Chaz Chambliss, Marvin Jones make most of extra opportunities
ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia knew what it was in for having to replace Nolan Smith this past Saturday against Tennessee. Smith led the team in both sacks and tackles for loss prior to his likely season-ending injury suffered in the Bulldogs’ win over Florida. He was not only productive as a player but also the heart and soul of the defense, and playing without him put more pressure on super-senior Robert Beal as well as sophomore Chaz Chambliss and true freshman Marvin Jones Jr. When Beal went down with his own injury early in the second half, the keys were turned over to the youngsters entirely.
“A lot of the guys see it as an opportunity. Probably inspired and motivated some guys,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said about Smith’s injury opening doors for the likes of Chambliss, Jones and others in the outside linebacker room. “And others, you know, were inspired with an opportunity to play against a good team, play at home. But I felt good about our guys stepping up. We certainly need Robert to be healthy because otherwise we’re going to be really thin at that position. But the other guys are growing and getting better.”
“The best news is they got to practice going into it, because of the loss of reps and it kind of got dispersed out among those guys,” he added, this time speaking specifically on Chambliss and Jones. “They were better prepared because they were one notch up. So they were a little more prepared for it. Still didn’t play perfect. The key is keeping those guys healthy.”
Smart said that Beal’s injury was just a stinger and that they “feel good” about his chances to play this coming Saturday at Mississippi State, but either way the reps for Chambliss and Jones certainly were a good thing to develop depth. Beal being banged up comes on top of Nolan Smith’s injury of course as well as Darris Smith not dressing out due to a head injury he suffered against Florida. That left only MJ Sherman and CJ Madden as the only other options outside of Chambliss and Jones in the position group, one where Madden hasn’t even been at the entire season spending some time as well with the defensive linemen.
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Chambliss and Jones will continue to see their number of reps rise in the absence of Smith with another week of work under their belt and Beal potentially limited. In the win over Tennessee, Chambliss accounted for four tackles including 0.5 for loss in 42 snaps while Jones did not record a stat in his 10 per Pro Football Focus. Prior to leaving for the locker room, Beal had two tackles to his name in 27 snaps.
Georgia faces another challenging offense this week going up against Mike Leach and Mississippi State’s air raid attack in Starkville on Saturday night. The Bulldogs have the league leader in passing yards and touchdowns in quarterback Will Rogers. Kickoff time from Davis Wade Stadium is set for 7:00 p.m. ET on ESPN.
