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UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 27, 2015

Mark Richt

Athens, Georgia

COACH RICHT: They're averaging 31.6 points a game, 376 yards a game, 127 rushing, 249 passing per game. Really done a nice job, actually. With only four returning starters on offense, they've really done a great job of moving the ball and putting points on the board.

Treon Harris, their quarterback, 540 yards passing, four TDs, no picks, 122 yards rushing. Doing a great job in that category. Just a great, athletic quarterback who is an outstanding passer. Just in their last ballgame he accounted for 90% of their offense against LSU. Just a great dual-threat, and obviously he's 1-0 against the Dogs as well, being last year's starting quarterback.

Taylor, their running back, No. 21, 463 yards rushing, eight touchdowns rushing. Doing a great job, very tough, physical back. One of the best in our league.

At receiver, Robinson, No. 11, is their number one receiver with 36 catches, 371 yards. Their tight end position is catching a bunch of balls, No. 83, McGee's got 23 catches for 200 yards and three touchdowns, and Powell has got 20 catches for 294 yards as their third leading receiver. Again, offensively got great balance, run pass, and they're just asking their guys to do the things they can do well.

Defensively, they are 17th in the nation when it comes to sacks. They're 16th in the nation when it comes to tackles for loss. Their scoring defense is 17.3, points per game, which is fourth in the league, and then one of the tops in the nation. Total defense given up only 314 yards a game, 116 rushing and 197 passing per game.

Their leading tackler is Morrison, senior playing tremendous, No. 3. We have him as a will linebacker here. I'm not sure how they use their terminology at times. But 6'1", 229 pounds, 54 tackles. Doing a super job.

Their number two tackler is Davis; their mike linebacker, No. 40, doing a wonderful job there. Their third leading tackler is Neal, their safety, he's No. 42, got 47 tackles. And on the back end, they've got -- Hargreaves' got nine career interceptions, three this year, a guy that a lot of people try to avoid if possible.

And anybody trying to pick on the other side, Tabor, all he's done is had two interceptions for touchdowns. Leads the team in pass break-ups and he's got 18 tackles himself. So he's doing a great job opposite of Hargreaves.

Up front, Jonathan Bullard, No. 90, is doing a super job. He's No. 1 in tackles among the D-linemen, 34 tackles. He's got ten tackles for loss, four and a half sacks, he leads the team in those two categories, doing a great job. But fast, physical bunch. McAllister, No. 14, on the edge has got four sacks, six quarterback hurries himself, and is a guy that's been very difficult for people to block, especially when they get you in a passing-type situation.

As far as their kicking game is concerned, Townsend is their punter. He's averaging 44 yards a punt. They're 41 yards net, punting is number one in the conference, one of the top 10 in America in that regard.

Their punt return man is Callaway, No. 81. He's got a 15-yard average with a touchdown. Hardin, as far as I know, Hardin is the kicker. I know they've had some kicking injuries, so I'm not a hundred percent sure what's going to happen there. But Hardin has hit 50% of his field goals and his longest is 37, and he's had 19 touchbacks on kickoff.

And their kickoff return man, Powell, No. 4, is averaging 20 yards per return along with 39. So they're an outstanding football team. You can just watch film and very quickly you see what you're up against. But I didn't mention it, but seven of the starters are back on defense from a year ago. They are very physical. They are strong, they change direction well. Even on their kicking teams there is a tremendous amount of speed on there. That's probably the number one characteristic of the team is the speed that you see, and then their strength and physical nature is pretty impressive as well.

So with that, I'll open it up to whatever questions you have, and we'll go from there.

Q. Talk about the years (No microphone) what kind of advice do you have?
COACH RICHT: Well, I guess the main thing is don't let the fact that only half of the stands are full of Gators fool you. I mean, it's going to be loud. It's going to be as loud as any SEC game that you'll be at. Of course, when Florida's got the ball, it's going to be just as loud when our fans are doing their thing. So I guess if you hear, oh, only half the stands are your opponent, maybe you might think it will be half the noise, but it's not true.

It's going to be loud enough where we've got to do all of our non-verbal cadence, and that's one thing they've got to focus on. But just it's unique atmosphere. It's a game that everything seems to be -- if you let it, it can become bigger than it is, whether it's something good or something bad. You've got to be able to keep your poise, keep your balance and just stay focused on your job.

Q. (No microphone)?
COACH RICHT: Yeah, I didn't know what we were going to have, quite frankly. I really wasn't sure who the starter was going to be until the very end. So we've definitely had some up-and-down performances at that position. It's kind of been that way throughout camp. It wasn't like one guy just stole the show and that was it. They all had some really bright moments and they all had some moments that weren't that bright. So it was a fairly inconsistent camp as far as was there ever a guy that was on top and stayed on top the whole way through? Really not.

You guys remember after a couple scrimmages saying I wasn't really sure what the deal was. But you know part of that is just growing into that position in our league.

Q. Do you realize this will be the fifth Florida coach you'll be facing in Jim McElwain this weekend?
COACH RICHT: I didn't know.

Q. What does that say to you?
COACH RICHT: I don't know. I don't know. Most of them have whooped me, so I don't know if it means a whole lot. I know Jim's a great coach. What he did at Colorado State was pretty impressive. I think they're averaging about three wins a season for a while. I think he went 4-8, and then he went 8-4, and then he went 12-2 or something like that. I don't know what it was. But really a tremendous job of turning around that program.

Then walking into a situation where there's a really fine talent base and got everybody going in the right direction in a hurry. Certainly Coach Muschamp deserves some credit as far as the talent base that's still in the house there. But Coach McElwain and his staff have done a great job of getting everybody on the same page and getting them rolling.

Q. Kind of as a follow-up to earlier. This is really the first time this has sort of happened to you here in terms of not having a "guy". Has it been a little stunning for you? I know you're kind of in the season now, but do you look back now and wonder if anything should have been handled differently, whether it was recruiting or development or things that were done in the preseason or things that were done in non-conference games?
COACH RICHT: Well, I'll just say this: We are this deep into the season and we're playing Florida and we're in a very meaningful game. We know if we win the next three games, we're in. Obviously, Florida wins the next three games, they're in, or however many they've got left. We're the two teams in the East that kind of control our destiny. So that's where you hope to be.

To me, there's still a lot to be written this season. It's just a little past halfway. So I'm not ready to say what kind of year it was for quarterbacks yet or not.

Q. You being in a unique position in this game in terms of being on every single side you could be against Florida, playing, coaching, and everything of the such, does that ever come up with you very much?
COACH RICHT: Well, last night I was talking a little bit about it with Schotty. But University of Miami is a player. We always played Florida, then Florida State, obviously, now Georgia. Just that was the common denominator as far as the rival team of all the places I've been.

The one year I was at East Carolina is the only year as a collegian coach that we didn't play against them. I think we've played every other year. So that's been a common deal. There's never been any confusion at my house in regard to that game, so.

Q. McElwain yesterday was saying that Schottenheimer does a good job of trying to take advantage of match-ups. You were talking about their cornerbacks, Reggie Davis, Malcolm Mitchell. Can you guys still put pressure on them the other way?
COACH RICHT: We like our receivers. We know we have good route runners and some good speed. But these guys have handled some of the best receivers in the league over time. And they're very impressive with what they do. But there's been times when balls have been caught on them.

I mean, no one's perfect. Our guys aren't perfect, their guys aren't perfect. So it will just get down to competition. I imagine there will be some plays we'll make and there will be some plays they make. That's kind of how games go and competition goes.

But they are impressive. It does allow them to -- if they choose to put a bunch in the box to stop the run, they've got good reason to believe they can hold up on the edges. We'll just see how they decide to play it.

Q. Florida's playing at a different level than it was last year. But do you feel this team is that much different than the one you guys ran into down there last year? Was it closer than people might think?
COACH RICHT: You're talking about our game last year or the -- it's hard to say. Well, seven returning starters on defense, and only four on offense, so there are a lot of the same guys that are back. But every year's different. Every season's different and every game that we play against Florida's different. It's hard to say. I think they're similar in that they're very talented and they're well-coached and they're going to get after it. So I don't think that will change.

Q. You alluded to the SEC East kind of scenarios. It's effectively an elimination game for you guys. Do you feel a little pressure, a little heat? There's been a lot of talk about ten years since, and haven't gotten there the last couple years to the championship?
COACH RICHT: We want to win the East. That's it every year. I mean, that's our focus, that's our goal. When you think about it, going into the eighth game of the year and we're still right in the heart of it, that's a good thing. So I'm pleased with that. But now we've got to do it.

Q. If I'm not mistaken, Coach Sale worked extensively with McElwain at Alabama. Anything at all that can be gained from any knowledge that he has as far as a game like this goes?
COACH RICHT: I don't know. I think this deep into the season, I think the tape tells the tale or the video. You've got a bunch of games to look at, six, seven games to look at, that's plenty to know what they like and what they believe in. Because you have to adapt your system to your personnel, and they're doing that.

So I think I was reading at Colorado State they had a receiver who was a finalist for the Bilentikoff. He had unbelievable amount of yards and all that, and they were chunking the ball a bunch more than they are now. For whatever reasons, personnel, who they're playing defensively, I'm not sure exactly why it's a little bit different, but I think every coach has to adapt. Every offensive coordinator has to adapt to the players he has. I think just watching six, seven games of film is better than looking at what he's done historically.

Q. There is a head coach opening at Miami and some people put your name on a list of possible candidates?
COACH RICHT: They did? Wow.

Q. What do you think of that?
COACH RICHT: I don't think much of it really. I love my alma mater, the U, no doubt about it, but there's been nobody calling or writing or texting or anything like that. I'm sure they'll find a great coach.

Q. We've had a couple of missed or blocked field goals returned for touchdowns around the nation, including one at Georgia Tech. When you're considering an especially long field goal, does the possibility of a return enter in?
COACH RICHT: Absolutely, absolutely. Especially after what's happened the last couple years. We had a good discussion about that. We'll actually be practicing those type of scenarios tomorrow. We would have done it today, but we are going to go to the Falcons complex today. They were kind enough to let us use it. Regardless whether it stops raining or not, we're going.

We need a good, nice, dry day. We feel like that's what's going to happen on Saturday. So we'd like to get one of those in. Normally today would be PAT, field goal. That's normally what we do on Tuesday. But we're going to push that to tomorrow because it's also the day we do our punting. It's hard to punt in that building for fear of knocking a light out. I think it's possible, so we've been asked not to punt it in there. So we'll honor that and we'll do that phase of it tomorrow instead of today.

Q. When you go up against a cornerback who is as good as Hargreaves is, how do you coach your quarterbacks and tell them just be aware and mindful of a player?
COACH RICHT: I think when you're throwing a ball in man coverage, our goal is to just place the ball where we have a better chance of catching it than they do. So if you're running a deep route and the defender plays on top of you, meaning he's a little deeper than you, he's got good leverage on you as far as the deep ball, then you throw it short and throw it a little bit behind. If you're throwing a post and you go over the top of the defender, then we'd like to throw the ball over the top to us to give us the best chance to catch it. If we run a post and we beat him across his face, then we want to throw it across the field away from him.

So regardless of who it is, you've got to be able to discern where this defender is and where is the best place I can put the ball to give us a better chance to catch it than them. Let's say you throw that post across the field, there are some guys that are just so fast and athletic that they might even be brave enough to undercut the ball and go get it. There are guys that can make plays that when you let the ball go, it looked like a good decision, but by the time it lands, this guy has athletically put himself in better position to catch it than your players.

So he is one of those kind of guys. But you've got to go by what you see when it's time to cut the ball loose and try to make the best throw possible.

Q. Want to follow up on what you talked about in your radio show yesterday. Are Jordan Jenkins and Isiah McKenzie able to go in this game on Saturday?
COACH RICHT: Yeah, Jordan practiced. Again, I don't know if he's full speed. I'm hoping by the end of the week he's full speed. I think he wants to play. I think we'll keep watching him closely to see where he's at.

Isiah, I think, is further along than Jordan right now. I think Isiah, if he progresses from where he was yesterday, I would think he'll definitely be able to play.

Jordan, I wouldn't say it's a slam dunk right now, but he is going to be practicing and progressing.

Q. Not to hammer away on the offense, but you've changed offensive coordinators and quarterback coach, same guy. Has it been a bumpier transition than maybe you expected or could it have been expected in all of that?
COACH RICHT: Well, I think Coach Schottenheimer is a great coach. I think he knows what he's doing. I think he knows how to coach QBs extremely well. Got a lot of faith in that. And, like we said, we've had some ups and downs, but the season's not over yet. I'm in that room most of the time, and I listen to what's being taught, what's being coached and how it's being coached, and I've got full faith and confidence that he's doing an outstanding job. We've just got to continue to get better as we go, and I think we will.

Q. Is McKenzie going to be returning punts or did you like what you saw with Terry?
COACH RICHT: Yeah, I don't know who is going to do that yet. We've just got to try to figure that out. Because between Reggie and Terry and Isiah, we've got to figure out who it's going to be. Just don't know yet. Probably won't want to tell anybody before the game anyway.

Q. Another guy as far as injuries go, John Atkins, I know he didn't practice the last couple of weeks. Was he able to go yesterday?
COACH RICHT: He's working. He's kind of like Jordan, I would say. He's not a hundred percent right now, but hopefully he will be by the end of the week. But he's been cleared to practice.

Q. In that vein, Sony Michel, he's obviously got a heavier load these past couple weeks. I think we've taken for granted his getting the ball 20-plus times. Is his injury issue a result of a heavier workload?
COACH RICHT: Well, he had a hip, a hip pointer, hip bruise, basically. But the hip pointer is a pretty painful injury, but it's not anything wrong structurally. It's more of a pain issue. But he kind of fought through the game with it. Happened pretty early in the game in Missouri.

With the time off, though, he looks good. He looked very good yesterday. I don't anticipate him having any issues with injuries unless something would happen today or tomorrow in practice.

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