Confident unit going after prize for best O-line

Center Van Pran says winning Joe Moore Award is goal for 2023.

Georgia opens spring practice Tuesday. The Bulldogs will do so for the first time in history as back-toback defending national champions. Following is the second in an eightpart series breaking down each position group as the competition for playing time in 2023 begins with the 15 practices over 32 days. The spring session will culminate with the annual G-day intrasquad game April 15 at Sanford Stadium.

PREVIOUSLY Specialists:

Georgia’s rich kicking tradition up for grabs

A year ago, the Georgia Bulldogs were wondering if Broderick Jones could hold up as the full-time left tackle and what in the world they might do at left guard.

The Bulldogs had just lost longtime starters Jamaree Salyer and

Justin Shaffer to the NFL. Jones had played well as a backup to Salyer at left tackle, but he was an unknown commodity as an everyday starter. And Xavier Truss came to Georgia as a tackle, but could he make the move inside and would he embrace it?

There were other questions. Could Tate Ratledge make it back to previous form from a Lisfranc fracture? And what about Stacy Searels? Was the veteran line coach coming to Georgia as a retread, or could he sustain the high level of play established under Sam Pittman and Matt Luke?

Those questions seem silly now, especially about Searels.

“I knew what type of program coach (Kirby) Smart was running,” Searels said as the Bulldogs were preparing for the national championship game in Los Angeles. “I’d experienced it before with coach (Nick) Saban at LSU, the structure and the competitiveness of the program. … The recruiting as been out

standing. That’s one reason we can play so many guys every game. We’ve got depth.”

Georgia flourished on the offensive line in 2022. The Bulldogs allowed only nine sacks in 15 games. They averaged 5.5 yards an attempt running the football. They passed for nearly 300 yards a game. They put up 41.3 points an outing.

And they stayed healthy. Searels had to alter his starting lineup only four times. Notably, two of those came in the College Football Playoff.

The only wonder, in retrospect, is how in the world did the group not win the Joe Moore Award. The truth is, the Bulldogs should have. And now, after watching that group’s selection committee ship its gaudy trophy to Michigan the last two years, the award has been rendered an unfunny joke.

Nevertheless, center Sedrick Van Pran has already pronounced that winning the award is a goal for the 2023 offensive line. He said as much when he announced that he was returning to Georgia for a fourth season.

If the Bulldogs can somehow secure that trophy this year, Van Pran will be a big reason. It also will mean that they came through with new starters at the tackle positions.