Georgia Bulldogs prepare for tough stretch

Georgia will become the first college football team ever to play the previous two BCS national champions in consecutive weeks when the Bulldogs face LSU this Saturday and Florida on Nov. 1.

Yet this historical precedent was supplanted Sunday when Bulldogs coach Mark Richt dealt with the arrests of offensive tackle Vince Vance and defensive tackle Brandon Wood. Vance was arrested Saturday night in Athens for driving on an expired license, while Wood was arrested early Sunday morning and charged with driving under the influence.

“It’s always disappointing to hear that kind of news,” Richt said. “Brandon certainly made a bad error in judgment to have alcohol in his system. He is 21 and of legal age, but he had something to drink earlier in the evening and drove his automobile. He made that mistake, and he’ll pay the price.

“He certainly won’t be playing in this ball game coming up.”

Saturday’s showdown in Baton Rouge, which matches the top two teams in last season’s final Associated Press poll, will be televised by CBS at 3:30 p.m. Eastern.

According to the Clarke County Sheriff’s jail booking report, Wood was arrested by university police Sunday at 3:42 a.m. and released at 9:16 on $1,750 bond. He has played in every game this season, amassing 10 tackles, seven quarterback hurries and 0.5 sacks.

The Bulldogs will have Geno Atkins, Corvey Irvin, Kade Weston, DeAngelo Tyson and Ricardo Crawford available at defensive tackle this week. Weston was held out of Saturday’s 24-14 win over Vanderbilt with a sore knee, but Richt said he could have played.

Vance, who was released on $500 bond, tore his ACL against Tennessee on Oct. 11 and is out for the season.

The arrests of Wood and Vance also diverted attention from Georgia being ranked seventh in the initial BCS standings. Texas, Alabama and Penn State were the top three teams, while Florida was 10th and LSU 13th.

“I think it’s good that we’re ranked in the top 10, but there is so much more to be played that I don’t know how meaningful it is right now,” Richt said. “We’re really just concentrating on this LSU game, period. We’re trying to go 7-1 and keep ourselves in good shape for the Eastern Division. I’m looking at their D-line, and they’ve got senior, senior, senior, junior in their top four, and then behind them they’ve got junior, senior, senior and one sophomore.

“They’ve got one sophomore in their top eight, so their youngest guy matches our oldest guy when it’s their D-line and our O-line.”

LSU defeated South Carolina 24-17 Saturday night in Columbia to regroup somewhat from the 51-21 thumping the Tigers endured Oct. 11 at Florida. The Tigers sacked South Carolina quarterback Stephen Garcia six times and held the Gamecocks to 39 rushing yards on 31 carries.

“They’ve got a good team,” South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier said Sunday. “They’ve got a big, strong team. They’ve got a big, strong offensive line and a big, strong defensive line, so that gives them a very good chance. We played about the same way both years offensively, but defensively I think we played a little bit better this year against them.”

Odds and ends

Saturday will pit the SEC’s two winningest teams since 2003, with the Tigers 61-11 in the last five-plus seasons and the Bulldogs 57-15. ... Richt is optimistic linebacker Dannell Ellerbe (knee), tight end Tripp Chandler (shoulder) and receiver Kris Durham (ankle) will play this week. ... A tight end hasn’t caught a pass for Georgia since Chandler had an 11-yarder at Arizona State. ... Richt said the Bulldogs will begin tapering off on contact work during the week. ... Georgia has a 35-22-1 record on CBS, which includes a current four-game winning streak.