NEW ORLEANS – With three members of Georgia’s secondary not in New Orleans for Wednesday’s Sugar Bowl against Baylor, there are going to be plenty of opportunities for some of the Bulldogs’ young defensive backs to make a significant impact.
Most of the loss is being felt at safety and Star, with senior All-SEC performer J.R. Reed and redshirt freshman Divaad Wilson both missing the game.
Reed tweeted out that he’s out after injuring his foot during practice. Wilson is also recovering from an injury per our sources. Senior Tyrique McGhee is not in New Orleans for an undisclosed reason.
Sophomore Chris Smith, freshman Lewis Cine, and sophomore Otis Reese figure to be the biggest beneficiaries of the available playing time
Another youngster, freshman cornerback Tyrique Stevenson, will also see significant time alongside starting cornerbacks Eric Stokes and Tyson Campbell.
“Those guys bring a lot of energy, a lot of passion,” junior safety Richard LeCounte said. “They’ve come in and met a lot extra this week, making sure they’re sharpening their skills up. I put my faith in those guys that they’ll go out and perform 100 percent come Wednesday, when their names are called.”
Defensive coordinator Dan Lanning feels the same.
When asked during Monday morning’s press conference to address the absences, Lanning said he had complete faith in whoever was asked to play a larger role.
“The reality is that's an opportunity. I love J.R. He's done a lot for our program. I’m extremely excited for him and his future. But we're excited for the guys that are here and what they're going to do,” Lanning said. “The reality is, somebody is going to step up. It's pretty common in this day and age that you're going to get guys that get opportunities in games like this. We had a lot of young guys that got opportunities in this game last year.”
Look no further than linebacker Azeez Ojulari as an example.
Although he plays a different position (outside linebacker), Ojulari used last year’s Sugar Bowl against Texas as a debut for what’s been a solid redshirt freshman season, one which saw him start 12 of 13 games.
“It was good because I got that game experience,” Ojulari said of last year's bowl game. “Definitely, I needed that for sure. I just took advantage of it, listened to coaches, and did what I had to do and just played my best.”
It won’t be as if the Bulldogs will be throwing complete novices out on the field for the first time.
A former four-star performer, Cine was a highly decorated defensive back out of Trinity Christian High in Cedar Hill, Texas, and has played all 13 games, making 13 tackles. Six of those tackles came in the SEC Championship against LSU, a game where he received over 30 snaps.
Ditto for Smith and Reese, each of whom has seen action in every game this year for the Bulldogs.
Linebacker Monty Rice admits it will be strange not having his good buddy Reed behind him making the secondary calls.
“It will be different. He’s a vet, but Lewis, Rich (LeCounte), Otis, Chris Smith, they can go out and make calls, too,” Rice said. “Rich, obviously, has been starting for three years. It’s just going to be a matter of them having confidence in themselves and do what they do.”
With Wilson out, Mark Webb figures to get the nod at Star, but Stevenson could also see action at the position. Cine and Smith will help cover for Reed.
“I’ve already got complete faith in them. Lewis Cine, he’s a tremendous player and doing everything in his power to be even better,” cornerback Eric Stokes said. “Chris is another player who has come in, met extra. If you need Chris to run all the way across the field, he’ll totally do it. He’s one of those guys who brings the juice at practice every day. We have multiple people stepping up. I have complete trust in whoever we throw out. I’m not even worrying about it.”
