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The Hurricanes head into the season ranked #8 in the AP poll, however, head coach Mark Richt is nowhere near ready to start patting his team on the back just yet.
“We’re not elite until we win enough games to say we’re elite,” Richt said. “People want to say we’re pretty good, top 10, but who knows. We’ll find out once we play ball.”
Richt said the energy at practice has been as high as it’s ever been: “It’s been great,” he said. “I can’t think of a day that I was like `These guys didn’t show up to work.’ And that’s all you can ask for. It’s a tribute to our seniors and our leaders and I’m proud of them.”
How does Richt describe his plan to play freshmen with the new redshirting rule in place?
“To start out, we’re not going to try to slow down the process of putting a guy in the game,” Richt said. ”If the situation comes up game 1 where someone ought to go in, we’ll put him in. A guy gets in two games, you start looking what’s going to happen the rest of the year and does it really warrant him to play a season.
“We’d think of saving at least one for the very end whether it’s bowl season or playoff season just in case. But we might use up two or three fairly rapidly if the situation arises. If he’s a guy that plays every game you’re not going to redshirt him anyway.”
LSU announced their starting QB this week and the nod went to junior Joe Burrow, a graduate transfer from Ohio State.
“He’s a guy that anytime the word gets out there’s a graduate transfer, you may or may not get wind of it but we looked at a little bit of tape of him,” Richt said on Burrow. “We know he’s a very good pocket passer, a big, strong kid. He’s been in a highly competitive conference on a highly competitive team. He’s a graduate. He’ll be ready to play like a champion, like a starter.
“That skill set Joe has fits what they want to do. You have to prepare for the scheme as much as the player when you first start out and don’t have a lot of tape to look at.”
On the two freshmen tight ends, Brevin Jordan has been the clear #1 for awhile now, but it seems Will Mallory has hopped over Brian Polendey for the #2 role.
“Brevin is a starting tight end when we’re in a one tight end set,” Jordan said. “In a two tight end set (Will) Mallory will start at the other spot. They’ve done a very good job, have a lot to learn. They’re not physically where they will be one day, but they’ve prepared and will play a bunch.”
On starting running back Travis Homer, Richt said: “He started out for us as a true freshman being our No. 1 special teams player covering kicks and blocking, punt team. And he proved he could play major college football in that role, got a few carries here or there. When Mark Walton got hurt he was the guy and was really ready. He runs the ball with great vision and balance and speed, finishes runs well. He’s a great route runner, pass protector. He’s really a complete back. He’s not a big man, close to 200 pounds, but he runs big.”
**Defensive coordinator Manny Diaz has said one guy has separated himself from the pack for the #2 DT role, and it was junior Pat Bethel, and not just because of his football talent.
“Pat will be the first guy out there on Sunday,” Diaz said. “Tough. Dependable. Steady. Hard-working. We took them bowling and Pat was one of the best bowlers on the team. It just made sense. You didn’t know why, but Pat’s the guy who should be good at bowling. He’s got the ‘blue collar’ shirt on. He clocks out after 5 o’clock, goes to the bowling alley and bowls good scores. That’s kind of who Pat is.”
Diaz has always been a fan of a heavy rotation to keep guys fresh, but UM is still trying to figure out how many backups can hold up in big game moments and not just in practice.
“That’s the question – how many guys can go in the game and not have a drop-off,” Diaz said. “With that being said, is what we know in the way that we operate, if you’ve watched us the last two years, is if drives get extended, you can’t just leave the same guys on the field. They lose their effectiveness. I would still be shocked if we didn’t play 22 guys on defense in the first half of the game – that’s just kind of how we roll. But obviously that all depends on snap counts, how long we’re on the field and all that type of stuff.”
On how often he plans to use the striker: “It really will depend on what we’re seeing,” Diaz said. “That’s why I say it – we have to match up with how they’re choosing to attack us. Game One, you don’t know. We’re ready for everything.”
Joe Burrow was named LSU’s starting QB on Monday. Burrow played some live snaps as a backup at Ohio State before transferring to Baton Rouge, so there is some tape out there on the junior gunslinger.
“He’s a coach’s kid, so you know he’s smart,” Diaz said on Burrow. “You know he has been raised by the game. Defensive coach’s kid, so I’ll leave that to interpretation [laughs]. But what you saw on the limited film that we have on him, he’s a guy that will go through the reads. He’ll stand in the pocket. To me, he can make the throws. He can anticipate the throws, which, I think, comes back to being raised in the game – where he doesn’t have to see a guy get open, he can feel a guy get open before he gets open.
“We have a lot of respect for who he is. But ultimately, whoever plays quarterback, as a defense, your job is still to make his job as hard as possible, which is to take away his best friend – the run game. Anytime, no matter who is quarterbacking LSU, you still have a great challenge of stopping their physical rushing attack. And that, still, no matter who the quarterback is, will be first and foremost on our minds.”
“We’re not elite until we win enough games to say we’re elite,” Richt said. “People want to say we’re pretty good, top 10, but who knows. We’ll find out once we play ball.”
Richt said the energy at practice has been as high as it’s ever been: “It’s been great,” he said. “I can’t think of a day that I was like `These guys didn’t show up to work.’ And that’s all you can ask for. It’s a tribute to our seniors and our leaders and I’m proud of them.”
How does Richt describe his plan to play freshmen with the new redshirting rule in place?
“To start out, we’re not going to try to slow down the process of putting a guy in the game,” Richt said. ”If the situation comes up game 1 where someone ought to go in, we’ll put him in. A guy gets in two games, you start looking what’s going to happen the rest of the year and does it really warrant him to play a season.
“We’d think of saving at least one for the very end whether it’s bowl season or playoff season just in case. But we might use up two or three fairly rapidly if the situation arises. If he’s a guy that plays every game you’re not going to redshirt him anyway.”
LSU announced their starting QB this week and the nod went to junior Joe Burrow, a graduate transfer from Ohio State.
“He’s a guy that anytime the word gets out there’s a graduate transfer, you may or may not get wind of it but we looked at a little bit of tape of him,” Richt said on Burrow. “We know he’s a very good pocket passer, a big, strong kid. He’s been in a highly competitive conference on a highly competitive team. He’s a graduate. He’ll be ready to play like a champion, like a starter.
“That skill set Joe has fits what they want to do. You have to prepare for the scheme as much as the player when you first start out and don’t have a lot of tape to look at.”
On the two freshmen tight ends, Brevin Jordan has been the clear #1 for awhile now, but it seems Will Mallory has hopped over Brian Polendey for the #2 role.
“Brevin is a starting tight end when we’re in a one tight end set,” Jordan said. “In a two tight end set (Will) Mallory will start at the other spot. They’ve done a very good job, have a lot to learn. They’re not physically where they will be one day, but they’ve prepared and will play a bunch.”
On starting running back Travis Homer, Richt said: “He started out for us as a true freshman being our No. 1 special teams player covering kicks and blocking, punt team. And he proved he could play major college football in that role, got a few carries here or there. When Mark Walton got hurt he was the guy and was really ready. He runs the ball with great vision and balance and speed, finishes runs well. He’s a great route runner, pass protector. He’s really a complete back. He’s not a big man, close to 200 pounds, but he runs big.”
**Defensive coordinator Manny Diaz has said one guy has separated himself from the pack for the #2 DT role, and it was junior Pat Bethel, and not just because of his football talent.
“Pat will be the first guy out there on Sunday,” Diaz said. “Tough. Dependable. Steady. Hard-working. We took them bowling and Pat was one of the best bowlers on the team. It just made sense. You didn’t know why, but Pat’s the guy who should be good at bowling. He’s got the ‘blue collar’ shirt on. He clocks out after 5 o’clock, goes to the bowling alley and bowls good scores. That’s kind of who Pat is.”
Diaz has always been a fan of a heavy rotation to keep guys fresh, but UM is still trying to figure out how many backups can hold up in big game moments and not just in practice.
“That’s the question – how many guys can go in the game and not have a drop-off,” Diaz said. “With that being said, is what we know in the way that we operate, if you’ve watched us the last two years, is if drives get extended, you can’t just leave the same guys on the field. They lose their effectiveness. I would still be shocked if we didn’t play 22 guys on defense in the first half of the game – that’s just kind of how we roll. But obviously that all depends on snap counts, how long we’re on the field and all that type of stuff.”
On how often he plans to use the striker: “It really will depend on what we’re seeing,” Diaz said. “That’s why I say it – we have to match up with how they’re choosing to attack us. Game One, you don’t know. We’re ready for everything.”
Joe Burrow was named LSU’s starting QB on Monday. Burrow played some live snaps as a backup at Ohio State before transferring to Baton Rouge, so there is some tape out there on the junior gunslinger.
“He’s a coach’s kid, so you know he’s smart,” Diaz said on Burrow. “You know he has been raised by the game. Defensive coach’s kid, so I’ll leave that to interpretation [laughs]. But what you saw on the limited film that we have on him, he’s a guy that will go through the reads. He’ll stand in the pocket. To me, he can make the throws. He can anticipate the throws, which, I think, comes back to being raised in the game – where he doesn’t have to see a guy get open, he can feel a guy get open before he gets open.
“We have a lot of respect for who he is. But ultimately, whoever plays quarterback, as a defense, your job is still to make his job as hard as possible, which is to take away his best friend – the run game. Anytime, no matter who is quarterbacking LSU, you still have a great challenge of stopping their physical rushing attack. And that, still, no matter who the quarterback is, will be first and foremost on our minds.”
