ATHENS—Georgia's 2012 football team will assemble for the first time Tuesday night as players report for preseason camp at Butts-Mehre Heritage Hall.
The Bulldogs will have a team dinner followed by a meeting, and then undergo conditioning runs and medical testing on Wednesday. Georgia's first practice won't take place until Thursday afternoon.
It's expected to be one of the smaller groups the Bulldogs have assembled in years. Offseason attrition coupled with a small incoming freshman class have left them well below the NCAA's maximum of 85 scholarship players.
"There's been more attrition the last couple of years than there has been since we've been at Georgia," Georgia coach Mark Richt said. "But I think sometimes, that happens. We'll still have plenty of guys to field a team."
A preliminary breakdown of Georgia's roster shows the Bulldogs with 76 players on scholarship -- 59 returnees and 17 first-year enrollees. The number will not include two of the 19 signees from February.
Defensive tackle John Atkins of Thomson and defensive end Leonard Floyd of Eastman did not meet academic requirements for freshman eligibility. Both players plan to attend Hargrave Military Academy in Virginia to fulfill the core-class requirement needed for admission and hope to enroll at UGA in January.
"I go [to Hargrave] August 20th and I come back in January," Floyd said on Monday. "I just need one class. I was kind of bothered by it at first, but now I know what I've got to do and I feel better about it. I think this is going to be a good experience."
Atkins also needs to pass one class before making his return.
"He's just going be there until December," Thomson coach Milan Turner said. "He just needed to pick up another credit. He's excited about getting up there and getting to work and seeing what happens."
Since the Outback Bowl on Jan. 2, Georgia has lost five players to transfer or disciplinary dismissal, including starting tailback Isaiah Crowell, who was kicked off the team following his June 29 arrest on weapons charges.
