Physicality. It’s one of those strengths that nearly every football player looks to emulate, including Georgia’s offensive line this season.
“Physicality, going to finish people. Just having a mindset to go out there and make somebody quit,” Georgia right guard Tate Ratledge said. “I think that’s what it takes to play in the trenches anywhere. I’d like to see that mindset out of all of us and it be a consistent mindset, not just a once-a-week kind of thing. Going out there and improving on something every day.”
Despite the quest for improvement, Georgia’s offensive line has been one of the strongest units on the roster aside from a rough game against South Carolina. The group placed second for the Joe Moore Award last season, an award given to the best offensive line in college football. They also had four different players named to preseason
All-SEC teams, including three named to the first team.
Leading the way for the group is center Sedrick Van Pran. The senior has been a starter in both of the Bulldogs’ national championship seasons and has served as a leader for not only the offensive line, but the team as a whole. Van Pran was a captain in all three of the Bulldogs’ postseason games last year.
“On the field, I have more trust in Sed than I’ve ever had next to anybody I’ve played with,” Ratledge said. “Off the field, we’re like brothers. We’re always together, always
X Sedrick Van Pran wore #77 against Ball State, Xavier Truss wore #77 against UT Martin and Tate Ratledge wore #77 against South Carolina in honor of their late teammate Devin Willock. A different Bulldog offensive lineman will be wearing Willock’s number each game this season.
X Van Pran served as a captain in both of Georgia’s postseason victories and Georgia’s first and third games of the 2023 season. He also attended SEC Media Days as one of Georgia’s three representatives.
X Georgia’s offensive line placed second for the Joe Moore award last year and on the watch list this season. Van Pran was named to the watch list for the Rimington Award.
X Ratledge, Van Pran and Amarius Mims were all named to the preseason All-SEC first team while Truss was named to the second team.
hanging out, always watching film together, so me and him have definitely built a special bond over the past three to four years we’ve been here.” Ratledge himself has been a key contributor to Georgia’s offensive line for the past three seasons. While also well known for his trademark mullet and podcast “Real Talk” with defensive lineman Zion Logue, the former five-star has been a starter since the 2021 national championship season. He suffered an injury and missed most of that season, but he did start the entire 2022 season.
Left guard Xavier Truss has also started since last season, which marks the second straight year the three interior offensive linemen have played together.
“It definitely helps for sure, for the simple fact you got some familiar faces to the left and to the right of you,” Van Pran said at SEC Media Days before the season. “So that’s a big thing. It’s a lot about chemistry, about familiarity. Those types of things that definitely help and it makes the transition easier.”
The transition is also easier when a player that has starting experience steps into a full-time starting role. Enter Amarius Mims, who started several games at right tackle in relief of an injured Warren McClendon last year.
Mims suffered a severely sprained ankle against South Carolina, which Smart said will keep him out for several weeks. Dylan Fairchild took over at left guard and shifted Truss over to right tackle. Redshirt freshman Earnest Greene III is in his first year as a starter at left tackle, leaving the left side full of brand-new starters.
Despite the unexpected playing time, Van Pran spoke highly of Fairchild’s performance on Saturday.
“I think he played great,” Van Pran said. “I think he played with great intelligence. I think he did a great job
communicating between the tackler and myself. I think he did a good job of playing nasty, I saw him a few times trying to finish some blocks. I’m really happy for him that, as a younger guy, he was able to play a full game. I think that can do volumes for us as a team, but also for him and his career, so I’m really excited about it.”
While Georgia’s offensive line found a way to improve after Mims’ injury, the first half of the South Carolina game was rough. The unit allowed two sacks after surrendering only a single sack in the first two games of the season. However, with several starters from last year’s team and young players across the line with plenty of potential, Georgia’s unit could reach even further heights if they can clean up their issues and further embody ‘physicality.’
“I think they’re amazing,” defensive lineman Warren Brinson said. “I don’t think I’m gonna play against a better offensive line than them … That’s the best offensive line, no, the best two offensive lines in the country. The ones and twos. They give it to us every day. They get us prepared for the game. They make the games easier for us.”
That’s the best offensive line, no, the best two offensive lines in the country.
It’s time for the Bulldogs to light up Sanford Stadium once again.
In what could be the last night game played in Sanford this season, Georgia football will host the University of Alabama at Birmingham on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. It will be Georgia’s last non-conference game until the annual rivalry bout with Georgia Tech in the final game of the regular season.
The Bulldogs are coming off of a 24-14 victory over South Carolina last Saturday, where Dajiun Edwards returned to set a career high with 116 rushing yards and the defense pitched a second-half shutout. UAB lost to Louisiana at home by a score of 41-21. Georgia is still holding onto its No. 1 ranking. Despite a few early slow starts on offense, the team has mostly cruised through the regular season, outside of a troubling first half against South Carolina.
This is an all-new regime for UAB football, a program whose trajectory over the past few decades has been nothing short of a roller coaster.
A quick recap: UAB was an independent program until joining Conference USA in the 1990’s, where it remained until joining the American Athletic Conference this sea-
son. After 2014, UAB shut down its football program entirely to save money. However, after overwhelming public support, UAB football was officially revived beginning in the 2017 season.
Head coach Bill Clark then led the Blazers to two conference championships in 2018 and 2020, as well as five straight bowl game appearances from 2017 to 2021. UAB football was officially back from the dead.
Clark has since resigned due to health concerns and in his place is former NFL quarterback Trent Dilfer. Dilfer, who won a Super Bowl in the 2000 season as the starting quarterback for the Baltimore Ravens, has never held a job coaching college football before. He was the head coach for Lipscomb Academy in Tennessee from 2019 to 2022, where he won two state championships.
Dilfer now has the responsibility of continuing the UAB resurgence with two first-time collegiate coordinators, offensive coordinator Alex Mortensen and defensive coordinator Sione Ta’ufo’ou. The latter held the same position under Dilfer at Lipscomb.
UAB is coming off a 7-6 season under then-interim head coach Bryant Vincent. This year, the offense looks a lot different.
X UAB head coach Trent Dilfer won a Super Bowl as the starting quarterback for the Baltimore Ravens in the 2000 season. In 1995, he became the first, and only to date, quarterback in NFL history to be ejected from a game.
X This is UAB’s first year as a member of the American Athletic Conference. They had previously been a part of Conference-USA since the mid-90’s.
X Sanford is under the lights again. This is the first 7:30 pm kickoff in Sanford Stadium since the Bulldogs’ 2020 matchup with Mississippi State.
X UAB offensive coordinator Alex Mortensen was once one of the state of Georgia’s most coveted recruits in high school at Landmark Christian. As a senior in 2003, he was named the Class-A Offensive Player of the Year by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and was one of the highest rated players in the state by Rivals.com.
X Blazer football is back from the dead. After the university made the controversial decision in 2014 to shut down its football program, the team was officially restored ahead of the 2017 season.
X Georgia’s defense has been a brick wall this season. The Bulldogs currently rank third in the nation with just 8.0 points allowed per game.
318.7
The Blazers need to replace all five starters from last year’s offensive line, while their starting quarterback and leading receiver are gone.
Last year, UAB’s defense allowed the fewest total passing yards in Conference USA, but the team’s best defensive back, Jaylen Key, transferred to Alabama. Meanwhile, running back Dewayne McBride, the 2022 C-USA Player of the Year, is now in the NFL.
UAB has a lot of production to replace, alongside a first-time head coach who has never coached at the collegiate level and two first-time collegiate coordinators. That’s not the best recipe for success against a back-to-back national champion that is ranked No. 1.
UAB’s offense is led by Baylor transfer quarterback Jacob Zeno, who has thrown for 956 yards — more yards than he’s thrown than in any previous stops — alongside six touchdowns and five interceptions this season. The Blazers’ leading receiver is Tejhaun Palmer, who has caught 12 passes for 148 yards and one touchdown on the year.
Isaiah Jacobs and Jermaine Brown split carries in the backfield, but UAB is just 11th in the AAC in rushing yards. However, thanks to the high-volume passing attack the team has displayed so far, UAB is No. 4 in the conference in total yards per game with 440.
Dilfer’s hiring signaled that UAB was planning on airing it out based on his former career as a quarterback. So far, that’s been exactly what the team has done. The Blazers lead their conference in passing yards and are currently tied with Georgia for No. 14 in the nation. This presents another challenge for the Georgia secondary after last week’s matchup against another heavy passing offense in South Carolina.
With preseason All-American safety Javon Bullard likely still dealing with an
injury, the Bulldogs will probably rely on David Daniel-Sisavanh and Dan Jackson to keep the Blazers’ air attack at bay. UAB’s rushing attack has been below average at best, and if the passing game can’t get going early, the Bulldogs could jump out to a big lead.
UAB’s defense has allowed the thirdmost yards in the AAC so far this year, and is surrendering 32 points per game. The team gave up 49 in a loss to Georgia Southern and 41 in a loss to Louisiana. The run defense is spearheaded by two skilled defensive tackles in Fish McWilliams and Tyrique Howard — who stands at a staggering 6-foot-6-inches — but is near the bottom of the conference statistically.
Georgia’s running game has struggled to start the season, but has a chance to continue its success from South Carolina on Saturday against a team that has allowed 190 yards per game on the ground this season. It’s unfair to expect UAB to put up much of a fight in this one. The team is in the first year of a hard reset for both the coaching staff and the conference, while Georgia is a football powerhouse riddled with five-star athletes and an elite coaching staff.
UAB’s high-volume passing offense should give the secondary a good chance to figure out how it wants to approach the high-octane air attacks in the SEC. On offense, Georgia will continue to get quarterback Carson Beck and offensive coordinator Mike Bobo settled in, while also hoping to improve its performance on the ground.
As Georgia’s last non-conference game until the final week of the season, it’s likely that a lot of players will rotate in and out of the action. The Bulldogs match up pretty well with UAB to say the least, but they can’t afford a bad performance against the Blazers as the true SEC tests lie just ahead.
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John JamesThe last time Georgia lost in Sanford Stadium, Lizzo’s “Truth Hurts” was the No. 1 song in the country.
When Texas walked into Bryant-Denny Stadium and beat Alabama at home two weeks ago, Georgia seized college football’s longest active home winning streak. It’s been nearly four years since anyone escaped Athens with a victory.
The Bulldogs’ 21-game home winning streak has endured two U.S. presidents, five Georgia senators and seven Taylor Swift albums. More importantly than any of those milestones, that run has also seen the heights of college football in the form of back-to-back national championship victories.
Georgia won against five ranked teams at home over that period, including a 27-13 statement win over No. 2 Tennessee last season. To put it plainly, the Bulldogs have been nearly untouchable in Sanford — ever since their 56-7 thrashing of UAB in September 2021, they’ve
beaten every single visiting opponent by double digits.
Everyone knows how good Georgia is. 21 consecutive home victories is just the icing on top of two national championships and perennial excellence during head coach Kirby Smart’s tenure. While everyone has been talking about the talent on Georgia’s roster and the preparation of Georgia’s coaching staff, the atmosphere in Sanford Stadium hasn’t gotten enough credit.
In last year’s game against Tennessee — the most-anticipated matchup in Sanford since the 2019 Notre Dame game — Bulldog fans maxed out at a volume of 132.6 decibels. That’s nearly as loud as a jet plane taking off, and the noise level got over 130 multiple times during the game.
The environment clearly rattled Tennessee in the matchup. The Volunteers committed eight pre-snap penalties during the game, including three false starts in the first quarter. Quarterback Hendon Hooker and his offense were simply unable
to get on the same page, largely due to the raucous roar from the Bulldog faithful.
“It was amazing,” defensive lineman Nazir Stackhouse said after the 2022 game. “Coach Smart challenged Dawg Nation and they responded, they over-succeeded. It got to a point [where] my body was shaking when I was on the field. It was a moment I’ll never forget.”
But even with their recent overall success in Sanford, the Bulldogs can’t afford to let their guard down. The last time the Bulldogs lost at home, they entered the game as a 21.5-point favorite. When South Carolina came to Sanford last Saturday,
they ended the first half with a 14-3 lead. Georgia escaped with its win streak intact, but relying on massive second-half comebacks is a recipe for disaster.
Georgia still has No. 15 Ole Miss on the schedule, not to mention a Missouri team coming off a ranked win of its own. Upsets happen in college football, as evidenced by Texas’ triumph over Alabama on the Crimson Tide’s home turf. Despite the unflinching support at their home base, the Bulldogs shouldn’t overlook any of the teams remaining on their 2023 slate. But if the team can keep up their historic streak, they can count on a warm welcome between the hedges.
Georgia inside linebacker Jamon Dumas-Johnson
Junior Jamon Dumas-Johnson is poised to be the next face of Georgia’s linebacker room. Dumas-Johnson was named to the preseason All-SEC first team and Butkus Award watchlist, after he finished second on the team in tackles and sacks last season. Just over two years ago, Johnson appeared in his first game in Sanford Stadium, and cemented his debut with a 20-yard interception return for a touchdown in the Bulldogs’ 56-7 win over the Blazers. Dumas-Johnson, now facing UAB as an established leader and starter, could put on a repeat performance.
UAB quarterback Jacob Zeno
After he started in only two games last season, Jacob Zeno has taken over as the commander of the Blazer’s offense. Zeno transferred to UAB in 2021 after playing two seasons at Baylor. He initially received an offer to play for Georgia, but elected to play for Baylor after Fran Brown — current Georgia defensive backs coach — recruited him. Brown served as an assistant head coach for Baylor before leaving after the 2018 season. In the Blazers’ first three games of the 2023 season, Zeno passed for a total of 956 yards and six touchdowns.
In only his second season, safety Malaki Starks is one of the biggest threats in Georgia’s secondary. Starks was a finalist for the Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year Award in 2022 and named to the preseason All-SEC first team in 2023. In the opener against UT Martin, the sophomore led the team with eight tackles and a pass breakup. Against Ball State, Starks was one of three Bulldogs to snag an interception. Fittingly, his coach in the defensive back room is none other than Brown. The combination of Starks’ talent and Brown’s knowledge of Zeno’s skillset could be a big problem for the Blazers.
UAB wide receiver Tejhuan Palmer
Wide receiver Tejhuan Palmer has been Zeno’s favorite target so far into the 2023 season. Palmer was the Blazer’s second leading receiver in 2022 and was an All-Conference USA honorable mention. Palmer caught his first touchdown of the season in UAB’s opening win over North Carolina A&T and led the Blazers with 102 receiving yards in their loss to Georgia Southern. After a disappointing Week 3, Palmer could see a bounce back performance against Georgia.
Georgia wide receiver Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint
Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint hit the ground running in his season debut against Ball State. The addition of Rosemy-Jacksaint gives quarterback Carson Beck a veteran target among a core of younger receivers. Against the Cardinals, Rosemy-Jacksaint recorded 17 receiving yards and a touchdown and led the Bulldogs in receiving against South Carolina with six receptions for 71 yards. The sure-handed senior could develop as one of the more reliable targets for Beck and offensive coordinator Mike Bobo going forward, as they figure out an inconsistent passing offense.
UAB linebacker Jackson Bratton
After not seeing the field in two seasons with Alabama, linebacker Jackson Bratton transferred to UAB in 2022, where he became a key member of the Blazer defense. In three games this season, Bratton recorded 19 total tackles, over half of his previous season total of 31. Now one of the defensive leaders for the Blazers, Bratton may be a threat in the middle that the Bulldog offense has to account for.
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In his first year as a key contributor, Mekhi Mews earned the nickname “Waffle House” from Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo. He didn’t get the name from his incredible appetite or his particular affinity for breakfast food.
Instead, the walk-on receiver from Grayson, Georgia, got his name for being “always open,” just like the 24/7 fast food restaurant.
Listed at 5-foot-8-inches tall, Mews may not fit the prototypical build of the average SEC player, however, that did not stop him from putting up impressive numbers throughout high school.
Mews originally began his high school career at football powerhouse Grayson High School, where he saw minimal snaps throughout his first three years. He then elected to transfer and found a new home at Central Gwinnett High School.
In his senior year with the Black Knights, Mews was named the 2020 Gwinnett County Wide Receiver of the Year and Region 8-6A Player of the Year after turning 111 touches into 1,522 total yards and 11 touchdowns. This garnered the attention of multiple lower-level schools, primarily Division-II and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics programs.
“Out of high school, I was not highly recruited, I had a couple of Division-II, Division-III offers,” Mews said. “I felt like Georgia — when they offered me the PWO [Preferred Walk-On] — it was perfect. Just 45 minutes from home, so I just wanted to make the most of it once I got here and kind of just put my head down every day and work.”
After arriving on campus, Mews received sparse playing time during his first two seasons. The first snaps he saw for Georgia came against Charleston Southern in 2021 where he logged a 12-yard kick return and a 4-yard punt return. In 2022, he appeared in four games and caught two passes.
It was not until G-Day this past April that fans got a real glimpse at what Mews could bring to the team. He returned a kick for a touchdown that didn’t make the scoreboard, but Mews still made his mark on the box score with four catches for 91 yards and a touchdown.
Although this was the first taste fans got of Mews, this came as no surprise to his teammates, especially those in the wide receiver room.
“I’ve seen it every day since he came in here,” wide receiver Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint said. “Him being on scout teams, just going out there against the ones and giving everybody the blues. Every day he makes plays — that’s all he does … I’m just excited for him at this point. I know how hard he worked to get to this point, and now he got his opportunity and I hope he runs with it.”
And run with it he has. Mews is current-
ly fourth on the team in receiving with six catches for 102 yards and a touchdown. Not only has he made an impact in the passing game, but he’s provided a burst on special teams. Against Ball State, Mews started the day off with a 47-yard return on the opening kickoff, which he later followed up with a 69-yard punt return touchdown to put the Bulldogs on the board after a scoreless first quarter.
“Mekhi works his tail off every day, and that’s really all it comes down to,” safety and fellow walk-on Dan Jackson said. “If you show you can play and you show you have that work ethic, coach Smart really appreciates that. When you have that kind of athleticism, they are going to find a spot for you. And then the hard work is just an extra.”
As Mews slowly becomes a fan favorite on the roster, his season has only just begun. With the continued absence of wide receiver Ladd McConkey, who’s been out due to a back injury, Mews will likely receive more snaps as the team heads into its game against UAB.
As long as Mews continues to live up to the “Waffle House” nickname and serve the Bulldogs around the clock, Georgia’s opponents will have another electric receiver to keep an eye on.
I know how hard he worked to get to this point, and now he got his opportunity and I hope he runs with it.
John James
UAB is coming to Athens this weekend to take on the reigning national champions — the third game between the teams in college football history.
It’s been 20 years since the first matchup saw familiar faces such as David Greene, Ben Watson and David Pollack take on the Blazers.
In Mark Richt’s third campaign as head coach, the Bulldogs went on to finish 11-3 and claim victory over Purdue — then led by Drew Brees — in the Capital One Bowl. Before making the postseason, No. 4 Georgia escaped an unranked UAB with a 16-13 win on Oct. 25, 2003.
Ahead of their matchup two decades later, here’s The Red & Black’s postgame coverage from the first collision between Georgia and UAB. The following article, pulled from the Georgia Historic Newspapers archive, appears exactly as it was published in 2003.
Brad Harrison
OCT. 27, 2003 — Now the Georgia Bulldogs will do what many fans have been doing the past two weeks — focus on the Florida Gators.
The Bulldogs improved to 7-1 overall on the year by holding off an upset-minded UAB team 16-13 Saturday at Sanford Stadium.
“I’m very grateful that we won,” said Georgia head football coach Mark Richt. “We played a team that did a super job considering their circumstances after losing their starting quarterback due to an injury.
“I’m sure people expected a lot more from our players on the scoreboard, but I don’t think you can expect more than the effort they gave,” he said.
The win sets up a showdown between Georgia and Florida Saturday in Jacksonville at 3:30 p.m. that will be a key factor in determining the winner of the SEC eastern division.
A Bulldog loss would give both the Bulldogs and the Gators identical 4-2 SEC records, with Florida winning the tiebreaker.
A win by Georgia would put the Bulldogs in position to clinch the SEC East.
“We’re finding ways to win, and that’s a positive sign, but we’re definitely gonna have to play better,” said Georgia quarterback David Greene.
After opening the game with a five-play scoring drive spanning 62 yards to lead 7-0, the Georgia offense struggled
to capitalize on scoring chances the rest of the day.
The opening touchdown came on a 16-yard pass from Greene to Damien Gary. Greene was 20-of-33 for 221 yards with two interceptions. Michael Cooper led Georgia on the ground with 79 yards on 14 carries, and Ben Watson had 55 yards receiving to lead Georgia’s air attack.
After the Bulldog offense drove to the YAB 12-yard-line on their second offensive drive of the afternoon, the offense stalled.
The chance of a score would be erased as Billy Bennett’s 30-yard field goal missed. Bennett would redeem himself early in the second quarter, nailing a 48-yard field goal to put Georgia up 10-0.
With a 10-0 lead and a stingy defense that held the Blazers to 24 offensive yards in the first quarter, the Bulldogs looked to be slowly pulling away.
But the Blazers drove 75 yards on 18 plays, consuming 9:45 on the clock. The drive ended with a one-yard Theron Dudley touchdown run.
The Blazers’ second quarter rally would continue, as they held the Georgia offense to three-and-out and drove to a 27-yard field goal by Nick Hayes as time expired in the first half to knot the score at 10-10.
“They were doing a little bit of quarterback follow-up with the option game that we hadn’t seen, so we weren’t as prepared for that,” said Georgia defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder. “There was a little bit of change in the offensive coordinator’s psychology in how he called the game and it caught us off guard with a couple of draws.”
As the second half began, the Bulldogs began to fall behind.
After Greene threw one of his two interceptions, the Blazers converted the chance into a 47-yard field goal to lead 13-10 with 9:52 left in the third.
It would be the last time that UAB’s offense would find the scoreboard, as Bennett’s field goals of 29 and 31 yards
put Georgia up 16-13 with 12:57 left in the fourth.
The fourth quarter, despite the Georgia lead, would not be without drama.
While trying to drive for a score to put the game away with less than five minutes to play, Greene was intercepted by James Wainwright, giving UAB the ball at their own 43 with 3:02 to play.
After completing a 25-yard pass from Chris Williams to Bradly Chavez, the Blazers found themselves with a first down at the Bulldog 32.
The Georgia defense, which surrendered 198 total yards on the day, would put an end to the threat by pushing the Blazers back to near mid field and holding on four downs.
“I kinda like having pressure on my shoulders. If the pressure has to be on our shoulders, so be it,” Georgia defensive tackle Ken Veal said. “We’ll be man enough to go out and take care of business.”
The Georgia offense was able to run out the clock for the remainder of the game, preserving the win.
I’m sure people expected a lot more from our players on the scoreboard, but I don’t think you can expect more than the effort they gave.
MARK RICHT | FORMER GEORGIA HEAD FOOTBALL COACH
