Munson said CMR had to be pleased with how guys stepped up. CMR said he was
very proud of the guys and recapped many of the problems that had come up. Young,
inexperienced people had to play on both sides of the ball.
Three turnovers by
Auburn was the difference in their game. We had no turnovers
and that helped turn the score in the way it did.
Pollack made a big play the last time
Clemson threatened by stuffing guys back
into their QB running an option play, then they tried a middle screen which
Pollack took right in the belly button, and returned about 25 yards.
Richt seemed to anticipate my season-opening question about instinctive play
(got going before I’d finished the question .. LOL!). Coach Fabris tries
to teach the DL to recognize body language of OL, and to recognize when they
are trying to draw you too far into the backfield. Then some guys like Pollack
just recognize plays better than others.
(That was after I’d informed Munson that the UK-U of L game had just started
90 minutes late due to a t-storm and UL already lead 7-0 in the middle of the
first qtr.)
Richt knew VanGorder from when he lived Boca Raton, knew he’d moved on to Grand
Valley St., then took note of VG and Willie Martinez from a scheme they designed
at UCF against
Florida St. It was the best scheme CMR had come up against at
FSU; while UCF did not have the personnel to pull it off, other opponents learned
from it. Richt knew he would be getting someone who was a stand-up guy, knew
football and wouldn’t just put out a cookie-cutter defense.
The coaches get after the players and work them, but love them all and the players
know it. CMR thinks no one man can do it all; he is blessed to have the staff
he has and everyone is working hard at it. Richt has even let Eason address
the team on occasion during camp just because he thought the players might be
getting tired of CMR.
Tommy had never coached a team that got shut out. Our defensive coaches did
a tremendous job. It takes everyone to get a shut out .. something bad in the
kicking game or turnovers to put the defense on a short field.
The new OL played very well, but missed some simple things they should have
gotten. Nick Jones, Ryan Schnetzer and Reggie Weeks played a lot in addition
to Roland as the rotating tackle. Milton’s opening run of the game was 16 yards
on a beautifully blocked play. Gibson once near the end blocked their All-America
DB right out of the end zone.
We might be able to redshirt the rest of the freshmen OL. CMR thinks we’ve got
just enough linemen to play if we don’t have many injuries. We think Zeb McKinzey
will be an outstanding OL for us, but he had a shoulder problem probably coming
out of HS. There will be minor work done on that, he will redshirt and be ready
to compete in the spring.
(Sounds like Jim from Woodbury has moved north to Cumming..) He was
surprised things went so well for us last Saturday. CMR laughed at the “but”
regarding play calling .. 4th & 2 in the 2nd quarter when we didn’t go for
it. CMR laughed again that Jim should’ve been happy when we went for it in the
3rd quarter and didn’t make it. CMR has learned since becoming a head coach
that points are precious.
Gary from Buckhead thinks the strength coach should get a bone for having the
team very well prepared. We let off the conditioning the last week to let the
players get their legs under them so they could go all out.
The TD pass to Gibson came from scouting – we noticed the down & distance
tendancies and saw Clemson cheated their safties up in short yardage, against
a 2 TE set. They have an outstanding CB but we think hardly anyone can cover
Gibson one-on-one.
Jeremy from Memphis managed to suggest over phone line static that several of
the WRs need to get 4-5 passes thrown to them per game. Richt said this was
only one game and don’t take that as a long-term plan.
We think Sean Bailey will be able to make a lot of plays for us. Remember that
Gibson came in as a freshman, played right away and started making plays by
about the 4th or 5th game and ended up leading the team in receiving.
Jokingly, if Bennett had been able to make one more guy miss, we would have
gotten over 200 yards rushing. Seriously, Milton will be ready by next weekend
after sitting out with a thigh bruise. We thought Powell would be more effective
in the second half. Kregg Lumpkin was almost ready for this game and should
play next week.
Many callers were impressed by the overall performance. CMR acknowleged this
but added that when coaches look at the tape they see so many things that can
be improved on.
(phone problems about 8:40 pm as several calls dropped off)
Personnel – Lumpkin close to 100%, Curry, Elmore and Veal have a chance to come
back. Jamario Smith and Chris Hickman come back at FB. By game 3, the great
majority of the team will come back.
VG really likes Dana Graydon, very fast, loves to hit and has a great attitude.
We’re looking at the possibility of giving him a redshirt year. He has been
one of our most effective scout teamers. Guys like Thomas Davis and Greg Blue
had really helped on the scout team before contributing in games.
By about mid-summer, CMR starting thinking all the off-season problems made
the team realize we’re not SEC Champs anymore and that this is a new season.
We had a couple of team meetings during the summer to make sure everyone understood
that.
When something like this happens, where we win a game like this with so many
guys out, it makes people understand the team is much bigger than anyone of
us. We have to maintain discipline and unity on the squad. They’re out there
working hard while others are having fun getting ready for school, but they
understand the hard work pays off.
One caller focused especially on strength of character and pointed out Pollack
turning down the Playboy honor.
CMR reminded Munson that MTSU opened last year by playing Bama tough. Responding
to Munson’s concerns the squad will think it’s a walk in the park, Richt said
that would not be the case once the coaches got done showing them everything
that can be improved on.
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