Plenty at stake for Bulldogs' John Theus against Nittany Lions

Georgia senior right tackle John Theus expects to be challenged in Saturday's TaxSlayer Bowl by Penn State defensive end Carl Nassib, the winner of this season's Lombardi Award.
Georgia senior right tackle John Theus expects to be challenged in Saturday's TaxSlayer Bowl by Penn State defensive end Carl Nassib, the winner of this season's Lombardi Award.

Don't try to convince Georgia senior right tackle John Theus that mid-level bowl games are meaningless.

Theus will be looking to notch a 10th win this season and a 40th career victory Saturday when the Bulldogs (9-3) face Penn State (7-5) in the TaxSlayer Bowl. The game will take place in Jacksonville, Fla., his hometown, and there may be no bigger stage in which to showcase his NFL potential.

The 6-foot-6, 303-pounder is expected to be matched most of the day against Nittany Lions defensive end Carl Nassib, a 6-7, 272-pound senior who earlier this month won the Lombardi Award, which is given annually to college football's top offensive lineman, defensive lineman or linebacker.

"I always look forward to a challenge, and it's the last game of my career," Theus said. "It could be an opportunity to make or lose money, but I welcome the challenge. He obviously won the lineman of the year in college football. He's a great player, and I'm looking forward to playing him."

Georgia held its third practice in Jacksonville on Wednesday morning, working out for two hours in full pads.

"In bowl games, the team that is more excited to be there and excited to play tends to do better," Bulldogs interim coach Bryan McClendon said after the practice. "You have to maintain your conditioning, too. It's hard to judge how you will play in bowl games because of the time between the games, but you prepare, focus and get ready to compete. You should be excited to play again."

Nassib arrived at Penn State as a walk-on, receiving a scholarship during Bill O'Brien's second and final season as coach in 2013. His meteoric rise from obscurity continued this season, during which he has recorded 46 tackles, 19.5 tackles for loss and a nation-leading 15.5 sacks.

He also has forced six fumbles and collected an interception.

"They've got a Lombardi winner at defensive end, and their other defensive end, I think, is just as talented as he is but just a little bit younger," McClendon said.

Starting opposite Nassib is 6-4, 258-pound sophomore Garrett Sickels, who has 31 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, three sacks and a forced fumble. Sickels is expected to mostly be paired against Georgia sophomore left tackle Isaiah Wynn, a 6-2, 278-pounder who replaced Theus at that spot in early November.

CBS projects Theus as the No. 7 tackle and the No. 54 overall prospect in the 2016 NFL draft, putting him in the back half of the second round. Nassib is pegged as the No. 8 defensive end and the No. 56 prospect.

"I've definitely thought about it a little bit," Theus said. "Facing this guy is definitely an opportunity to kind of showcase things, so bowl season is not a time to take a little time off. If anything, it's a time to work harder and get ready for that next level.

"The ultimate goal is to win the game and to play well individually."

Georgia will be playing a second consecutive bowl without its offensive coordinator, with the Bulldogs also minus their head coach this time. The biggest constant for the offense is tight ends coach John Lilly, who called the plays during last December's 37-14 whipping of Louisville in the Belk Bowl and will do so again Saturday.

Theus helped the Bulldogs rush for 292 yards against the Cardinals.

"I told Coach Lilly that we were going to do the same thing as last year," Theus said. "That's the plan."

Of course, Nick Chubb rushed 33 times for 266 of those yards, and he is now recovering from knee surgery.

"We'll figure something out," Theus said. "I have a lot of faith in Coach Lilly and his ability to coach plays."

Odds and ends

The Bulldogs will hold their final practice of the season this morning. Lilly, who worked from the sideline this season, will call plays from the coaching booth. Outside linebackers coach Kevin Sherrer worked from the booth this season but will call defensive signals from the field. Former Bulldogs head coach Mark Richt on Wednesday announced the hires of Thomas Brown (co-offensive coordinator and running backs coach), Todd Hartley (special teams coordinator) and Jon Richt (unspecified offensive assistant) at Miami. New Georgia coach Kirby Smart, who is finishing up his duties as defensive coordinator at Alabama, is expected to be at the TaxSlayer Bowl as an observer.

Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.

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