Offensive line still dealing with major issues of inconsistency

It’s no secret that inconsistency up front on the offensive line has been a huge problem for Georgia.

That’s especially been true the past two games, as the Bulldogs have combined for just 96 rushing yards in their losses to Vanderbilt and Florida.

But while many fingers point directly at the Bulldogs’ offensive line, head coach Kirby Smart doesn't lay all the blame on the five big men up front.

“I don’t want anybody to think that we’re blaming the offensive line. Do we think we’ve got to play better there? Yeah,” Smart said. “They have played well sometimes. We just haven’t done it with a level of consistency. We’ve got to help them, but what we call and what we do scheme-wise.”

So, what’s been the problem?

“I don’t know. I just think we have to get on the same page,” left guard Isaiah Wynn said. “A lot of times we have four of us doing it right, but somebody else will mess up, something like it. It just hasn’t come together with all of us working as a cohesive unit.”

But eight games into the season, isn’t that a big concern?

Wynn admits that it is.

“It’s kind of frustrating, but at the same time you can’t let it get to you because you’ll mess up even more,” Wynn said. “We’ll just do what we can to fix it and get better.”

But apparently, doing what it takes to fix the problem does not include different players in the starting lineup.

“As far as putting someone else in there, if we’ve got somebody better then we’ll do that,” said Smart, who has made it clear that moving forward he’ll try to recruit bigger offensive linemen than the current group of Wynn, center Brandon Kublanow and right guard Lamont Gaillard (301), who has been splitting time at right guard in practice with Dyshon Sims (309).

“I think Lamont and Dyshon, they share that spot. Lamont has to work probably half his reps (in practice) at center because he’s also the backup center. He spends kind of 50-percent of his time doing both,” Smart said. “I think both of those kids are fighting their tail off. They both love Georgia. They both want to play well. They’re both giving us all they’ve got. They’ll continue to do that. It’s important to them. Lamont’s only been over there two years.”

But according to Smart, it wasn’t a lack of size that did in the Bulldog offensive line against Florida.

It was quickness.

“It was 57 (Caleb Brantley) beating somebody, moving at an angle, slanting and stunting. A lot of times people slant and stunt and move, it hurts them. They get washed and they get moved out of the way. To be honest, a lot of teams we played that slanted and stunted, we washed them and moved them and gashed them,” Smart said. “That wasn’t the case with Florida. They were quicker and penetrated and created some problems. Where South Carolina moved some, it didn’t happen. When they moved, we were able to push them around. That wasn’t the case Saturday.”