Sports

Richt: Penalties worth it

• Georgia coach Mark Richt is hoping his team can continue to play with the energy it had during Saturday's win against Flordia.

Colin Chmielewski

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — After a rare Saturday that didn’t include the normal Top 10 upsets that people have been accustomed to this fall, Georgia coach Mark Richt was left to answer plenty of questions about the Bulldogs’ celebration of their first touchdown of the game during Saturday’s 42-30 win against Florida.

“I think everyone enjoyed it. People who know me well enough know I wasn’t trying to disrespect anyone,” Richt said Sunday. “This situation was strictly made to sacrifice 15 yards for the emotion it may give us. Everyone seemed to think it did jack the boys up, and it may have been a factor in helping us win the game.”

And that win has vaulted the Bulldogs (6-2, 4-2 SEC) in terms of national relevance. They were ranked No. 10 in both new polls — the highest ranking of the season. But most importantly, beating the Gators — for only the third time in the past 18 years —gave Georgia a legitimate shot in the SEC East again.

The Bulldogs are currently tied for first in the division with Tennessee, which escaped with a 27-24 overtime win against South Carolina after blowing a 21-point lead. Even if Georgia was to win out, it would take the Volunteers losing one of their final three SEC games to Arkansas, Vanderbilt or Kentucky. But in a season that has proven to be as unpredictable as it has enjoyable, Richt continued last week’s stance “no comment” stance.

“We’re going to let everyone else talk about where we are and might end up being,” he said. “We’re going to talk about Troy and take it one game at a time. We’re not talking about anything else. We’ll leave that to the fans if they want to.”

On Saturday, the Bulldogs will face a 6-2 Troy team whose only losses came to Florida and Arkansas. The Trojans are undefeated in the Sun Belt Conference and actually share another common opponent. Troy waxed Oklahoma State, 41-23, earlier in the season — a game that has Richt’s eyes wide open.

“They have SEC-caliber athletes on their team, at least they have in the last five-to-10 years,” he said. “They’re a very well-coached team. I’ll say that it was a surprise to see them beating Oklahoma State as badly as they were, but just the fact that they were beating them didn’t shock me at all because I know they’re a very good football team.”

It’s a team that will challenge Richt’s newly minted No. 10 BCS squad. If that’s a spot they’d like to keep — and improve — the Bulldogs need to continue on the path they started Saturday.

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