Line may play key role in Alabama-Georgia game

The Georgia Bulldogs have weapons. An accurate, poised quarterback. A potential Heisman candidate at tailback. Two explosive wide receivers. A reliable tight end.

They have playmakers in the secondary and two exceptional inside linebackers.

And while Mark Richt’s third-ranked team doesn’t have a brawling offensive line, the depth and experience up front on both sides of the ball are what allow the playmakers to do their thing.

Eighth-ranked Alabama and No. 3 Georgia provide each other with the opportunity for even more national credibility in Saturday’s 6:45 p.m. showdown at Sanford Stadium. Alabama has the SEC’s top rushing offense (236.8 ypg). Georgia has the league’s stingiest defense on the ground (45.8). That challenge is clear to the Bulldogs.

“They have the No. 1 rush offense in the SEC, and I know they have a great offensive line,” Georgia sophomore free safety Reshad Jones said. “I know they’ve got five running backs and all of them are legit. We need to stop the run.”

Bulldogs coach Mark Richt expects the Crimson Tide will try to run right at them — and may be able to do it.

“I’m trying to think of who we’ve played and who really majors in running the football. We haven’t really played a team that was sold-out to run the ball like Alabama is,” Richt said. “That’s probably why the numbers are the way they are.

“I know our pass defense is not considered one of the tops in the league, but I think everybody that we’ve played has a passing mentality. It will be a little different against Alabama.”

Of course, Georgia’s attack will be very difficult to stop if Bulldogs tailback Knowshon Moreno has a big game. That duty will fall to an offensive line that shuffled its lineup last week against Arizona State. Richt said Wednesday the team will likely start that lineup, which features true freshman Ben Jones lining up across from Alabama nose guard Terrence Cody.

“We have a true freshman on him?” Richt said in mock surprise. “That’s not good. Ben is a tough kid, but I have not seen anyone who will be a match for this guy on Saturdays or Sundays. ...

“Two guys will certainly be working on (Cody) trying to get some movement. I doubt the movement will be straight ahead. We might get some lateral movement out of him, because you can create seams horizontally, too. It doesn’t always have to be just knocking a guy back. I don’t think we will knock him back.”

Richt has already seen Alabama in person this season. His son is a freshman on Clemson’s team, and he was in the stands on opening night in the Georgia Dome.

“I wasn’t really surprised at how good they looked because I have a lot of respect for them,” Richt said. “Going into your second season you tend to hit the ground a little faster than the year before. I really wasn’t surprised by much that I saw. I didn’t see that much. I was way up in the stands and my eyes aren’t that good.”

He did see enough to say that his team will face a physical, confident, aggressive opponent on Saturday night.

“We know we better be ready for them because if you’re not, you’ll get whipped physically,” Richt said. “I know we better be physical.”

Richt called Georgia’s offensive line play in a convincing win over Arizona State “better, but not spectacular by any means.”

They started center Jones (6-3, 304) for the first time. Chris Davis (6-4, 296 sophomore) slid from center to left guard. Guard Vince Vance (6-8, 325 junior) moved outside to left tackle. Clint Boling (6-5, 286 sophomore), who had started two games at right tackle, moved inside to right guard. Justin Anderson (6-5, 338 redshirt freshman) started at right tackle.

They may not be spectacular, but while Alabama leads the league in rushing offense, Georgia leads in total offense, averaging 450 yards per game and 7.1 yards per play.

Cody and defensive ends Lorenzo Washington and Bobby Greenwood will try to contain Moreno.

“He is an amazing player. Spark plug. He is one of the toughest running backs I have ever seen,” Washington said. “He is always competing. You can shut him down, shut him down, shut him down, keep hitting him, then he is going to bust out for a big run.”

Greenwood laughed after seeing Moreno simply hurdle tacklers in game tapes. He added a similar highlight last week against Arizona State, vaulting into the end zone for a touchdown.

“I saw how high he can jump this weekend,” Greenwood. “We just have to focus on tackling. We all know he runs hard, so we’ve got to make sure to bring him down.”

Greenwood was asked if Alabama, which hasn’t relied on exotic schemes in its first four games, had something special for the Bulldogs this week.

“We’ve got a lot of stuff we haven’t gotten around to,” Greenwood said.

“That playbook’s not that thick for nothing,” Greenwood added, spreading his fingers about two inches apart. “It’s a lot of studying.”