there's a goal for Smart and his Bulldogs when they travel to Missouri for Saturday night’s game against the Tigers (7:30 p.m., SEC Network).
Bulldog players like right tackle Warren McClendon acknowledged the offensive line did not play its best game against Kent State.
“We’ve played physical. We want to come out and run the ball and play physical, but there are some little mistakes we’re making that we’ve got to get rid of.”
Right guard Tate Ratledge agreed there are areas that need to improve, beginning with himself: “Personally, that placement in the run game, footwork in all parts of my game, and hands,” Ratledge said. “As a unit, our offensive line, still being physical every game we come in to, and making sure we set that standard.”
He agrees that did not happen in the game against Kent State.
“I don’t think some of us did that game, me in particular. There’s a lot of things we can work on with that,” Ratledge said. “They showed a lot of fronts, which is something we don’t see a lot in practice, but with a week of practice, that should not have been an excuse.”
As most know, Ratledge is back on the field after suffering a Lisfranc injury four plays into last year’s opener against Clemson and not playing the rest of the season.
Although he’s healthy now, there are still specific areas that need work after he missed so much time.
“I feel like I’ve picked up with the speed of the game, just how things go, but I still feel there’s a lot I need to work on, actually, stuff where during the game I’ve let loose and messed up on,” he said. “A lot comes down to footwork; sometimes I play too high.”
Ratledge feels the more he plays, the more he will improve. He figures to get that opportunity.
Georgia’s offensive line has remained the same, with left tackle Broderick Jones, left guard Xavier Truss, center Sedrick Van Pran, Ratledge at left guard, and McClendon at right tackle opening each of Georgia’s first four games.
Sophomore Amarius Mims and redshirt sophomore guard Devin Willock are also playing integral roles, routinely rotating in at or about Georgia’s fourth offensive series each game.
Statistically, there are areas the Bulldogs want to improve.
The biggest is in the run game, where Georgia is averaging 181 yards on the ground, a number that places the Bulldogs eighth in the SEC.
From the pass pro perspective, Georgia is much more impressive. The Bulldogs have only allowed two sacks, which ties Ole Miss for the top mark in the conference.
“We always take pride in keeping our quarterback clean throughout the game. When that doesn’t happen, we don’t like it, but we keep pushing through. We can’t care about it too much, and we’ll fix it Monday,” McClendon said. “Running the ball—we pride ourselves on running the ball, too and being a physical offensive line. We just need to get in, watch film, and correct the little mistakes that we make. We’re trying to get better at that.”
