Georgia football players reported to Jacksonville, Fla., on Sunday and will begin on-location practices this morning for Saturday's TaxSlayer Bowl against Penn State.
The Bulldogs will practice each of the next four mornings at the University of North Florida. A win over the Nittany Lions would result in the 10th bowl triumph of the Mark Richt era, which is ending after 15 years.
Vince Dooley won eight bowl games in his 25 years at Georgia.
Here are five other numbers to keep an eye on this week as the Bulldogs seek to claim a 10-win season and a 40th victory for the senior class:
' 9: Number of victories by redshirt junior quarterback Greyson Lambert, who transferred to Athens this summer after graduating from Virginia. Should Lambert start and guide Georgia to a win against Penn State, he would improve to 10-2 as the starter and match D.J. Shockley for the highest win percentage (.833) among quarterbacks in the Richt era. Shockley went 10-2 as the starter for the 2005 Southeastern Conference champions, sitting out a 14-10 loss to Florida due to injury. Lambert didn't play in this season's 27-3 loss to the Gators, when third-stringer Faton Bauta was tabbed as the surprise starter.
' 28: Number of bowl victories for Georgia, which trails only Alabama (34) and Southern California (33). The Bulldogs entered this postseason tied with Oklahoma and Penn State, so they can forge ahead of the Nittany Lions with a win at EverBank Field.
' 60: Number of nonconference wins in the Richt era, compared to just 11 defeats. Georgia Tech is the only nonconference team to defeat Richt's Bulldogs twice, but the Yellow Jackets had 15 opportunities. All of Georgia's losses outside the SEC have been to other "Power Five" conference members, with the exception of UCF in the Liberty Bowl after the 2010 season and Boise State in the 2011 Chick-fil-A Kickoff Classic.
' 146.1: Average number of passing yards per game allowed by the Bulldogs, which leads the nation. San Jose State ranks second at 157.8, having given up 208 yards to Georgia State's Nick Arbuckle in a 27-16 win over the Panthers in the Cure Bowl on Dec. 19. Michigan (158.8), Texas A&M (161.3) and Clemson (166.9) are next in line entering their respective bowl games.
' 403: Number of career points by Georgia senior kicker Marshall Morgan, which ranks third in SEC history behind former Bulldogs kickers Blair Walsh (412) and Billy Bennett (409). Morgan needs seven points, which is what he tallied in the 13-7 win at Georgia Tech last month, to move into second place; he needs 10 points to supplant Walsh. Morgan collected double-digit points twice in September, tallying 10 in the 52-20 rout of South Carolina and 12 in the 48-6 thumping of Southern.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.