CFP SEMIFINAL AT THE CAPITAL ONE ORANGE BOWL: GEORGIA VS MICHIGAN

December 27, 2021

Lewis Cine

Hard Rock Stadium

Georgia Bulldogs

Press Conference

Q. Hate to ask, but this is a common question I get from people. Do you all only get tested for COVID if you're symptomatic or unvaccinated, or is there like still surveillance testing going on for you like last year?

LEWIS CINE: Honestly I don't know what they do. A larger percentage of the team -- well, probably 98 or 99 percent of the team is vaccinated. Other than that, that's the only thing I can say because I don't know the rest of what's going on other than that.

Q. I asked Coach Lanning earlier about Michigan being a power football team, yet they have all these explosive plays. I know you've studied this team deeply. How do you explain that paradox? How is a power team also so explosive?

LEWIS CINE: For one it's definitely the players, the players they have. A team wouldn't be what they are without good players. They have some really good, explosive players from offense, running backs, slot receivers, tight ends, even their quarterbacks. The players make the majority of who they are, and then good coaching with their head coach, receiving coordinators coaching, a lot of those guys I'm familiar with. So it all comes to those two factors really.

Q. Specific to the secondary, what did you guys need to fix after the last game?

LEWIS CINE: Specifically to our secondary, well, I'd say that not a lot had to be changed in terms of what we know. It's just we just went back to our fundamentals really, used this stretch of getting ready for Michigan to also work on ourselves. So we did that, worked on the fundamentals. Basically the things that people don't seem to focus on when they get to these points and these games, so that's basically what we did.

Q. Cade McNamara has a really funky sidearm delivery. As a DB does that impact how you are tracking the ball or does it make it tougher to see it come out of his hand and that kind of stuff? Is there any impact in the way he delivers the ball compared to the more normal drop-back overhand style?

LEWIS CINE: No. I mean, the ball has to get in the air one way or another. Regardless of how he throws and which way he throws it's still going to be in the air, so that doesn't really affect me.

Q. Two-part question. One, you mentioned the fundamentals there. What are the fundamentals that y'all have been working on in practice over the past couple weeks? And two, a couple weeks ago you mentioned you did some things you hadn't done all year against Alabama. Has there been an emphasis on doing what you've done all year to get you to this point?

LEWIS CINE: Well, basically the fundamental stuff is tracking the ball at the highest point, tackling, because in bowl games there's a lot of missed tackles, making sure we communicate from D-linemen to linebackers to the four corners of the DBs, from corner to safety. Other than that, it's just those little things that make a big difference when it comes to the games. A lot of people might not think so, but we think so, and that's why we're really focused on that.

Secondly, we kind of -- I can't really say. I can't really say that, because most likely other teams are watching these interviews, also. Wait until the game and you'll see, and that's the most I can say.