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[su_spacer size=”40″] Kevin Butler, former University of Georgia legendary kicker and a member of the Georgia radio broadcast team, will each week during the 2015 football season select his offensive, defensive and special teams players of the week for Bulldawg Illustrated. Here are Butler’s selections and reasons why for the Bulldogs’ 27-3 loss to Florida on Saturday.
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OFFENSE
[su_spacer size=”40″] Senior wide receiver Malcolm Mitchell, who caught four passes for 60 yards in Georgia’s paltry offensive showing against the Gator defense. That enabled Mitchell to go over 2,000 yards receiving for his Bulldog career.
[su_spacer size=”40″] “The senior wide receiver played with a lot of heart but not too much support,” said Butler. “His four catches for 60 yards were 26 percent of the offensive output against the mighty Gators. Malcolm is a true leader and carries himself with great professionalism and I wish we were able to make his senior year more productive, but it doesn’t look like that is happening. The more we can rely on Malcolm the more productive the Bulldogs’ offense will be … and we need Malcolm bad!”
[su_spacer size=”40″] DEFENSE
[su_spacer size=”40″] Senior inside linebacker Jake Ganus and redshirt sophomore outside linebacker Davin Bellamy share the honor for a Georgia defense that performed better than the final score showed, as two of the Gators’ four touchdowns came on a fumbled punt recovery in the end zone and a close-in score after Florida’s Vernon Hargreaves picked off a tipped Faton Bauta pass and returned it to the Georgia 5-yard line. Bellamy led the Bulldogs with seven total tackles including one sack and two tackles-for-loss and Ganus again helped spark the defense with five tackles and a tackle-for-loss.
[su_spacer size=”40″] “Thank God for Ray Watts, the president of the University of Alabama at Birmingham,” said Butler. “If he did not make one of the worst decisions in modern sports with the elimination of the UAB football program, we would have never gotten Jake Ganus. Jake is the heart and soul of a defense that just got worked to death Saturday against the Gators. Ganus, along with Devin Bellamy’ s 7 total tackles including 2 tackles for losses, really stood out to me as two Dawg defensive players who had great, hard- fought games. Ganus’s leadership is important to the development of young players like Bellamy. It seems to be working but they need more players heading in the same direction … UP!”
[su_spacer size=”40″] SPECIAL TEAMS
[su_spacer size=”40″] Sophomore Brice Ramsey, who took over the starting punting duties from Collin Barber and averaged 43.4 yards on five kicks, including one punt for 50 yards.
[su_spacer size=”40″] “Not many times will I name a backup QB as my special teams player of the week but Brice Ramsey deserves the recognition this week for a great punting performance against Florida,” said Butler. “A 43-yard average gave the Bulldogs consistent coverage opportunity and this was one phase of the specialty teams play that was productive against the Gators. Look for Brice to continue punting in a consistent way.”
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