Georgia, Predictions, Colt Profiles

Georgia coach Mark Richt praises the Warrior offensive line.

When Mark Richt watches film of Hawaii's offensive line, he thinks he's watching an instructional video. Or, at least, that's what he says.

"You could literally put a clinic on from that group," the No. 4 Bulldogs' head coach said Thursday before his team held its second practice in preparation for Tuesday's Sugar Bowl against the Warriors.

"They are textbook in pass protection," Richt said. "When they slide one way or another, it's like a dance team or something, it's very well done."

Hawaii offensive line coach Dennis McKnight played the position for 10 years in the NFL, and the professional influence shows, Georgia defensive line coach Rodney Garner said.

"I think they are the most athletic offensive line we've played, and it shows on film every snap," Garner said. "It's every single clip, and then you see how hard and physical they play. They are going to get after you. They play with a great tenacity."

Marc Weiszer of The Athens Banner-Herald writes about Georgia thinking back to a previous Sugar Bowl loss as motivation in this game.

Georgia struggled against West Virginia's spread offense with quarterback Pat White and tailback Steve Slaton. Now it gets Hawaii's run-and-shoot offense led by Brennan.

"We could easily take them for granted and they come out and show us out and embarrass us, or we can get pissed off and take care of business and show the nation that we are one of the best teams," linebacker Rennie Curran said.

Georgia didn't take care of business in the 2005 Sugar Bowl.

"The last time we were in the Sugar Bowl, we didn't show up," defensive line coach Rodney Garner said. "We didn't play very good. That left a bad taste in people's mouths for a long time. We still talk about that."

Georgia doesn't want Hawaii to turn into another West Virginia.

"I don't know if we did a good enough job convincing our kids how good West Virginia was, how fast they were," Garner said. "Obviously, we've tried to really emphasize that this year with Hawaii."

Weiszer also has some UGA news and notes, including this excerpt from today's Bulldog practice:

Coach Mark Richt said duplicating Hawaii's run-and-shoot offense with scout teamers like Croffie can't be done because of the precision of the passing game and pace of the offense.

But after Georgia's first Superdome practice Wednesday night, Richt told the scout team players he wanted to see more from them.

"I really didn't think we had a tremendous effort," Richt said. "I thought it was a little bit half-hearted. I just told them if we're going to win this game, you've got to help us prepare. You're job is every one of these practices."

David Ching of the Macon Telegraph writes about UH's tenacity this season.

Exhibit A: In the Warriors' final game of the regular season, they fell behind Washington 21-0 in the first quarter, only to cut the deficit to 28-21 by halftime and eventually win 35-28.

"When they went down by 21, I was like, 'Man, I guess they weren't as good as everyone said they were,' " Georgia tight end Tripp Chandler said. "But then the fashion that they came back showed something that they hadn't been talking about, and that was the poise that their team showed and just how they stuck together.

"That just really shows our team that even if we get up on them in the beginning, that doesn't mean anything. They can come back on us just as quick, especially with that high-powered offense that they have."

Hawaii's ability to fight back was on display throughout a 12-0 season, as the Warriors trailed at halftime or later five times this year, only to come back and win each time. Three of those comeback wins came on the road.

RGM has an update in his blog. An excerpt:

Sorry I took so long for getting back everyone. I'm a little new at this thing but from here on out, I'll be posting multiple entries each day.

Last night, some of the guys went out and toured the French Quarter. We had some fun but we knew that we're here on a business trip so we were definitely on our best behavior. We understand who and what we represent, which is not only the team but the school and the entire state of Hawai'i.

Here's a Sugar Bowl preview and prediction from Ed Shearer of the AP.

Russell Levine has a game preview in the New York Sun.

This game represents the biggest opportunity for Hawaii to prove itself that it is ever likely to have. The Warriors have had showcase games in the past — they opened the 2006 season with an eight-point loss at Alabama, and they are scheduled to play at Florida next fall — but a win here would validate both Brennan's career and Jones's offensive philosophy. A blowout loss risks seeing Brennan's achievements dismissed as merely the product of a system, and seeing the system itself dismissed as a gimmick.

Hawaii must get off to good start to prevent Georgia from simply pounding running back Knowshon Moreno at the line all night. The Warriors have a very athletic, aggressive defense, and they will likely pack the box and dare quarterback Matthew Stafford to beat them. If they can force Georgia to play from behind, they can minimize the effectiveness of the Georgia running game without really having to stop it. If the game becomes a shootout, it's advantage Hawaii.

Chip Towers of the AJC has a prediction as well.

Just looking at it objectively, I don’t believe the Warriors can match the Bulldogs athletically. At least on paper they can’t. Yes, they have a great quarterback. Yes, they have great receivers. They have a very experienced offensive line and, relative to years past, a very good defense under the direction of an exceptional coordinator in Greg McMackin.

But football, in my experience, usually comes down to whipping the guy in front of you, and I see a lot more guys for Georgia that should be able to whip the Hawaii guys they’ll be facing on Tuesday. Let’s face it, the Bulldogs have been recruiting a different breed of player the last several years. As far as blocking and tackling, I have to think Georgia has an advantage there.

Here's a great profile of Colt Brennan by Thomas Stinson of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Before he had set any of his 20 NCAA records, Brennan went out to play his first game of catch with some of his new receivers soon after his arrival at the University of Hawaii. He was tall enough (6 feet 3), but a little light (hardly 190 pounds) and didn't pass the ball as much as he slung from a three-quarters shoulder angle. And it was beautiful.

"The one thing I noticed was just how easy his pass was to catch," said Ryan Grice-Mullen, a slotback in UH's pass-mad offense. "A lot of quarterbacks just want to fire every ball. But since day one, he makes it easy on the receivers. It's up and it's out."

And another great feature on Colt from Bernard Fernandez of the Philadelphia Daily News.

"I have to give it to Boise State," Brennan said. "What they did last year gave us a great opportunity to go to a BCS bowl this year. And don't forget what Utah did a few years before that. It made people realize that it's all right to give the little guy a chance.

"Good football is being played in conferences like the WAC. I think if a team like ours does well enough, we should be given a chance to compete against the big boys. We're not just happy to be going to the Sugar Bowl. We're looking to go there and win."