Mark Richt Quotations

The only competition that (Stafford) is doing right now is just trying to learn what to do. The other three guys, even four guys when you count (walk-on Nick) Dalton, have a lot better idea of what to do, even on the basics of calling the cadence. He's a talented passer. I think we all know that, and you can tell he's going full speed as far as trying to learn, but there's so much to learn in such a short amount of time.

When you start talking about national implications, we really don't have much control over that at all.

When we were down 28-0, I didn't know if anything good was going to happen tonight. But to the credit of our players we made it a battle. We made them sweat a little bit.

We're going to make sure he's the primary target a lot. We have more pass plays than I've ever had in our offense that are geared toward the tight end.

We're going to make him a primary target. Now, I don't know how many passes he's going to catch. We could make him the primary target 15 times a game, but we may only throw to him to eight times because he's covered, and he may only catch six. But we're going to have more pass plays than we've ever had geared toward him.

We're just very thankful that it looks like he'll be back for the Auburn game and be able to finish his senior year the way we were hoping he could, ... In the meantime, we've got to find a way to win without him.

We feel better about it today than we did going into the game. We still have to see how they do with tighter coverage. Boise State played mostly soft coverage, not much press at all so no one had to worry about getting off a jam or redirecting or that kind of thing. We'll see how they handle a little more pressure.

We're expecting to get him back this season. We just don't know when.

We're just shooting ourselves in the foot again. Whatever the reason is for that, I don't know.

We're just rolling them and evaluating them. We're rotating them as equally as we can.

We're just proud of the fact that everybody is contributing. You want to spread it around enough so the other coach can't just hone in on one part of your game.

We're hoping by the time we roll around in the fall we could take that variable of 'How much does a guy really know?' out of it. If he is struggling with the learning of it, he is probably not going to play. If he understands it, now it is more of a competition.

We're beat up and fatigued and there are some guys in Gainesville licking their chops. The guys on our defense are flat-out warriors. (Defensive tackle) Ray Gant would not come out of the game and probably should have a couple of times. You have to tip your hat to them and coach Willie Martinez and rest of our defensive coaches.

We know what it feels liked to be here and win it, and we know what it feels like to be here and lose it.

We were definitely playing for a return. We didn't think they would do that. Give them a lot of credit. It takes a lot of nerve to do that.

The open date is a tremendous advantage. They'll be more rested. They'll be a fresher football team. They'll probably have a better plan than they would have had with a week's notice.

We decided to run that ball and try to live with it. We kept pounding, getting yards after contact, just grinding it out in a real physical way. That's great.

We ran a lot of four wides at Florida State, but we didn't have the tight ends we have at Georgia.

We have rules that must be adhered to by all members of our team. It's sometimes an unpleasant duty of a coach, but discipline is an important part of team unity and ultimately, team success. Hopefully, an important lesson is learned that will be of benefit in the future.

When I'm looking for a quarterback, the first thing I look for is the ability to throw the football. That's something that most people take as a given, but it's something you've got to have. From the film I saw on Matthew, he makes every throw you can ask a guy to make.

We're just trying to get better down there, ... We just need to get more (touchdowns). We're not going to get a touchdown every time, but we need to get a higher percentage of them.

We need Brandon and Andy to have confidence in that snap and hold right now. It's not happening right now and it's getting in their head a little bit.

We've never done that. It's not a bad idea. I've never thought to do that but maybe in the future we will.

We want to make sure that we play someone that everyone in the nation would care about and can bolster how people, how voters feel about you if you win.

Leonard has got a very strong upside. He's a mismatch problem for a lot of people.

Last year, they played a bunch of close games. Learning how to win doesn't happen overnight. Coach (Bobby) Johnson has done a good job of teaching that in a real methodical way.

Sean had a great first game and a great last game. In between he did OK, but was not as productive as I hoped. He had some trouble dropping the ball, as did some other guys.

On any given day a guy can look great or poor. We'll keep rolling them in and out the entire spring. That's something we won't change no matter how good or bad anybody looks.

No coordinator can say he's got to stop our run game because we can't pass. And no one can say if we stop their pass, there's no way they can run well enough to beat us. We're good enough in both to make teams play us honestly.

No coordinator can say he's got to stop our run game because we can't pass, ... And no one can say if we stop their pass, there's no way they can run well enough to beat us. We're good enough in both to make teams play us honestly.

(One game) we have looked like a finesse team, a passing team, run it here and there. And the next time we just flat out ran it and didn't even do anything to try and loosen the perimeter.

Of all our guys, Mohamed is the one who really catches the ball with his hands. Rarely does he let the ball get to his body. For the most part, he goes to the ball and snatches it away from the defensive back better than any guy we have.

My goal is not to cause somebody grief or to make anyone upset, ... My goal is to love these guys and put them in a situation where they can grow up to be the best men they can be. We are an authority over them, and I have influence over them, and I take that responsibility seriously.

People were saying we were going to hang 50 on them. We're not that good.

On offense, we're pretty good. We could be a lot more than good.

On the other hand, you've got to have production.

I don't know why we don't execute in that area. It's there to be had. We just for whatever reason can't stand prosperity, I guess. Plus, I think we like our kickers to be tops in America in scoring points.

I don't know why we don't execute in that area. It's there to be had. We just, for whatever reason, can't stand prosperity, I guess. Plus, I think we like our kickers to be tops in America in scoring points.

I am very excited about what's going to happen with D.J. Shockley, ... He is a great football player. I'm just happy for him. You know, guys can mope about the situation, or guys can decide, 'I just don't want to be here,' and take off. He didn't do that. Not only did he stay, but he thrived at Georgia. He is in great shape academically, and he has won community service awards for us. He's just a fantastic guy, a great man. He's probably the most respected player we have on the team.

I'm almost certain it's going to roll right into (fall) camp as far as trying to narrow it down a little bit.

I felt like we had as good a chance this year to be in the fight as we had in any other year. I'm not really surprised, but I guess a lot of people thought it was doomsday.

I felt good when we had them down there because if we get a stop, we're in good shape. But they just executed their offense perfectly. It seemed like their quarterback (White) made the right decision almost every time.

I felt like, looking at the season to this point, we probably haven't taken enough shots downfield to loosen things up,

If a quarterback places the ball properly, I don't think there's anybody who can cover him. He's just such a big guy. You can't slow him up. You better get to him if you want to cover him.

If a guy thinks every time he drops a ball you're going to drop him out of the lineup, it's very hard for him to gain confidence,

I don't think we've seen him as good as he can play, and he played really good the last five or six games last year. I don't want to put any pressure on him, but he's a special guy.

I don't think it's unrealistic for us to have a shot at it in any given year. I don't think we're too far away, really.

I get more charged up than it looks on the outside. It takes me a while to cool down.

If that hamstring didn't set him back, who knows where he would be,

He's grown up a Bulldog. His grandfather, his father, his uncle all played for Georgia, Georgia football is in his blood. I think it does help.

He's banged up and he's sore, ... We've got to see how he progresses. But if he's in a weakened position, you could make it a lot worse so we're being cautious with it right now.

He has a great attitude every day in practice. He works hard in the games. He's making plays, he's pushing the pile, he's making people double-team him. He's been keeping people off our linebackers and he's really playing pretty well so far.

He has really come on for us. I'm confident he will do a good job.

West Virginia did a heck of a job jumping on us. The only consolation is we didn't lay down and die.

He's a big-league talent. I wish he wasn't a freshman. Hopefully, we won't have to play him for a while.

Going for the fake punt showed a lot of guts and great execution. You've got to give them credit.

He's a lot like Fred Gibson, ... Fred had a lot of (missed assignments) as a freshman, but he also had a lot of production. So we tried to get him on the field.

How will we handle that close ballgame? ... How are we going to handle being down 21 points at halftime to Boise State? Is everybody going to push the panic button, or can we stayed poised ... ?

He was awesome. He was probably more fired up during the game than anyone.

He comes from a top level program and has a lot of experience on the offensive side of the ball.

Greene wasn't at his best physically, but he was at his best in leading us to that last field goal. I was sitting there thinking, 'This is the last game he's going to play in this stadium. Who am I to keep him out?' So I let him go back in.

Guys like D. J. make this business worthwhile.

Kirby did a great job with our backs during the past year. We hate to lose him but at the same time recognize the opportunity he has and wish him nothing but the best.

I would think he is going to roll into the fall as the No. 1 guy. I still haven't seen anything to make me think we shouldn't do that.

I would say you're running it up if you've got your first-team players in the game with five minutes to go and you're up by 40. If you're still throwing bombs, maybe that's running it up. I think it's the defense's job to slow people down anyway.

Just three or four weeks ago, I was saying we were as healthy as we've been, ... Now we might be as banged-up as we've ever been.

It came down to me and Gully. We both had S, and it was going down to the wire, and I shot the old free throw with the eyes closed and put him away, ... It was the most dramatic game of H-O-R-S-E in the three-year history of the tournament, and I'm still the undefeated champion of H-O-R-S-E at my house.

It always helps in recruiting to a certain degree. To finish in the top 10 four straight years is exciting, and we think 10 wins is a pretty good benchmark.

I think it's ironic that it's happened that way. It just goes to show you how important they are to their offenses.

I was a little befuddled, ... I've seen guys making plays all the time in practice, and I'm like, 'What's the problem?' But when you'd look at the tape, it really was just one guy making a mistake.

It is somewhat of a consideration, but if we think a guy is a player, we won't hold that against him. Sometimes you have a big lineman maybe who is dominating a bunch of little, bitty guys it's hard to get a feel, but there are also camps and combines and those type of things that let you get a little better look at some of these guys.

I think we'll keep our poise. I think we'll fight hard. I think that'll happen. Are we good enough to beat Tennessee? That I don't know. We'll have to improve in all areas, but when it comes to fighting a full 60 minutes, I think we've proven over the last four or five years we'll do that.

I think we've been taking Bennett for granted around here a long time. He's made those kicks in the games we've been winning. Gosh, you take nine points right there we've got a chance to win the game.

I think West Virginia was extremely excited. They brought a little more emotion in the beginning.

Last year, I was just hoping the other team would kick it out of the end zone so we could get it on the 20, ... So, I guess I'm hoping now we'll be able to return it past the 20.

I watched film from Wednesday's practice, and he's just a really impressive back. He's just tough. He's just a player. He's a guy you can count on. He'll run block, he'll pass block.

Jason is a talented kid and a tough son of a gun. He's going to play. We've always been pleased with him and he's stepped it up.

I think Florida's intentions were to use a lot of the things (West Virginia coach Rich) Rodriguez is doing, but Chris Leak's talents didn't really jibe with that.

Our guys did a great job of doing what we had to do to win. It certainly wasn't a very beautiful victory, but to me it is.

Our punt team continues to do a great job.

Our safety play has been outstanding. We haven't gotten too fancy, we have been able to play a good bit of zone coverage, allowing our front seven to hold up against the run.

Our goal (coming into spring) was not even to try to narrow it down as much as to get everybody as much exposure to what we're doing as possible. I don't think anything has changed in my mind or Mike's mind.

Overall, it was fairly sloppily played offensively, but there was some beauty in our ability to run the ball.

Playing in the Dome will be great for us. We have had some great experiences in the Dome. Our fans have been fantastic in there.

Mario's going to play and probably play a lot if everything keeps going like it's been. He knows what he's doing. He's catching the ball pretty well.

Like I told the players, it doesn't mean anything if we get whipped this week. We have a pretty levelheaded group of seniors who know the jury is still out on us. We know we're good. We know we have a chance to do some special things. But how good can we be? No one knows for sure. We've still got a long way to go.

Like I told the players, it doesn't mean anything if we get whipped this week, ... We have a pretty levelheaded group of seniors who know the jury is still out on us. We know we're good. We know we have a chance to do some special things. But how good can we be? No one knows for sure. We've still got a long way to go.

I was hoping we'd play about 2 p.m., but hopefully 5:30 will be enough. Hopefully, it'll be hot enough for everybody.

It doesn't surprise me. The guy's got all the tools you could ever hope for. He's very serious about becoming a great player.

I think he's still a relatively young kicker, ... It's good to have the confidence to know he can make that kind of kick.

I think he's done a great job and I would think he would roll into the fall as the No. 1 guy.

I think his goal is to be a coach and he'll be able to do some things as a student assistant coach that a lot of people can't do. He'll get a couple of years of training that a lot of guys have to wait for until after they graduate.

I thought he looked a lot like Shane Matthews. It was kind of eerie how much he looked like him. He looked like Shane Matthews as a second- or third-year player, not the first shot out of the cannon.

That was the biggest play of the game. We desperately needed a first down to get out of that bad field position.

That was enough adversity for a team without a lot of character and leadership to fold up, ... and they never did.

I wasn't as excited about the game after watching film as I was right after the game, ... they'll see things weren't as good as everybody is writing right now.

We have our schedule set up so the mornings are about business and after lunch is time to enjoy the bowl.

We haven't seen anybody like White. He's special.

You just didn't know if it was going to equate into victories or not. So far it has.

Without a doubt, he was our player of the game.