Georgia v. Notre Dame Tuesday Practice Report: Speed is the Need for the Win!

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Georgia v. Notre Dame Tuesday Practice Report: Speed is the Need for the Win!

Freshman Robert Beal, Jr. (33) - UGA football practice - Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2017
Freshman Robert Beal, Jr. (33)
– UGA football practice –
Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2017

 
 
Kirby Smart’s Bulldogs continued prepping for Notre Dame on Tuesday and practice was all about speed. The head coach and his entire staff urged each player to get and to go faster. Each drill forced the players to speed up, make plays and execute. Notre Dame has a huge offensive line along with impressive rushers, so the staff urged perfection during Tuesday’s practice. Here are my top two takeaways from each side of the ball. 
 

Offense:

Quarterbacks/Wide outs:

 

Riley Ridley (8) makes the catch over Javon Wims (6) in Monday's receiving drills - Sept. 4, 2017 -
Riley Ridley (8) makes the catch over Javon Wims (6) in Monday’s receiving drills
– Sept. 4, 2017 –

 
 
Offensive Coordinator Jim Chaney pushed his quarterbacks and wide receivers to make that catch because it might be a touchdown against Notre Dame. The quarterbacks and wide receivers worked closely on some short passes where the assistants attempted to knock the ball out of the wide out’s hands. Chaney and James Coley urged the players to catch those important balls because “that’s when we need you for the touchdown.” Fromm and Ramsey both threw sharp passes and I didn’t see either throw an inaccurate ball. The two quarterbacks worked on their footwork in the pocket, check downs, and scrambling out of the pocket. Chaney praised Fromm for his footwork and seemed pleased with the young quarterback.
 

Offensive Line:

 
Coach Sam Pittman vocalized a good bit during the 12-minute media period. As the unit ran through blocking drills, Pittman corrected Isaiah Wilson and told him, “Wilson get your hands underneath.” He tweaked the youngster’s fundamentals and taught him a different method. Then he gave some of the best lines I’ve heard all camp. He told Isaiah Wynn “you got him moving, now have him go ‘oh crap!’ and keep him moving.” Wynn ran through the drill again and Pittman came back with, “Make his big bottom think we’ll reach him, and then, BOOM, we’ll go inside.” Of course, the coach had other words to say, but I cannot tell them here without breaking a few rules. As for the starting line, it remained the same as yesterday.
 

Defense:

Defensive Line:

 

Freshman Malik Herring (10) - UGA football practice - Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2017
Freshman Malik Herring (10)
– UGA football practice –
Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2017

 
 
Fundamentals, fundamentals, and more fundamentals. Coach Trey Scott worked on the defensive line’s speed with foot work drills, agility drills, and hitting the blocking dummies. Scott told them that he wanted them to explode onto the dummy. He praised Jonathan Ledbetter and Tyler Clark for their quickness and how they executed the drill. The unit looked faster and seemed to breeze through some of the drills that they took longer with in previous practices. As they prepare for Notre Dame these speed drills will benefit them to get past those big front guys for the Irish.
 

Defensive Backs and Linebackers:

 

Walk-on redshirt sophomore DB K.J. Smith (27) - UGA football practice - Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2017
Walk-on redshirt sophomore DB K.J. Smith (27)
– UGA football practice –
Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2017

 
 
The defensive backs and linebackers went together to work with the scout team on some Notre Dame offensive schemes. Notre Dame runs an RPO (Run, Pass, Option) offense and Coach Glen Shuman ran through various plays step by step with the defense. During the run throughs, Richard LeCounte and Jarvis Wilson took turns calling safety coverages out and looked to start being leaders.
 
 
Coach Smart was close by with another group of defensive backs working on snagging a ball away from a receiver. He vocalized to the group he worked with along with the groups working with scout team to hustle and pick up the speed. Smart knew every single thing going on, and made sure to influence himself into the scenario.
 

Bits and Pieces:

 
Speed was the need for the win in Tuesday’s practice and Smart made sure the team knew that. The offense worked on making sure that they could catch the ball and push off defenders. The offensive line worked on blocking and Pittman pushed his guys. As for the defense, they continued to run speed fundamental drills along with getting ready for the Irish. Georgia as a whole looked focused and ready to play the upcoming game this Saturday.
 
 
Check out Tuesday’s Gallery Below:
 
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Savannah Leigh is a recent graduate of the Grady College of Journalism at the University of Georgia. She is an avid SEC, Dawgs, and college football fan. She also adores her four-year-old black lab, Champ Bailey.