Five items to ponder as UGA begins on-site Rose Bowl prep

Georgia heads out West to begin Rose Bowl preparations.

Georgia’s game against Oklahoma in Pasadena, California, will take place Monday, giving the Bulldogs seven days on the other side of the country. The Bulldogs will practice for the first time in the Golden State on Wednesday morning, which will be closed to the media, before holding a news conference later in the afternoon.

When the teams face each other, it will be the first time both teams have played football since Dec. 2, when they played in their respective conference championships. Georgia defeated Auburn 28-7 in the SEC Championship and Oklahoma upended TCU 41-17 in the Big 12 Championship. Both teams, like all bowl teams, have to shake off a degree of rust when dealing with such a layoff in between games.

With Georgia set to begin preparations for Oklahoma, here are five things to watch heading into West Coast game prep.

Stepping up at inside linebacker

According to his attorney, starting inside linebacker Natrez Patrick won’t be with the team for the Rose Bowl due to acknowledging a probation violation and subsequent admission into a drug treatment facility. While Reggie Carter figures to be the starter alongside Roquan Smith, an opportunity has once again opened up for Monty Rice and Juwan Taylor.

Both Taylor and Rice saw additional playing time in games against Tennessee and Vanderbilt when Patrick was suspended and Carter was recovering from a concussion. Taylor, a junior, and Rice, a freshman, both played well in the two veterans’ absence.

Both figure to get a crack in the rotation, especially with how fast Oklahoma likes to run its offense.

How will Georgia attack Oklahoma’s defense?

There are two schools of thought for Georgia’s offense in this game. On one hand, the Bulldogs may want to control the clock and prevent quarterback Baker Mayfield from possessing the ball often.

Then again, Oklahoma’s defense has been vulnerable. The Sooners average 25 points allowed, with Baylor (41 points), Iowa State (38) and Oklahoma State (52) all lighting up the scoreboard against them. The big play could be there if offensive coordinator Jim Chaney decides to place added trust in freshman quarterback Jake Fromm.

Would Georgia want to risk getting into a shootout? Or does it feel good about its running game against a 3-4 defensive alignment that allows an average of 144.2 rushing yards per game? That is an interesting question that probably won't be answered until game day.

Simulating Mayfield

Like it has all season long, Georgia will almost certainly turn to walk-on quarterback Stetson Bennett to pretend he is Mayfield in practice this week.

Bennett has been Georgia’s scout-team quarterback all season long and has a good arm with some speed to escape pressure. Head coach Kirby Smart has been complimentary of Bennett in this role all year long. While Georgia has faced quality quarterbacks in Notre Dame’s Brandon Wimbush, Missouri’s Drew Lock and Auburn’s Jarrett Stidham, neither close to the caliber of Mayfield, who happened to win the Heisman Trophy this season.

How exactly Georgia’s scout team prepares the first-team defense for Mayfield will be crucial entering the game. For the season, Mayfield has thrown for 4,340 yards, 41 touchdowns and five interceptions.

Speaking of simulating, what about Oklahoma’s pass-catchers?

Georgia receiver Matt Landers has been a key scout team member as he generally pretends to be the opposing team’s best receiver.

But Oklahoma has quite a few quality targets to worry about. Tight end Mark Andrews has been one of Mayfield’s top targets with 906 yards and eight touchdowns. The Sooners also have gotten great production from receivers Marquise Brown (981 yards, six touchdowns), Ceedee Lamb (741 yards, seven touchdowns) and Dimitri Flowers (411 yards, four touchdowns).

Receiver and returner Jeff Badet, who has 396 yards and three touchdowns, could also be someone to watch. Badet actually has experience against Georgia as he was a graduate transfer from Kentucky.

How physical will these practices be?

Georgia has prided itself on being physical during practice. Players agree that one reason why they’ve been able to perform so well on Saturdays is because practices can be tougher than the games.

But with bodies wearing down over the course of the season, even Georgia took a lighter approach down the stretch. Normally, Georgia is padded up from head to toe for Wednesday practices. But the Wednesday before the SEC Championship against Auburn saw the Bulldogs scaled down to only shoulder pads, helmets and shorts.

With time off here and there over the past month, it remains to be seen how physical Smart decides to make these practices.

This story was originally published December 26, 2017 at 3:00 PM with the headline "Five items to ponder as UGA begins on-site Rose Bowl prep."