Spurrier heads to UGA for first time in 10 years

ATLANTA - Steve Spurrier will be back between the hedges of Sanford Stadium as a coach for the first time in 10 years Saturday. He won't be as well armed as he was a decade ago when his Florida Gators became the first opposing team to score 50 points on Georgia's home field.

The Bulldogs, ranked ninth nationally and coming off an impressive 48-13 rout of Boise State, are 17-point favorites to take care of Spurrier's new team - South Carolina.

The Gamecocks, unimpressive in a 24-15 season-opening victory over Central Florida, don't yet have the kind of players Spurrier had when he was making Florida a dominant force in the Southeastern Conference. His Gators beat Georgia 11 times during his 12-year tenure in Gainesville, including that 52-17 rout in Sanford Stadium in 1995.

"The time I went there, they weren't near the team they are now," Spurrier said this week. "A different environment, completely different, different team, different head coach."

Nine of the Spurrier-coached Florida victories over Georgia came on neutral turf - the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville. But when that stadium was being rebuilt for the city's new NFL team, the series went to home-and-home for two years. The first game was played at The Swamp in Gainesville, where the Gators poured in on 52-14.

In the game in Athens, Spurrier called a pass play with just over a minute left. It resulted in a touchdown, making the Gators the first visitor ever to top the 50-point mark in Sanford Stadium.

Georgia fans are chomping at the bit to vent their 1995 rage at Spurrier.

"A lot of people are more concerned with beating Spurrier than they are with beating South Carolina," said D.J. Shockley, who passed for a school record-tying fife touchdowns and scored another in last week's opener. "It wouldn't matter who he's coaching for. They want to beat him."

The fans will get their wish. Georgia 28-10.

Elsewhere around the SEC this weekend, with Mississippi and No. 6 Tennessee having open dates:

Southern Mississippi (plus 12) at Alabama: Southern has beaten Alabama only six times in 41 meetings (two ties) with the Crimson Tide, but the Eagles have a history of frequently giving the Tide a closer game than might have been expected. It will be the opener for Southern, after last week's game with Tulane was wiped out by Hurricane Katrina. Alabama 24-14.

Vanderbilt (plus 10) at Arkansas: Jay Cutler gives the Commodores a chance, but despite last week's victory at Wake Forest, the 'Dores don't figure to all of a sudden become a road powerhouse. Arkansas 17-10.

Mississippi State (plus 16) at Auburn: The Bulldogs have lost 15 consecutive games against SEC Western Division teams and 12 in a row overall on the road. Auburn had its 15-game winning streak snapped by Georgia Tech last week. Just add one more notch to both of State's negative streaks. Auburn 28-10.

Louisiana Tech (plus 29) at No. 10 Florida: The Bulldogs won't be able to shut down Chris Leak. When Leak rolls, the Gators roll. Leak will roll again. Florida 35-7.

Idaho State (no line) at Kentucky: Coach Rich Brooks expected his Wildcats to be improved over last year's bunch, and it showed in last week's 31-24 loss to heavily favored Louisville. The Bengals from the Big Sky Conference couldn't handle last year's 'Cats. They certainly won't be on the same page with this year's bunch. Kentucky 38-7.

No. 5 LSU (minus 1) at No. 15 Arizona State: Hurricane Katrina has disrupted LSU's season, forcing postponement of last week's home opener with North Texas State and forcing this week's home game to be switched to Tempe, Ariz. Because of the move, the Tigers are only a 1-point favorite over a Sun Devil team that was impressive is dismantling Temple 63-16 last week. The Devils discover that Temple and LSU aren't cut from the same cloth. LSU 28-21.

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Opening week totals: 8-3 straight, 5-5 vs. spread.