Sunday Teleconference

FOOTBALL

After 11 consecutive weeks of preparing and then playing a football game each Saturday, the Dawgs welcome their open date this week.

Speaking on his weekly Sunday conference call with the media, Georgia coach Mark Richt said the Dawgs will practice Monday, Tuesday and Thursday and will take the weekend off. Richt held off on any injury updates to the team, saying he would get together with athletic trainer Ron Courson on Monday to discuss that.

The Dawgs (5-6) close out the regular season by playing host to Georgia Tech (5-5, 3-4 ACC) Saturday, Nov. 27. Game time has not been set for the contest. Georgia has played in a bowl game for a school record 13 consecutive years and will need one more win to extend that streak.

“It’s very important for us to play in a bowl game, but the most important thing to us is to beat our state rival, Georgia Tech,” said Richt. “That’s more important to me and everyone else. That’s our main focus. Bowl-eligibility goes along with that, and we want to play well and send the seniors off with a great moment. This will be their last game at Sanford Stadium.”

While the Dawgs fell 49-31 to second-ranked Auburn this past Saturday, the Yellow Jackets were crushed 35-10 by Miami in Atlanta. The Hurricanes tallied 507 yards of total offense, rushing for 277 and passing for 230. Up next, the Jackets face Duke at home.

Auburn was led by junior Cam Newton, who on Saturday became the first Southeastern Conference quarterback to pass for more than 2,000 yards and rush for more than 1,000 yards in the same season. Against the Dawgs, he had 30 carries for 151 yards, was 12-for-15 for 148 passing yards, and accounted for four touchdowns (two rushing, two passing).

“Everybody in our league has good football players and there are some difference makers like Newton,” said Richt. “To stop a running game with a running quarterback, it can be difficult. He is proficient at running and throwing the football. It’s hard to find the Tebows and the Newtons of the world. They are not out there every year. We’ve got some quarterback runs, but we don’t want to expose our guys to that kind of physical contact like what Cam does, he ran it like 30 times Saturday. The quarterbacks we have in our system will not have to do that.”

Georgia owns a 60-37-5 series edge against Tech including winning 30-24 last season in Atlanta when the Jackets were ranked seventh nationally. Richt’s teams have dominated Tech over the years, holding an 8-1 advantage in his tenure.