Smart coaches Georgia players not to trash talk
OU quarterback Baker Mayfield is a notorious trash talker and often engages opponents in spirited conversation on the field. But Georgia players say don’t expect such discourse in the Rose Bowl.
“We don't talk to the opponents, we don't talk to the opposite colored jerseys,” linebacker Lorenzo Carter said.
“It's just a waste of energy. We have a lot more stuff to focus on than talking to the other guys. We've got to communicate with each other, with my teammates. That's what we'll be doing, we'll be talking to each other out there on the field.”
Carter said it’s not that tough to refrain from talking.
“It's the culture Coach (Kirby) Smart built,” Carter said. “He doesn't let us talk to each other in practice. It's just practice makes perfect, so we just try to make sure we don't slip up, we don't get into that type of stuff. It takes too much energy.”
Wren’s dreams come true
Erick Wren’s college football career began at Arizona Western Community College. It will end in either the Rose Bowl or the national championship game in Atlanta.
“It's a big stage,” the OU center said. “It's not much bigger that you can get in college football.”
Lofty heights for a player who was barely recruited out of high school and transferred to OU without a scholarship.
“Several times in my career, people have given up on me, doubted me,” Wren said. “I had a coach that sat down and told me I was not a Division I player, start looking at Division II schools. So I faced a lot of adversity.
“It’s good to have dreams. So, I mean, everybody growing up, you know, from playing peewee football to when you get to about middle school, you have a dream of playing at the Division I level. You get to high school and it starts to becomes a reality for some people. I've always kept that passion and never-quit attitude.”
Wren played in three games in 2015, then won the center job in 2016 and was placed on scholarship in October 2016, which “kind of solidified everything for me and kind of let me know that God has put me on this path and to take advantage of it as much as I can.”
Brown’s size unforgettable
UGA's Carter played Georgia high school football against OU offensive tackle Orlando Brown. Carter played at Norcross High School; Brown played at Peachtree Ridge in suburban Atlanta.
What does Carter remember about Brown?
“Just his size, man,” Carter said. “He's one of the biggest humans I've seen. He's just a big challenge. I loved it. He's competitive, I'm competitive. We got after it, I remember that. It was a good battle.”
Brown was bigger then than he is now. Brown, who stands 6-foot-8, says he played 390 pounds in high school but is listed at 345 now.
“You can definitely tell on film that he's slimmed up,” Carter said. “He's got his body right. He's matured into his body. You knew that was going to happen, just seeing his size and then realizing that he was going to go to a good program that would get him right.
“I always saw him out there doing his thing, but I never really thought I'd have another chance to go against him. But to be able to go against him in the Rose Bowl is huge.”
Gundy: Brother’s look ‘bad’
Cale Gundy says his brother is “really good at what he does.” But Cale was referring to Mike Gundy’s coaching. Not his appearance.
“That’s a bad look,” Cale said of Mike’s mullet and scruffy face during Oklahoma State’s 30-21 victory over Virginia Tech in the Camping World Bowl. “I can't believe he didn't shave, either. I’d never do that. We're totally different. I don't know which side he's on, but I'm on the other side.”
Smith loves traveling
Georgia All-American linebacker Roquan Smith is a world traveler. At least world-traveler by 20-year-old college student standards.
Smith said he’s traveled to Central America, South America and “all around the United States. But I'm trying to get over to like Spain and other places, the continent of Africa and whatnot ... maybe somewhere like Australia somewhere, New Zealand, something like that.”
Smith is from the hamlet of Montezuma, Georgia, estimated population 3,142.
“In elementary school, we had this social studies book, and I used to always pull it out and look at places on the map and be like, ‘I want to go there,’” Smith said.
Smith’s favorite place to visit so far has been Honduras, during a cruise.
“I enjoyed being there and seeing people and just seeing some of the struggles and stuff that those people face day in and day out and thinking of how grateful we was,” Smith said. “You just stop by and you see someone on a corner, you just give them something and whatnot like that.”
BERRY TRAMEL, STAFF WRITER