depth in blowout victory
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Linebacker Dustin Luckie sacks NE Louisiana's Jason Grein during the second quarter of Georgia's 42-3 win. Photo by Rob Carr, Staff |
Staff Writer
Georgia head coach Jim Donnan spent plenty of time in the preseason worrying about his team's lack of depth at linebacker. But the situation is looking better and better now.
Of Georgia's top nine tacklers in Saturday's 42-3 win over Northeast Louisiana, six were linebackers. And the group added a sack and an interception on top of all that.
"Each week, it seems like a different group steps forward," said defensive coordinator Joe Kines. "The linebackers played good today, the secondary played good last week - heck, the secondary played good today - and we got some rush up front today."
So just about everything was funneled to the guys in the middle, and they responded.
Senior co-captain Greg Bright, who led the team with nine tackles, brought down dangerous Northeast Louisiana tailback Marquis Williams the first three times he touched the ball, holding him to five yards.
Fellow senior Brandon Tolbert added four tackles, and pulled in his second career interception in the second quarter. That pick of a Bo Meeks pass deep in Indians territory set up a quick Georgia touchdown that made the score 28-0 late in the half.
"Our line played great today, and our linebackers played good. We had a chance to make a lot of big plays," Tolbert said. "Our line was able to get a lot of pressure. They forced the quarterback to throw a lot of passes he shouldn't have, and we got a lot of turnovers off of that."
Of course, not many Georgia games go by without Bright and Tolbert turning in stellar performances. More important on Saturday was the play of the Bulldogs' young linebackers, whose inexperience led to Donnan's depth worries in the first place.
Sophomore Dustin Luckie in particular stood out. The Stone Mountain native, who made a big tackle in the backfield last week against South Carolina, had four tackles Saturday, and made several key plays. He made his biggest impression in the second quarter, when he dragged down Indians quarterback Jason Glein for a loss of eight yards on a second-and-goal at the Georgia 6. Northeast Louisiana settled for a field goal on that possession, its only score.
"On the sack, I was really in the wrong place," Luckie said. "Fortunately, things turned out all right. The coaches told me to, and I just decided I needed to step it up and be more of a leader."
True freshman Adrian Hollingshed did the same, turning in a four-tackle performance to complement Luckie's work. And Luckie's brother, Mike, returned from a wrist injury that had kept him out all season to finally see some action. So all of a sudden, Georgia has a few more experienced linebackers on the roster.
"We're real deep at linebacker right now," said Bright. "Everybody's playing good right now, and the reason we're playing good is that the starters are setting the example for the second-stringers and the third-stringers. The young guys see us doing in the right way and that's the way they're going to do it.
"Game experience does nothing but help. Anytime you can get some of your second-team and third-team players in there, it helps out a lot because you're resting your starters and still getting your second- and third-stringers in there to prepare for the future."
Which, no pun intended, is looking rather bright.