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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 20, 2017

Mark Richt

Greensboro, North Carolina

MARK RICHT: We finished our Wednesday practice. We do practice in the morning. Even though there's no school, we're not in Miami, we kept our morning schedule. We're here in Orlando. I think everybody knows that. If you don't, we're in Orlando. We've been staying at the hotel, practicing at the Wild World of Sports. People have been very gracious to help us get back on our feet. We're right on track.

Q. Your team has been off 10 days weight lifting. Are you concerned at all about conditioning, playing a team from Toledo with three games under their belt?
MARK RICHT: Yeah, I mean, we'll see what kind of shape we're in. We've done the best we can. We've been in Orlando really since Friday. We had a running session Friday night, we had a practice Saturday morning, Sunday morning, then we took Monday off, got back yesterday and today.

I really don't know. I know that yesterday was cloudy, and there was a breeze. It felt too nice actually for what we're probably going to play in. We actually did extremely well yesterday.

Then today it was heat, it was humidity. Quite frankly we didn't hold up as well. I'm glad our players got to feel that sensation and realize the need to hydrate, get the proper nutrition from now till game time. We as coaches have to be wise about the number of reps we play.

Toledo's offense, they're averaging 45 points a game, whatever it is. Who knows how many plays a game, 80 to 100 plays. That's a lot of ball. We got to do a good job of getting off the field by getting some stops, but also we got to do a good job of substituting our players to keep people fresh.

Q. Because of that long layoff, does it almost feel like a season-opening type of game to you? How little continuity is there from that first game you played?
MARK RICHT: It is in a lot of ways. It's almost like after game one, you have a pretty good idea where you're at, you have a game next week, not a lot of time to think about it. You kind of just keep progressing as you go. Right now it does feel like starting from scratch again.

The good news is we've been at an awesome place. We've had the ability to control the schedule in that we're not open for classes yet. We've done everything we can do to get prepared for this game. I think we'll be ready. It's just that it does feel more like an opening game.

Q. Because there's been so many other things on your players' minds for a while, how difficult has it been to concentrate on football and preparation, all that's involved in getting ready for a game?
MARK RICHT: Well, I think because we gave them time before the storm, during the storm, after the storm, to really be with family, be with who they felt would be the best person to be with to ride out the storm. Then when things really did settle down in everybody's lives, then we went ahead and started preparation.

To stay in south Florida wasn't really going to work for us. We really couldn't stay on our campus. It was going to be hard to get a hotel that had enough rooms for everybody because of the demand of the hotel rooms down there in the south because of power outages and those kinds of things. We decided to go to Orlando where we went to one hotel that had enough rooms for everybody. We could feed them the way we want, control their schedule with rest, then practice and focus on football.

I told them, We're in Orlando, but we're not here to go to Disneyworld or to go to a bowl. We're here for camp, truly like we're starting football season all over again.

Q. Since you've been able to resume practice on a regular basis, what have you seen?
MARK RICHT: Mostly excitement. Even like the first day we came and ran gassers together, they were excited to run them. They were excited to be in the flex line together. A lot of juice, a lot of energy, especially when we got started.

I think our guys enjoy being around each other. I think when you live through some of the things we all lived through, it does tend to bring you closer. It did that for us. I thought we were a pretty tight-knit bunch as it was.

Q. What have you been able to discern about Toledo so far?
MARK RICHT: Well, first of all, defensively they do a lot of different things. There's a lot to prepare for. It's not just one thing that they hang their hat on. But they do play an awful lot of man coverage. They do try to pack the box to stop your run game. If we can't throw and catch very good, we're going to have a hard time. If we can't bring some tackles, we're going to have a hard time.

When you have a quarterback who led the nation in touchdown passes a year ago, tied a school record with six TDs last week in a game that came down to the wire. They're down 21 early in the game. The guy throws a pick-six, comes back, rallies his team to a late field goal to win the game after Tulsa tied it up late in the game. Just a wonderful situation that they have with a veteran quarterback like that.

Q. This week the ACC is partnering with the College Football Playoff Foundation in celebration of their Extra Yard for Teachers Week Initiative. Talk about the impact teachers had on your life and the importance of the education.
MARK RICHT: Well, I could tell you right now, when I think of teachers, I think of two teachers. Both are elementary school. It was Miss Hellmer in third grade. She just always made me feel good about myself. She made me feel like I was a smart kid. She would always praise good things that I would do. It really made me feel awesome.

Then there was a physical education coach, PE coach, Bill Millhone. That guy was unbelievable really from first grade through sixth grade. Sometimes PE teachers will say, Go play soccer, play volley, softball, whatever it is. But he would teach the techniques of every sport, the fundamentals of every sport. It made a great impact on me.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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