Last Updated on September 22, 2009 3:03 pm by drew
ASU-Georgia Odds
Athens,
The Bulldogs may need another big outing from that unit to keep up with Arizona State on Saturday night.
The No. 21 Bulldogs look to extend their offensive surge when they host the Sun Devils, who will try to continue their own high-scoring ways in their first big test of the season.
Oddsmakers from online sports book BetOnline have made
Ranked 13th in the preseason AP poll,
Since then, the Bulldogs (2-1) have more than worked out the kinks on the offensive side of the ball. They won a 41-37 shootout against
Richard Samuel ran for 104 yards and a touchdown, but
"It’s pretty cool," said Cox, a first-year starter who had thrown eight TDs in 14 career games before last week. "It’s definitely not something I expected to happen. We didn’t know it was going to be a shootout like that, but if a team wants to make it a shootout, we’ve got to find a way to answer."
The Bulldogs have been able to do so over the last two weeks, and Cox thinks that will help them as the season continues.
"These kinds of games are good for you," he said. "I think it’s great to get a win any way you can, but when you do it like this it says something about the team as a whole. This was an important win for us against a good team."
Coach Mark Richt was similarly encouraged after his team continued to distance itself from the opening-week disappointment.
"We certainly know how to keep things exciting," he said. "It was a spirited victory tonight. I still don’t feel like we’ve reached our full potential, but we’re getting there."
The Sun Devils (2-0) have cruised to easy wins against overmatched opponents in their first two games, beating
Danny Sullivan was 19 for 31 for 220 yards and a touchdown, while Dimitri Nance ran for 82 yards and two TDs against the Warhawks. Omar Bolden had an interception and scored on an 89-yard kickoff return.
Though the early results have been good, Erickson is eager to see how his squad stands up to stiffer competition.
"We’re (asking) right now, ‘Where are we at as a football team?’" he said. "That’s my biggest concern. It will be interesting to find out exactly where we’re at when we go down there and play.
"Every part of our football team, we’re going to find out more about us when we play this week."
Since the start of the 2000 season,
In these teams’ first meeting last season, then-No. 3
"They pretty much dominated us," he said.
The Bulldogs’ top performers in that game – quarterback Matthew Stafford and running back Knowshon Moreno – were first-round picks in the NFL draft, so
The Bulldogs will also need to take better care of the football. They rank 116th in the nation in turnover margin with two turnovers forced and nine lost.
The Sun Devils, by contrast, are first in the country, having forced eight turnovers and committed none.
"We’ve got to do a lot of things better," Richt said. "We really need to stop turning the ball over and putting our defense in a bad spot."
Posted: 9/22/09 3:03PM ET