SEC East notebook: Mimbs making a difference for Georgia

Georgia Bulldogs senior punter Brian Mimbs called his 77-yard punt at South Carolina the best of ``any ball in my life,'' and it's easy to see why.

With the Bulldogs leading by a touchdown midway through the fourth quarter, Mimbs' punt pinned South Carolina back to its 11-yard line and even though the Gamecocks completed a 34-yard pass on the next play, the kick helped preserve a conference win on the road.

Georgia coach Mark Richt can tell that Mimbs, who made the team as a walk-on in 2004, is still trying to earn respect. After a 41-yard punt earlier in the game, Mimbs jogged to the sideline and apologized that the kick didn't go farther.

Richt, though, was entirely satisfied with the punt, which had a hang time of 5.0 seconds.

``He came off the field saying, 'Man, I really got under that thing. I really didn't kick it very far,''' Richt said. ``And I was like, 'Son, I don't care if you kicked it 38 yards or 36 yards (because) with that kind of hang time and no chance of a return, I'd be happy if you did that every time.''

Mimbs finished with a 52.2-yard average on five punts against South Carolina. This week at Arizona State, his mission will be to keep return specialist Kyle Williams from inflicting too much damage.

As a junior receiver, Williams is coming off the first 100-yard single-game performance of his career, but he also returns punts and kickoffs for the Sun Devils.

Richt just wants Mimbs to give Georgia's coverage unit, which ranks No. 8 nationally with a 41.1 net average, a chance fill space quickly. Williams has a 10.0-yard average in four punt returns, but is considered one of the Pac-10's best.

``I'll never get mad if you kick it a little short and high,'' Richt said. ``I may not like it if you drive it. You might kick it long and flat, but then you've got some coverage issues with great return me out there with a lot of space. That's when we get in trouble.''


-- FLORIDA: Kickoff/punt returner Brandon James, a 5-foot-7 junior who has turned Florida's special teams into a big-time scoring threat, started raising eyebrows at Tennessee two years ago.

When the fourth-ranked Gators (2-0) return to Knoxville on Saturday, he's not likely to surprise anyone.

James is averaging 20.6 yards a punt and 27.3 yards a kickoff. He scored a touchdown in the opener against Hawaii and nearly broke one the following week against Miami. But neither of those was as impressive as his performance at Neyland Stadium in 2006.

He returned four punts for 65 yards and nearly scored twice. A leg tackle by Vols punter Britton Colquitt prevented one touchdown and a blown call on an illegal-block penalty overturned another. Not bad for an undersized freshman playing his first road game.

And he hadn't even earned the return job until he ran onto the field a few minutes before the opening kickoff.

``I hadn't decided on a return guy and wasn't sure about putting a true freshman in there,'' coach Urban Meyer recalled. ``I jogged out of the tunnel at Neyland Stadium behind him, and it is unbelievable the things people are saying. I look at him and he starts doing the Gator chomp. That kid is not intimidated by anything, so I grabbed him and said, 'You're the punt returner today.' That's how the decision was made.''

Meyer has since seen James return three punts for touchdowns, more than enough to realize the importance of his shortest player.

``He's a really good player,'' Meyer said. ``Kick away from (him)? How do you do that? He's fast, he's explosive. You can't do that. He's a north-south guy. That's what makes him such a dynamic returner.''


-- KENTUCKY: Fresh off being named Southeastern Conference Offensive Player of the Week, Kentucky quarterback Mike Hartline admitted that the honor would boost his confidence, but wouldn't change his determination to get better in order to keep the starting spot.

``It felt good to have an extra honor, but I got to keep coming out and practicing well,'' said Hartline, who threw for 254 yards and two touchdowns in a 20-14 win over Middle Tennessee. ``It's not going to change how I prepare. It's a bonus and it's nice and I'm honored to have it. It just gives me more confidence.''

Through three games Hartline has had to fend off competition for the starting role from freshman Randall Cobb, even enduring boos from the crowd at home against Norfolk State when he replaced Cobb after a number of successful drives.

Cobb picked up a high ankle sprain in the Wildcats' win against Middle Tennessee on Saturday and is out indefinitely, firming up the job security for Hartline.


-- SOUTH CAROLINA: Guess which head ball coach is still calling most of South Carolina's plays?

Steve Spurrier said several times this offseason he'd let son, Steve Jr., the team's receivers coach, coordinate playcalling and handle getting them in the quarterbacks. Of course, the elder Spurrier said he'd still get to put his stamp on the process when he saw fit. Turns out, against Georgia, that was about three-quarters of the time.

``Last week, I had to call about 75 percent of them, probably,'' Spurrier said. ``I'm still actively involved. And, really, the person who coaches the quarterbacks, which I still try to do attempt to do here, has to be involved with the play-calling.

``But that hasn't been our problem,'' Spurrier continued. ``Blocking, and throwing and catching have been our biggest problems.''

Spurrier had said Steve Jr., in his 11th season as an assistant, would be the one working on the gameplan during the week as the head coach attended to his other duties, including bringing along South Carolina's young quarterbacks.

Spurrier Jr. changed his location for the 14-7 loss to Georgia, sitting in the coach's box in Williams-Brice Stadium's top level. He had been on the sidelines for the Gamecocks' first two games, a victory over North Carolina State and a loss at Vanderbilt. The Gamecocks (1-2) take on Wofford (2-0) Saturday.

The Gamecocks had three chances to tie the Bulldogs in the fourth quarter. However, Mike Davis fumbled into the end zone, Chris Smelley threw incomplete on fourth down, then was intercepted with 13 seconds left.

Asked to assess the problems with South Carolina's offense, the 63-year-old Spurrier put it simply: ``Well, we haven't had a consistent running attack, or a consistent passing attack. How's that?''


-- TENNESSEE: Tennessee safety Eric Berry thinks defending UAB quarterback Joe Webb was a good warmup for facing Florida's Tim Tebow this weekend.

The Vols struggled in that game to contain Florida's spread offense as Tebow piled up 299 yards passing and 61 yards on the ground on the way to a 59-20 win.

And while he isn't on the same level as Tebow, Webb had success running the Blazers' spread offense in games against Tulsa and Florida Atlantic. UAB averaged 448 yards and 28 points in their first two games.

``I think he gave us a great look at what Tebow is going to be like,'' Berry said. ``Florida's going to be a little more physical, but it gave us a look at what they're going to do in the option game and spread offense.''

Against Tennessee (1-1), UAB gained only 275 yards. Webb threw for 167 yards and gained 78 yards on the ground, and the Vols kept him and his receiving corps out of the end zone in the 35-3 win.

``UAB ran a couple of reverses and speed sweeps and Florida's known for stuff like that,'' UT linebacker Rico McCoy said. ``I don't think they could have scheduled a better team as far as formations and plays being similar to Florida. It should help us a lot.''


-- VANDERBILT: Even by D.J. Moore's standards, his performance last week against Rice left observers shaking their heads in amazement.

The Vanderbilt junior cornerback piled up career-high 206 all-purpose yards on just seven touches of the football to help lead the Commodores to a 38-21 win.
He opened the game with a 39-yard kickoff return, then added 17 yards on his first punt return. One play later, he scampered 24 yards on a reverse to help set up Vanderbilt's first touchdown.

In the fourth quarter, he returned a punt 67 yards to the Rice 1-yard line, then returned an interception 31 yards later in the quarter. The all-Southeastern Conference performer is the only four-way player in the league this year, handling duties as a cornerback, wide receiver, kickoff returner and punt returner.

``It takes a special man to be D.J. Moore,'' quarterback Chris Nickson said. ``He has a great ability to do whatever he wants to do. He does it with ease, it seems like. He has a confidence about him that only the great players have.''

Vanderbilt (3-0, 1-0) visits Mississippi on Saturday night.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2008/9/213401