Richt admits to being an admirer of Spurrier

ATHENS, Ga. -- South Carolina football coach Steve Spurrier isn't piling up the obscene offensive numbers or the conference championships he did while at Florida, but he still has a big fan in Georgia's Mark Richt.

"I've always admired his work," Richt said Tuesday. "I haven't always liked playing against him and losing a game against him from time to time, whether it was at Florida State or here at Georgia. I've learned a lot from him just by watching his film.

"I think he's always shot people straight. They may not like it all the time, but I think he's been a guy that tried his very best to play within the rules, which I respect."

Richt's Bulldogs will face Spurrier's Gamecocks for a fifth time Saturday, with Georgia having won three of the past four. The next team to score 20 points in the series will be the first.

Since 2005, the winner has scored 17, 18, 16 and 14 points.

"Sometimes when there are a lot of points scored, there are points in the kicking game and turnovers, but there haven't been too many of those," Spurrier said. "At some point, we have to let our guys go play and see if we can make some plays happen."

Deflecting criticism

Georgia quarterback Joe Cox didn't receive any ugly calls or text messages following Saturday's 24-10 loss at Oklahoma State, but he knows the criticism is there.

"Half the people who have stuff to say after games have never played a down of football before in their entire life," Cox said. "I wouldn't criticize somebody for something I've never played before or never done before, but some people feel it's their place to say how somebody is doing when they've never done it before. That's just something I've never understood.

"Stuff like that doesn't bother me. You've got to look at the source, and if it's somebody who's never played football, I could care less what you say."

A house divided

The Bulldogs have four players from South Carolina, including starting receiver A.J. Green (Summerville) and starting cornerback Prince Miller (Duncan).

"A lot of my family are Gamecocks fans," Green said. "They always want me to do well, but they always want the Gamecocks to win."

Also from the Palmetto State are sophomore linebacker Charles White (Columbia) and freshman defensive tackle Kwame Geathers (Georgetown).

Barking Bulldogs

Richard Samuel on getting tripped by the ankles at OSU: "A running back should not be brought down by little tackles like that."

Cox on whether he was 80 or 90 percent healthy last Saturday: "I don't know if I was that."

Bryan Evans on the personal-foul penalty by fellow safety Reshad Jones: "I don't think it's going to stop us in any way. If we get a chance to hit a person while he's still bobbling the ball, then we're going to take it."

Odds and ends

Georgia has a 45-14-2 series edge, with half of South Carolina's wins coming since 1988. ... Justin Anderson and Cordy Glenn worked Tuesday as the starting guards, leaving Chris Davis on the second team. Davis has made a team-high 27 straight starts. ... Evans, linebacker Rennie Curran and defensive lineman Geno Atkins each required an IV last Saturday, with Evans admitting he cramped on Dez Bryant's 46-yard touchdown reception. ... Richt reiterated Tuesday afternoon that he expected backup tailback Caleb King (hamstring) to play, but offensive coordinator Mike Bobo wasn't as certain after King was limited in practice later.