ATHENS - Don’t look for Blair Walsh to lose his job anytime soon, despite the senior place-kicker’s troubles.
Walsh is now 13-for-23 on the season, after missing a combined five field goals his sophomore and junior years. Many of his misses have been from short distances, including both in Saturday’s game against Florida.
But when head coach Mark Richt was asked on Sunday what he did with Walsh, he made it clear benching him wasn’t an option.
“I encourage him. And keep loving him,” Richt said. “And as far as trying to make some kind of move or change, it hasn’t even crossed my mind.”
The backup kicker is Brandon Bogotay, a senior walk-on whom Richt called “an outstanding kicker” with “a lot of ability.” But Richt is sticking with Walsh, a preseason all-American candidate.
Some other notes from Richt’s Sunday teleconference:
- Guard Dallas Lee, who broke his leg on Saturday, is out for the rest of the regular season, but could return in time for Georgia’s bowl game. (And by winning their sixth game, the Bulldogs are now virtually ensured of a postseason.)
Sophomore Kenarious Gates will now move back into the starting lineup. The top reserve is now freshman David Andrews, who can play center or guard. After that the pickings are slim.
- Freshman receiver Malcolm Mitchell (hamstring) is uncertain to return for Saturday’s game against New Mexico State. Georgia also played without senior receiver Israel Troupe (undisclosed injury) and junior Rantavious Wooten (concussion), who could be headed for a redshirt.
“I would think Troupe would be healthy by Saturday. I’m not sure about Malcolm,” Richt said.
- Richt laughed nervously when asked about the team’s kickoff coverage, and acknowledged that something must be done. The Bulldogs have been burned for a kick return touchdown in each of the past two games, and have yielded several other long returns.
“We’ve gotta figure something out, don’t we?” Richt said. “We don’t quite know what the answer is, don’t we. But we’ll be putting our heads together here.”
- Finally, Richt was asked if he was disappointed that Tennessee didn’t knock off South Carolina, and instead Georgia and South Carolina remained tied for first place in the SEC East.
“I wasn’t complaining about anything that happened yesterday,” Richt said. “It was a great day.”
