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University of Georgia’s Vance finally settled in spot on the offensive line

By: David Paschall
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Mike Bobo

ATHENS, Ga. — Before Matthew Stafford sealed Georgia’s overtime win at Alabama last season with a 25-yard touchdown pass to Mikey Henderson, offensive lineman Vince Vance was one confused little puppy.

Vance is 6-foot-8 and 320 pounds, so make that a confused big puppy.

“I went in at left tackle, left guard and right guard,” he said this week. “It was all thrown into one. You get in the middle of everything and you hear Stafford behind you calling out plays, and you start thinking in your head, ‘Am I supposed to do that? No, that’s the left tackle.’ It kind of all ran together.”

As a sophomore last season, Vance was the sixth man up front and worked at four positions. He came out of spring as the backup left tackle to Trinton Sturdivant but after a preseason of shuffling is now the starting left guard entering Saturday’s opener against Georgia Southern.

University of Georgia Photo Georgia starting left guard Vince Vance was the sixth man on the line last season

He occasionally works at left tackle, but his predicament compared to last year is a bit more calm.

“We were hoping all the linemen would do the right thing last year, because they were all pretty much nervous and green, but Vince has come a long way,” offensive coordinator Mike Bobo said. “Last year, he had never really played line except the one year at Georgia Military. He was extremely raw and probably wasn’t ready to play, to be truthful, but he had to play, and the improvement he’s made this year from last year has been extremely significant.”

Said Vance: “I’m a lot happier that I can just think left guard for now, but if they put me at something else, I’ll be fine.”

After playing primarily on the defensive line at Bradwell Institute in Hinesville, Ga., Vance earned NJCAA All-America honors two years ago at Georgia Military. He came to Georgia with three seasons of eligibility and is now, as a junior, the only upperclassman up front.

Vance will be one of four Bulldogs offensive linemen making his first career start against the Eagles. The one lineman with starting experience, center Chris Davis, started all 13 games a year ago at left guard.

Though the line is the biggest question offensively for a second straight season, Stafford believes this group is stronger coming out of camp.

“We were putting in a whole new system last year, the numbering and how we do our stuff,” he said. “We had guys who had never played a game or been inside Sanford Stadium before and that kind of thing, so I think we’ve got more experience. The fact I’ve got another year under my belt allows me to help them out.”

Vance appreciates Stafford and said tailback Knowshon Moreno makes all the linemen look good, but he’s ready to lose the “weak link” label.

“That’s speaking bad about me and the rest of the offensive line,” he said. “When people are saying we’re the weakest part of the team, I do look forward to proving them wrong.”

Odds and ends

Receivers coach John Eason on tabbing Kris Durham over Kenneth Harris as starting split end: “Both of them have played extremely well and both have given great effort, but Kris has a little edge in energy.” ... The Bulldogs are 30-2 against nonconference foes under Mark Richt, losing only to Boston College and West Virginia in bowl games.

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