Tuesday Tidbits: Oklahoma State Edition

A few tidbits from today's media session with Mark Richt and players...

-- Richt spent much of this preseason saying Georgia wasn't approaching Oklahoma State any different than it has previous opening-week opponents. Today, however, he said his assistant coaches began game planning earlier than usual. Wish I hadn't taken the time to transcribe those previous quotes.

-- Richt discussed Georgia's successful track record when having extra time to prepare for games. He said the ability for players to get comfortable with their roles is key because knowing what to do allows them to play faster. As a result, Georgia's record in opening games, bowl games and games following a bye week is 25-5 (with just one of those losses coming in the past three seasons).

-- Richt touted the improvement of Blair Walsh in both the field-goal and PAT game and on kickoffs. Can't help but wonder if that's a sign of things to come against Oklahoma State.

-- Richt said he expects Vince Vance and Justin Anderson to get a chance to play vs. the Cowboys, but they won't start. He also said Josh Davis is getting close to returning from offseason shoulder surgery and could be ready in one or two weeks.

-- Georgia's travel list will come out tomorrow, but Richt would not comment about who would be on it yet.

-- Richt said both Abry Jones and Montez Robinson will play this season, but said he couldn't promise either would play Saturday.

-- A few things I noticed on Georgia's game notes:

Akeem Dent is listed as the backup Sam linebacker. Darryl Gamble is listed as the starter at Mike and Darius Dewberry the starter at Sam. I'll be surprised, however, if Dent doesn't see a good bit of playing time, assuming his hamstring is fully recovered.

Did you know... Georgia hasn't beaten an opponent from outside the Southeast region in season-opening game since 1953. Of course, they also haven't played one since 1958. (FYI, they beat Villanova 32-19 in Philadelphia in '53).

This will only be the fifth time in Richt's tenure that Georgia has played a top-10 team on the road (obviously not counting the games in Jacksonville). In the previous four matchups, Georgia is 3-1. The only loss was to No. 3 Auburn in 2004.