ATHENS, Ga. — The Georgia Bulldogs have improved in nearly every statistical category imaginable this season compared to last year, but there is one area in which they have plummeted.
Georgia is a surprising 107th nationally in net punting with a 33.62-yard average through 10 games. The Bulldogs led the nation with a 41.95-yard average in 2009, when punter Drew Butler won the Ray Guy Award as a sophomore, and finished fourth a year ago at 40.6 yards.
“It’s been a really big difference,” Butler said Tuesday. “Obviously we lost a lot of really great players to the NFL. We had some younger guys step in, and we changed our formation halfway through the season. Really, we’ve just been trying to feel out what would be best for our team.
“I definitely take it personally, because I feel like I’m the leader of that team, and I know that we’re better than a hundred and whatever we are in the nation.”
Hurting Georgia’s average have been the 81-yard return for a touchdown by Nickolas Brassell at Ole Miss, the blocked punt by Udom Umoh at Vanderbilt and Butler’s 17-yard punt last week against Auburn.
“That’s a team thing,” coach Mark Richt said. “The punt itself is part of the net, but net punting is when you tackle people when you get there. You don’t let them return it for touchdowns and big plays like we did this year.”
Three’s a crowd
Although there is a two-team maximum from a single conference in BCS bowl games, SEC associate commissioner Charles Bloom said the league could skirt that rule this year should Georgia continue to win.
The scenario would entail LSU and Alabama winning out the rest of the regular season and Oklahoma State and Oregon each losing. If Georgia then defeated LSU in the SEC championship game, there is the possibility Alabama would be No. 1 and that LSU would drop only to No. 2 in the final standings, thus setting up a BCS title rematch of the Nov. 5 overtime game in Tuscaloosa.
Because Georgia would then be the league champion, the Bulldogs would go to the Sugar Bowl.
Sturdivant’s finale?
Offensive tackle Trinton Sturdivant will be among the 28 senior scholarship players, walk-ons and managers who will be honored before Saturday’s kickoff against Kentucky. Sturdivant was a Freshman All-American in 2007 but has since suffered three torn anterior cruciate ligaments.
The former 6-foot-5, 310-pounder has dropped about 60 pounds and last month expressed a desire to return to the team as a tight end, but Richt isn’t sure of his plans.
“It’s been anything from continuing school to maybe getting out and getting some work experience as he tries and prepares to get into law school,” Richt said. “I know he has a tremendous interest in athletic administration also. He’s kind of bounced around a little bit.”
Odds and ends
The Wildcats are just 12-50-2 all-time against Georgia but are seeking consecutive wins at Sanford Stadium for the first time. … Richt said the kicking rotation with Blair Walsh and Brandon Bogotay has gone well and that it’s possible it will continue for a third straight game. … Junior safety Bacarri Rambo has 241 career yards on interception returns, which leads the nation.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.
The Associated Press
Georgia’s Drew Butler has had one punt blocked and another returned for a touchdown this season as the Bulldogs have struggled in net punting.