FIELDS GONE?
Georgia backup quarterback Justin Fields intends to transfer, the USA Today reported Monday night.Fields has completed 27 of 39 passes (69.2 percent) for 328 yards and four touchdowns as a freshman, and he has rushed 42 times for 266 yards (6.3 per carry) and four scores. The 6-foot-3, 225-pounder from Kennesaw has appeared in 12 of 13 contests and was asked minutes after the SEC championship game if he wanted to end any speculation about him transferring.“Right now this season is not over with,” Fields said then. “We still have more games. I’m focused on this team, and that’s it.”— David Paschall
Georgia’s defensive backs in the Sugar Bowl against Texas will be under the guidance of the head man himself.
Kirby Smart has taken over the secondary following Mel Tucker’s departure earlier this month to become the new head coach at Colorado. The New Year’s night showdown against the Longhorns in New Orleans will be the first time Smart has handled defensive backs since the 2014 season, when he was in his seventh of eight years as Alabama’s defensive coordinator.
Smart worked with the Crimson Tide’s inside linebackers in 2015, with Tucker overseeing the secondary.
“I have always been involved with the defense, and it will continue to be that way,” Smart said Monday in a news conference. “I think the biggest thing for me will be making sure the defensive backs get the attention they need, because there are times you will have four, five or six guys out on the field at a time, and you have to have enough sets of eyes.”
Smart will be aided by graduate assistant Bacarri Rambo, a former Georgia All-American who had a four-year NFL career from 2013 to 2016 with Washington, Buffalo and Miami.
The Bulldogs held their third on-campus practice for the Sugar Bowl on Monday, which marked a third opportunity for defensive backs to work under their new direct superior. Georgia will work through Saturday before breaking for Christmas.
“It’s not really different other than he’s the boss,” redshirt freshman cornerback Eric Stokes said. “He’s the head man, so you feel it more. You’re moving more, and you’re giving it all you’ve got. We always give it all we’ve got, but with him you better tighten up. It’s the head man.”
The Bulldogs also are moving on without offensive quality control assistant Jay Johnson and defensive quality control assistant Tyson Summers, who have been hired by Tucker as the two coordinators for the Buffaloes. Smart said the defensive responsibilities overall would be shared among inside linebackers coach Glenn Schumann, outside linebackers coach Dan Lanning and defensive line coach Tray Scott.
“We’ve got guys with experience calling things, whether in a spring game or in all my years,” Smart said. “We would build, as a defensive unit, the call sheet that Mel used and were able to pull from that in the game. We made adjustments together during the game, so that’s not something that just one person does.
“It was the same way when I was at Alabama. It was a team effort, and it will continue to be that.”
There will be no timetable for naming Tucker’s successor, according to Smart, who added that there would be no shortage of interest.
Smart said he was not aware of any Bulldogs player skipping the bowl but that several juniors were in the gathering stage and awaiting feedback from the NFL’s College Advisory Committee. Georgia is making its 10th Sugar Bowl appearance, and Smart is having to relay the importance of this trip to his players even though it’s not a part of this season’s four-team playoff.
“A traditionalist like myself sees bowl games and the Sugar Bowl in particular a certain type of way,” Smart said. “Our guys don’t remember Herschel Walker or even Robert Edwards, so it’s very different and a very delicate situation. You have to make football meaningful and fun, and there is a ton that’s meaningful about getting to play another game and increase your legacy as a senior class.
“Kids today look at it as their next opportunity, and we are seeing guys declaring for the draft and not seeing a value in playing in them. Some of my best memories were from the Outback and Peach bowls. At the end of the day, it’s about a memory and a legacy and winning the Sugar Bowl and being a part of something that is bigger than yourself. That’s what you have to promote.”
Sophomore quarterback Jake Fromm doesn’t believe the Bulldogs will travel to New Orleans just to experience a new city.
“The seniors and juniors want to play at the next level,” Fromm said. “The young guys want to prove themselves. In one shape or form, guys are going to find motivation to play in this game.”
Early enrollees
Center Clay Webb, cornerback D.J. Daniel and defensive tackle Tramel Walthour are Georgia early enrollees who have been practicing since last Friday, and defensive end Jermaine Johnson of Independence (Kansas) Community College joined them Monday.
Walthour signed last year but had to take a detour to Hutchinson (Kansas) Community College.
“We wanted Tramel to get bigger, stronger and faster and for him to go play with the opportunity to improve, which we think he did,” Smart said. “We got to follow him throughout the year and stayed in communication with him and thought he did some really good things. He’s come back in good shape.
“I haven’t been able to see much in the first couple of practices because he hasn’t been in pads, but we’re pleased with where he is.”
Under NCAA rules, early enrollees can participate in on-campus bowl practices but cannot travel with the team to the bowl.
Odds and ends
D’Andre Walker sustained a groin injury during the fourth quarter of the SEC championship game and has yet to practice, but Smart said the senior outside linebacker would be ready for the bowl. Two players who missed the league title game, sophomore inside linebacker Monty Rice and freshman offensive lineman Cade Mays, are practicing. Freshman tight end Luke Ford is home in Illinois but will rejoin the team after Christmas, Smart said. Fromm on the loss to Alabama: “I’ve moved on from it. I can’t go back and change anything. I gave it my best shot, and that’s all I can ask myself to do.”
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.