Georgia coach Mark Richt defends team's relevancy

HOOVER — When he faced the media here last year, Georgia coach Mark Richt was forced to play hype control.

On Thursday, he was relegated to defending his team’s relevancy and his now suspect job security.

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“We’re always motivated to win the East, period,” Richt said. “You know, I don’t know if it matters who’s preseason No. 1 or the preseason choice.

“We absolutely have the goal of winning the Eastern Division, no doubt about that.”

It’s easy to figure why a down year could be on the horizon in Athens.

The Bulldogs lost their two star players from last year’s team in quarterback Matthew Stafford and tailback Knowshon Moreno to the first round of the NFL Draft. Making matters worse, their schedule is arguably the most daunting in the conference, as it opens the season at top-10 Oklahoma State and faces seven more losable games before Homecoming.

Richt said last year’s squad may have relied too heavily on its two superstars. This year, he said, there is more comradery.

“I think our team understands the only chance they have is to play together, work together, earn it as a team,” Richt said. “I think they’ve done a great job of buying into that.”

Richt, now the dean of SEC coaches as he heads into his ninth season with the Bulldogs, is 82-22 all-time and 6-2 in bowl games. That consistency, though, hasn’t been enough to quell talk that another disappointing season could lead to his ousting.

“I think it’s a joke,” said senior quarterback Joe Cox, who has seen little action in his first three years at Georgia. “With his history and a ten-win season, just the talk of it really bothers our team.”

Auburn lands 12th commit: Atlanta wide receiver Antonio Goodwin pledged his commitment Thursday to sign with Auburn in 2010, according to AuburnSports.com.

Goodwin is the Tigers’ 12th commit and fourth in the past nine days. He is arguably the most highly touted of the group, as both Rivals.com and Scout.com rate him with four stars.

He considered offers from Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Florida State, Tennessee, Ole Miss and Georgia Tech, but told AuburnSports.com that he’s known for months that he wanted to commit to the Tigers.

Goodwin, at 6-foot-2 and 170 pounds, joins Springville four-star Jeremy Richardson as the second receiver to commit for 2010. He is the fifth commit to hail from Georgia, which already equals the number from the 2009 signing class.

Rugby-style punters lose protection: Punters who step outside the tackle box to make their kicks are no longer protected by roughing- or running-into-the-kicker penalties, SEC coordinator of Officials Rogers Redding said Thursday.

The change marked the only major move made by the conference’s officials.

Redding said punters would still be protected from “flagrant slugging and some kind of dangerous unsportsmanlike conduct” but forfeits that shield when he steps outside the tackle box.

That box is defined as five yards on each side of the snapper going back from the line of scrimmage.

In another minor change, Redding said when officials look for illegal formations on offense, they will no longer look for seven men on the line of scrimmage. Instead, they’ll be looking for no more than four backs in the backfield.

Redding said his committee would now evaluate the rules every other year instead of the previous annual procedure.

Opinions differ on future of World’s Largest Cocktail Party: Georgia and Florida’s contract to play its yearly matchup in Jacksonville, Fla., ends after the 2009 season.

The future destination of the game is up in the air, and opinions differed as to where it should take place in 2010 and beyond.

“I would like to change the location,” Georgia defensive tackle Jeff Owens said. “I’d like to play one year at Florida, the next year at Georgia.”

Dating back to 1915, the matchup has been played in Jacksonville all but nine of the 86 times. Georgia holds a 46-38-2 edge in the series, but has lost 16 of the past 19.

Florida dismantled the Bulldogs, 49-10, in last year’s game.

“I really just want to focus on trying to win that game,” Richt said when asked if he wanted the game to move to a different location. “That’s my goal from here on in. That will be my pat answer from here on in.“

Florida coach Urban Meyer has said he hopes the game will remain in Jacksonville, but didn’t go as far to say so Thursday.

“I just love that game,” Meyer said. “I love the atmosphere. It’s one of the unique ones in college football.”

Day 2 of Tebow hunt reveals nothing: While some coaches have been lighthearted in disclosing that they voted for Tim Tebow as first-team All-SEC quarterback, others have appeared a bit perturbed.

Count Richt and Nick Saban as two of those coaches.

“Everybody should have the right to vote for whoever they want, and I don’t think they should be criticized for that,” Saban said. “It’s what a lot of people have fought for in this country for a long time. So I don’t understand why anybody would even be interested.

“But I guess it’s somebody trying to create news.”

Depending on if the culprit admits to it, the search will be finalized today. Auburn’s Gene Chizik, South Carolina’s Steve Spurrier, LSU’s Les Miles and Tennessee’s Lane Kiffin take the stage today.