Once again, the Georgia Bulldogs have overcome an early loss to South Carolina to earn their way to the SEC title game. But before heading down the road to Atlanta, the Dawgs host instate rivals Georgia Southern and Georgia Tech.
“We know we’re playing in Atlanta and that’s settled right now, but we know there’s a lot of work in the meantime, which is the job of getting better on a daily basis,” head coach Mark Richt said early this week.
With eight wins, Georgia Southern is no slouch in the FCS league. Despite being the obvious favorite, the Dawgs expect a challenge both this Saturday and next.
"Once a year," reports Seth Emerson of The Macon Telegraph, the Bulldogs face a triple-option offense "and all the cut-blocking and funky running plays that come with it.
"But this year it's worse: Georgia will spend the next two weeks doing it, first against Georgia Southern, then against Georgia Tech."
As Richt said in story by UGA's Sports Information Department: “We’re going to play defense so completely different than how we’ve been playing all year long. Everything changes. The alignments change, the assignments change, the type of block you’re dealing with changes, and it’s very, very difficult to simulate in practice."
The relentless ground attack might result in more rotations than usual among defenders, David Ching reports for ESPN's DawgNation blog.
After hosting the Eagles on Saturday, the Dawgs will stay home next week for Georgia Tech, then head to Atlanta for the SEC championship game on Dec. 1. If they win out, a national title berth isn't out of the question.
How will the Dawgs handle the triple option over the next two weeks and will they be ready to switch gears again in the title game?
