Georgia anxious to improve upon last season

MACON — With spring practices in the rearview mirror and the 2015 football season right around the corner, coaches from around the state of Georgia met at the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame Tuesday morning for the annual Pigskin Football Preview.

University of Georgia head coach Mark Richt addressed the media on how the Bulldogs will try and top their 10-3 record from last year. The quarterback battle is still underway between redshirt sophomore Brice Ramsey and junior Faton Bauta.

Redshirt freshman Jacob Park also got some reps during spring drills. Richt said they’re looking for characteristics that any coach would be looking for in a starting QB, such as accuracy and decision-making. He noted that above all, they want someone who is “not trying to be a hero.”

Ball protection is one of UGA’s top offensive priorities this year.

“When bad things happen, will he throw it up for grabs or will he throw it away in a safe spot?” Richt said. “We don’t need a lot of turnovers. We were number four, I think, in the nation in turnover ratio. We didn’t protect the ball very well last year. When things don’t go well, don’t turn a bad play into a catastrophe.”

He added that so far there has not been a hero at the quarterback or the running back position. With Todd Gurley gone to the NFL, Richt said a talented group of running backs remain. He’s confident the group, which includes sophomore Nick Chubb and junior Keith Marshall, will run the ball well. That attack will help the quarterback, whomever that may be, ease into his starting role.

On the defensive side, Richt expects former Westover standout Trent Thompson to make an impact as well as several other players as they fill the voids left particularly on their defensive line.

“I think Trenton is gonna have to get in a position to help us, we lost some big men up front. Trenton will help us with that,” he said. “Most people remember who your seniors are and they think about that incoming class, but they forget about who’s been there a year or two years or three years, preparing for his moment. There are a lot of guys who are in that category as well.”

The Bulldogs also have former NFL offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer at the helm and are excited for the style he plans on implementing.

“He knows a lot of football,” Richt said about the first-year offensive coordinator. “He knows more football than we can execute right now, so we’ve gotta make sure we’re putting in enough so that we can keep people off balance, but not so much that we can’t execute. So there’ll certainly be some new things coming out of there that Schotty has done throughout his years in the NFL.”

The Bulldogs’ season kicks off at home Sept. 5 against Louisiana-Monroe.