Men in black are key for Georgia

ATHENS, Ga. -- Now that he’s no longer calling plays, Mark Richt has more time to think of ways to fire up his players.

The Georgia coach came up with another winner Saturday.

Richt sent out the No. 10 Bulldogs in black jerseys for the first time in the modern era, and they looked good in their new color. Matthew Stafford threw two touchdown passes, Knowshon Moreno had 100 yards rushing for the fourth straight game and Georgia kept alive its Southeastern Conference title hopes with a 45-20 win over No. 18 Auburn.

“That was a lot of fun,” said Richt, who suddenly has gone from a laid-back, by-the-book coach to someone willing to resort to all sorts of motivational tactics. “That was maybe first or second on the fun-meter for me.”

Just two weeks ago, Richt broke character by ordering his team to celebrate excessively after their first score against Florida. The whole team stormed the end zone, drawing all sorts of penalties, but the Bulldogs went on to a 42-30 victory over the defending national champions.

Richt actually cooked up the jersey switch over the summer, giving in to a senior class that was desperate for a chance to wear black instead of Georgia’s traditional red.

The Bulldogs (8-2, 5-2) donned red in pregame warmups, then returned to the locker room for their normal ritual of praying privately with the lights turned out.

When they came back on, everyone had black jerseys at their lockers.

“Oh, man, we were so jacked up,” said senior receiver Sean Bailey, who had four catches for a career-best 96 yards.

Said Auburn Coach Tommy Tuberville, whose team fell to 7-4, 4-3: “I thought we looked confused out there at times. When you give up 45 points, you’ve been taken to the woodshed.”