ATHENS, Ga. – Georgia football coach Mark Richt doesn’t believe it’s a lack of energy hurting his Bulldogs at the start of Southeastern Conference games but an inability to adjust.
The Bulldogs allowed touchdowns on their first defensive series against South Carolina, Arkansas and Mississippi State. They trailed wire-to-wire in losses at South Carolina (17-6) and MSU (24-12) and managed to pull even twice with the Razorbacks, once in the first quarter and again late, before falling 31-24.
“Any time you play a team, they’re going to do something new, and whatever is new, they’re going to give it to you in the first series of the game,” Richt said Tuesday. “You can prepare for everything that you’ve seen on film, but the bottom line is that you’re probably going to see something that you haven’t seen that needs to be adjusted to. When you see something new that first series, you hope you adjust well to it, and we just haven’t been able to.”
Georgia’s offense has scored four touchdowns the past three weeks, which is tied for the fewest with Vanderbilt among SEC teams, but the Commodores didn’t play last week.
“I feel like we just need to execute,” senior receiver Kris Durham said. “We’ve moved the ball up and down the field, but we’re not able to execute in the red zone. That has nothing to do with play-calling. That’s about players needing to take a look at themselves, dig down deep and focus on that.”