Coming to you live from a deluge here in Athens. It looks like it will be a muddy field tonight for Arizona State and Georgia, which means all bets are off. Who knows how this game will end up when you consider how UGA’s games have gone this year? Mix that with the weather and you have a very unpredictable contest at hand.
If the weather continues throughout the game, expect a lot more running than either team likes to do. Although both run more than pass (or have thus far in 2009), neither wants to run as much as they may have to tonight.
SUN DEVILS MAKE RARE TRIP EAST
Arizona State has never played an SEC on the road before and comes to Athens looking for their first win ever against an SEC foe. However, in 1951, ASU travelled to Arkansas to play the Hogs. At the time, the Razorbacks were in the SWC. The Devils also faced the Hogs in the 1985 Holiday Bowl. Both games were losses.
ASU has not played an out-of-conference road game since 2006, when they defeated Colorado in Boulder. The last time State travelled this far for a game was in 1997 when they visited Miami.
DAWGS OUT OF CONFERENCE AGAIN
Having lost two of their last three non-SEC games, UGA will try to get back to their winning ways against Arizona State. Mark Richt started out 33-2 in out-of-conference games at UGA before losing to Georgia Tech in 2008 and Oklahoma State to open this season. Richt is now 34-4 including the CapOne Bowl win over Michigan State in January.
Prior to the loss to Tech last season, Richt had not lost a non-conference regular season game in his career at UGA.
Today’s game is the second of three against non-SEC BCS conference opponents this season for the Dawgs. Georgia is the first SEC program to play three non-SEC BCS conference in one year since the advent of the 12-game regular season. Only five programs nationwide have faced a similar schedule.
Georgia is 9-4-1 vs the Pac Ten including last year’s 27-10 win over the Sun Devils, in their only meeting.
INJURY REPORT
Arizona State will be missing star kicker Thomas Webber and linebacker Oliver Aaron and lineman Zach Schlink.
The Dawgs will be without Vince Vance. Fellow O-linemen Kiante Tripp and Josh Davis are questionable. Linebacker Akeem Dent is out for the game.
WEATHER
While it is expected to rain much of the night, it has slowed almost purposely prior to kickoff. As Mike Moore claims on Twitter occasionally, “Coach Richt controls the weather!”
Black can be reached at sblack@scoreatl.com.
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