Open date routine not an issue, Richt says
Normally open dates are expected to be advantageous for teams. And Georgia felt great about having two this season and where they fell, after the opener against Clemson and before the Florida.
As it turns out, the Bulldogs lost both games after byes. That had coach Mark Richt answering questions this week about the team’s routine during the off weeks.
“What can you say; do you revisit what we do in open dates?” Richt said. “We’ve been doing this a certain way for quite some time now and haven’t necessarily had those (negative) results. But this year we did.”
In each case, Georgia had its poorest defensive performances of the year. The Bulldogs gave up 38 points to both South Carolina on Spet. 13 and Florida this past week. IN the first they were victimized by the passing game. Last week the Gators rushed for 418 yards.
Georgia was limited to a season-low 20 points but had 460 yards offense in the Florida loss.
The Bulldogs normally practice just three days during the weeks before home game. They take off on Monday, have a strenuous, full-contact practice on Tuesdays, then ease up on Wednesday and Thursday before the players are excused Friday through Sunday.
It’s the same routine Richt has employed since he came to UGA from FSU 14 years ago. In that span, Georgia is 14-6 in games after a bye. Primarily those games have been against either Florida or Georgia Tech, though the Bulldogs have also played Alabama, Auburn and Tennessee after an open date.
Sometimes coaches say they’d just as soon keep playing when they have a hot team, like Georgia seemed to be before it went to Jacksonville. Most of the time they appreciate the chance to rest players and let injuries heal.
“Certainly we were on a pretty good roll (before playing Florida) and didn’t have a good performance after an open date,” Richt said. “So is it because of that or because Florida did a better job than us? I think it’s because Florida did a better job than us.”
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