Curran's daughter a factor

ATHENS, Ga. -- Georgia junior linebacker Rennie Curran has to decide in a few weeks whether he will forgo his senior year for the NFL draft, and his choice could come down to a 14-month-old girl.

Eleana Curran lives in Gwinnett County with her mother, and Curran is able to visit them every Monday when the Bulldogs have a break from practicing. The 5-foot-11, 225-pounder said he spends Mondays watching Dora the Explorer along with tape of Georgia's next opponent.

"I'm not the normal college student," Curran said Tuesday. "Having her and seeing her and not being able to take her out and provide for her -- it really weighs on me being a father and not being able to spend that time with her because I'm in college. I definitely want to be able to provide for her, because she's my heart.

"It's definitely something I'm going to be thinking about when it comes to that decision."

Curran has 94 tackles in 10 games, which ranks second in the SEC to Vanderbilt linebacker Chris Marve, who has 110 in 11. He has not set a timetable, adding, "I'm not leaning any way at all."

Save it for later

Coach Mark Richt was asked if defeating Kentucky and Georgia Tech would have an effect on staff changes that might occur at the end of the season. Richt went back in punt formation.

"My main focus again is Kentucky," he said. "That's where I've got to keep my mind. If I focus on something too far down the road, that's not healthy for me."

A tough decision

Quarterback Joe Cox will be the offensive captain in his final home game, with cornerback and punt returner Prince Miller representing special teams. Richt said picking defensive captains was more difficult, as defensive tackles Geno Atkins, Jeff Owens and Kade Weston were deserving candidates.

NCAA rules allow only four players to walk to the middle of the field before a game.

"We pretty much had to flip a coin," Richt said. "It ended up being Jeffrey and Kade as the guys who would walk out."

Bowl possibilities

By defeating Kentucky this week, Georgia's most likely postseasoon destinations would be the Outback, Chick-fil-A or Music City bowl. Losing to the Wildcats and at Georgia Tech next week could relegate the Bulldogs to the Liberty, Independence or Papajohns.com bowls.

"It seems like there is a big wad," Richt said of the SEC scramble. "We're in the middle of that wad, and I'd like to separate from that group if we could and convince the bowl people that we've done that."

Freshman tight end Orson Charles is from Tampa and has a favorite.

"I do want to play in the Outback Bowl, but I have a feeling that nobody else wants to," Charles said. "The Cotton Bowl is much farther, and I guess we would get more money."

Odds and ends

Richt said the absence of redshirt freshman Bacarri Rambo (concussion) this week will result in more snaps for starting safeties Reshad Jones and Bryan Evans. ... Cox has goals of coaching but has not sent out applications to be a graduate assistant. ... Reserve center Kevin Perez and reserve defensive tackle Ricardo Crawford are redshirt juniors who have decided to end their careers, so they will take part in Saturday's pregame festivities. ... Richt on rallying past Auburn without A.J. Green: "It was a good sign for us, no doubt. That would probably be the No. 1 topic of discussion today if we didn't get much going offensively after that point."