Shockley: Lambert, new players need to ‘play within selves’
D.J.’S THREE KEYS TO VICTORY
1. Play within yourself and your role. There will be a lot of new players starting this Saturday, not the least of which is quarterback Greyson Lambert. It is of the utmost importance that they not play outside the framework of their abilities. If each individual does his job, it can help the overall unit succeed. I have been the new guy and there were times I forced the issue by trying to make a play. That is when I struggled. Play within yourself and do not try to do too much and I guarantee the outcome will be favorable.
2. Play ball-hawking defense. When a team comes to town on the road they look for any chance to gain confidence. You can take that away quickly by stopping the run and making them turn it over. Play sound gap defense and fly around with violent intent. Turnovers are gut-wrenching and hard to overcome. If Georgia plays with a high level of intensity, Louisiana-Monroe will lose confidence early.
3. Put the “special” in special teams. Coach Richt always pointed out the opening kickoff and second-half kickoff were two of the most important plays of a game. Field position means everything and whenever we had a short field our confidence was higher that we would score. The Special teams really can win a game just by the way they position the ball or flip field position throughout a game. Place-kicker Marshall Morgan and punter Collin Barber need to have strong performances.
Prediction: Dawgs win 44-10 off a strong showing from the run game. Defense stifles ULM with tons of pressure.
D.J. Shockley played quarterback for Georgia from 2002-05 and led the Bulldogs to the SEC championship in 2005. After a stint in the NFL, Shockley now provides football analysis and commentary for WSB on SportsZone (Fridays, 11:15 p.m.) and Bulldogs GameDay (Saturdays, 10 p.m.) and on CW69 for “Falcons Playback” (Mondays, 6 p.m.) and “Rise up Weekly” (Saturdays at 11 p.m.) He’ll also be providing analysis for DawgNation.com this fall.
