Dawgs have plenty of motivation for Saturday

The fake punt. The interception return. The two fumble returns.

The defeat.

No. 5 Georgia hasn’t lost a regular-season game since that 45-42 outing on Sept. 10, 2011 when USC’s Melvin Ingram and Jadeveon Clowney ran roughshod over the Bulldogs while Marcus Lattimore ran around and through them.

Redemption is one of the many themes floating around the Georgia camp this week and playing up to their potential is the Bulldogs’ primary aim.

“You certainly want to come out and do well against a team that you felt you gave the game to last year,” senior receiver Tavarres King said. “Certainly, you’re going to come out and do your best. It is in the back of your mind.”

The stakes couldn’t be any higher. Both teams arrive unbeaten and USC will carry a No. 6 ranking into the game, making it the highest-ranking battle in the history of Williams-Brice Stadium.

“Absolutely, you know?” King said. “It’s a big one for us and we know what’s at stake,.” King said. “We didn’t play these guys the way we wanted to the last two years, so the time is now. This one’s huge. Probably the biggest one I’ve been a part of in the regular season.”

Quarterback Aaron Murray said the Bulldogs have been looking forward to Saturday since the end of last season.

“This is something you circle on the calendar in January. You see it on the monitors in (the athletics complex), playing highlights from last season’s game,” Murray said. “You’re pumped up through the workouts in spring, through summer, so I know our guys are looking forward to it.”

Mark Richt has been around the block as far as touted matchups go. In fact, he has been in such games against Steve Spurrier, thanks to his time as an assistant under Bobby Bowden at Florida State.

“It’s fun. It’s exciting,” Richt said. “It’s nice to be in the middle of the college football world. Everyone is kind of curious and talking about it and that’s good. We can’t focus on it, but it’s a good place to be.”

The last time Georgia travelled to Columbia, receiver Michael Bennett was redshirting as a member of the scout team. Seeing Williams-Brice Stadium at its raucous best was a revelation for what he had gotten into as a player for a team in the SEC.

“When you come to the SEC, this is what you play for: games like this,” he said. “It’s just going to be another great game. (ESPN) College GameDay is there and everything, but when it kicks off you forget about all of that and you just focus on assignments.

“The crowd settles down from “Sandstorm” and everything — which is really cool, actually, I like how they do that. That song they play, they jump around and shake their towels. I remember going over there and saying, ‘this is freaking awesome.’ It got me pumped up, so I hope they do it again.”

If the Bulldogs needed any additional incentive, they’ll look to ESPN to provide it.

“I’m sure if Lee Corso picks against us, that would be a little incentive,” Bennett said with a laugh. “Like, all right, we’ll show this old guy. We’ll go out and win.”

This story was originally published October 2, 2012 at 9:56 PM.