Georgia entered the season as the No. 1 team in the nation, but despite being undefeated has fallen behind USC and Oklahoma.
After a close game against South Carolina last weekend, the Bulldogs are looking to prove they are among the nation’s elite teams. They will get their chance against ASU on Saturday, when they make their longest road trip in nearly 50 years.
Head coach Mark Richt expressed little concern over Georgia’s drop in the polls.
“I’m not surprised,” Richt said. “It’s hard to know where to put everybody. I’m a voter too, and it is very difficult to gauge where everybody is so early in the season.”
Junior quarterback Matthew Stafford said it should be fun to play a non-conference game against such a strong opponent.
“A lot of guys aren’t used to even playing outside of Georgia,” he said. “This is a good chance for us to go west of the Mississippi and play a good team.”
One thing Richt was concerned about is the Arizona heat.
Richt said the Bulldogs would practice under different conditions to simulate the heat, but it would still be a factor.
Another issue Georgia faced when planning for their long road trip was travel logistics. At one point, Richt mentioned leaving Saturday morning as a possibility.
In the end, the Bulldogs decided to stick to their regular travel plans.
“Another day wouldn’t acclimatize the team,” Richt said. “If we left early, I would worry about the guys getting too anxious and bored and they would miss class.”
Making the cross-country trip isn’t all bad. Georgia will get a chance to play in front of a completely different audience that rarely gets too see them play.
Richt said venturing out of the south could also help with recruiting.
“We do a good job recruiting in our region,” Richt said. “But one great player might decide to come here, who hadn’t ever watched Georgia.”
The players are also excited to get a change of scenery. Junior defensive back Asher Allen, a Georgia native, has never been to Arizona and is excited for the opportunity.
“It’s a new environment for all of us, but if we stay focused, everything will take care of itself,” Allen said. “When the game starts football is football no matter where you are.”
Although the Bulldogs will be in new environment on Saturday, Georgia fans are expected to show up in great numbers at Sun Devil Stadium.
Many Bulldog fans bought ASU season tickets just to watch this one game.
“The fans have become used to the winning lifestyle,” Richt said. “It’s great to have fans that are excited and have such passion for the program.
“It’s thrilling to be a part of, and you just have to embrace it.”
Even though the Bulldogs have fallen two spots, the passionate fans still have extremely high expectations. In fact, Richt said dealing with the hype is much easier inside the locker room with the players than it is outside of the locker room with the fans.
“I’m not worried about it,” Richt said. “We can’t control it. We just want to win every game we can and win the SEC East. There is a lot of football to be played and we just need to prepare the best we can.”
Reach the reporter at todonnel@asu.edu.
