Ohio State (11 days until)
- HC RYAN DAY PRESS CONFERENCE – Julian Sayin Named Starting Quarterback
- Mentioned he likes 6/7 guys along the OL
- We haven’t decided on our OL snaps; we like our 5 guys, but we will feel like we have 2 others that will rotate, similar to how we did during the playoffs. Some guys will get around 20 snaps and rotate.
- Praised Julian Sayin for “consistency, taking care of the football, growth of 6 months, and production this spring/summer.”
- In the next sentence, Day said, “We also feel like Lincoln [Kienholz] is ready to play.”
- No clear leader in RB competition, mentions that 3 will play [Peoples, Donaldson, Jackson].
- On defense, he said they like 3 Safeties, 2 Nickels, 4 Corners, and 4 Linebackers.
- Said TE is the deepest they’ve ever had, could play 4/5 guys
- Day was asked if “Lincoln’s Athleticism could help you in a package or anything?” Day started head nodding mid question and said “sure, yes, yes.”
- When asked about what it was that pushed him over the edge with Sayin at Quarterback: “It was about a week ago, I just started to see some throws and some anticipation. When the rush was getting to him and in those moments, you have to make quick decisions. Even if it’s a checkdown or throwing it away, I also saw some command in the huddle. I also saw some things in Lincoln, but you are asking about Julian.”
Georgia (88 days until)
- HC KIRBY SMART PRESS CONFERENCE
- Asked what he expects to see from Gunner Stockton this year: “Good decisions, good decisions, make good decisions, continue to develop. Understanding situational football. We’ve made football so complicated, I don’t know if some guys know the down and distance, like do we have another down after this play, or is this my last chance to get the first down. Little things, understanding what the defense is doing. ID protections, ID the run game, playing Quarterback is like a computer, processing a million things at once.
- Asked about the “Middle 8 of the Game” in reference to preparing for it and if they practice it after the Notre Dame game:
“Since I came to Georgia and Mel Tucker was on our staff we talked about it, just as they do in the NFL. We keep a stat and we show it every monday, who own the middle 8. It’s crazy how one year it’s Turnovers, that’s what is the greatest indicator of who wins games. The next year it’s explosive plays, whoever has the most explosive plays is going to win the games, and statistically, you can go year by year and look at those 3 things (Explosive Plays, Turnovers, and Winning the Middle 8) and it’s a pretty good indicator on who will win the game. Historically, we have never been worse than we were in that game, we’ve never been outscored as much as we were in that game in the middle eight.
