CARDINALS

UGA QB praises U of L defense, Grantham

Jeff Greer

@jeffgreer_cj

Assistant coach Todd Grantham works with his players in practice. August 7, 2014

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – University of Georgia quarterback Hutson Mason didn't beat around the bush on Monday when asked about Louisville's defense.

"There's a lot of teams you have to sit up here and blow smoke up 'em because it's got to be politically correct," Mason said, "but I don't need to blow these guys up. Their statistics and who they are as a defense speak for themselves."

Mason and his Georgia Bulldogs (9-3) take on Louisville (9-3) in Tuesday's Belk Bowl here in Charlotte, and the senior knows all about the challenge in front of him.

U of L ranks second in the nation in interceptions, third in rushing and third-down defense, fifth in total defense, 19th in scoring defense and 30th in passing defense.

Of course, there is a ton of familiarity for Mason because of Grantham's UGA connections. Grantham spent four seasons as Georgia's defensive coordinator before joining the Louisville staff in January.

"It's nice knowing what he likes to do," Mason said. "But Grantham is Grantham, and he's one of the few coordinators that I've ever game planned for that you can't ever get a grip on what he's doing. He's famous for his crazy, exotic third-down blitzes. He creates a challenge."

Asked to define "exotic," Mason went into much more detail:

"Right when you think you've got a grip on it, got it figured out, they show the same blitz but then they bring somebody else from a different direction and drop somebody else out," Mason explained.

"Then you're like, 'Shoot. That's different.' You're going through your mind, 'OK, here's where I'm going to throw the ball,' and then you see a different guy drop out and it's like, 'Well, dang, I can't go there with the ball.' That's the confusion they try to create."

Mason said he's spent hours studying film in the three weeks since the bowl matchup was announced, but he's not looking at how specific players, like FSU QB Jameis Winston, fared against Louisville. Instead, he and UGA more closely studied teams that play a similar style of offense as the Bulldogs.

Beyond that, Mason went back into the UGA film archives to watch Grantham's Georgia defenses and what they did in previous years.

"There's definitely no shortage of film, but I think you can also kind of over-prepare when you have so much time," Mason said. "The quarterback position is very difficult, but it's also easy at the same time if you can make it easy and not make it complicated. That's very hard to do when you're playing a defense like Grantham's when they're very exotic and hard to figure out. I've got my hands full."

Mason said he knew all about Louisville safety Gerod Holliman, an All-American who tied the NCAA record for interceptions in a single season with 14.

"He hangs around the ball a lot," Mason said. "You've got to have an understanding of where he is.

"I've got to trust and rip it. If the guy picks it off, he picks it off. Great for him. You've got to have amnesia as a quarterback. I'm not going to walk out of stadium thinking or knowing that I didn't give my team the best chance to win the game because I didn't throw the ball. I'm going to let it rip."

Reach U of L beat writer Jeff Greer at (502) 582-4044 and follow him on Twitter (@jeffgreer_cj).