Georgia second-year offensive coordinator Todd Monken is happy to answer any comparison questions to this time last year.
Just don’t expect him to list anything that feels similar.
“Not a chance it’s the same,” Monken said Thursday during a Zoom call. “There was no spring and a pandemic, and maybe at this point we don’t know about the Delta variant, but back then we didn’t have a vaccine and didn’t have some of the ways we think can curb this. We didn’t know if we were going to play.
“As a society, we were going through some social injustice and unrest. We had a lot of things that were thrown our way, and I thought our players did a great job of handling them. It’s hard enough to win without distractions.”
With college football programs across the country experiencing challenges on and off the field last year, the Bulldogs took a step back from the elites of the sport such as Alabama, Clemson and Ohio State. The lack of a spring practice, continuing personnel changes due to COVID-19 protocols and uncertainty at quarterback resulted in an 8-2 season that included a Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl victory but also lopsided losses to Alabama and Florida, the two participants in last December’s Southeastern Conference championship game.
D’Wan Mathis started last season’s 37-10 opening win at Arkansas after projected starter Jamie Newman opted out of the season, but Mathis was replaced by Stetson Bennett with the Bulldogs trailing 7-2 in the second quarter. Bennett started the next five games but couldn’t keep pace with Alabama’s Mac Jones or Florida’s Kyle Trask, and he was replaced by touted Southern California transfer JT Daniels, who wasn’t healthy enough at the dawn of the season.
Now it’s familiarity galore for Monken, who has Daniels back along with running backs Zamir White and James Cook, receivers Jermaine Burton and Kearis Jackson, and tight end Darnell Washington.
“We’re just so further ahead,” Monken said. “Our staff has been together for more than a year, so when we do game planning and guys make suggestions, we know each other better, and that makes for an easier working relationship. Then you have the players and their familiarity with the terminology. I feel like a year later that I’m doing things better, and that’s what you’re paid to do – to do it better than you did last year.”
Monken still has plenty of challenges despite having experience, with the most notable being up front. Jamaree Salyer, Warren McClendon and Justin Shaffer are returning starters, but there has been mixing and matching before Saturday’s first scrimmage, and that is certain to continue. Warren Ericson played at center and guard last season but apparently suffered a hand injury late last week, but Monken didn’t discuss that situation.
Saturday’s scrimmage will represent the three-week mark until Georgia faces Clemson in college football’s biggest matchup of the opening weekend. While the Bulldogs are expected to be far more explosive with a full season of Daniels at the helm, the Tigers possess six of the 11 first-team members of the preseason All-ACC defensive team.
“They’ve got a tremendous coaching staff,” Monken said. “Brent Venables is one of the best in the country. They do a tremendous job of creating some conflicts and some issues with you offensively, and they’ve done a really good job of recruiting. They’ve also got some good glue guys who are tough.
“With that being said, we go up against a pretty good defense every day ourselves, so it’s not as if we don’t have any good players going against us. It may not be the same schematically. They will pose some problems, just like we will for them. They’ve got good players, and we’ve got good players, so let’s go.”
Who’s the backup?
If Daniels needs to come out of the game against Clemson, would fifth-year senior Stetson Bennett, redshirt freshman Carson Beck or touted freshman Brock Vandagriff get the opportunity?
“We left spring with Carson as our No. 2 quarterback, but we’re working through that now,” Monken said. “With Brock, it’s hard to assess a freshman player who comes in during the spring. We put a lot on those guys, so right away, they’re not really able to show their ability, because they’re processing so much. It slows down their feet and some things, but there has been some tremendous improvement there.
“Stetson is greatly improved, so we’re in the process of evaluating that, and the next two scrimmages will have a lot of say in that in terms of how we end up going into the first game.”
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524. Follow him on Twitter @DavidSPaschall.