Offensive Line Finds Footing

Georgia's offensive line has struggled for the majority of the season, but they came to play against the Arkansas Razorbacks.

Georgia had one big question mark coming into the Arkansas game: how would this offensive line fare? They responded in a big way and were an integral part of the Bulldogs' massive win.

The Bulldog defense shut out Arkansas, in part because the Razorbacks didn't have the ball for the majority of the second half. The defense has to credit this offensive line for that, as head coach Kirby Smart did after the game.

Smart was asked about how this defense put together another impressive performance and made sure to talk about this offensive line.

"The defensive staff does a great job. These kids take so much pride in their performance, and it helps them do that when the running game shortens the game a little bit."

Georgia thought they had a solid starting five at the beginning of the season, but right guard Tate Ratledge suffered a season-ending injury just two plays into the season opener against Clemson. From that moment on, the group has been rather inconsistent, and it was apparent that they would have to play well against Arkansas.

That they did. Georgia only threw the ball eleven times, largely because Arkansas could not find a way to slow down Georgia's ground game. The Bulldogs ran the ball a staggering 56 times for 273 yards, illustrating how well this offensive line played.

The game plan appeared to be pretty simple from Georgia. If they want to drop that many defenders in pass coverage — only rushing three — then we will just run the football down their throat. 

The execution of said game plan had a lot to do with center Sedrick Van Pran. The young center struggled pre-snap during his first four career starts, leaving quarterback JT Daniels to do most of the identifying.

Odd front defenses, like the one Arkansas plays, can make things difficult on a young center. It leaves them on an island a lot of the time, and it requires a tremendous amount of correct identification in the run game.

In just his fifth career start, Van Pran delivered. He consistently made the correct calls at the line of scrimmage, putting both himself and his teammates in advantageous spots. His physicality jumped off the screen - Van Pran was not timid at all and was throwing Razorback defensive linemen all over the field.

Left tackle Broderick Jones got some snaps early on and made the most of his opportunities. The staff has been waiting for someone to emerge and take that left tackle job, and Jones took a step towards that.

Right guard Warren Ericson has struggled to start the season but did play well in spurts Saturday. He continues to work his way back from an injured hand suffered in preseason camp, but offensive line coach Matt Luke has a great deal of confidence in him.

Coming into the season, Georgia had full confidence in three offensive linemen. Guard Justin Shaffer, guard Jamaree Salyer and tackle Warren McClendon are all NFL-caliber players that have proven themselves against top-flight SEC talent and they continued to prove as much on Saturday. 

It appears that some other players are now starting to see their efforts come to fruition, and Georgia's biggest question could be becoming a strength.

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