The championship mandate for new Georgia coach Kirby Smart could not be clearer.
Mark Richt’s firing despite a school-record .740 winning percentage left no question about Georgia’s goal of glory. Averaging almost 10 wins per season was not sufficient when his era ended with a 10-year title drought.
Richt closed his 15-year run trailing only Vince Dooley on the list of most wins at the school. Richt took Georgia to the Southeastern Conference title game in one-third of those 15 seasons, but he won only two — none since 2005. Richt, now Miami’s coach, never claimed a national title.
Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity chose Smart, the former Alabama defensive coordinator and former Georgia player and assistant, as the man who can bring the Bulldogs their first national championship since 1980.
Smart must pick a quarterback to lead the way.
Freshman Jacob Eason, the biggest prize in Smart’s first recruiting class, should eventually take over at quarterback. Eason (6-foot-5, 211 pounds) has size, a powerful throwing arm and an impressive list of national high school player or back of the year awards.
Eason enrolled early for spring practice but couldn’t immediately win the job over returning starter Greyson Lambert, the Virginia transfer, or junior Brice Ramsey. That three-way race continued through the start of preseason practice.
Smart has kept a close eye on top tailbacks Nick Chubb and Sony Michel as they recover from left knee and left forearm injuries, respectively. Chubb has practiced with no limitations and could be cleared for the opener against North Carolina.
Here are some things to watch:
CHUBB WATCH
Chubb had 747 yards rushing with seven TDs when he tore all the ligaments except the ACL in his left knee on the first play of the sixth game against Tennessee last season. Chubb was the 2014 SEC freshman of the year, when he ran for 1,546 yards and 14 TDs.
Offensive coordinator Jim Chaney said Chubb looks strong in his comeback.
“I see Nick Chubb as being the player he has been before and hope he can continue to do so,” Chaney said. “I mean, he’s a downhill running son of a gun, so let’s hand him the ball and see what he can get done.”
SMART ON DEFENSE
Smart is working closely with defensive coordinator Mel Tucker.
“It’s not Mel’s defense. It’s not Kirby’s defense,” Smart said. “It’s UGA’s defense. ... We won’t be taking credit as coordinator. We won’t be taking credit as head coach. Nor will we be getting blamed should things not go well one game. But I’ll be spending the majority of my time on the defense, because that’s where I feel like I can be the biggest asset.”
SEASON OPENER
There will be a big-game atmosphere when Georgia opens in the Georgia Dome against North Carolina, which is coming off an 11-win season. It will be Georgia’s first opener in Atlanta since 2011.
KEY GAMES
Tennessee, the choice at SEC media days to win the SEC East, visits on Oct. 1. The Bulldogs play at South Carolina the following week and face Florida in another division matchup on Oct. 29 in Jacksonville.
Georgia will face Auburn on Nov. 12 in the first of three straight home games to close the regular season, including a visit from Georgia Tech on Nov. 26.
Georgia will fall short of winning the East in Smart’s first season, especially with the uncertainty at quarterback, but should finish in the top three of the division at 9-3 overall.
In preseason news from Georgia:
QB race could be affected by running back health
— Georgia offensive coordinator Jim Chaney says the health of the Bulldogs’ top running backs could help decide who opens the season as the starting quarterback.
Star tailback Nick Chubb ran with the first-team offense on Saturday as he continues his recovery from left knee surgery midway through the 2015 season. So far, Chubb has been practicing with no restrictions, but Georgia has not been tackling to the ground.
Sony Michel, who replaced Chubb as the starter, is recovering from a broken left forearm he suffered in an offseason ATV accident. He is wearing a cast on the forearm and has not been cleared for contact.
Among the options at tailback are freshmen Elijah Holyfield, Brian Herrien and Tae Crowder and senior Brendan Douglas.
At quarterback, returning starter Greyson Lambert has been sharing snaps with freshman Jacob Eason and junior Brice Ramsey. Ramsey also is competing at punter.
Georgia coaches might be less inclined to give Eason his first start in Georgia’s opener against North Carolina on Sept. 3 in Atlanta’s Georgia Dome if Chubb and Michel are not cleared to play.
“I think you’d be a fool if you didn’t consider that a little bit early on,” Chaney said Saturday.
Chaney said first-year coach Kirby Smart “is very aware of that and sensitive to those issues.” Chaney added that ultimately he wants the best quarterback on the field.
“Inevitably it will be decided on which one of those boys can move the team down the field and put up points,” Chaney said in his first news conference at Georgia.
Smart said he has given the three quarterbacks equal opportunities to win the starting job. The three have traded days with the first-team offense. Saturday was Eason’s turn as Georgia continues to install Chaney’s offense.
“I can’t tell you anybody stood out more than anybody else right now,” Smart said. “It’s too early. They’re still in the installation process which sometimes can be overwhelming.”
Chaney has led offenses for 30 years at such schools as Arkansas, Tennessee, Purdue and Cal State-Fullerton. He said this is the first time he’s had three quarterbacks he would have confidence to start.
“It’s a big deal for me,” Chaney said. “I’ve not had three guys who can go out and play.”
The depth is nice, but Chaney’s impatience to find a starter showed on Friday when he said “I got a little upset with them.”
“I told them one of them needs to start emerging a little bit here,” he said. “Show a little bit more. ... The competition is hot and it’s alive ... and it’s been fun to watch.”
A few hundred fans accepted Smart’s invitation to attend an open practice at Sanford Stadium held before the annual fan day schedule.
It was a rare opportunity for fans and media to watch a full practice.
Eason drew a big cheer when he connected with freshman Tyler Simmons on a long touchdown pass.
Wynn a playmaker as an offensive lineman
— Jim Chaney was asked the other day, having spent almost nine months as Georgia’s offensive coordinator, whether he felt he had enough playmakers. It was meant to query Chaney about his receivers, tailbacks, tight ends, the so-called skill position players.
The first name Chaney brought up? Isaiah Wynn. An offensive lineman.
“A playmaker, that’s interesting,” Chaney said. “I think people associate playmakers with people who are creative when they have the ball in their hand. I think (Isaiah) Wynn is a tremendous playmaker in the front.” Oh? “He is a lightweight kid with great feet and great football intellect and seldom gets beat,” Chaney said. “He makes plays when I don’t expect him to and gets leverage on a DLineman he shouldn’t. So he’s a great playmaker; we associate that with the ball.”
Chaney went on to say he did feel “okay” about having “enough” playmakers in the traditional sense of the term. But the only name he ever listed in his response was Wynn.
Forget for a moment whether that should make Georgia fans leery. (Clearly Chaney feels more than “okay” about a healthy Nick Chubb and Sony Michel, Terry Godwin and the litany of tight ends.) And in naming an offensive lineman, Chaney was trying to make a larger point about the term playmaker.
Still, it showed how highly Chaney and Georgia’s staff feel about Wynn, who has emerged as a key cog not only on the offensive line, but the offense as a whole.
Wynn is the first-team left tackle right now, but could end up at left guard if the coaches decide to start graduate transfer Tyler Catalina. Wynn said he’s been rotating in practice, confirming that the split is about 60-40 in favor of left tackle, as head coach Kirby Smart estimated it would be.
People usually think of a left tackle being a mammoth, minimum of 6-foot-4 and 300 pounds. Now here’s Wynn, listed at 6-2 and 280. So how does he make up for it?
“I think I’m just versatile,” Wynn said. “Great feet. Hands.”
Wynn’s combination of strength and athleticism draws raves from teammates and coaches, and it’s partly why he was originally ticketed for center. He was the firstteam center through almost all of last year’s spring practice, then shifted to left guard afterwards. That’s where he started for most of last year, before switching to left tackle late in the season.
That was after the infamous Florida game. The move shifted John Theus to go to right tackle, and Kolton Houston from right tackle to right guard. Whether it was because the lineup just worked better that way, or because of Wynn at left tackle, the moves worked.
The best pass rusher he faced, at least in terms of reputation, was in the bowl: Penn State defensive end Carl Nassib, the Big Ten defensive player of the year and a finalist for the Nagurski Trophy.
He didn’t register a sack, or even a tackle, in Georgia’s 24-17 win over Penn State.
Then Sam Pittman became Georgia’s offensive line coach, bringing with him the reputation as someone who wanted big, physical offensive lineman. And presumably he still does.
But he and Chaney quickly fell in love with what Wynn could bring, either at guard or tackle.
“I feel like I adjusted well, and now with the situation I walked into with coach Pittmn, I feel like he’s a great coach, helping me get there,” Wynn said. “Just teaching technique. He’s real big on technique, and that’s really all that you need out there. You have to have great feet, but you also have to have technique. Hand placement, and all of that.”
All of that may just add up to making plays, even if it’s not in the traditional sense of the term.
Rochester could be cleared to play in first game
— While the case has not been formally wrapped up yet, indications are that Georgia defensive lineman Julian Rochester will no longer face felony charges for the BB gun shooting incident.
If the case is closed by the end of this month, that would potentially free up Rochester to play in the season opener Sept. 3 against North Carolina. The freshman from Powder Springs has been running firstteam defensive tackle in the absence of junior John Atkins, who is currently sidelined with a minor knee injury,
Rochester’s lawyer, Kim Stephens, said Monday he is in final discussions with the district attorney’s office to have the player receive pretrial intervention (PTI).
“We hope to get it handled very soon,” Stephens said. “It’s more a discussion of the terms and conditions now.”
The PTI would result in the charge, which had been classified as a felony, being dismissed. If PTI is fulfilled, the charges would be expunged from Rochester’s record.
The same goes for Chad Clay, the defensive back who was charged in the same incident. Clay was dismissed by Georgia in June after an arrest on a theft by taking charge, and has subsequently transferred to a junior college.
Georgia head coach Kirby Smart has not announced any discipline for Rochester, apparently because the case was still unresolved. But Stephens said “my understanding is ( Rochester has) already resolved” what he needs to with UGA.
Rochester and Clay were each charged with two felonies, as UGA police detailed damage from BB gun shots in and adjacent to their dorm rooms. — Seth Emerson of the AJC contributed to this report.