Georgia handling strenuous stretch of road games

Athens — For the fourth consecutive week, Georgia football managers were behind Butts-Mehre Heritage Hall on a Thursday afternoon packing a truck full of football equipment for yet another trip out of town.

The Bulldogs are three-quarters of the way through a stretch in which they will have played four road games in four weeks for only the third time since 1965. But coach Mark Richt said it hasn’t been as arduous as you might think.

“I don’t think it’s been too bad being on the road,” Richt said. “I doubt the players or coaches would say it’s been any tougher either. I think they kind of like being on the road. You can kind of concentrate and focus on your business, then come on home.”

It helps that Georgia has had success away from home. The Bulldogs are 29-4 in opponents’ stadiums under Richt. They’re 2-0 on the current swing with wins at LSU on Oct. 25 and Kentucky last Saturday.

Probably more significant is Georgia will be playing for the sixth consecutive week overall. They have a bye next week.

“We’re all looking forward to the week off, that’s for sure,” Richt said.

As is the routine, Georgia practiced at Sanford Stadium on Thursday where it cranked music to deafening levels. They do that to simulate the crowd noise they will encounter at Auburn’s Jordan-Hare Stadium.

“It’s been a little bit of Ground Hogs’ Day for the last four weeks,” Richt said. “We’ll change the music to something Auburn-like. That’s about the only difference.”

Davis likely to start

It looks like Josh Davis will get the nod over Kiante Tripp at right tackle against on Auburn on Saturday. The two sophomores were competing to fill the void left from the loss of starter Justin Anderson, who is out for at least two weeks with a sprained foot.

“That’s what it looks like to me,” Richt said. “But I would think both of them would play.”

Davis, 6-6, 293 of Jayess, Miss., has been a bit of a stopgap for the Bulldogs this season.

“Josh has been kind of a putty man for us this year,” Richt said. “He’s played each guard and each tackle. He practices at every position but center. He knows what to do and his technique is getting better. He’s just not as strong as he’s going to be one day. That’s really been his only issue.”

Tripp has played only sparingly since starting the first three games of the season at left tackle. He moved to tight end briefly before moving back to offensive line three weeks ago.

Etc …

Georgia has the toughest schedule in Division I based on the cumulative record of the opposition it has played and will play. The Bulldogs’ opponents have combined to go 57-31. Auburn is tied for 60th at 45-44. …

During their 4-0 start, the Bulldogs had two fumbles, no interceptions and opponents scored zero points off turnovers. Since then they have gone 4-2 with 12 turnovers that have resulted in 49 points. …Under Richt the Bulldogs are 19-7 in the month of November. Last year they went 4-0.