ATLANTA - As West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez roamed the sidewalks and hotel lobbies of Atlanta, fans coming to town for the Sugar Bowl often greeted him with the same thought.
"If I had a dollar for everyone who said, 'Are you ready?', I could get a lot of things done in our program," Rodriguez said Sunday. "I think I'm going to turn to one of them and say, 'No, we're not,' and then see what their reaction is."
No. 8 Georgia (10-2) and No. 11 West Virginia (10-1) meet on Monday night at the Georgia Dome.
"I think our guys are ready to play. I'm sure the Bulldogs are, too," Rodriguez said.
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SCOUTING WVU: Georgia coach Mark Richt said it was nearly impossible to mimic mobile West Virginia quarterback Pat White during practices. The Bulldogs used freshman Joe Cox on scout teams to throw passes.
Overall, Richt doesn't know how long it will take for Georgia in the bowl to adjust to West Virginia, which uses a 3-3-5 defense and a spread offense.
"The offense in general is just not one that you can get a scout team to simulate very well at all," Richt said. "My guess is it's going to take us a little while to get used to the speed at which West Virginia goes about their business on offense.
"Defensively, we really haven't played anybody this season that lines up the way they do. That's a new challenge for us, also."
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STAYING AHEAD: The last time West Virginia trailed was in the seventh game of the season against Louisville. The Mountaineers came from 17 points down to win 46-44 in triple overtime.
West Virginia has held a lead three times in three previous bowl games - all losses - under Rodriguez.
Last year's Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla., was barely two minutes old when Florida State already had scored twice on West Virginia.
"They flew those fighter jets over the stadium and before they'd landed, we were down 10-0. It was ugly," Rodriguez said.
Two years ago, West Virginia trailed Maryland 24-0 at halftime in the Gator. In the 2002 Continental Tire Bowl, West Virginia led 10-7 after the first quarter, then watched Virginia score 31 unanswered points.
The consensus has been that Georgia's team speed on defense and playing in their home state makes the Bulldogs the favorite. Rodriguez said it will be important to not let Georgia get an early lead.
"We've got to keep our fans into the game and keep their fans from being too boisterous early, and have our guys, importantly our young guys, get some confidence," he said.
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PSYCHOLOGY 101: Richt is wary of criticism that Big East-member West Virginia has been hearing all week about whether the conference belongs in a Bowl Championship Series game.
After Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College left for the Atlantic Coast Conference, critics said the Big East lacked a dominant program and didn't deserve an automatic BCS berth, although the league has one for the foreseeable future.
"The team that is being told that they don't belong or they can't win, usually that team is really hungry," Richt said. "So for us, we've got to make sure we can match the intensity that I'm sure West Virginia is going to bring."
Then again, Richt said, he believes Georgia didn't get enough credit for its 34-14 win over LSU in the Southeastern Conference championship game.
"It helped our guys get mentally ready to play" for the Sugar Bowl, he said. "I think when it comes to the psychology of the game, West Virginia has the advantage. We've got to make sure we don't drop the ball as far as being excited about playing this game."
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INJURY UPDATE: West Virginia backup running back Jason Colson has a sprained knee and is questionable for the Sugar Bowl. Backup wide receiver Jeremy Bruce is out with an ankle sprain. Several players are recovering from a stomach virus, including backup defensive lineman Johnny Dingle, who missed two days of practice.
Georgia starting nose tackle Gerald Anderson is questionable with a stiff back.
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