Brooks: CU Secondary Gets Set For Green's Return

BOULDER - Ashley Ambrose and his guys in the Colorado secondary have heard the news, seen the scouting reports, read the websites: Welcome back, A.J.

Georgia super-receiver A.J. Green returns this weekend from an NCAA-mandated four-game suspension. How did the Buffaloes get so lucky?

Yes, the Buffs in the back end are on notice, but they've noticed something else, too. Even if Green wasn't debuting on Saturday night in Folsom Field (5 p.m., FSN), the Bulldogs would show up with a big, fast, formidable receiving corps.

"They've got big receivers who go up and attack the ball . . . they do a good job of that," safety Anthony Perkins said. "They get down the field fast and go make plays. It's going to be a challenge for our corners and safeties, but I think we're up for it."

In Green's absence, quarterback Aaron Murray's receiver of choice has been Kris Durham, a 6-foot-5 senior who has made a team-high 17 receptions for 324 yards and one touchdown. No other UGA receiver has reached double figures in receptions, but Tavarres King (6-1) and Logan Gray (6-2) have made nine (198 yards, 2 TDs) and eight (104, 1), respectively.

"They have guys who can make plays," CU cornerback Jalil Brown said. "I've seen Durham (on tape) go up and get balls, and King has shown he can stretch the field. We can't overlook the guys that have been playing the last four weeks and have been showing they can make plays, too."

Ambrose called UGA's receiving corps "tall, fast, long-striding guys," adding that the Buffs likely will see the Bulldogs "try to pound the ball and set up the play action. We've got to be ready for that."

Then there's the 6-4 Green, a junior who has been projected as a first-round draft choice should he decide to declare early for the NFL. CU has only last year's game tape for scouting purposes, but what the Buffs have seen impressed them.

Perkins, CU's leading tackler (27 total, 15 solo), characterized Green as "a good target for any quarterback because he's able to go up and get the ball, no matter where it's thrown, no matter what the coverage is. That's the challenge for us; no matter what the coverage is, he can go up and get the ball."

Brown and fellow corner Jimmy Smith will play their assigned sides (Brown left, Smith right) rather than one of them being assigned to Green. As of Tuesday, said Brown, there were no plans to double cover Green: "It all depends on how the coaches see it . . . but right now I think me and Jimmy are confident we can go out there and 'man up' against him singly."

But Brown acknowledges that Green, whose has made 109 receptions for 1,771 yards and 14 TDs in the past two seasons, poses an uncommon challenge.

"Typically guys his size, they're a little slower and easier to guard," he said. "But he's a guy who can move, too. He runs crisp routes, goes deep, short . . . does it all. You have to be on point every single play. I think this week I'm definitely going to have my work cut out for me, and the rest of the secondary as well."

UGA is 1-3, with its lone victory posted against Louisiana-Lafayette (55-7) in the season opener. Since then, the Dawgs have dropped three consecutive Southeastern Conference games to South Carolina (17-6), Arkansas (31-24) and Mississippi State (24-12) to open 0-3 in league play for the first time since 1993. The three-game losing streak is the school's first since 1990, and the Bulldogs are under 30 points a game (24.2, No. 10 in the SEC) for the first time in four seasons.

But Green's return is expected to jumpstart the offense as well as provide an emotional lift for a team not accustomed to hard times.

"It means a lot to them," Ambrose said. "He's their best player. You talk about missing your best player for a while, that's tough, a blow to a team. You have to try and keep things together. He's the guy that changes a lot of things for them. I'm sure the kid is excited that this game is finally here . . . they're ready to see what he can do and he's going to be ready.

If the Dawgs go to Green early, Ambrose said he won't be surprised: "I expect the first few balls to go to him. I mean, he's just getting back, he's the engine that runs the train, gets them started. I expect them to try and get the ball to him, if it's going deep or quick hitches - anything to get him back into the groove of things. He's a very good player; I can see why he's projected as a first-round guy."

NICKEL TALK: Patrick Mahnke is a safety-turned-linebacker-turned-nickel back. If the Buffs were playing a less-physical opponent this week, Ambrose likely would have turned to someone else.

Mahnke is Ambrose's choice to start at nickel against UGA because of his size (6-1, 205). Had CU's opponent presented more of a "finesse" offense, Ambrose likely would have gone with junior Jonathan Hawkins (5-11, 190).

"We're going with a bigger nickel this week because it's a bigger team," Ambrose said. "We feel like they're going to be pounding us, pounding us, pounding us . . . you don't need a smaller guy in there getting pounded. You might lose another one."

Entering Game 4, Mahnke is CU's fourth starting nickel back. Parker Orms, Travis Sandersfeld and Paul Vigo have been lost to various injuries - Orms (knee) for the season.

Mahnke, a junior from Parker, has been in on 84 plays this season at linebacker, recording eight tackles (seven solo) with one third-down stop. He called the move to nickel "the best of both worlds" in being involved in run support and coverage.

Along with Hawkins, Ambrose has true freshman Terrel Smith (5-8, 180) and redshirt freshman Liloa Nobriga (6-2, 215) in reserve at the nickel position. Nobriga has been practicing at outside linebacker and Smith initially was tagged as a redshirt candidate.

Perkins said the nickel position's instability hasn't caused major problems for the defense: "Everyone who's gone into that position has played really well. It's sad we've lost so many people there, but no one is worried about that position now. Pat and Liloa are there now and I know they'll play great this week."

THE 'PR' DEPT.: Although his three-game reception total (four for 20 yards) isn't staggering, freshman Paul Richardson believes he's methodically working his way into more playing time.

"I feel like based on my performance in the games and my consistency in practice, I'm getting a little more trust," he said. "As long as the coaches are putting me on the field and the quarterback is letting it go, I'm making plays."

He's currently listed No. 2 behind fifth-year senior transfer Travon Patterson at the "Z" position, but he said he's being rotated "into more packages now. (Coaches are) giving me better looks and putting me in more situations to get the ball."

The open week was of great benefit, he said, in helping him conceptualize the offense: "A lot of our plays deal with concepts. I feel like over the course of the last week and a half I've definitely learned our concepts more and am getting a better understanding. I can tell by my route running that I'm more comfortable and looking faster in practice, so I'm playing faster."

Of Richardson's four receptions, three were in the 31-13 win against Hawaii. He said the Buffs "learned a lot about ourselves" in that game. "We learned that we can push the ball basically whenever we want, and it's just on us to execute . . . . We're definitely going to keep that momentum up. That momentum didn't hurt us at all and we're going to show that on Saturday."

HERE COMES THE SEC: History lovers take note: UGA is only the second SEC team to visit Folsom Field. The first - Louisiana State - smacked CU 44-0 in 1979.

Over the past two weeks, Ambrose has been telling his players, "Competition in the SEC is the real deal . . . it's easy to get caught up in that trap of saying they're 1-3 - but you can't get caught in that. This is a very good football team. They've been playing good teams.

"Georgia is going to come in hungry . . . they'll be big, physical and hungry. We just have to make sure we're on top of our game. If we're not they'll come in here and beat our heads in if we're not prepared."

Brown seemed to shrug off playing an SEC team as being not much different from competing in the Big 12 Conference: "I don't look at it like the SEC is any better than the conference I play in," he said. "We have guys here who can run and play."

But Ambrose said he's detected this from his players: "It seems like every year to them, it's the Big 12 and the SEC in the (national) championship game. And the Big 12 gets beat. I think they want to prove that we can beat an SEC team - it doesn't matter who it is. They just want to go out and prove we can beat an SEC team. They (SEC) have been getting a lot of credit, they've been dominating and winning . . . our guys are excited to be challenged."

ONE ADVANTAGE OF SIZE: Murray, UGA's redshirt freshman QB, has completed 64-of-105 passes for 879 yards and five TDs (two interceptions). In last weekend's loss at Mississippi State, he posted single-game career highs in attempts (41), completions (18), yards (274) and long scoring completion (40 yards).

While Brown isn't downplaying Murray's abilities, he believes Murray has benefitted from "receivers who've shown they can go up and get the ball. As long as he gets the ball in the vicinity, they're going up and making a play. Some of the other quarterbacks we've gone against didn't have the bigger receivers like Georgia . . . he has a little advantage when it comes to that."

PRIMARY FOR THE SECONDARY: With an extra week to prepare for the Dawgs, Perkins said he and his mates in the secondary went about business as usual.

The focal point, he said, "was the same as it usually is - communication within our defense, making sure our D-line is communicating with our linebackers, and them with our defensive backs - all of us making sure we're on the same page.

"When we're able to do that as a whole unit, we're very good. But as soon as someone gets off the page, that's when we start having issues."

The Buffs rank fifth in the Big 12 in total defense, allowing 312.7 yards a game. They're second in run defense (71.7) and tenth in pass defense (241.0).

BUFF BITS: CU quarterback Tyler Hansen is targeting consistency - not only in his own play but for his team. Said Hansen: "We haven't really put two games together . . . we need to get back-to-back wins." That's something the Buffs haven't accomplished much over the past four seasons. They've won consecutive games on only two occasions - a three-game winning streak (Miami-Ohio, Oklahoma, at Baylor) that took them to the mid-way point of the 2007 season and another three-game winning streak (Colorado State, Eastern Washington, West Virginia) to open 2008 . . . . Georgia coach Mark Richt, in his 10th season in Athens, owns a 39-4 record against non-conference opponents . . . . The SEC is 22-3 in 2010 against non-conference competition and currently has the nation's top non-conference winning percentage (.880) . . . . The only previous CU-UGA meeting was in 2006 in Athens. The Bulldogs rallied in the fourth quarter to win 14-13 . . . . UGA's average attendance for its two home games this season is 92,746 (capacity) . . . . CU's announced paid attendance for its home opener against Hawai'i was 47,840. A sellout (53,613) is expected for Saturday's game . . . . UGA outside linebacker Justin Houston has become one of the SEC's dominant pass rushers. He's third in the conference in both tackles for loss (6.5) and QB sacks (3.0) . . . . Odds are that CU and UGA won't produce an error-free evening. The Buffs are averaging 9.3 penalties a game (No. 115 among 120 FBS teams) while the Bulldogs are seeing 6.7 flags thrown on them a game (tied for No. 74).

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