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Dogs Jean-Gilles a study in dedication, discipline
By CHIP TOWERS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Thursday, October 7, 2004
ATHENS Max Jean-Gilles majors in sociology. But if one was offered, he could leave Georgia with a masters degree in long-distance relationships.
Everything about his life is long distance. A Haitian-American, Jean-Gilles was born and raised in Miami, Fla., where his parents still reside. Many of his relatives remain in Gonaîves, Haiti, which is still recovering from a devastating blow by Hurricane Jeanne. And Jean-Gilles high school sweetheart and wife of just over two years plays basketball for Maryville College, more than 200 miles away in Tennessee.
It hurts sometimes, the 6-foot-4, 341-pound junior guard said. I dont see my wife much, maybe three times a year [during the school year]. But thats OK. We made a lifetime commitment.
Being at Georgia, Jean-Gilles said, is a conscious choice he made three years ago. He said he simply followed the lead of his parents, Sorisena, a nurse, and Macien, a welder, who came to America from Haiti on work visas a year before he was born.
As far as Jean-Gilles is concerned, hes on a business trip to Athens. His objective: Get an education, win a national championship, earn an NFL contract, then reunite his family.
Dedication, hard work, discipline. Thats what they taught me, Jean-Gilles said of his parents.
Jean-Gilles and his wife, Maggie Joseph, a 5-6 point guard in her first season at Maryville, talk on the phone every night. He calls his parents at least once a week. But face time with any of them is a near impossibility during the season. His parents, because of work commitments and the financial strains of long-distance travel, see him play in person only once a year, at the Georgia-Florida game in Jacksonville.
Jean-Gilles first year and a half at Georgia were the toughest. Other than recruiting visits his senior year, Jean-Gilles had never been away from home. Initially, the isolation of being on his own so far away was almost unbearable.
I thought about [transferring], he said. I was by myself a lot at first. But the fellas [his teammates] started taking me home with them on weekends and stuff like that and it got a lot better. My teammates are my family now.
Jean-Gilles lives in East Campus Village apartments with tailback Michael Cooper, who as a child lived in the same North Miami neighborhood as Jean-Gilles. They didnt know each other then, but they talk about people they both knew and places where they hung out.
Cooper describes a very different person than the hulking No. 74 Georgia fans see on the football field. Jean-Gilles, who moved inside to guard this season after playing his first two years at tackle, uses his massive body and trunk-like arms to give the Bulldogs the push up the middle they were missing in the running game last season.
Off the field, he is so mild-mannered that he has never bothered to make people correctly pronounce his last name. For the record, one should use the broken French pronounciation of Haitis native Creole language Zhan-GEE-lee.
Hes just a big ol teddy bear, Cooper said. A lot of people misinterpret him because all you see is a big 6-5, 350-pound guy coming at you. You dont know whether to say hey or turn around and run away full speed. But hes a down-to-earth guy and really fun to be around.
That hes around at all is a testament to Jean-Gilles personal goals and Georgias recruiting prowess. He had scholarship offers from every major program in the South and was under enormous pressure to attend the University of Miami nearby.
He said [during his recruiting visit] this is where he wanted to be, said Bulldogs coach Mark Richt. We were like, yeah, right. This is really going to last. But it did. He never wavered.
In the end, Jean-Gilles chose playing time over a pro-style system.
It basically came down to who runs an NFL-type offense and who needed players, he said. Miami was two-deep on their line. Georgia needed linemen to play right away.
And Jean-Gilles did. He played in all 14 games at tackle as a freshman starting the last three and every one since as Georgia won the 2002 SEC championship. An All-America candidate this season, it could be his last in Athens.
Now a guard, a more natural position for his body type according to Georgias coaches, Jean-Gilles is getting a hard look from NFL scouts. He said hell likely leave if he has a chance to go in the first round, a distinct possibility.
But Jean-Gilles said he wont even think about that until December. Until then, he has some unfinished business. He wants his parents to finally see the Bulldogs beat Florida in Jacksonville. And first and foremost, he wants to play in the Orange Bowl in Miami, which just so happens to host the BCS national championship game this year.
Thats all the motivation I need, he said. Thats in my backyard. All my family and friends would be there, wearing Georgia colors and cheering for the Dogs.
And for the first time in a long time, Max Jean-Gilles would be at home.
Wednesday Practice Notes
Todd Unzicker
The Georgia Bulldogs held practice today in fall like conditions while preparing to defeat the Tennessee Volunteers for a fifth straight year after losing the previous nine. Many of the Georgia faithful have if the Dawgs would have a let down after their 45-16 drumming of number 13 ranked LSU. "The energy was good," said head coach Mark Richt. "The weather has something to do with that I'm sure."
The Dawgs will try to match their longest winning streak of five games, 1909-1924, this weekend. Georgia last won four games in a row during 1973-1988. The two teams began meeting every year in 1992 when the Southeastern Conference split into two divisions.
"I know they (the players) understand how big it is," said Richt. "I we win then we control our own destiny and if we lose then we don't control."
Georgia has met Tennessee ten times before when both teams are ranked and the Dawgs have a 4-6 record in those games. The Bulldogs need to be prepared for the Vols since during the Phil Fulmer era Tennessee has a 9-1 record following their first loss during the season. Georgia snapped that record last year in Knoxville winning 41-14.
While many fans have thought about last weeks revenge game against LSU as the biggest game of the season, Georgia players are quick to point out the importance of playing an SEC east opponent.
"This game is really more important than last week," said center Russ Tanner. "They've already beaten Florida and if we have the same amount of losses and they beat us head to head they have the advantage."
Should Georgia win on Saturday and LSU defeat Florida, the Dawgs will hold a two game advantage on their biggest rivals since the division split.
"Whoever wins this is in the drivers set for the east," said safety Thomas Davis.
News and Notes
*Either Michael Cooper or Tyson Browning will be the third team running back going into this weekend's game due to Tony Milton missing most of practice this week to sickness.
*True freshman defensive end Charles Johnson got his first playing time of his career against LSU last Saturday. "It felt pretty good," said Johnson. "I just want to help the team if I can." Johnson played a total of ten plays against the Tigers.
Johnson was a Rivals.com All-American while leading the Hawkinsville Red Devils to a Class A state championship. Johnson is expected to be the last freshman to see the playing field this season. Other true freshman who have played this season are tailbacks Danny Ware and Thomas Brown, defensive back Kelin Johnson, linebacker Brandon Miller, offensive lineman Chester Adams, and receiver A.J. Bryant.
*Hard-hitting safeties Thomas Davis and Greg Blue have been very public that during the season they have a competition amongst each other to see who has more big hits during a game. So what is the tally after the first four games of the season?
"I think I'm one up," said Blue. "I'm not sure though because neither of us really had a big hit last Saturday."
*Rocket Ishmail and an ESPN camera crew were on hand to do a segment for ESPN's College Gameday with Georgia receivers Fred Gibson and Reggie Brown.
*Richt will join Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti as a coach in the 2005 Hula Bowl Maui Al-Star Football classic on January 22nd. The game is scheduled for 8 p.m. EST on ESPN.
Red Cross Report
*Max Jean-Gilles (knee) and Arnold Harrison (shoulder) were still wearing non-contact jerseys today due their injuries. Both players are expected to play this weekend.
"They (the doctors) just want to make sure I don't do something worse," said Harrison.
*Tailback Danny Ware wore a non-contact jersey today in practice due to the cut he sustained last week in practice. He had stitches removed yesterday and underneath his helmet he wore a bandage similar to the one he wore against LSU.
*Redshirt freshman Mickey Henderson returned to the practice fields today. Henderson broke his ankle during fall camp and recently had the cast removed. Richt hopes the he will be able to return in the next few weeks.
*Thomas Flowers is suffering from a shoulder injury and wore a non-contact jersey today in practice. "It was mainly for precautionary measures," said Richt.
No more sputtering: Dawgs' offense gets going
By Dean Legge
PublisherDate: Oct 6, 2004
ATHENS One week ago at this time, Mark Richt was taking heat for the Bulldogs sputtering offense. This week is a different story.
My what a difference a week makes. After being soundly criticized about scoring with an offense most consider the most impressive in the SEC, Richts team exploded for 45 points in a route of LSU. Execution has been a problem for the Bulldogs. The types of defenses they went up against caused problems, too. Neither was a problem against the Tigers. For the last couple of games the teams we have plays have been in a lot of zone coverage, said receivers coach John Eason. Easons receivers exploded for five touchdown receptions Saturday. LSU plays man-to-man defense on wide receivers. It was nice to get our senior wide receivers the opportunity to make big plays, said Richt. Quarterback David Greene said it was good to have the offense come together against a defense that some say will be the best the Bulldogs will see all season. We made a lot of big plays against them and they dont have that happen to them a lot, said Greene. Greene had thrown only three touchdowns in three games before the LSU win. Georgia racked up 430 yards of offense, 60 more yards than it did against Marshall two weeks before, but scored touchdowns against LSU on command, it seemed. We didnt play the way we would have liked but we won our first three games, said quarterbacks coach Mike Bobo. Now we control our own destiny. Its about winning football games. Yeah, you want to score every time you get the football, but its hard to do that as an offense. One factor that allowed the Bulldogs to explode on the Tigers was the return of Danny Ware to tailback. He left the South Carolina game earlier this season with a bruised lung. He sat out the Marshall game before recording his second 100-yard game of the season against LSU. Our running backs and how they ran the ball, they made a huge difference, said Mark Richt. Richt didnt give all the credit for the offensive turnaround to Ware and the running backs alone. He also gave credit to Georgias offensive line. We were able to mix the run and pass. Our line is certainly (better). We have four sacks in four games. They have done a better job, said Richt.
Blackmon enjoyed game in Athens
UGASports.com Staff
One of the biggest targets on Georgia recruiting board is Rivals.com No. 1 rated linebacker in the nation Tray Blackmon (6-0, 200, 4.6) of LaGrange, Ga. "He's explosive and a big player," said head coach Steve Pardue. We've won 20 games in a row and he's a big part of it."
Earlier in the recruiting process, defensive tackles and recruiting coordinator Rodney Garner was recruiting Blackmon for Georgia, but Pardue said that head coach Mark Richt had taken over. He added that Georgia, Florida State, LSU, and Auburn on the top four contenders.
As for Blackmon, he has been very difficult to get in touch with over the past months and is rarely quoted directly.
"Right now he's staying focused on us and our team," said Pardue. "We make sure that he goes and checks out schools on the weekends because he needs to do that but if he focuses on his play here with us, everything else will workout."
Pardue said that Blackmon's visit to Athens this past weekend went well.
"He enjoyed it," he said. "It was a good visit."
This Saturday he will be in Auburn to watch the Tigers host La. Tech.
5 Star LB Names a LeaderBy Chad Simmons TheInsiders.com - SoutheastDate: Oct 6, 2004Tray Blackmon is one of the elite players in the entire country. Blackmon is an electric linebacker out of Lagrange High School in Lagrange, Ga. He is a hard-hitting, intense and game changing player who keeps both the crowd and opposing team on their toes all night long. Blackmon has gained attention from the top programs across the country, but now has his list narrowed to four and is ready to name a leader.
"My top four are Florida State, Auburn, Georgia and LSU" said Tray Blackmon. "I will visit all four of those schools either officially or unofficially in the next few weeks. I have already been to Florida State when they played Clemson and Georgia when they played LSU. I plan to be at Auburn this weekend for their game, and then go check out LSU in the next couple of weeks."Out of Blackmon's top four, is he ready to name a leader?"Yes sir. Georgia is my leader."Why does Blackmon have Georgia in the lead?"I have always been interested in Georgia. I was there this weekend and my trip went great. I got to see the campus, talk to Coach Richt, Coach Garner, and some of the players. The game was awesome, the crowd was so loud, and the atmosphere was just unbelievable."Blackmon has interest in these four programs for these common reasons "I have interest in these four schools because of the coaching staff, the tradition, the style of defense they play, and they all put players in the NFL."Tray Blackmon is a hard-hitting linebacker that could either stay at linebacker or move to safety on the next level. He has numerous sacks and knockouts this season and has helped lead the Grangers of Lagrange to a 6-0 record and number one state ranking in AAA.Mr. Blackmon will be on the Plains this weekend for an unofficial visit with the Auburn Tigers. He then looks to visit the Bayou and check out defending BCS Champion LSU in the next couple of weeks. After that, he has an official visit with Georgia set up in the near future.Make sure you stay right here at TheInsiders.com to stay up to date with all the information on this National Hot 100 member, Tray Blackmon
Fulmer hopes his team is ready
Steve PattersonUGASports.com Publisher
University of Tennessee head coach Phil Fulmer spoke with the media Wednesday in the SEC coaches teleconference. "We went back to work on Monday after a tough loss to Auburn," he said. "Georgia is going to be a great challenge for our team. I am looking forward to the challenge, and we have had good preparation at this point."
Fulmer said that Bulldog freshman tailback Danny Ware was a big concern as the Volunteers prepare to play the No. 3 ranked team in the land.
"Danny Ware is an exceptionally good runner," he said. "He is physical, always falling forward, and an excellent runner. When you are running like that it certainly opens up the play action, and throwing the ball down field presents a problem."
Fulmer hopes his troops will rise to the occasion of playing a team that has beat them four years in a row. Despite losing last week to Auburn, the Vols would have the inside track for eastern division representative in the SEC Championship game having already defeated Florida.
"They certainly understand the magnitude of this game and that it is a rivalry," said Fulmer of his team. "We have got to do a better job making it a rivalry after losing four in a row.
Georgia is coming off a 45-16 win over defending national champion LSU. Though Tennessee has not beaten the Dawgs since the 1990s, they hold a 17-14-2 lead in the series, with 14 of the 33 meetings decided by a touchdown or less. Fulmer has never defeated Mark Richt.
"I think we have changed our psyche towards this rivalry," said defensive tackle Kedric Golston. "We have to know that we have just as good a program as they have. You just have to go out there and play your game. You have to go out there on Saturday and play, and the last few years we have been winning that game on the field."
Mike Bellotti and Mark Richt Named Head Coaches for 2005 Hula Bowl Maui
Game to be held January 22 at War Memorial Stadium
Oct. 6, 2004
WACO, TEX. -- Oregon's Mike Bellotti and Georgia's Mark Richt have been selected by the American Football Coaches Association to serve as the head coaches for the Kai and Aina squads at the 2005 Hula Bowl Maui All-Star Football Classic. Both men will be serving as head coaches at the Hula Bowl for the first time.
Bellotti is in his 10th season at Oregon and began 2004 with a career record of 98-59-2 at Oregon and Chico State. Oregon finished 8-5 in 2003 and played in the Sun Bowl. The postseason appearance was the seventh in a row for Oregon and the eighth in Bellotti's first nine years at the school. The Ducks are 1-3 so far in 2004 and travel to Washington State this weekend. The dean of active Pac-10 head coaches, Bellotti is in his first year as a member of the AFCA's Board of Trustees.
Richt is in his fourth season at Georgia and began 2004 with a three-year career record of 32-8. Georgia finished 2003 with a 11-3 record, a berth in the SEC championship game and a win in the Capital One Bowl on New Year's Day. Georgia is 4-0 on the season following Saturday's victory over defending national champion LSU and is currently ranked No. 3 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches' Poll.
The American Football Coaches Association is partnering with the Hula Bowl All-Star Football Classic for the ninth time in 2005. This year's game will be held Saturday, January 22 at War Memorial Stadium on the island of Maui. The 58th annual classic will be televised live nationally by ESPN and is scheduled to kickoff at 3 p.m. Hawaii Time/8 p.m. Eastern Time.
For more information on the AFCA and its programs, log on to the AFCA's website at www.afca.com.
Tennessee
By John Harris
a. Aberration or trend? So, as you sat there watching the implosion of the Tennessee Volunteers on Saturday night, were you surprised? Not so much at the teams overall fade, but the play of their freshmen quarterbacks, in particular Erik Ainge? Watching the game unfold, it was almost as if you could see the pressure building in the young kids eyes against the most athletic defense that he had seen. Its highly unlikely that he faced a defense as fast as Auburns in Oregon in high school. Either way, now is the time to see if the play that we saw Saturday night was an aberration or a trend. Although Vols fans would hope for the former, its up to the coaching staff to ensure that it doesnt turn into a trend. So, how can they help out Ainge?
1. Take the decisions away, as much as they can. Play high-low when the Dawgs go zone, meaning that two receivers are running routes with one going deeper and one going shallower, pinpointing one defender. Whatever the defender does, hit the other guy. Not much decision making inherent there. Throw what you see.
2. Short is not always best. Sometimes the best thing a coach can do is to let a young QB take three steps in the gun and air it out as far as he can early in a game. Nothing but nine routes down the sideline. Maybe you hit it, maybe you dont, however, itll have a tremendous effect in a lot of ways. The defense takes one deeper step. The middle may open up a bit more. QB gets a little nervousness out after heaving one. Now, settle in and play.
3. Play Brent Schaeffer more. This is a weird season for these two quarterbacks. They actually need each other, more than the Vols need for one of them to take the reins 100% of the time. Thats what it seemed as though was happening from the second half of the Florida game through the Auburn game. Ainge was distancing himself, supposedly, and he was becoming the Man. There arent many that have stepped into that spot without showing that theyre 18 years old. Even as great as guys like Peyton Manning or Chris Leak were as rookies, they still had their struggles as freshmen. So, let Schaeffer take some of that heat for Ainge, more than he had the last game. This is the one time that one quarterback doesnt have to be the man. Let them have equal time and equal pressure, not to mention the fact that Schaeffer is a totally different entity for teams to prepare.
b. Run for your life Oh, Jimmy Ray, god bless you, son. Youve been given the keys to a 2004 H2 Hummer. Orange with a white stripe. Just a wonderful looking vehicle. You drive that with pride down the streets of Knoxville. However, when you go to drive the car, you realize that the car is a red and black Volvo. Wha??? Alright, the role play is over, but the point is that Jimmy Ray Stephens, the offensive line coach of the Volunteers has a downright dominating offensive line when it pertains to running the football. Thats what Michael Munoz and Arron Sears were recruited to do, plant people in the turf as the trio of Volunteer backs rolled up 100 yard games like they were going out of style. However, with the emergence (questionable as noted above) of Erik Ainge, the pocket passing rookie, these two hulking tackles have been turned into finesse pass protectors. Now, you see the name Munoz, you think best offensive lineman, ever. But, Michael is not there yet. Even when his dad was in college was a run masher in the USC Student Body right/left offense. On the contrary, Little Munoz has to face some of the quickest pass rushers in the country, and against Auburn, the Tiger DE were a constant force, in the face of Ainge, much of the night. The good news is that the Tigers are gone, but the bad news is that Munoz and Sears now have to face David Pollack, the SECs best pass rusher and all-around defensive end. Both Ainge and Schaeffer must have time in the pocket to throw the football, thats obvious, but if these tackles have to go one-on-one against Pollack forget it. The only way the Vols are going to keep Pollack and his mates out of the face of the QB is to max protect, essentially using no more than 3 receivers in a route at one time. But, the Vols can also use play action against the Dawgs aggressive safeties to get behind them, as well. However, thats only going to be effective if the Vols offensive line can win battles up front and the Volunteer running backs can pick up chunks of yardage. Theyre capable of doing that, but in play action, Pollack has that extra second of rush time that Munoz/Sears are going to have to keep him at bay. Tennessee OC Randy Sanders has used some roll out to give his QB some extra time, and that could be effective, especially if Schaeffer is the one used on the roll. However, that puts a series of backs/TE on Pollack, which hell eat for breakfast. Pass protection, particularly at the tackle spot, is the key for the Tennessee offense this week - keep an eye on how the Vols help their tackles in pass protection.
c. If you cant beat them, zone them Marshall held Georgia to 13 points. South Carolina held Georgia to 20 points. LSU held Georgia to 45 points. So, whats the overriding theme in the difference in those three ball games? Both Marshall and South Carolina forced Georgia to work for their scores, well, outside of the play action game winner against South Carolina. LSU, stubborn as a mule, stayed in man coverage throughout the game, knowing full well that Fred Gibson and Reggie Brown were 100% healthy and David Greene was hotter than a two dollar pistol. With the talent that Georgia has at receiver and with Greene at QB, there doesnt need to be much space for you to get beat by that trio. Case in point on Saturday there wasnt one catch for a touchdown that Gibson or Brown made that was easy. Yes, they had a step on coverage, mainly Corey Webster, but Greene put the ball on the money every time. Then, Gibson and Brown made the grabs (well, with one Gibson exception). So, Tennessee comes to town with a porous secondary, that couldnt play man if theyre lives depended on it. So, its tailor made for them to play a myriad of zones and make the Bulldogs, dink and dunk, up and down the field. As evidenced by the games against Marshall and South Carolina, UGA struggles when they have to string long drives together, which is not all that unusual for a team with this kind of athletic ability. Make a stand to keep everything in front of you, as a secondary, and tackle on first contact. Tennessee DC John Chavis really has no decision to make, essentially, playing basic coverages and swarming to the football when its thrown, is all the Vols should do. Playing man and bringing heat on UGA is, well, professional suicide at this point.
Conclusion: These two teams couldnt be on farther opposite ends of the spectrum after last weeks games. Georgia is on a high after their win over LSU, while the Vols went back to the drawing board for some soul-searching. But, Georgia is used to the win-and-get-ready-for-the-next-one mentality and with the SEC East on the line (well, at least for now), expect the Dawgs to string together its second straight solid performance at home. Georgia 31 vs. Tennessee - 17
Georgia Commitment gets Banged Up
by Scott Kennedy of TheInsiders.com, October 6, 2004 at 9:01pm ET
Jamar Bryant Profile
Jamar Bryant has been working hard to get back to Georgia, but his time on the field looks to be sidetracked for the time being.
"Jamar Bryant was kind of sandwiched by two defenders," said Hargrave Head Coach Robert Prunty. "The initial X-Rays showed two cracked ribs, but based on the Doctor's analysis, he is going to get a bone scan to be sure."
How had the Georgia commitment looked thus far on the season?
"He'd been killing it for us this year. He's got about three or four touchdowns. He's a big time player; that's all there is to it. He can be a big time safety or wide receiver at Georgia. He's one of the most physical guys for his size that I've been around."
Bryant was initially recruited to play safety at Georgia, and could end up at either safety or wide receiver based on the Bulldogs' need for him next year.
Brown improves 'step by step'
Senior receiver enjoying breakout season with No. 3 Dogs
By Marc Weiszer
marc.weiszer@onlineathens.com
Reggie Brown's performance on the field at Georgia at long last is finally matching the potential that has dazzled teammates the last couple of years.
The meticulous work ethic the senior wide receiver displays in practice combined with his jaw-dropping athleticism have left many, including Brown, wondering when it would all come together with the type of production he's shown this season.
"If you're working hard and you feel like you're not reaching that potential, you're going to think when is all that going to pay off?" Brown said. "You just try to stay focused and keep working and try not to get down on yourself."
Through four games, Brown already has a career-high four touchdown catches and is second in the SEC in receiving yards per game (77.0) heading into third-ranked Georgia's 3:30 p.m., game Saturday in Sanford Stadium against No. 17 Tennessee.
Brown, a highly-touted prep star from Carrolton, had just his second career 100-yard game in the 45-16 rout of defending co-national champion LSU with five catches for 110 yards, including two touchdown receptions. One was a highlight-reel off-balance catch in the right corner of the end zone for a 29-yard score.
"Hopefully he's just tipping the iceberg," receivers coach John Eason said. "What we saw Saturday is an indication of what we hope he will continue to do."
The 6-foot-1, 197-pound Brown has the type of tools that suggest that more big games are ahead. He has the team's best vertical jump (43 inches), its fastest 40 dash time (4.35 range), and pound-for-pound is its strongest player, Georgia strength and conditioning coach Dave Van Halanger said.
"He's pretty sick, what do you think?" quarterback David Greene said. "He's kind of a freakish athlete."
"In the United States, there's very few athletes that can do what he does," Van Halanger said. "I've been able to train some of the best at Florida State and at Georgia, and I don't remember a guy at the receiver position that can do all of those things."
Brown, who set a Georgia high school long jump record, doesn't get by just letting his natural tools carry him.
"He probably works harder than anybody on my team," Greene said. "He's actually my next door neighbor, and it's nothing for him to get out on his bicycle after we have a game on Saturday. He'll get on his bike on Sunday and ride for 30 miles. Crazy."
Of course, Georgia signed Brown to catch passes and score touchdowns, not win the Tour de France.
"It's very satisfying to finally feel like you get to where you should be," Brown said. "I don't feel like my game is perfected by any means. I've still got a lot to work on. I'm just taking it step by step."
"We've seen him do it in practice for quite some time," Georgia coach Mark Richt said. "Now it's become a natural thing for him which is great. He deserves it."
Georgia has even made sure to get the ball in Brown's hands by lining him up in the backfield and handing him the ball. He's gained 21 yards on two carries.
"He's a guy that will do all the extra stuff to be great," Van Halanger said. "Some guys will have that ability, but will just do what Coach Van says to do. He does above and beyond that."
Brown runs pass routes by himself, gets in extra work catching balls with the Juggs machine and while teammates ride scooters around campus, Brown keeps his legs pedaling his Fuji bike.
"I can beat half the scooters they have, so it really doesn't bother me," Brown said.
Brown began to emerge last season when he led Georgia with 49 catches for 662 yards and three touchdowns but was still not first or second-team All-SEC. His development was slowed by a torn ACL suffered in 2001, and Eason believes that a lack of confidence kept Brown from the type of performances he's shown this season.
"He's hungry just like me," said senior receiver Fred Gibson, who is tied with Brown for the team-lead in catches with 17. "It's our last year. We want to come out with a bang. We want to play at the next level."
Even when the ball isn't coming his way, Brown often draws praise from Richt for his blocking. Richt also says Brown has become a better leader. He has been named captain again this week for the fourth time in the five games this season.
"I don't feel like I've totally met my potential," said Brown, who is in the top 10 on Georgia's career list for receptions and receiving yards. "I've got high expectations on myself."
No. 17 Tennessee at No. 3 Georgia
WHEN: 3:30 p.m. Saturday
Where: Sanford Stadium
TV: CBS
Radio: 960-AM, 106.1-FM
Records: Georgia (4-0, 2-0 in SEC); Tennessee (3-1, 1-1)
Series record: Tennessee leads 17-14-2
Leaner Greene escaping pressure
By Marc Weiszer
marc.weiszer@onlineathens.com
Georgia has gone from an SEC-worst 47 sacks allowed last season to an SEC-best four sacks surrendered this year thanks to more mature offensive line and better blitz pickup
Another factor is that a leaner David Greene is better able to avoid trouble.
The 6-foot-3, 227-pound senior quarterback is about eight pounds lighter than last season when he also was slowed for a few weeks while playing on a hyperextended right knee.
"It helps out," Greene said. "Obviously I'm not a great scrambler or anything like that but I needed to be a little bit more mobile to make a few guys miss if I have to and just to have some pocket presence."
Greene could again face pressure this week from a Tennessee defense that is tied for second in the SEC in sacks with 11.
"I think a lot of the offseason work, working on his quickness is paying off for him," Georgia coach Mark Richt said.
Greene was able to avoid a sack from an onrushing LSU player when he hit Sean Bailey for a 21-yard touchdown. He also scrambled for a six-yard gain when his receivers were covered and improvised to hit tailback Danny Ware on a 5-yard shuffle pass during Georgia's first scoring drive.
Fumbles can be costly
Tyson Browning did not play tailback against LSU after fumbling twice this season on pass receptions coming out of the backfield.
Richt said on Wednesday that Michael Cooper and Browning are still in the mix for the No. 3 tailback spot behind Ware and Thomas Brown, but Browning's inability to hold on the ball clearly is a strike against him.
"If a running back turns it over, he's not going to play very much," Richt said. "We really, really harp on that."
Tony Milton again did not practice again on Wednesday because of the stomach flu.
Richt selected as All-Star coach
For the second straight January, Richt will be coaching in a postseason bowl game.
Richt and Oregon's Mike Belotti were selected by the American Football Coaches Association to coach in the 2005 Hula Bowl Maui All-Star Football Classic in Hawaii.
The game will be played on Jan. 22 and will be televised live at 8 p.m. Eastern Time on ESPN.
Richt said coaching in the game won't keep him from missing recruiting weekends. He will leave at the end of one recruiting weekend and will return the following weekend to visit recruits on Sunday.
"I had to ask my wife first and she thought about it for about 10 or 15 seconds and she said 'OK,'" Richt said.
The coaching staffs will be made up of three other Division I-A head coaches and the national coach of the year from Division I-AA, II and III.
Moses earning more playing time
Sophomore defensive end Quentin Moses has two sacks, five quarterback pressures and recovered a fumble but the former Cedar Shoals standout remains a backup to senior Will Thompson.
"He's playing with a lot of energy and playing the way we expect those guys to play," Richt said. "It's not impossible that he has a chance to move up. He's certainly earning more playing time."
Returning from an ankle injury that kept him out all of the 2003 season, Thompson has seven tackles, a half a sack and two quarterback pressures. He had six sacks in 2002.
Harrison status still uncertain
Strongside linebacker Arnold Harrison was to have his bruised left shoulder examined on Wednesday evening.
Harrison did not play against LSU and junior Derrick White will start in his place for the second straight game but Richt said Harrison will probably play if cleared by doctors despite being limited in practice this week.
This and That
Tight end Martrez Milner left Wednesday's practice with a back injury. His status is uncertain. Leonard Pope, who has shared time with Milner, is slated to start his third straight game at the position. ... Offensive guard Max Jean-Gilles (knee) and tailback Ware (cut above eyebrow) wore green non-contact jerseys but both expect to play. Jean-Gilles said his knee was at 80 percent. Cornerback Thomas Flowers (shoulder) is probable. ... Richt confirmed that Jeremy Thomas will start at fullback over Des Williams. ... Former Notre Dame star receiver Raghib "Rocket" Ismail was on campus to film an ESPN College GameDay piece on receivers Fred Gibson and Reggie Brown. Ismail played the role of a cornerback for a demonstration when he went up against Gibson and Brown in the segment taped after practice.
Dasher: Much on the line for Vols
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - What defines a big game?
If you believe LSU's Nick Saban or Tennessee's Phillip Fulmer, there's no such animal.
Come on, guys.
Who are you kidding? Last week Saban tried to convince anyone who would listen that last Saturday's game against Georgia wasn't any more important than those against Mississippi State or Arkansas. Fulmer would like you to believe the same thing. After all, don't all conference games count the same?
Theoretically yes, realistically no.
Particularly as it pertains to the Vols.
Auburn embarrassed Tennessee 34-10 last Saturday in Neyland Stadium, but despite that debacle, the Volunteers still control their own destiny as it relates to the SEC East.
If the Vols can upset the Bulldogs, only Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina, Vanderbilt and Kentucky would stand in the way of Tennessee from a trip to Atlanta and the SEC Championship game.
Of those five opponents, the toughest figures to be South Carolina on Oct. 30 in Williams-Brice Stadium. Tennessee's only other two road contests - Oct. 16 at Ole Miss and Nov. 20 at Vanderbilt - won't cause the Vols to break a sweat.
So, yes Coach Fulmer, this is a big game, it's huge.
Just ask Volunteer linebacker Kevin Burnett.
"If we don't win this game we can stop thinking about South Beach and go back to the Peach Bowl," he said.
It's that simple.
Burnett is approaching this game with the right perspective, and if you're a Volunteer fan you should appreciate the fact that he is.
Lose, and like Burnett says, the best the Vols could hope for would be a lesser-tier bowl, perhaps the Peach for a third consecutive year.
Win, and Tennessee's likely going to capture the East.
Georgia needs to be wary.
The last time Tennessee entered a game a double-digit underdog was last year at Miami. The Vols upset the mighty Hurricanes, 10-6.
Could the same happen in Sanford Stadium? Possibly, if the Bulldogs are still reveling in last week's rout of LSU. I'm not saying it will, but it could.
But let's get back to our original topic of conversation.
Georgia's coaches and players know the significance of Saturday's 3:30 tilt.
Unlike the Vols, the Bulldogs' schedule from here on out is anything but easy.
Sure, Vanderbilt and Kentucky should be easy victories, but conference games at Arkansas, Florida in Jacksonville and Auburn in Jordan-Hare are going to be wars - even for a team as talented as the Bulldogs appear to be.
Bulldog coach Richt knows this and said so when asked about the significance of Saturday's game.
Why do you think players like David Pollack and Thomas Davis continued to implore fans to keep the noise level turned up in Sanford Stadium against the Vols?
If Georgia wins, the Bulldogs maintain their division lead, will stay in the national title hunt, and barring some miracle by Kentucky or Vanderbilt, will only need to beat Florida to guarantee a third-straight trip to the SEC Championship game.
So yes, this is a big game. No question, no debate.
Nobody should suggest otherwise.
Florida WR enjoys first trip to Athens
Jeremy PattersonUGASports.com Recruiting Analyst
Tampa (Fla.) Middleton wide receiver Conshario Johnson is one of those prospects that is similar to current Georgia commitment Donovan Baldwin. UGASports.com told you to keep an eye on Baldwin long before he committed or even received an offer and Johnson is another prospect in that mold.
Right now I have offers from Iowa State, Rutgers, Central Florida, South Florida, Ball State and Northern Illinois, Johnson said. Alabama is also recruiting me pretty hard. They have been by to pick up my transcripts and my highlight tape and they have been calling me a lot.
The 6-foot-2, 180-pound Johnson runs the 40-yard dash in 4.4 seconds, has a 235-pound bench press and a 375-pound squat.
This weekend I went to the Georgia-LSU game and it was just great, Johnson said. That was my first trip up there and I was really impressed with it. I really liked the campus atmosphere and that way the fans supported the players. That is a football town, everybody there just loves their team. All together it was just a great experience.
As a junior Johnson caught 27 passes for 440 yards and six touchdowns. Through three games this season he has caught five passes for 145 yards and one touchdown.
Right now I would say that Georgia, Alabama, Louisville and Florida are my top schools, Johnson said. I have really taken a liking to Florida lately. Iowa State, Ball State and Central Florida all want me to come up in December and take an official visit there.
So far this season Johnson has 240 yards and three touchdowns receiving through four games. He carries a 2.7 GPA and will take the SAT for the first time this Saturday.
Comments could fire up the Dawgs
Steve PattersonUGASports.com Senior Editor
Georgia head coach Mark Richt does not want to hear any lip like that being delivered by a few Tennessee players about their upcoming game with the Bulldogs. Earlier this week, Vol players made comments ranging from guaranteeing they would be in the SEC title game to saying that La. Tech's receivers were better than Fred Gibson and Reggie Brown.
It is called "bulletin board material" in sports, and teams often take statements like this to get extra motivation. Richt has noticed the comments, but he does not plan to print them up for the bulletin board.
"That's good stuff," Richt said. "You really don't have to put that up because you guys (media) will usually tell them about it and it helps motivate the guys for sure."
It all started when linebacker Kevin Burnett said after the Vols lost to Auburn last weekend that the two teams would meet again this season. The only way that happens is if Tennessee wins the eastern division, and a win over Georgia this weekend would go a lot way towards landing UT in the Georgia Dome. Then, cornerback Roshaun Fellows told the Athens Banner-Herald: "I don't think Georgia has the best receivers we've seen. I think Louisiana Tech's are better." Both players have since said the quotes were taken out of context.
Asked what he would do if his players were spouting fodder for controversy, Richt said: "I'd tell them that it's not very smart, and they better back it up."
The situation sets up nicely for Georgia who is vulnerable to a letdown after a 45-16 thumping of defending national champion LSU last Saturday. Having quotes in the paper like these only add to the excitement for the game for the Bulldog players.
"The media has been asking about this, but [the players] know it's not a let down game," explained Richt. "I told the team not to let down against a team that beat us nine times in a row, and a team that has the best winning percentage in recent time. It's just not going to happen."
Game of the Week
Tennessee (3-1) at Georgia (4-0) , 3:30 pm EST CBS
Why to watch: Was last week a fluke? Both teams want to find out as Georgia discovered an offense ripping through LSU's supposedly vaunted defense for 45 points thanks to five David Greene touchdown passes. Tennessee got blasted 34-10 at home by Auburn as the freshman quarterbacks finally played like freshman quarterbacks. Despite the loss, the Vols can make the SEC East race wide open with a win, while Georgia can make its case to be considered Orange Bowl worthy with another blowout home victory.
Why Tennessee might win: Was the LSU game just an aberration for the Georgia offense? It wasn't consistent, and then all of a sudden it exploded in one intense performance. Tennessee is supposed to lose this game as few are expecting much after what happened last week, which might be just the thing this young team needs to take the pressure off. Expect the Vols to do what they didn't against Auburn and establish the run right away. If that happens, and the UT offensive line can shove the surprisingly average Georgia run defense around, it has a shot. (At least it's average by Georgia's high standards.)
Why Georgia might win: This is Tennessee's first game away from Neyland and the first road test for the young quarterbacks. This isn't the place to cut your SEC teeth. The Vol pass defense is the SEC's worst giving up 244 yards per game, while the run defense has to prove it can go on without Kevin Simon. If David Greene and his receivers can do that again, the young Volunteer secondary will be helpless.
Who to watch: Georgia DE David Pollack gets all the national recognition, and deservedly so with the way he's playing how he ripped up Tennessee over the last few seasons, but the other two star Bulldog defenders will be the stars here. Free safety Thomas Davis put on an All-America caliber first half of the season with 34 tackles and two forced fumbles. In his first game back from suspension, LB Odell Thurman was all over the place against LSU making eight tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, a sack, a quarterback hurry and a fumble recovery.
What will happen: Georgia will win, but it won't be nearly the walk in the park Dawg fans are hoping for. The offense won't play like it did against LSU with the Tennessee D doing just enough to stay in the game. The Volunteer running game will move the ball, but the young quarterbacks will make too many mistakes to win.
CFN Prediction: Georgia 27 ... Tennessee 16 ... Line: Georgia -12.5
Must See Rating: (5 lock yourself in a room to watch - 1 The Tony Danza Show) ... 5
Final Score:
Brown's work ethic and athleticism sets him apart
ATHENS - A storage trunk sits filled in Norm and Kelli Pollack's home on quiet Octavia Lane in the Atlanta suburb of Snellville. It's stuffed with letters, packets and presentations from agents and financial advisors who were ready last winter to assist their son in making the jump from college to the NFL.
Instead Georgia's treasure trove is enjoying his last season.
In an age when the top high school talent goes straight to the NBA and an Arkansas team that played in the Independence Bowl saw five underclassmen say "sayonara" instead of "Pig! Sooie!," Pollack is old school.
Why shouldn't the Bulldogs' two-time All-American defensive end stay another season to enjoy the good life in Athens along with childhood buddy and roommate David Greene, girlfriend Lindsey Hopkins and a Bulldog Nation that seems to put him on nearly as high a pedestal as Pollack puts the Lord above?
"I'm intrigued by a guy like Lance Armstrong because here's a guy that represents all of the qualities that once were in our heroes. That to me is like David Pollack," defensive ends coach Jon Fabris said. "People in the stands and people in the street, the blue-collar guy, the guy who played high school ball and remembers, they see some of themselves in him. The guy that still cares about his school, about family, about God. All of those things are things we've kind of lost."
Near legendary already
On the top of the world looking down on creation - well, from 5,000 feet above sea level in Fort Collins, Colo. - David Pollack might as well be film director Sydney Pollack.
"It was awesome," Pollack said of the week spent in May at an Athletes in Action spiritual retreat. "Nobody knew who you were and nobody cared."
Pollack is easily recognized back home in Georgia and even on family trips to the Florida Panhandle. If Georgia had its own Mount Rushmore, Pollack's mug would be the next to be chiseled alongside Bulldog legends Herschel, Dooley, Trippi, Stanfill and Hoage.
Church groups. Youth groups. Kids in hospitals. Elementary schools. Community organizations.
Pollack is in much demand as a speaker. His mother, Kelli Pollack, said she used to field the requests but she's glad that Kevin Hynes, the team's chaplain, now handles them.
"We had so many problems with his schedule because his phone rang off the hook," she said.
Even coach Mark Richt says his 7-year old daughter, Anya, is smitten with Pollack.
"There's no obligation greater than being a role model," Pollack said. "A lot of kids that wear your jersey and know your name. That's why I play. How incredible is that you can impact people's lives? It is for me. It's just awesome to see kids yelling and screaming your name. It's fun."
Let's get it started
Pollackpalooza got cranked up in the second game of the 2002 season, when he made a play for the ages against South Carolina - swatting a ball in the end zone and catching it with his left hand for an interception and touchdown.
Clearly, this was no longer the player who was dominated by future NFL offensive tackles Jon Stinchcomb and George Foster when the player that most schools recruited as a fullback was first moved from defensive tackle to defensive end in the spring after his freshman season.
"I got basted," Pollack said. "I was getting my butt handed to me."
Georgia needed reinforcements at end after three seniors departed and underclassman Charles Grant left for the NFL, even if Pollack didn't have prototypical size for the position.
"I saw he could compete every day with them football-wise and fistfights," Fabris said. "He wouldn't back down. After four practices, most of the consensus was this isn't working. He was frustrated. That's what I like about him. I could tell he has high expectations. He wanted to be good."
Pollack had a monster sophomore season in 2002. That play against South Carolina and his 14 sacks led him to being selected as the SEC Player of the Year and as an All-American. A year later, with defensive tackle Johnathan Sullivan gone to the NFL and end Will Thompson out for the year with an injury, Pollack's tackle total dropped from 102 to 92 and his sacks to 7.5.
Pollack grew up always holding himself to high expectations, whether it was coloring at school or dying Easter eggs, his mother said, so you can imagine how he took to a 2003 season that didn't match the previous year's production.
"I beat myself up bad," said Pollack, who is fourth on Georgia's career sack list with 26.5. "I wanted to make plays and do things that I just wasn't doing. Oh, man. I tore myself up last year and I'm never going to do that again."
Defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder said offenses didn't scheme Pollack differently in the running game but made adjustments to negate his effectiveness as a pass rusher. "We got a lot more from the backs," VanGorder said. "People were really keeping backs in on him and chipping away at his legs, which was much different than his sophomore year."
Manna from heaven
Pollack set out to remake his body when last season ended.
He talked to a university nutritionist and began working out individually with Rex Bradberry, a member of Georgia's strength and conditioning staff who helped Pollack change his diet. Pollack, listed at 6-foot-3, played late last season weighing in the high 280s but reported to school in August at 261 pounds.
"We felt, and he felt, that maybe he didn't run as well consistently through the game last year as he did his sophomore year," VanGorder said. "We don't really talk to him about weight. It's more about being in great, great shape. The play and the intensity that he plays with for 50 or 60 plays requires that. He was extremely productive but I don't think he thought he was able to pursue to the ball with some of the relentless style that he did maybe his sophomore year on a consistent basis. Having said that, let's keep in mind that we're dealing with an athlete that has different standards than most."
Pollack has cut back on fast food and carbonated beverages. He cooks up plenty of chicken at home and tries to get to Inoko Japanese Steak House once a week for two grilled chicken breasts, filet mignon and triple fried rice.
"I've gotta do it up," Pollack said.
It's the manna from heaven that Pollack believes feeds his soul.
Pollack didn't grow up in a particularly religious household. He said he found his faith after family friends gave him a Bible with his name engraved on it at a signing party at his home in February of 2001 when he officially became a Bulldog. Pollack needed to read 200 pages for "outside reading," for a class at Shiloh High School and read that Bible.
He had just started dating Lindsay his senior year in high school and Pollack came to realize he needed to make changes in how he treated people.
"I was a rude kid in high school to people," Pollack said. "I was selfish, wanting to be popular and searching for people's approval. She taught me how to love. It kind of softened my heart. I started treating people better."
Pollack has begun to "journal," expressing on paper how the scripture he reads applies to his life.
"God's been teaching me patience," Pollack said. "A lot of times we want things in our time. We want to do something now. Last year I wanted to have a good season, but everything is in God's time. I've got to pray for it because patience is something I struggle with."
Boundless energy
Forget drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge. Maybe the nation's energy planners need to tap into whatever keeps Pollack moving non-stop like a overcaffeinated bunny.
"I'm sitting over there on the sideline to see what he's going to do," Greene said. "He gets pretty jacked up, doesn't he?"
Pollack waves his arms back and forth on the field like an aerobics instructor and can be as talkative as a parakeet around his teammates.
"He's the type of kid that you can put a shovel in his hand and ask him to go dig a ditch and he'll do it with a smile on his face," Kelli Pollack said. "He's never down. He's always happy."
As a kid, Pollack would get in trouble for talking too much in class, bouncing all over the classroom and messing with classmates, but always, he said, after his schoolwork was done.
"I was the President of the PTA to keep him in school," Kelli said.
"I don't think he's ever slowed down," said his father Norm. "He had a lot of energy then and he's not slowed down."
"Kind of a wild man," Greene said. "Very much how everybody kind of pictures him. 'I'll run through a brick wall if you want me to.' Here's a kid, when he's little, he's got a tooth here and there, but the other one is knocked out."
Taking one more year
Pollack talked with coaches, agents, financial advisors and, of course, his family before he stepped to the podium on Jan. 12 in his campus news conference and said "I think I'll take one more year."
Norm Pollack said all of the positives told his son to return to Georgia. The only negative is the possibility of a serious injury.
"He wanted to stay all along, but he saw guys getting hurt, people telling him about how much money," Norm Pollack said. "When people are talking about millions of dollars, it at least makes you stop and listen."
Greene says he didn't know which way his roommate would go.
"He didn't know until the last day," Greene said. "One day I thought he was leaving, the next day he was talking that he was going to stay. He was in a real struggle for a long while. I found out at the press conference like everybody else because he was in a struggle. There were times that you could tell that he was very torn between them. I wanted our apartment to be a place where he could get away because I knew everybody else was asking him about it."
Treading carefully
Pollack has taken out an insurance policy through the NCAA to protect him in case of a career-ending injury. The Pollacks were also exploring acquiring a "diminished skills," policy for top-rated prospects that pays out the difference based on where a player actually goes in the NFL draft.
Most experts projected Pollack as a mid to late first-round draft pick if he had come out this year, but there were no guarantees he wouldn't slip to the second.
Now, Pollack is rated highly among top senior prospects by the two NFL scouting services. BLESTO rates Pollack as the top senior prospect and National Football Scouting has him No. 3.
Georgia already treads carefully with their defensive playmaker.
Coach Mark Richt held Pollack out of the spring game to avoid injury.
Fabris said a decision to tread carefully with Pollack was made when he went down in a pile in an inside drill during the Tuesday before the South Carolina game in 2002.
"I just grimaced," Fabris said. "I knew it was one of those things. I just prayed right there that if you'll spare him, he'll never be involved in another inside drill again. He got up gingerly and shook it off, walked around and shook around. He's never been in an inside drill again."
All that precaution couldn't help when Pollack's head went bump in the night on the houseboat of teammate Bartley Miller's father in late April. Pollack needed 32 stitches to close a cut on his head that was sliced open when he hit his head on a glass case displaying an amberjack. Pollack woke up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and accidentally fell down the steps.
"It was freaky," Greene said. "It was a nightmare. It looked pretty nasty, like somebody had been murdered that night. There was blood everywhere."
The scar remains on the right side of Pollack's head in an accident that might have been fatal if the cut occurred a few inches over.
"I think it looks good," Greene said. "It gives him a little character."
Said Fabris: "Georgia people that care about Georgia football should say a prayer for David Pollack every time they lay their head down."
Influence runs deep
Just when you might think Pollack's impact on the Bulldogs might be a tad overhyped, listen to sophomore defensive end Quentin Moses for a minute and you get the sense of Pollack's influence on his team.
"A lot of players want to come out and say they might look up to Jevon Kearse or Julius Peppers or somebody in the NFL," Moses said. "When I came here I was hoping Charles Grant would stay his senior year so I would have someone to look up and guide me."
Instead he found just that person in Pollack, the perfect leader to follow in what Moses calls Pollack's "crazy sophomore year."
"When I get down, he's just someone there to keep me going," Moses said. "He's someone there to tell you to pick it up, somebody to push me and somebody I can look up to in every aspect, on and off the field. A lot of people wouldn't be man enough to say that, but I'm just happy that I got to spend two or three years with him."
Georgia fans are happy to get one more year of Pollack, dancing and hopping in Sanford Stadium and blowing up opposing backfields.
"I've grown and matured more in this past year than any year in my life. Ever," Pollack said. "I've learned how to cook and clean and do a lot of stuff that I've done over the past year. It's been the best decision I ever made."
Pollack's return is one reason why Georgia (4-0, 2-0 SEC) is No. 3 in the Associated Press poll and is among the favorites to win the national championship. The two-time All-American can become just the second three-time All-American at Georgia, joining Herschel Walker.
"I hope that we have a great year, not because of David helping us, but because he did come back," Fabris said. "I hope this is a very memorable year for him. Not only individually, but team-wise, where he says come January, a month before the combine, 'Boy, I'm glad that I stayed for my senior year.' I hope he'll be able to say that."
By CHIP TOWERS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Thursday, October 7, 2004
ATHENS Max Jean-Gilles majors in sociology. But if one was offered, he could leave Georgia with a masters degree in long-distance relationships.
Everything about his life is long distance. A Haitian-American, Jean-Gilles was born and raised in Miami, Fla., where his parents still reside. Many of his relatives remain in Gonaîves, Haiti, which is still recovering from a devastating blow by Hurricane Jeanne. And Jean-Gilles high school sweetheart and wife of just over two years plays basketball for Maryville College, more than 200 miles away in Tennessee.
It hurts sometimes, the 6-foot-4, 341-pound junior guard said. I dont see my wife much, maybe three times a year [during the school year]. But thats OK. We made a lifetime commitment.
Being at Georgia, Jean-Gilles said, is a conscious choice he made three years ago. He said he simply followed the lead of his parents, Sorisena, a nurse, and Macien, a welder, who came to America from Haiti on work visas a year before he was born.
As far as Jean-Gilles is concerned, hes on a business trip to Athens. His objective: Get an education, win a national championship, earn an NFL contract, then reunite his family.
Dedication, hard work, discipline. Thats what they taught me, Jean-Gilles said of his parents.
Jean-Gilles and his wife, Maggie Joseph, a 5-6 point guard in her first season at Maryville, talk on the phone every night. He calls his parents at least once a week. But face time with any of them is a near impossibility during the season. His parents, because of work commitments and the financial strains of long-distance travel, see him play in person only once a year, at the Georgia-Florida game in Jacksonville.
Jean-Gilles first year and a half at Georgia were the toughest. Other than recruiting visits his senior year, Jean-Gilles had never been away from home. Initially, the isolation of being on his own so far away was almost unbearable.
I thought about [transferring], he said. I was by myself a lot at first. But the fellas [his teammates] started taking me home with them on weekends and stuff like that and it got a lot better. My teammates are my family now.
Jean-Gilles lives in East Campus Village apartments with tailback Michael Cooper, who as a child lived in the same North Miami neighborhood as Jean-Gilles. They didnt know each other then, but they talk about people they both knew and places where they hung out.
Cooper describes a very different person than the hulking No. 74 Georgia fans see on the football field. Jean-Gilles, who moved inside to guard this season after playing his first two years at tackle, uses his massive body and trunk-like arms to give the Bulldogs the push up the middle they were missing in the running game last season.
Off the field, he is so mild-mannered that he has never bothered to make people correctly pronounce his last name. For the record, one should use the broken French pronounciation of Haitis native Creole language Zhan-GEE-lee.
Hes just a big ol teddy bear, Cooper said. A lot of people misinterpret him because all you see is a big 6-5, 350-pound guy coming at you. You dont know whether to say hey or turn around and run away full speed. But hes a down-to-earth guy and really fun to be around.
That hes around at all is a testament to Jean-Gilles personal goals and Georgias recruiting prowess. He had scholarship offers from every major program in the South and was under enormous pressure to attend the University of Miami nearby.
He said [during his recruiting visit] this is where he wanted to be, said Bulldogs coach Mark Richt. We were like, yeah, right. This is really going to last. But it did. He never wavered.
In the end, Jean-Gilles chose playing time over a pro-style system.
It basically came down to who runs an NFL-type offense and who needed players, he said. Miami was two-deep on their line. Georgia needed linemen to play right away.
And Jean-Gilles did. He played in all 14 games at tackle as a freshman starting the last three and every one since as Georgia won the 2002 SEC championship. An All-America candidate this season, it could be his last in Athens.
Now a guard, a more natural position for his body type according to Georgias coaches, Jean-Gilles is getting a hard look from NFL scouts. He said hell likely leave if he has a chance to go in the first round, a distinct possibility.
But Jean-Gilles said he wont even think about that until December. Until then, he has some unfinished business. He wants his parents to finally see the Bulldogs beat Florida in Jacksonville. And first and foremost, he wants to play in the Orange Bowl in Miami, which just so happens to host the BCS national championship game this year.
Thats all the motivation I need, he said. Thats in my backyard. All my family and friends would be there, wearing Georgia colors and cheering for the Dogs.
And for the first time in a long time, Max Jean-Gilles would be at home.
Wednesday Practice Notes
Todd Unzicker
The Georgia Bulldogs held practice today in fall like conditions while preparing to defeat the Tennessee Volunteers for a fifth straight year after losing the previous nine. Many of the Georgia faithful have if the Dawgs would have a let down after their 45-16 drumming of number 13 ranked LSU. "The energy was good," said head coach Mark Richt. "The weather has something to do with that I'm sure."
The Dawgs will try to match their longest winning streak of five games, 1909-1924, this weekend. Georgia last won four games in a row during 1973-1988. The two teams began meeting every year in 1992 when the Southeastern Conference split into two divisions.
"I know they (the players) understand how big it is," said Richt. "I we win then we control our own destiny and if we lose then we don't control."
Georgia has met Tennessee ten times before when both teams are ranked and the Dawgs have a 4-6 record in those games. The Bulldogs need to be prepared for the Vols since during the Phil Fulmer era Tennessee has a 9-1 record following their first loss during the season. Georgia snapped that record last year in Knoxville winning 41-14.
While many fans have thought about last weeks revenge game against LSU as the biggest game of the season, Georgia players are quick to point out the importance of playing an SEC east opponent.
"This game is really more important than last week," said center Russ Tanner. "They've already beaten Florida and if we have the same amount of losses and they beat us head to head they have the advantage."
Should Georgia win on Saturday and LSU defeat Florida, the Dawgs will hold a two game advantage on their biggest rivals since the division split.
"Whoever wins this is in the drivers set for the east," said safety Thomas Davis.
News and Notes
*Either Michael Cooper or Tyson Browning will be the third team running back going into this weekend's game due to Tony Milton missing most of practice this week to sickness.
*True freshman defensive end Charles Johnson got his first playing time of his career against LSU last Saturday. "It felt pretty good," said Johnson. "I just want to help the team if I can." Johnson played a total of ten plays against the Tigers.
Johnson was a Rivals.com All-American while leading the Hawkinsville Red Devils to a Class A state championship. Johnson is expected to be the last freshman to see the playing field this season. Other true freshman who have played this season are tailbacks Danny Ware and Thomas Brown, defensive back Kelin Johnson, linebacker Brandon Miller, offensive lineman Chester Adams, and receiver A.J. Bryant.
*Hard-hitting safeties Thomas Davis and Greg Blue have been very public that during the season they have a competition amongst each other to see who has more big hits during a game. So what is the tally after the first four games of the season?
"I think I'm one up," said Blue. "I'm not sure though because neither of us really had a big hit last Saturday."
*Rocket Ishmail and an ESPN camera crew were on hand to do a segment for ESPN's College Gameday with Georgia receivers Fred Gibson and Reggie Brown.
*Richt will join Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti as a coach in the 2005 Hula Bowl Maui Al-Star Football classic on January 22nd. The game is scheduled for 8 p.m. EST on ESPN.
Red Cross Report
*Max Jean-Gilles (knee) and Arnold Harrison (shoulder) were still wearing non-contact jerseys today due their injuries. Both players are expected to play this weekend.
"They (the doctors) just want to make sure I don't do something worse," said Harrison.
*Tailback Danny Ware wore a non-contact jersey today in practice due to the cut he sustained last week in practice. He had stitches removed yesterday and underneath his helmet he wore a bandage similar to the one he wore against LSU.
*Redshirt freshman Mickey Henderson returned to the practice fields today. Henderson broke his ankle during fall camp and recently had the cast removed. Richt hopes the he will be able to return in the next few weeks.
*Thomas Flowers is suffering from a shoulder injury and wore a non-contact jersey today in practice. "It was mainly for precautionary measures," said Richt.
No more sputtering: Dawgs' offense gets going
By Dean Legge
PublisherDate: Oct 6, 2004
ATHENS One week ago at this time, Mark Richt was taking heat for the Bulldogs sputtering offense. This week is a different story.
My what a difference a week makes. After being soundly criticized about scoring with an offense most consider the most impressive in the SEC, Richts team exploded for 45 points in a route of LSU. Execution has been a problem for the Bulldogs. The types of defenses they went up against caused problems, too. Neither was a problem against the Tigers. For the last couple of games the teams we have plays have been in a lot of zone coverage, said receivers coach John Eason. Easons receivers exploded for five touchdown receptions Saturday. LSU plays man-to-man defense on wide receivers. It was nice to get our senior wide receivers the opportunity to make big plays, said Richt. Quarterback David Greene said it was good to have the offense come together against a defense that some say will be the best the Bulldogs will see all season. We made a lot of big plays against them and they dont have that happen to them a lot, said Greene. Greene had thrown only three touchdowns in three games before the LSU win. Georgia racked up 430 yards of offense, 60 more yards than it did against Marshall two weeks before, but scored touchdowns against LSU on command, it seemed. We didnt play the way we would have liked but we won our first three games, said quarterbacks coach Mike Bobo. Now we control our own destiny. Its about winning football games. Yeah, you want to score every time you get the football, but its hard to do that as an offense. One factor that allowed the Bulldogs to explode on the Tigers was the return of Danny Ware to tailback. He left the South Carolina game earlier this season with a bruised lung. He sat out the Marshall game before recording his second 100-yard game of the season against LSU. Our running backs and how they ran the ball, they made a huge difference, said Mark Richt. Richt didnt give all the credit for the offensive turnaround to Ware and the running backs alone. He also gave credit to Georgias offensive line. We were able to mix the run and pass. Our line is certainly (better). We have four sacks in four games. They have done a better job, said Richt.
Blackmon enjoyed game in Athens
UGASports.com Staff
One of the biggest targets on Georgia recruiting board is Rivals.com No. 1 rated linebacker in the nation Tray Blackmon (6-0, 200, 4.6) of LaGrange, Ga. "He's explosive and a big player," said head coach Steve Pardue. We've won 20 games in a row and he's a big part of it."
Earlier in the recruiting process, defensive tackles and recruiting coordinator Rodney Garner was recruiting Blackmon for Georgia, but Pardue said that head coach Mark Richt had taken over. He added that Georgia, Florida State, LSU, and Auburn on the top four contenders.
As for Blackmon, he has been very difficult to get in touch with over the past months and is rarely quoted directly.
"Right now he's staying focused on us and our team," said Pardue. "We make sure that he goes and checks out schools on the weekends because he needs to do that but if he focuses on his play here with us, everything else will workout."
Pardue said that Blackmon's visit to Athens this past weekend went well.
"He enjoyed it," he said. "It was a good visit."
This Saturday he will be in Auburn to watch the Tigers host La. Tech.
5 Star LB Names a LeaderBy Chad Simmons TheInsiders.com - SoutheastDate: Oct 6, 2004Tray Blackmon is one of the elite players in the entire country. Blackmon is an electric linebacker out of Lagrange High School in Lagrange, Ga. He is a hard-hitting, intense and game changing player who keeps both the crowd and opposing team on their toes all night long. Blackmon has gained attention from the top programs across the country, but now has his list narrowed to four and is ready to name a leader.
"My top four are Florida State, Auburn, Georgia and LSU" said Tray Blackmon. "I will visit all four of those schools either officially or unofficially in the next few weeks. I have already been to Florida State when they played Clemson and Georgia when they played LSU. I plan to be at Auburn this weekend for their game, and then go check out LSU in the next couple of weeks."Out of Blackmon's top four, is he ready to name a leader?"Yes sir. Georgia is my leader."Why does Blackmon have Georgia in the lead?"I have always been interested in Georgia. I was there this weekend and my trip went great. I got to see the campus, talk to Coach Richt, Coach Garner, and some of the players. The game was awesome, the crowd was so loud, and the atmosphere was just unbelievable."Blackmon has interest in these four programs for these common reasons "I have interest in these four schools because of the coaching staff, the tradition, the style of defense they play, and they all put players in the NFL."Tray Blackmon is a hard-hitting linebacker that could either stay at linebacker or move to safety on the next level. He has numerous sacks and knockouts this season and has helped lead the Grangers of Lagrange to a 6-0 record and number one state ranking in AAA.Mr. Blackmon will be on the Plains this weekend for an unofficial visit with the Auburn Tigers. He then looks to visit the Bayou and check out defending BCS Champion LSU in the next couple of weeks. After that, he has an official visit with Georgia set up in the near future.Make sure you stay right here at TheInsiders.com to stay up to date with all the information on this National Hot 100 member, Tray Blackmon
Fulmer hopes his team is ready
Steve PattersonUGASports.com Publisher
University of Tennessee head coach Phil Fulmer spoke with the media Wednesday in the SEC coaches teleconference. "We went back to work on Monday after a tough loss to Auburn," he said. "Georgia is going to be a great challenge for our team. I am looking forward to the challenge, and we have had good preparation at this point."
Fulmer said that Bulldog freshman tailback Danny Ware was a big concern as the Volunteers prepare to play the No. 3 ranked team in the land.
"Danny Ware is an exceptionally good runner," he said. "He is physical, always falling forward, and an excellent runner. When you are running like that it certainly opens up the play action, and throwing the ball down field presents a problem."
Fulmer hopes his troops will rise to the occasion of playing a team that has beat them four years in a row. Despite losing last week to Auburn, the Vols would have the inside track for eastern division representative in the SEC Championship game having already defeated Florida.
"They certainly understand the magnitude of this game and that it is a rivalry," said Fulmer of his team. "We have got to do a better job making it a rivalry after losing four in a row.
Georgia is coming off a 45-16 win over defending national champion LSU. Though Tennessee has not beaten the Dawgs since the 1990s, they hold a 17-14-2 lead in the series, with 14 of the 33 meetings decided by a touchdown or less. Fulmer has never defeated Mark Richt.
"I think we have changed our psyche towards this rivalry," said defensive tackle Kedric Golston. "We have to know that we have just as good a program as they have. You just have to go out there and play your game. You have to go out there on Saturday and play, and the last few years we have been winning that game on the field."
Mike Bellotti and Mark Richt Named Head Coaches for 2005 Hula Bowl Maui
Game to be held January 22 at War Memorial Stadium
Oct. 6, 2004
WACO, TEX. -- Oregon's Mike Bellotti and Georgia's Mark Richt have been selected by the American Football Coaches Association to serve as the head coaches for the Kai and Aina squads at the 2005 Hula Bowl Maui All-Star Football Classic. Both men will be serving as head coaches at the Hula Bowl for the first time.
Bellotti is in his 10th season at Oregon and began 2004 with a career record of 98-59-2 at Oregon and Chico State. Oregon finished 8-5 in 2003 and played in the Sun Bowl. The postseason appearance was the seventh in a row for Oregon and the eighth in Bellotti's first nine years at the school. The Ducks are 1-3 so far in 2004 and travel to Washington State this weekend. The dean of active Pac-10 head coaches, Bellotti is in his first year as a member of the AFCA's Board of Trustees.
Richt is in his fourth season at Georgia and began 2004 with a three-year career record of 32-8. Georgia finished 2003 with a 11-3 record, a berth in the SEC championship game and a win in the Capital One Bowl on New Year's Day. Georgia is 4-0 on the season following Saturday's victory over defending national champion LSU and is currently ranked No. 3 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches' Poll.
The American Football Coaches Association is partnering with the Hula Bowl All-Star Football Classic for the ninth time in 2005. This year's game will be held Saturday, January 22 at War Memorial Stadium on the island of Maui. The 58th annual classic will be televised live nationally by ESPN and is scheduled to kickoff at 3 p.m. Hawaii Time/8 p.m. Eastern Time.
For more information on the AFCA and its programs, log on to the AFCA's website at www.afca.com.
Tennessee
By John Harris
a. Aberration or trend? So, as you sat there watching the implosion of the Tennessee Volunteers on Saturday night, were you surprised? Not so much at the teams overall fade, but the play of their freshmen quarterbacks, in particular Erik Ainge? Watching the game unfold, it was almost as if you could see the pressure building in the young kids eyes against the most athletic defense that he had seen. Its highly unlikely that he faced a defense as fast as Auburns in Oregon in high school. Either way, now is the time to see if the play that we saw Saturday night was an aberration or a trend. Although Vols fans would hope for the former, its up to the coaching staff to ensure that it doesnt turn into a trend. So, how can they help out Ainge?
1. Take the decisions away, as much as they can. Play high-low when the Dawgs go zone, meaning that two receivers are running routes with one going deeper and one going shallower, pinpointing one defender. Whatever the defender does, hit the other guy. Not much decision making inherent there. Throw what you see.
2. Short is not always best. Sometimes the best thing a coach can do is to let a young QB take three steps in the gun and air it out as far as he can early in a game. Nothing but nine routes down the sideline. Maybe you hit it, maybe you dont, however, itll have a tremendous effect in a lot of ways. The defense takes one deeper step. The middle may open up a bit more. QB gets a little nervousness out after heaving one. Now, settle in and play.
3. Play Brent Schaeffer more. This is a weird season for these two quarterbacks. They actually need each other, more than the Vols need for one of them to take the reins 100% of the time. Thats what it seemed as though was happening from the second half of the Florida game through the Auburn game. Ainge was distancing himself, supposedly, and he was becoming the Man. There arent many that have stepped into that spot without showing that theyre 18 years old. Even as great as guys like Peyton Manning or Chris Leak were as rookies, they still had their struggles as freshmen. So, let Schaeffer take some of that heat for Ainge, more than he had the last game. This is the one time that one quarterback doesnt have to be the man. Let them have equal time and equal pressure, not to mention the fact that Schaeffer is a totally different entity for teams to prepare.
b. Run for your life Oh, Jimmy Ray, god bless you, son. Youve been given the keys to a 2004 H2 Hummer. Orange with a white stripe. Just a wonderful looking vehicle. You drive that with pride down the streets of Knoxville. However, when you go to drive the car, you realize that the car is a red and black Volvo. Wha??? Alright, the role play is over, but the point is that Jimmy Ray Stephens, the offensive line coach of the Volunteers has a downright dominating offensive line when it pertains to running the football. Thats what Michael Munoz and Arron Sears were recruited to do, plant people in the turf as the trio of Volunteer backs rolled up 100 yard games like they were going out of style. However, with the emergence (questionable as noted above) of Erik Ainge, the pocket passing rookie, these two hulking tackles have been turned into finesse pass protectors. Now, you see the name Munoz, you think best offensive lineman, ever. But, Michael is not there yet. Even when his dad was in college was a run masher in the USC Student Body right/left offense. On the contrary, Little Munoz has to face some of the quickest pass rushers in the country, and against Auburn, the Tiger DE were a constant force, in the face of Ainge, much of the night. The good news is that the Tigers are gone, but the bad news is that Munoz and Sears now have to face David Pollack, the SECs best pass rusher and all-around defensive end. Both Ainge and Schaeffer must have time in the pocket to throw the football, thats obvious, but if these tackles have to go one-on-one against Pollack forget it. The only way the Vols are going to keep Pollack and his mates out of the face of the QB is to max protect, essentially using no more than 3 receivers in a route at one time. But, the Vols can also use play action against the Dawgs aggressive safeties to get behind them, as well. However, thats only going to be effective if the Vols offensive line can win battles up front and the Volunteer running backs can pick up chunks of yardage. Theyre capable of doing that, but in play action, Pollack has that extra second of rush time that Munoz/Sears are going to have to keep him at bay. Tennessee OC Randy Sanders has used some roll out to give his QB some extra time, and that could be effective, especially if Schaeffer is the one used on the roll. However, that puts a series of backs/TE on Pollack, which hell eat for breakfast. Pass protection, particularly at the tackle spot, is the key for the Tennessee offense this week - keep an eye on how the Vols help their tackles in pass protection.
c. If you cant beat them, zone them Marshall held Georgia to 13 points. South Carolina held Georgia to 20 points. LSU held Georgia to 45 points. So, whats the overriding theme in the difference in those three ball games? Both Marshall and South Carolina forced Georgia to work for their scores, well, outside of the play action game winner against South Carolina. LSU, stubborn as a mule, stayed in man coverage throughout the game, knowing full well that Fred Gibson and Reggie Brown were 100% healthy and David Greene was hotter than a two dollar pistol. With the talent that Georgia has at receiver and with Greene at QB, there doesnt need to be much space for you to get beat by that trio. Case in point on Saturday there wasnt one catch for a touchdown that Gibson or Brown made that was easy. Yes, they had a step on coverage, mainly Corey Webster, but Greene put the ball on the money every time. Then, Gibson and Brown made the grabs (well, with one Gibson exception). So, Tennessee comes to town with a porous secondary, that couldnt play man if theyre lives depended on it. So, its tailor made for them to play a myriad of zones and make the Bulldogs, dink and dunk, up and down the field. As evidenced by the games against Marshall and South Carolina, UGA struggles when they have to string long drives together, which is not all that unusual for a team with this kind of athletic ability. Make a stand to keep everything in front of you, as a secondary, and tackle on first contact. Tennessee DC John Chavis really has no decision to make, essentially, playing basic coverages and swarming to the football when its thrown, is all the Vols should do. Playing man and bringing heat on UGA is, well, professional suicide at this point.
Conclusion: These two teams couldnt be on farther opposite ends of the spectrum after last weeks games. Georgia is on a high after their win over LSU, while the Vols went back to the drawing board for some soul-searching. But, Georgia is used to the win-and-get-ready-for-the-next-one mentality and with the SEC East on the line (well, at least for now), expect the Dawgs to string together its second straight solid performance at home. Georgia 31 vs. Tennessee - 17
Georgia Commitment gets Banged Up
by Scott Kennedy of TheInsiders.com, October 6, 2004 at 9:01pm ET
Jamar Bryant Profile
Jamar Bryant has been working hard to get back to Georgia, but his time on the field looks to be sidetracked for the time being.
"Jamar Bryant was kind of sandwiched by two defenders," said Hargrave Head Coach Robert Prunty. "The initial X-Rays showed two cracked ribs, but based on the Doctor's analysis, he is going to get a bone scan to be sure."
How had the Georgia commitment looked thus far on the season?
"He'd been killing it for us this year. He's got about three or four touchdowns. He's a big time player; that's all there is to it. He can be a big time safety or wide receiver at Georgia. He's one of the most physical guys for his size that I've been around."
Bryant was initially recruited to play safety at Georgia, and could end up at either safety or wide receiver based on the Bulldogs' need for him next year.
Brown improves 'step by step'
Senior receiver enjoying breakout season with No. 3 Dogs
By Marc Weiszer
marc.weiszer@onlineathens.com
Reggie Brown's performance on the field at Georgia at long last is finally matching the potential that has dazzled teammates the last couple of years.
The meticulous work ethic the senior wide receiver displays in practice combined with his jaw-dropping athleticism have left many, including Brown, wondering when it would all come together with the type of production he's shown this season.
"If you're working hard and you feel like you're not reaching that potential, you're going to think when is all that going to pay off?" Brown said. "You just try to stay focused and keep working and try not to get down on yourself."
Through four games, Brown already has a career-high four touchdown catches and is second in the SEC in receiving yards per game (77.0) heading into third-ranked Georgia's 3:30 p.m., game Saturday in Sanford Stadium against No. 17 Tennessee.
Brown, a highly-touted prep star from Carrolton, had just his second career 100-yard game in the 45-16 rout of defending co-national champion LSU with five catches for 110 yards, including two touchdown receptions. One was a highlight-reel off-balance catch in the right corner of the end zone for a 29-yard score.
"Hopefully he's just tipping the iceberg," receivers coach John Eason said. "What we saw Saturday is an indication of what we hope he will continue to do."
The 6-foot-1, 197-pound Brown has the type of tools that suggest that more big games are ahead. He has the team's best vertical jump (43 inches), its fastest 40 dash time (4.35 range), and pound-for-pound is its strongest player, Georgia strength and conditioning coach Dave Van Halanger said.
"He's pretty sick, what do you think?" quarterback David Greene said. "He's kind of a freakish athlete."
"In the United States, there's very few athletes that can do what he does," Van Halanger said. "I've been able to train some of the best at Florida State and at Georgia, and I don't remember a guy at the receiver position that can do all of those things."
Brown, who set a Georgia high school long jump record, doesn't get by just letting his natural tools carry him.
"He probably works harder than anybody on my team," Greene said. "He's actually my next door neighbor, and it's nothing for him to get out on his bicycle after we have a game on Saturday. He'll get on his bike on Sunday and ride for 30 miles. Crazy."
Of course, Georgia signed Brown to catch passes and score touchdowns, not win the Tour de France.
"It's very satisfying to finally feel like you get to where you should be," Brown said. "I don't feel like my game is perfected by any means. I've still got a lot to work on. I'm just taking it step by step."
"We've seen him do it in practice for quite some time," Georgia coach Mark Richt said. "Now it's become a natural thing for him which is great. He deserves it."
Georgia has even made sure to get the ball in Brown's hands by lining him up in the backfield and handing him the ball. He's gained 21 yards on two carries.
"He's a guy that will do all the extra stuff to be great," Van Halanger said. "Some guys will have that ability, but will just do what Coach Van says to do. He does above and beyond that."
Brown runs pass routes by himself, gets in extra work catching balls with the Juggs machine and while teammates ride scooters around campus, Brown keeps his legs pedaling his Fuji bike.
"I can beat half the scooters they have, so it really doesn't bother me," Brown said.
Brown began to emerge last season when he led Georgia with 49 catches for 662 yards and three touchdowns but was still not first or second-team All-SEC. His development was slowed by a torn ACL suffered in 2001, and Eason believes that a lack of confidence kept Brown from the type of performances he's shown this season.
"He's hungry just like me," said senior receiver Fred Gibson, who is tied with Brown for the team-lead in catches with 17. "It's our last year. We want to come out with a bang. We want to play at the next level."
Even when the ball isn't coming his way, Brown often draws praise from Richt for his blocking. Richt also says Brown has become a better leader. He has been named captain again this week for the fourth time in the five games this season.
"I don't feel like I've totally met my potential," said Brown, who is in the top 10 on Georgia's career list for receptions and receiving yards. "I've got high expectations on myself."
No. 17 Tennessee at No. 3 Georgia
WHEN: 3:30 p.m. Saturday
Where: Sanford Stadium
TV: CBS
Radio: 960-AM, 106.1-FM
Records: Georgia (4-0, 2-0 in SEC); Tennessee (3-1, 1-1)
Series record: Tennessee leads 17-14-2
Leaner Greene escaping pressure
By Marc Weiszer
marc.weiszer@onlineathens.com
Georgia has gone from an SEC-worst 47 sacks allowed last season to an SEC-best four sacks surrendered this year thanks to more mature offensive line and better blitz pickup
Another factor is that a leaner David Greene is better able to avoid trouble.
The 6-foot-3, 227-pound senior quarterback is about eight pounds lighter than last season when he also was slowed for a few weeks while playing on a hyperextended right knee.
"It helps out," Greene said. "Obviously I'm not a great scrambler or anything like that but I needed to be a little bit more mobile to make a few guys miss if I have to and just to have some pocket presence."
Greene could again face pressure this week from a Tennessee defense that is tied for second in the SEC in sacks with 11.
"I think a lot of the offseason work, working on his quickness is paying off for him," Georgia coach Mark Richt said.
Greene was able to avoid a sack from an onrushing LSU player when he hit Sean Bailey for a 21-yard touchdown. He also scrambled for a six-yard gain when his receivers were covered and improvised to hit tailback Danny Ware on a 5-yard shuffle pass during Georgia's first scoring drive.
Fumbles can be costly
Tyson Browning did not play tailback against LSU after fumbling twice this season on pass receptions coming out of the backfield.
Richt said on Wednesday that Michael Cooper and Browning are still in the mix for the No. 3 tailback spot behind Ware and Thomas Brown, but Browning's inability to hold on the ball clearly is a strike against him.
"If a running back turns it over, he's not going to play very much," Richt said. "We really, really harp on that."
Tony Milton again did not practice again on Wednesday because of the stomach flu.
Richt selected as All-Star coach
For the second straight January, Richt will be coaching in a postseason bowl game.
Richt and Oregon's Mike Belotti were selected by the American Football Coaches Association to coach in the 2005 Hula Bowl Maui All-Star Football Classic in Hawaii.
The game will be played on Jan. 22 and will be televised live at 8 p.m. Eastern Time on ESPN.
Richt said coaching in the game won't keep him from missing recruiting weekends. He will leave at the end of one recruiting weekend and will return the following weekend to visit recruits on Sunday.
"I had to ask my wife first and she thought about it for about 10 or 15 seconds and she said 'OK,'" Richt said.
The coaching staffs will be made up of three other Division I-A head coaches and the national coach of the year from Division I-AA, II and III.
Moses earning more playing time
Sophomore defensive end Quentin Moses has two sacks, five quarterback pressures and recovered a fumble but the former Cedar Shoals standout remains a backup to senior Will Thompson.
"He's playing with a lot of energy and playing the way we expect those guys to play," Richt said. "It's not impossible that he has a chance to move up. He's certainly earning more playing time."
Returning from an ankle injury that kept him out all of the 2003 season, Thompson has seven tackles, a half a sack and two quarterback pressures. He had six sacks in 2002.
Harrison status still uncertain
Strongside linebacker Arnold Harrison was to have his bruised left shoulder examined on Wednesday evening.
Harrison did not play against LSU and junior Derrick White will start in his place for the second straight game but Richt said Harrison will probably play if cleared by doctors despite being limited in practice this week.
This and That
Tight end Martrez Milner left Wednesday's practice with a back injury. His status is uncertain. Leonard Pope, who has shared time with Milner, is slated to start his third straight game at the position. ... Offensive guard Max Jean-Gilles (knee) and tailback Ware (cut above eyebrow) wore green non-contact jerseys but both expect to play. Jean-Gilles said his knee was at 80 percent. Cornerback Thomas Flowers (shoulder) is probable. ... Richt confirmed that Jeremy Thomas will start at fullback over Des Williams. ... Former Notre Dame star receiver Raghib "Rocket" Ismail was on campus to film an ESPN College GameDay piece on receivers Fred Gibson and Reggie Brown. Ismail played the role of a cornerback for a demonstration when he went up against Gibson and Brown in the segment taped after practice.
Dasher: Much on the line for Vols
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - What defines a big game?
If you believe LSU's Nick Saban or Tennessee's Phillip Fulmer, there's no such animal.
Come on, guys.
Who are you kidding? Last week Saban tried to convince anyone who would listen that last Saturday's game against Georgia wasn't any more important than those against Mississippi State or Arkansas. Fulmer would like you to believe the same thing. After all, don't all conference games count the same?
Theoretically yes, realistically no.
Particularly as it pertains to the Vols.
Auburn embarrassed Tennessee 34-10 last Saturday in Neyland Stadium, but despite that debacle, the Volunteers still control their own destiny as it relates to the SEC East.
If the Vols can upset the Bulldogs, only Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina, Vanderbilt and Kentucky would stand in the way of Tennessee from a trip to Atlanta and the SEC Championship game.
Of those five opponents, the toughest figures to be South Carolina on Oct. 30 in Williams-Brice Stadium. Tennessee's only other two road contests - Oct. 16 at Ole Miss and Nov. 20 at Vanderbilt - won't cause the Vols to break a sweat.
So, yes Coach Fulmer, this is a big game, it's huge.
Just ask Volunteer linebacker Kevin Burnett.
"If we don't win this game we can stop thinking about South Beach and go back to the Peach Bowl," he said.
It's that simple.
Burnett is approaching this game with the right perspective, and if you're a Volunteer fan you should appreciate the fact that he is.
Lose, and like Burnett says, the best the Vols could hope for would be a lesser-tier bowl, perhaps the Peach for a third consecutive year.
Win, and Tennessee's likely going to capture the East.
Georgia needs to be wary.
The last time Tennessee entered a game a double-digit underdog was last year at Miami. The Vols upset the mighty Hurricanes, 10-6.
Could the same happen in Sanford Stadium? Possibly, if the Bulldogs are still reveling in last week's rout of LSU. I'm not saying it will, but it could.
But let's get back to our original topic of conversation.
Georgia's coaches and players know the significance of Saturday's 3:30 tilt.
Unlike the Vols, the Bulldogs' schedule from here on out is anything but easy.
Sure, Vanderbilt and Kentucky should be easy victories, but conference games at Arkansas, Florida in Jacksonville and Auburn in Jordan-Hare are going to be wars - even for a team as talented as the Bulldogs appear to be.
Bulldog coach Richt knows this and said so when asked about the significance of Saturday's game.
Why do you think players like David Pollack and Thomas Davis continued to implore fans to keep the noise level turned up in Sanford Stadium against the Vols?
If Georgia wins, the Bulldogs maintain their division lead, will stay in the national title hunt, and barring some miracle by Kentucky or Vanderbilt, will only need to beat Florida to guarantee a third-straight trip to the SEC Championship game.
So yes, this is a big game. No question, no debate.
Nobody should suggest otherwise.
Florida WR enjoys first trip to Athens
Jeremy PattersonUGASports.com Recruiting Analyst
Tampa (Fla.) Middleton wide receiver Conshario Johnson is one of those prospects that is similar to current Georgia commitment Donovan Baldwin. UGASports.com told you to keep an eye on Baldwin long before he committed or even received an offer and Johnson is another prospect in that mold.
Right now I have offers from Iowa State, Rutgers, Central Florida, South Florida, Ball State and Northern Illinois, Johnson said. Alabama is also recruiting me pretty hard. They have been by to pick up my transcripts and my highlight tape and they have been calling me a lot.
The 6-foot-2, 180-pound Johnson runs the 40-yard dash in 4.4 seconds, has a 235-pound bench press and a 375-pound squat.
This weekend I went to the Georgia-LSU game and it was just great, Johnson said. That was my first trip up there and I was really impressed with it. I really liked the campus atmosphere and that way the fans supported the players. That is a football town, everybody there just loves their team. All together it was just a great experience.
As a junior Johnson caught 27 passes for 440 yards and six touchdowns. Through three games this season he has caught five passes for 145 yards and one touchdown.
Right now I would say that Georgia, Alabama, Louisville and Florida are my top schools, Johnson said. I have really taken a liking to Florida lately. Iowa State, Ball State and Central Florida all want me to come up in December and take an official visit there.
So far this season Johnson has 240 yards and three touchdowns receiving through four games. He carries a 2.7 GPA and will take the SAT for the first time this Saturday.
Comments could fire up the Dawgs
Steve PattersonUGASports.com Senior Editor
Georgia head coach Mark Richt does not want to hear any lip like that being delivered by a few Tennessee players about their upcoming game with the Bulldogs. Earlier this week, Vol players made comments ranging from guaranteeing they would be in the SEC title game to saying that La. Tech's receivers were better than Fred Gibson and Reggie Brown.
It is called "bulletin board material" in sports, and teams often take statements like this to get extra motivation. Richt has noticed the comments, but he does not plan to print them up for the bulletin board.
"That's good stuff," Richt said. "You really don't have to put that up because you guys (media) will usually tell them about it and it helps motivate the guys for sure."
It all started when linebacker Kevin Burnett said after the Vols lost to Auburn last weekend that the two teams would meet again this season. The only way that happens is if Tennessee wins the eastern division, and a win over Georgia this weekend would go a lot way towards landing UT in the Georgia Dome. Then, cornerback Roshaun Fellows told the Athens Banner-Herald: "I don't think Georgia has the best receivers we've seen. I think Louisiana Tech's are better." Both players have since said the quotes were taken out of context.
Asked what he would do if his players were spouting fodder for controversy, Richt said: "I'd tell them that it's not very smart, and they better back it up."
The situation sets up nicely for Georgia who is vulnerable to a letdown after a 45-16 thumping of defending national champion LSU last Saturday. Having quotes in the paper like these only add to the excitement for the game for the Bulldog players.
"The media has been asking about this, but [the players] know it's not a let down game," explained Richt. "I told the team not to let down against a team that beat us nine times in a row, and a team that has the best winning percentage in recent time. It's just not going to happen."
Game of the Week
Tennessee (3-1) at Georgia (4-0) , 3:30 pm EST CBS
Why to watch: Was last week a fluke? Both teams want to find out as Georgia discovered an offense ripping through LSU's supposedly vaunted defense for 45 points thanks to five David Greene touchdown passes. Tennessee got blasted 34-10 at home by Auburn as the freshman quarterbacks finally played like freshman quarterbacks. Despite the loss, the Vols can make the SEC East race wide open with a win, while Georgia can make its case to be considered Orange Bowl worthy with another blowout home victory.
Why Tennessee might win: Was the LSU game just an aberration for the Georgia offense? It wasn't consistent, and then all of a sudden it exploded in one intense performance. Tennessee is supposed to lose this game as few are expecting much after what happened last week, which might be just the thing this young team needs to take the pressure off. Expect the Vols to do what they didn't against Auburn and establish the run right away. If that happens, and the UT offensive line can shove the surprisingly average Georgia run defense around, it has a shot. (At least it's average by Georgia's high standards.)
Why Georgia might win: This is Tennessee's first game away from Neyland and the first road test for the young quarterbacks. This isn't the place to cut your SEC teeth. The Vol pass defense is the SEC's worst giving up 244 yards per game, while the run defense has to prove it can go on without Kevin Simon. If David Greene and his receivers can do that again, the young Volunteer secondary will be helpless.
Who to watch: Georgia DE David Pollack gets all the national recognition, and deservedly so with the way he's playing how he ripped up Tennessee over the last few seasons, but the other two star Bulldog defenders will be the stars here. Free safety Thomas Davis put on an All-America caliber first half of the season with 34 tackles and two forced fumbles. In his first game back from suspension, LB Odell Thurman was all over the place against LSU making eight tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, a sack, a quarterback hurry and a fumble recovery.
What will happen: Georgia will win, but it won't be nearly the walk in the park Dawg fans are hoping for. The offense won't play like it did against LSU with the Tennessee D doing just enough to stay in the game. The Volunteer running game will move the ball, but the young quarterbacks will make too many mistakes to win.
CFN Prediction: Georgia 27 ... Tennessee 16 ... Line: Georgia -12.5
Must See Rating: (5 lock yourself in a room to watch - 1 The Tony Danza Show) ... 5
Final Score:
Brown's work ethic and athleticism sets him apart
ATHENS - A storage trunk sits filled in Norm and Kelli Pollack's home on quiet Octavia Lane in the Atlanta suburb of Snellville. It's stuffed with letters, packets and presentations from agents and financial advisors who were ready last winter to assist their son in making the jump from college to the NFL.
Instead Georgia's treasure trove is enjoying his last season.
In an age when the top high school talent goes straight to the NBA and an Arkansas team that played in the Independence Bowl saw five underclassmen say "sayonara" instead of "Pig! Sooie!," Pollack is old school.
Why shouldn't the Bulldogs' two-time All-American defensive end stay another season to enjoy the good life in Athens along with childhood buddy and roommate David Greene, girlfriend Lindsey Hopkins and a Bulldog Nation that seems to put him on nearly as high a pedestal as Pollack puts the Lord above?
"I'm intrigued by a guy like Lance Armstrong because here's a guy that represents all of the qualities that once were in our heroes. That to me is like David Pollack," defensive ends coach Jon Fabris said. "People in the stands and people in the street, the blue-collar guy, the guy who played high school ball and remembers, they see some of themselves in him. The guy that still cares about his school, about family, about God. All of those things are things we've kind of lost."
Near legendary already
On the top of the world looking down on creation - well, from 5,000 feet above sea level in Fort Collins, Colo. - David Pollack might as well be film director Sydney Pollack.
"It was awesome," Pollack said of the week spent in May at an Athletes in Action spiritual retreat. "Nobody knew who you were and nobody cared."
Pollack is easily recognized back home in Georgia and even on family trips to the Florida Panhandle. If Georgia had its own Mount Rushmore, Pollack's mug would be the next to be chiseled alongside Bulldog legends Herschel, Dooley, Trippi, Stanfill and Hoage.
Church groups. Youth groups. Kids in hospitals. Elementary schools. Community organizations.
Pollack is in much demand as a speaker. His mother, Kelli Pollack, said she used to field the requests but she's glad that Kevin Hynes, the team's chaplain, now handles them.
"We had so many problems with his schedule because his phone rang off the hook," she said.
Even coach Mark Richt says his 7-year old daughter, Anya, is smitten with Pollack.
"There's no obligation greater than being a role model," Pollack said. "A lot of kids that wear your jersey and know your name. That's why I play. How incredible is that you can impact people's lives? It is for me. It's just awesome to see kids yelling and screaming your name. It's fun."
Let's get it started
Pollackpalooza got cranked up in the second game of the 2002 season, when he made a play for the ages against South Carolina - swatting a ball in the end zone and catching it with his left hand for an interception and touchdown.
Clearly, this was no longer the player who was dominated by future NFL offensive tackles Jon Stinchcomb and George Foster when the player that most schools recruited as a fullback was first moved from defensive tackle to defensive end in the spring after his freshman season.
"I got basted," Pollack said. "I was getting my butt handed to me."
Georgia needed reinforcements at end after three seniors departed and underclassman Charles Grant left for the NFL, even if Pollack didn't have prototypical size for the position.
"I saw he could compete every day with them football-wise and fistfights," Fabris said. "He wouldn't back down. After four practices, most of the consensus was this isn't working. He was frustrated. That's what I like about him. I could tell he has high expectations. He wanted to be good."
Pollack had a monster sophomore season in 2002. That play against South Carolina and his 14 sacks led him to being selected as the SEC Player of the Year and as an All-American. A year later, with defensive tackle Johnathan Sullivan gone to the NFL and end Will Thompson out for the year with an injury, Pollack's tackle total dropped from 102 to 92 and his sacks to 7.5.
Pollack grew up always holding himself to high expectations, whether it was coloring at school or dying Easter eggs, his mother said, so you can imagine how he took to a 2003 season that didn't match the previous year's production.
"I beat myself up bad," said Pollack, who is fourth on Georgia's career sack list with 26.5. "I wanted to make plays and do things that I just wasn't doing. Oh, man. I tore myself up last year and I'm never going to do that again."
Defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder said offenses didn't scheme Pollack differently in the running game but made adjustments to negate his effectiveness as a pass rusher. "We got a lot more from the backs," VanGorder said. "People were really keeping backs in on him and chipping away at his legs, which was much different than his sophomore year."
Manna from heaven
Pollack set out to remake his body when last season ended.
He talked to a university nutritionist and began working out individually with Rex Bradberry, a member of Georgia's strength and conditioning staff who helped Pollack change his diet. Pollack, listed at 6-foot-3, played late last season weighing in the high 280s but reported to school in August at 261 pounds.
"We felt, and he felt, that maybe he didn't run as well consistently through the game last year as he did his sophomore year," VanGorder said. "We don't really talk to him about weight. It's more about being in great, great shape. The play and the intensity that he plays with for 50 or 60 plays requires that. He was extremely productive but I don't think he thought he was able to pursue to the ball with some of the relentless style that he did maybe his sophomore year on a consistent basis. Having said that, let's keep in mind that we're dealing with an athlete that has different standards than most."
Pollack has cut back on fast food and carbonated beverages. He cooks up plenty of chicken at home and tries to get to Inoko Japanese Steak House once a week for two grilled chicken breasts, filet mignon and triple fried rice.
"I've gotta do it up," Pollack said.
It's the manna from heaven that Pollack believes feeds his soul.
Pollack didn't grow up in a particularly religious household. He said he found his faith after family friends gave him a Bible with his name engraved on it at a signing party at his home in February of 2001 when he officially became a Bulldog. Pollack needed to read 200 pages for "outside reading," for a class at Shiloh High School and read that Bible.
He had just started dating Lindsay his senior year in high school and Pollack came to realize he needed to make changes in how he treated people.
"I was a rude kid in high school to people," Pollack said. "I was selfish, wanting to be popular and searching for people's approval. She taught me how to love. It kind of softened my heart. I started treating people better."
Pollack has begun to "journal," expressing on paper how the scripture he reads applies to his life.
"God's been teaching me patience," Pollack said. "A lot of times we want things in our time. We want to do something now. Last year I wanted to have a good season, but everything is in God's time. I've got to pray for it because patience is something I struggle with."
Boundless energy
Forget drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge. Maybe the nation's energy planners need to tap into whatever keeps Pollack moving non-stop like a overcaffeinated bunny.
"I'm sitting over there on the sideline to see what he's going to do," Greene said. "He gets pretty jacked up, doesn't he?"
Pollack waves his arms back and forth on the field like an aerobics instructor and can be as talkative as a parakeet around his teammates.
"He's the type of kid that you can put a shovel in his hand and ask him to go dig a ditch and he'll do it with a smile on his face," Kelli Pollack said. "He's never down. He's always happy."
As a kid, Pollack would get in trouble for talking too much in class, bouncing all over the classroom and messing with classmates, but always, he said, after his schoolwork was done.
"I was the President of the PTA to keep him in school," Kelli said.
"I don't think he's ever slowed down," said his father Norm. "He had a lot of energy then and he's not slowed down."
"Kind of a wild man," Greene said. "Very much how everybody kind of pictures him. 'I'll run through a brick wall if you want me to.' Here's a kid, when he's little, he's got a tooth here and there, but the other one is knocked out."
Taking one more year
Pollack talked with coaches, agents, financial advisors and, of course, his family before he stepped to the podium on Jan. 12 in his campus news conference and said "I think I'll take one more year."
Norm Pollack said all of the positives told his son to return to Georgia. The only negative is the possibility of a serious injury.
"He wanted to stay all along, but he saw guys getting hurt, people telling him about how much money," Norm Pollack said. "When people are talking about millions of dollars, it at least makes you stop and listen."
Greene says he didn't know which way his roommate would go.
"He didn't know until the last day," Greene said. "One day I thought he was leaving, the next day he was talking that he was going to stay. He was in a real struggle for a long while. I found out at the press conference like everybody else because he was in a struggle. There were times that you could tell that he was very torn between them. I wanted our apartment to be a place where he could get away because I knew everybody else was asking him about it."
Treading carefully
Pollack has taken out an insurance policy through the NCAA to protect him in case of a career-ending injury. The Pollacks were also exploring acquiring a "diminished skills," policy for top-rated prospects that pays out the difference based on where a player actually goes in the NFL draft.
Most experts projected Pollack as a mid to late first-round draft pick if he had come out this year, but there were no guarantees he wouldn't slip to the second.
Now, Pollack is rated highly among top senior prospects by the two NFL scouting services. BLESTO rates Pollack as the top senior prospect and National Football Scouting has him No. 3.
Georgia already treads carefully with their defensive playmaker.
Coach Mark Richt held Pollack out of the spring game to avoid injury.
Fabris said a decision to tread carefully with Pollack was made when he went down in a pile in an inside drill during the Tuesday before the South Carolina game in 2002.
"I just grimaced," Fabris said. "I knew it was one of those things. I just prayed right there that if you'll spare him, he'll never be involved in another inside drill again. He got up gingerly and shook it off, walked around and shook around. He's never been in an inside drill again."
All that precaution couldn't help when Pollack's head went bump in the night on the houseboat of teammate Bartley Miller's father in late April. Pollack needed 32 stitches to close a cut on his head that was sliced open when he hit his head on a glass case displaying an amberjack. Pollack woke up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and accidentally fell down the steps.
"It was freaky," Greene said. "It was a nightmare. It looked pretty nasty, like somebody had been murdered that night. There was blood everywhere."
The scar remains on the right side of Pollack's head in an accident that might have been fatal if the cut occurred a few inches over.
"I think it looks good," Greene said. "It gives him a little character."
Said Fabris: "Georgia people that care about Georgia football should say a prayer for David Pollack every time they lay their head down."
Influence runs deep
Just when you might think Pollack's impact on the Bulldogs might be a tad overhyped, listen to sophomore defensive end Quentin Moses for a minute and you get the sense of Pollack's influence on his team.
"A lot of players want to come out and say they might look up to Jevon Kearse or Julius Peppers or somebody in the NFL," Moses said. "When I came here I was hoping Charles Grant would stay his senior year so I would have someone to look up and guide me."
Instead he found just that person in Pollack, the perfect leader to follow in what Moses calls Pollack's "crazy sophomore year."
"When I get down, he's just someone there to keep me going," Moses said. "He's someone there to tell you to pick it up, somebody to push me and somebody I can look up to in every aspect, on and off the field. A lot of people wouldn't be man enough to say that, but I'm just happy that I got to spend two or three years with him."
Georgia fans are happy to get one more year of Pollack, dancing and hopping in Sanford Stadium and blowing up opposing backfields.
"I've grown and matured more in this past year than any year in my life. Ever," Pollack said. "I've learned how to cook and clean and do a lot of stuff that I've done over the past year. It's been the best decision I ever made."
Pollack's return is one reason why Georgia (4-0, 2-0 SEC) is No. 3 in the Associated Press poll and is among the favorites to win the national championship. The two-time All-American can become just the second three-time All-American at Georgia, joining Herschel Walker.
"I hope that we have a great year, not because of David helping us, but because he did come back," Fabris said. "I hope this is a very memorable year for him. Not only individually, but team-wise, where he says come January, a month before the combine, 'Boy, I'm glad that I stayed for my senior year.' I hope he'll be able to say that."
