SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: LOUISIANA STATE v GEORGIA

December 2, 2005

Mark Richt

COACH MARK RICHT: Thank you, Mike. I got nervous when he said I was going to speak for 15 minutes. I was trying to think of what I was going to say. When you added the fact that there would be a few questions, that calmed me down a bit. Anyway, the University of Georgia is very excited to be here at this game. To be here in The Dome is a goal that of course we have and everybody in our league has. To be here, again, is just a thrill for us. We know what it feels like to be here and win it. We know what it feels like to be here and lose it. Of course, last year we know what it feels like not to be here at all. So of those three, I think being here and winning it is the most fun. That's what we're going to try to do (smiling). Gosh, there's so many stories about how we got here, I don't want to get into all that type of thing. I can say that we're pretty healthy right now. Tony Taylor was probably the biggest question mark coming into this one. It looks like Tony feels good enough to actually start in this ballgame, so we'll do that, we'll put Tony at the Mike. Jarvis Jackson played so well at the Mike during the time when Tony was hurt, we believe he deserves the start. We're moving him to the Will line backer position. Of course Brandon Miller will play the Sam. But really, everybody that's been injured throughout the year - most everybody - is back and ready to go. So we're excited about that. Other than that, I just figure I'll open it up and let you guys ask what you want to know about.

COACH MARK RICHT: Right. I'd say both quarterbacks are pretty close to having the same amount of playing time. JaMarcus might even have more time than D.J., even though D.J. is the senior and JaMarcus is the sophomore. I think both quarterbacks have got to make sure they manage the game well. They need to get their teams out of bad situations, into good ones, and hopefully get them from good situations to great ones. And when the plays that are designed don't present themselves, they've got to be wise enough to get rid of the ball in a safe place or, if they're able to scramble, scramble in such a way that they can find open receivers or get what they can and get out of bounds or get down, whatever it may be. I don't know if JaMarcus will get down. I think he'll try to truck somebody. But D.J., I want D.J. to get down and get out of bounds whenever possible. But a lot of times in a big game like this, the quarterbacks feel like they've got to win the game for the team, and they do in some ways. But it's not necessarily by winning it on every single play; they've got to be wise and really protect the ball I think would be the most important thing. Then when the plays do present themselves, you've got to make them. You've got to put it on the money and you have got to weather the storm because there will be times when those guys will be under pressure and they've got to make sure they don't do something foolish.

COACH MARK RICHT: I mean, the Bowl system has not necessarily ever been fair. It has a lot to do with the economics. The only thing that's locked in is the winner gets a BCS game. That's about the only thing that's guaranteed. That's what you fight for, that's what you hope you can accomplish so you don't have to worry about all the political ends of the Bowl system. I think if there's one thing that all the head coaches would agree on, is that there needs to be some type of protection for the runner-up of this game. Two teams make it, and they're representing each division, and those teams, I think, ought to have some type of protection because, I mean, it's happened in the past. Arkansas a few years back - I think it was Arkansas - might have dropped to Music City, and there's nothing wrong with Music City; we've been there and enjoyed it. But if they did not play in the game, they probably would have been sitting in a better position, as you say.

COACH MARK RICHT: Well, you're right, they don't have to blitz as much, and they don't blitz as much as Georgia Tech did. I'm sure a lot of it has to do with their front four and in particular their two inside tackles. I'm real concerned about that. A team that can put pressure on the quarterback without blitzing, that's a team that I worry about more than a team that blitzes. Usually a team that blitzes has some type of vulnerability behind it, whether it's -- when people zone blitz, let's say they play cover three behind it, that's a pretty safe coverage behind it, but they play three deep, three underneath, when there's five zones underneath to be covered they only have three. If it's a true fire zone, what people call a zone blitz, if people blitz and play man coverage behind it, they're certainly vulnerable to a big play. One guy can trip on any given play and all of a sudden you have a huge play on your hand. The teams that could pressure the quarterback and stop the running game without getting blitzing involved and safeties involved are the ones that are the most dangerous. LSU can do that, but they also have a great package of blitz, where they will play man behind it, they'll play three deep zone behind it, they'll play two deep zone behind it. It's just not as simple as some teams. That's the greatest challenge for D.J. is to be able to handle that.

COACH MARK RICHT: Well, just now I mentioned some of those things, which is the types of coverages they play behind their blitzes. Coach Saban, not 100%, but a much higher percent of the time, they were playing man coverage behind their blitzing schemes. Even when they weren't blitzing, they were playing a lot more man coverage. Most of the time, not all the time, but most of the time, the corner backs were right up on top of you, in your face, pressing the receivers. So that's different. Not to say that LSU doesn't do that some, but they don't do it as high a percentage as Coach Saban's group. Just overall, percentage of blitz is less with Coach Miles' team and Coach Pelini's philosophy.

COACH MARK RICHT: Well, I would think we're the underdog. I mean, most everybody's picking LSU to win the game and play in the Sugar Bowl. That's fine. Our guys, I don't know if they're going to get bent out of shape too much one way or the other, but when people don't believe you can do something, I think it probably naturally -- I think it naturally gives you a little more incentive to prove to people that you can get it done. I mean, not many people want to hear that you can't do something, especially competitive athletes and coaches.

COACH MARK RICHT: Right, right. Well, I wasn't necessarily surprised. I thought we could make it. I wasn't predicting that we could make it, but I thought we could make it, and the main reason was because of the seniors that were coming back. We really got a strong group. There's at least 24 seniors, counting our walk-ons, on this team, and a lot of them have played a lot. They're spread throughout the entire club. The thing I like is having senior leadership on the offensive line and defensive line. I can remember, just about every year that I've been coaching and been a part of the team where the leadership was coming from the line on both sides of the ball, it usually turned into a heck of a year. So those are some of the things that gave me hope. And the other thing, one of the biggest question marks was, how was D.J. Shockley going to play. I just believed in D.J. I really believed that he would play well. I believed that if he played anywhere near the way he's practiced throughout his career, I thought that we'd be fine. Then you also have to look at the character of your quarterback. Is he going to be able to handle the pressure of the job? You've got to be talented but you've got to be able to handle the pressure of the job. I felt like he had matured a lot in his time at Georgia and I thought he was going to be able to handle that, too. My biggest concern was, would D.J. try to cram a four-year career into one season and maybe try to do too much? But to his credit, he did let the game come to him. He did not try to force things when they weren't there. He's protected the ball really extremely well.

COACH MARK RICHT: Of course the best way is to punt it out of bounds (smiling). We've worked on that a little bit. I wouldn't say it's Gordon's forte. But if you're going to kick to him, you better kick it real high. You better kick it real high and get your cover guys under it and hope he'll fair catch it. If he catches the ball, if he fields the punt, I don't know if there is much defense other than do your best to try to corral him and get off blocks. He's as good as I've seen in a long time.

COACH MARK RICHT: We're not going to go to the national championship game, but LSU could possibly play for the national championship because there are a couple games that we played yet, I guess everybody's got it all figured out. This game right here, to me, besides playing for the national championship, is as exciting of a game as I've ever been in. The atmosphere is unbelievable. What's at stake is very, very large. The Bowl games I think are what they should be - a reward for our players and coaches and families to enjoy whatever city that we're in, and still find enough time to prepare for a heck of a show. But, I mean, I'm thankful that we're going to be in the Bowl, is all I can tell you.

COACH MARK RICHT: Last time that happened, it didn't help us much. We got to play them twice. It didn't do as much good. I'd rather not play a team twice in one year if I can help it. I'd rather just get them for the first time around. To play Auburn again, there's some good things about it, but I just as soon play somebody new. I'm not smart enough to get two games. I'm barely smart enough to get one that's worth a hoot. To try to get two in one year, I don't know if I can do it.

COACH MARK RICHT: I'd love to have two weeks to prepare for this. I think it would only make sense to do that. I don't know if that will ever happen, now that we're going to 12, a guaranteed 12-game season. But as big as this game is, and what it means for the programs that are in it, it would be nice to have two weeks. Maybe you play one Wednesday night or something, I don't know. Ten days would be nice to get prepared for it. But I don't know if that will happen any time soon. I know a couple of teams schedule their season to have an open day prior. Gosh, if Auburn would have been the team or Alabama would have been the team that we're playing, they would have had two weeks because of the way they scheduled it.

COACH MARK RICHT: Our defense has done well, also. I know the number one stat is scoring defense. I think LSU is number four; we're number five. That's the most important statistic that you could have on defense. But, yeah, I guess if you look at the numbers, our offenses are pretty close to the same, even down to third down conversions. I think we're just a percentage point off. But the other statistic that I hope would stay true to form is the turnover ratio: We're a plus twelve; they're minus eight. It would be nice if that continued. That might be too much to hope for.

COACH MARK RICHT: They do. They do. They've got great backs. Addai has done so well. He's such a complete back. Of course Vincent, he tore us apart last time we were here two years ago. He murdered us. We didn't have an answer for him. Then, of course, Carey, he's a very dangerous back and a different style of a back. That is a problem because, number one, they don't have to rely on just one man to carry it 20, 30 times; they'll have fresh players in there and guys with different abilities. That's a concern. I hope we can counter that with the three we have. They're pretty good backs, too.

COACH MARK RICHT: Well, not right now it's not. I know it would have been nice to have another day to rest. I mean, for us, for me personally, I got in about 4, 4:30 in the morning, after the game Saturday, a late game. I do my coach's show afterwards. Then you get up on just a couple hours' sleep. I had a bunch of family at the house. I got up, spent time with them, as much as I could, went to church. Then it's off to the office. To start the week being tired is not a good thing. It would have been nice to have had another day.

COACH MARK RICHT: Thank you.