UGA compresses bowl prep into 8 practices

The Louisville Cardinals have been practicing everyday since this past Friday in preparation for the Belk Bowl. Georgia, their opponent for that prestigious event in Charlotte, practiced for the first time on Wednesday and will break again on Dec. 21.

Bulldogs coach Mark Richt was asked about the truncated preparation plan.

“Well, we chose to condition,” Richt said Wednesday. “We had our guys come in every single day that there weren’t exams, and either get a lift or a run or both. … We were kind of at the mercy of not only exams, but studying for exams, preparing for exams. It’s such a crucial time, we didn’t want to disrupt that, and because of that, it was more of when guys had time to get in, get something in more sporadic.”

The University of Georgia wrapped up final exams on Wednesday. With the exception of voluntary workouts, the Bulldogs have been off since their 30-24 loss to Georgia Tech on Nov. 29. Currently they are scheduled to have a total of eight practice opportunities before the Dec. 3o game against Louisville.

“We know we’ve got to maximize the time that we have right now,” Richt said. “We’re just making sure that we hit the ground running and we’re highly organized and we have one purpose.”

This week the Bulldogs will concentrate on doing “heavy fundamental work” with small doses of game plan installation for Louisville.

“Remembering how to block and tackle and change direction and throw and catch and do the fundamental things, secure a ball, strip a ball,” Richt said. “Those are the things that sometimes get you in a bowl game is your fundamentals tend to slip. So we want to have a heavy emphasis on that this week with a pretty good sprinkle of game plan.”