Opening Statement

“We opened up practice yesterday after doing some film review and conditioning on Monday. On Tuesday, we had a good physical practice. We’ll get after it the next few days and start working on our next opponent which will be Tennessee off the bye week.”

On attendance in college football and scheduling to help the sport…

“I certainly think games like that (Georgia versus Notre Dame) are needed, especially right now. It’s really important. I think having a balance…to me it’s as much about fan experience as it is matchups. I think it’s really important that your fans enjoy coming to your games. They have a good atmosphere. You’re able to put a good product out on the field that they can enjoy. You can make the case that a lot of fans don’t like the lower level matchups, but a lot of those teams survive with what they’re able to get in guarantees for those games. It also gives at least us a chance to expand our fan base because a lot of fans get to come to that game that might not get to come to a Notre Dame game. They get to come enjoy Sanford Stadium and bring their kids and family members who might not otherwise get an opportunity. All that is good for college football. The matchup we had (with Notre Dame), the amount of electricity in the game and the stadium was awesome. You acknowledge that maybe every game can’t be that way but at the same time you want more of them.”

On the impact of having a rushing attack and the running game versus Notre Dame…

“Every body-blow you give a team has a wear, has an effect, and we certainly felt like over really the last three years, the total effect of being able to give body blows does have an effect on teams. I think when you talk to teams after they play us, they definitely feel that’s the case. Never would I say if you can’t run the ball, you have to continue to run the ball, you got to be able to mix it up. You can’t be one dimensional in anything you do especially when you play a top 10 team. I got an incredible respect for Notre Dame or really any SEC team. They have to find ways to stop the run during the week, and most teams that’s the first thing they try to do is stop the run versus us. We got to have some things to lighten the box and allow our playmakers outside to make some plays. We did run the ball a little better in the second half at times (versus Notre Dame). There were some times when we had some breakdowns, and things they did to hurt us. I think a lot of that comes from the wear and tear and totality of the physical nature of running the ball.”