Wednesday Practice Report

FOOTBALL

Georgia continued preparations for its upcoming contest with second-ranked Auburn by holding a two-hour workout today.

"We've had good practices Tuesday and Wednesday, although it's impossible to simulate what we're going to see Saturday," said head coach Mark Richt. "It will be interesting to see how long it takes to adjust to the speed of their offense. We'll practice with some crowd noise Thursday and then get on the bus and go Friday."

The Tigers (10-0, 6-0 SEC) lead the Southeastern Conference in scoring and rank sixth nationally with an average of 42.2 points a game. They are tops in the SEC and sixth nationally in total offense at 509.4 yards a game. Junior quarterback Cam Newton is the league's leading rusher (114.6 yards a game) and passer, ranking second nationally in passing efficiency (182.8). Richt said it's difficult to tell just how fast Newton is on film.

"He's a glider, it looks effortless when he's running, guys aren't catching him," said Richt. "He reminds me a bit of Charlie Ward, just a lot bigger. Charlie was about 190 pounds, and he had a knack of getting away at the right time."

With the recent media frenzy surrounding Newton, Richt said it's amazing the amount of noise that has been generated by accusations.

"Everybody is innocent unless there's proof they're guilty," said Richt. "That's America, and the way we should operate. Everybody on our staff is planning that he will play."

The Dawgs (5-5, 3-4 SEC) find themselves in a situation similar to 2006 when they went on the road unranked with a freshman quarterback to face a highly-ranked Tiger team. That year, Georgia posted a 37-15 upset over fifth-ranked Auburn. Richt said that victory helped string together a strong finish that also featured wins over nationally-ranked Georgia Tech and then Virginia Tech in the Chick-fil-A Bowl.

"That gave us confidence for the future and helped us in 2007," Richt added.