Bulldogs continue preparing for Southern Jaguars

ATHENS, Ga. – The Georgia Bulldogs worked out for over two hours Tuesday afternoon in preparation for their non-conference matchup this Saturday against Southern University.

Saturday’s game will be the first-ever meeting between Georgia and Southern in football, and also the first time Georgia has ever played a team from the Southwestern Athletic Conference.

”We are looking forward to playing this game; it’s exciting to be playing between the hedges again,” said Georgia head coach Mark Richt. ”We feed off our fans and like I’ve been saying for years, nobody does it better than Georgia. We would like to have as many home games as possible for our fans and for our team, and sometimes that means getting out of conference people to come play us.”

The Jaguars will be playing their second FBS opponent of the young season when they visit Athens this Saturday. So far they’ve racked up an average of 38.3 points and 444.7 yards per game on offense, led by diminutive kick returner and wideout, Willie Quinn, who has already taken back two kickoffs for scores in three games.

”He is so quick, fast and has good ball skills,” said Richt of Quinn. ”He’s just not a big player, but he plays big. When you see him, you’ll be like ‘that guy is a special talent.’ I think you’ve just got to guard him like anybody else, or at least try to.”

Given the timing of Saturday’s game, between showdowns against SEC foes South Carolina and Alabama, Georgia seems ripe to overlook the Jaguars.

”We hear it around campus, but in this building we’re focused on Southern,” running back Keith Marshall said. ”They offer a good challenge. Coaches will make sure that we stay focused and the older guys will make sure we stay focused, so it won’t be a problem.”

For the second week in a row, Georgia coaches will help raise awareness for a health-related cause by wearing a little something extra on the sideline. All American Football Coaches Association members across the country, in fact, will be wearing a “Coach to Cure MD” logo patch. Meanwhile, fans can donate to the Duchenne muscular dystrophy research either online (www.CoachtoCureMD.org) or by texting the word CURE to 90999.

Saturday’s game will kick off at 12:01 and will be televised by the SEC Network.