ATHENS -- For all the hot-seat talk that swirls around Georgia's Mark Richt, he won't be the only coach under fire in Saturday's game at Ole Miss.
The Rebels were 1-7 in the SEC last season and lost 30-7 to Vanderbilt last week, prompting criticism of coach Houston Nutt and a Sunday letter from Ole Miss athletic director Pete Boone to ticket buyers.
"Saturday's performance and our running two-season SEC record are unacceptable," Boone wrote.
Boone and Nutt met Sunday "and discussed the current state of Ole Miss football," according to the letter, a copy of which was posted on website of The (Jackson, Miss.) Clarion-Ledger.
"Both of us are extremely disappointed in our performance this year," Boone wrote. "We agreed that to be successful, this disappointment must be met head on with solutions for improvement. We discussed several areas that needed improvement, and I support Coach Nutt in his effort to correct those areas."
Boone asked fans to continue supporting the team (1-2, 0-1 SEC) as it plays its first conference home game of the season against Georgia.
The game will match coaches that the website CoachesHotSeat.com has No. 1 (Nutt) and No. 3 (Richt) in its latest college-football hot-seat rankings. UCLA's Rick Neuheisel is No. 2.
Jenkins' adjustment
John Jenkins, Georgia's celebrated junior-college-transfer nose guard, saw some action at defensive end in last week's game against Coastal Carolina because DeAngelo Tyson was sidelined with a strained back.
"It was fun," Jenkins said Monday. And it was different.
"I'm on more of an island at D-end and have more time to react," Jenkins said. "That extra second, or hundredth of a second, felt like a whole hour to me, kind of. When I'm in the nose, everything is so fast."
Jenkins hasn't surpassed Kwame Geathers as the starting nose guard, as many had forecast, but he remains upbeat about the transition from JUCO to major-college football.
"Everything is going good, but the adjustment has been pretty intense," Jenkins said. "I remember a time when I was able to take a nap before practice. It's no naps here. I remember a time I could go to class at, like, 10:30. I'm up at 6 o'clock every morning here for academics, and I don't see my bed until after I get done with practice."
Jenkins said he has lost 30 pounds since arriving in Athens, down to about 330.
Samuel back
Tailback Richard Samuel, sidelined last week with an injured left heel, returned to practice Monday and expects to play at Ole Miss.
Samuel was Georgia's starting tailback in the first two games before freshman Isaiah Crowell claimed that spot. Samuel began his UGA career at tailback, moved to linebacker last year and returned to tailback this summer. Crowell's emergence, coupled with injuries to both starting inside linebackers, has made Samuel wonder if he should move back to defense.
"It has crossed my mind, but it's only just a thought of mine -- nothing progressing or anything," he said Monday.
Samuel acknowledged that the linebacker injuries probably would have made him a starter if he had remained at that position but added that he is focused on helping at tailback.
"I feel like I have to show somehow I can contribute, either in pass [protection] or going out on routes or something so that [coaches] say, ‘OK, we have to put Richard in because we know he's going to get the job done,'" Samuel said.
UGA-MSU game time set
Georgia’s Oct. 1 game against Mississippi State in Athens will start at noon and be televised by Fox Sports Net (Fox Sports South in Atlanta), it was announced Monday.
The game will be the Bulldogs’ third consecutive early afternoon start, following last week’s 1 p.m. kickoff against Coastal Carolina and Saturday’s 12:21 p.m. game at Ole Miss.
