Thursday Notes (9/25)

Not a lot to discuss from today's meeting with head coach Mark Richt.

The biggest note of interest is that Richt was visited today by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who Richt said is a big Georgia fan.

"That fires me up," Richt said. "I just met him, and that was fun. He's a very delightful man, and just in the small time you're with him, you can tell he's a very humble man considering who he is. I really enjoyed the couple moments with him."

As it turns out, however, Thomas apparently has another favorite team, too, though Richt was mum on the details.

"He's a Georgia fan," Richt said. "He has a No. 1 team ahead of Georgia, but he told me not to tell anyone. It's somebody way far away from here in a different conference, so it's OK."

The amusing part of all this, however, is that meeting Thomas was hardly Richt's top priority of the day.

The Georgia coach is known for writing notes down on his hand -- his "Palm Pilot" as he calls it -- and one of today's notes, in big black lettering was "Clarence Thomas." Richt was so busy prepping for Bama, he needed to be reminded of his meeting with a Supreme Court justice.

"I'm hoping to introduce him to the team real quick," Richt said. "I don't know if that will get done or not. I don't want to cheese up at the last second and say the wrong name, so I've got to hand it."

Other news and notes...

-- Quintin Banks should play, Richt said. I'll have a detailed story on Banks and John Knox in tomorrow's paper, too.

-- Still no update on Donavon Baldwin. My guess is that decision will come during Georgia's off week rather than before a big game like this one.

-- Rennie Curran, Matthew Stafford, Knowshon Moreno and Tony Wilson will be the captains for this week's game. Regarding Wilson, Richt said he has earned the captain status despite his minimal on-field contributions.

"He hasn't played a lot, but Tony has been a warrior for us," Richt said. "He's done everything he's been asked to do. He's coming off that ankle injury, and it just has not progressed like we hope. He's kind of limping around. He's not full speed, but he's not at any risk. He's just not what he was, and that's been very frustrating to him. But when we ask him to do this or that, he's done it with great enthusiasm."

-- Bruce Figgins hasn't been a big part of Georgia's offense thus far. In Game 1, he didn't dress as punishment for breaking a team rule. Since then, Richt said Figgins has battled a sore shoulder that has limited him. The biggest reason for the drought, however, is the Bulldogs lack of throws to the tight end.

"I don't think the ball has been thrown to the tight ends as much as a year ago," Richt said. "Of course, Bruce started his first game as a true freshman and caught his first touchdown pass in that first game. It's just the way it's worked out to this point."

-- Jeremy Lomax and Jarius Wynn will both play Saturday, Richt said. "Both ready, no limitations today. They'll be fine."

-- The practice schedule for the bye week next week will be a little different. Georgia will meet Monday to review the Alabama game, lift and do some conditioning. The Bulldogs will have full practices Tuesday and Thursday, while Wednesday and Friday will be limited to just lifting and running.

-- Richt was asked to do his best "Project Runway" impression by discussing any uniform changes he's made over the years. Two important points he made: Georgia will always be a "silver britches" team, and he reiterated that there won't be black helmets for Saturday.

-- The last thing Richt was asked today was about his demeanor -- he's seemed pretty relaxed all week, given the enormity of the game. His response -- particularly when compared to the typical Belichick-era coaches -- was pretty refreshing.

"The older I get the more I realize what a blessing it is to be coaching at Georgia at a major college and playing in games like this. I mean, how often does a game like this come along? Not that often. I've been in other games that were as big or bigger when it comes to championships on the line, but I've just learned to stop and smell the roses a little bit more and just enjoy the reality of my job and my ability to be doing this. I try to help the players and the assistant coaches, too, sometimes. I hope the fans realize how special of a night this is going to be. It's going to be exciting. I don't know who's going to win. I'm excited because of just the whole opportunity to be a part of it. I'm just like, 'This is awesome, this is great.'"