First Mark Richt took to Twitter, then he used the platform of his weekly news conference to call for a “red-out” of Sanford Stadium for Saturday’s game against Georgia Tech.
Georgia fans had a “black-out” for the Auburn game. That is, most of the Bulldogs’ faithful wore black apparel in a show of support for the team. Some held out hope that the team would follow suit and wear black jerseys, but Richt quickly squashed that idea.
But Georgia’s coach cheerfully guaranteed his players would be matching in their traditional red jerseys and was encouraging early and zealous fan participation.
“Let’s go red!” said Richt, perhaps invoking his Nebraskan heritage. “If you’re looking for a theme, let’s go with ‘let’s go red.’ And let’s get there on time and have the greatest Dawg Walkk and the greatest atmosphere we’ve had since I’ve been at Georgia. That’s what we’re looking for.”
That’s asking a lot for a noon kick with most of the student body long gone on fall break. Classes ended this past Friday and UGA students returned about 2,000 of its allotted tickets. But those tickets were re-sold through Georgia — as well as a few thousand returns from Georgia Tech — and the game remains a hard sellout.
Meanwhile, 27 seniors will be honored in a pregame ceremony that is set to begin 20 minutes before kickoff. Richt is obviously concerned about spectators getting to their seats in time to honor that group.
“The first thing I want to do is encourage all the Dog Nation that’s going to the game to get there at least 20 minutes prior to kickoff so we can do a great job of honoring our seniors. Those guys deserve it. They’ve been working hard their whole careers, they’ve been bleeding for this program, they risk bodily harm every time we practice and play. And they do it because they love Georgia, they love their team, they love their teammates. Saturday is the day to honor those guys and honor their families as well.”
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