Athens — Matthew Stafford described how he stood before the Georgia football team Sunday night and delivered a tirade unlike anything he's ever said before.

"All that stuff's over with," Stafford recounted, referring to the string of off-the-field issues that have plagued the Bulldogs this summer. "It's camp; it's football from now on. It's going to be 24-7 X's and O's and getting ready for the season. Let's go play football. That's what we came here for. Make sure your minds are right and let's get ready to go. We've got who we've got. Let's play."

Georgia coach Mark Richt and the Bulldogs' fans can only hope the players were taking that message to heart. Literally hours before the No. 1-ranked Bulldogs trotted onto the practice fields for their first workout of the season Monday afternoon, Richt announced that he had suspended a sixth player — this time junior linebacker Darius Dewberry, who will miss the first two games— for disciplinary reasons. Two other players — safety Donavon Baldwin and snapper Jeff Henson — who were suspended indefinitely after incidents last weekend.

Georgia athletics director Damon Evans was particularly unhappy to learn more players had gotten into trouble.

"Disappointed. Very disappointed," Evans said as he watched the early part of Monday's practice. "We've got good things going for us. We don't need to be focusing on that kind of stuff."

Indeed, that the Bulldogs are ranked No. 1 and this is supposed to be their best shot at a national championship in decades was pretty much lost on the day. However, Richt did address it.

"I guess it's the first [season] Georgia has been No. 1 ranked [to open the season]," Richt said. "I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing but it's an exciting thing no doubt. It does create a stir and a buzz to have Knowshon Moreno on the cover of USA Today. All the publicity our team has gotten in that regard is outstanding. But we also know that it doesn't matter where you start as much as where you finish.

"Other than that I think it's just a big bulls-eye."

Dewberry, a junior linebacker from Ft. Valley, Ga., admitted to Richt on Sunday that he was the "black male wearing khaki pants" being sought by police for damaging a parking lot control arm and breaking four plant-container pots at St. Mary's Hospital early Saturday morning.

The hospital is not pursuing charges after Dewberry agreed to pay for the damages, which police estimated to be about $2,100.

The issue now is what, if any, effect will this have on the Bulldogs as they begin preparations for what could be their toughest schedule in 40 years.

Clearly focusing on that task was Richt's biggest concern Monday.

"That's the whole key right now. We must focus on football," said Richt, entering his eighth season as the Bulldogs' head coach. "I expect our team to do that. I expect out staff to do that. I, quite frankly, haven't been able to think much about football lately. But soon, very soon, I will be able to — and I'm going to enjoy it."

According to some of the 105 players remaining, the events of that last seven months will not affect the next five.

"We've made too many mistakes. In no way is that acceptable," senior flanker Mohamed Massaquoi said. "But we just have to close that chapter and move on."

Said senior defensive tackle Jeff Owens: "We've got to put it behind us and go out and play Georgia football. All that happened in the summer. It's the fall now as far as we're concerned. It's behind us."