UGA excited for Saturday night lights

Players, coach ready to play Vandy under cooler conditions.

ATHENS — The No. 2 Bulldogs (5-0, 2-0 SEC), who practiced inside Tuesday because of a gas leak on Lumpkin Street near their outdoor fields, will play their first night game of the season Saturday when they host Vanderbilt (3-2, 0-1 SEC) for homecoming.

While it is sure to be a bit cooler on Saturday evening, could setting the kickoff at a later hour upset Georgia’s established game day process?

“We have a pregame routine we always go by no matter what the time is,” junior safety Richard LeCounte said. “We might have to wake up earlier or wake up later depending on the time of the game, but as far as our pregame routine, it’s going to stay the same.”

Ju n ior li n eb a cker Tae Crowder said he was “most definitely” looking forward to a night game.

“It’s been a while, so I’m pretty excited,” Crowder said. “Just the lights — I think about high school a little bit.”

Coach Kirby Smart said evening encounters make for faster games, but he pointed out the same is true for the opposition.

“I’m excited for the players — it’s cooler longer, so typically on our GPS system we get higher speeds at night,” Smart said. “Our fastest games last year were night games. They might be just as fast in day games, but not for as long or as many yards. But that’s true for the other team, too.

“The game is faster and (the players) enjoy it more and I think the fan base enjoys it more with the buildup for it.”

Harrier Herrien: Junior running back Brian Herrien was Georgia second-leading rusher against Tennessee, carrying the ball nine times for 56 yards. When asked Monday about Herrien’s progress, Smart was quick to note that the Douglasville native’s contributions don’t always wind up on the stat sheet.

“Brian’s been really consistent since being here, in my opinion,” Smart said. “You guys only get to see the finished product on the field, and you go off of results and stats, where I’m going off the body of work for two springs where I’ve seen this guy. The run he made where he spun off a tackler, that’s a common occurrence in spring prac- tice. He makes guys miss in the hole. He’s quick. Brian’s a good runner.”

First playing behind Nick Chubb and Sony Michel and now behind Elijah Holyfield and D’Andre Swift, Herrien came into 2018 averaging 24.2 yards per game and 5.1 yards per carry. This season, he is the Bulldogs’ third-leading rusher with 156 yards on 26 attempts and one touch- down. He’s averaging 6.0 yards per rush.

Smart also said Herrien has been an “asse t ” on special teams and said that against Tennessee he “provided a spark and juice that sometimes he doesn’t get an opportunity to because he’s on the sideline. And when he’s out there, he did a good job, and I thought he took advantage of his opportu- nities.”

Praise for Mays: Freshman Cade Mays has seen the benefits of the cross-training Georgia’s offensive linemen take part in and has played a key role in spelling more experienced teammates.

Mays was first pushed into duty during the South Carolina game, when sophomore left tackle Andrew Thomas went down with an ankle injury. Mays played most of the second half against the Gamecocks and was listed as the starting left tackle the next week against Middle Tennessee.

He did not start against Missouri, but again subbed for Thomas. During the Missouri game, right guard Ben Cleveland suffered a frac- tured left fibula and sopho- more Justin Shaffer stepped in, but Mays started at the position last week against Tennessee and is listed as the starter at right guard for this Saturday’s game with Vanderbilt.

Smart said earlier this week that the Tennessee game film he saw some things from Mays that he had not witnessed during the game.

“He’s very instinctive,” Smart said of Mays. “He’s able to go from the left to the right side without being lefthand dominant or right-hand dominant. He picks things up. I thought after watching the tape he played probably more physical in the game than I thought he was playing in the game. When you watch the tape, he had some movement, did some good things.”

Thomas also expressed his appreciation for Mays’ ability to be effective at more than one position.

“He did pretty well playing at both spots, left tackle and now playing at right guard, he’s been doing pretty well,” Thomas said.