The Georgia Bulldogs will resume practice on Monday after taking the weekend off with its bye week, as the ‘Dawgs now turns its attention to a pivotal SEC East matchup with South Carolina in Columbia.

Head coach Mark Richt held his weekly teleconference on Sunday evening ahead of Georgia’s SEC opener.

After withholding injury updates during training camp, Richt did say Sunday night that receivers Malcolm Mitchell and Justin Scott-Wesley are listed as doubtful. Both players are recovering from ACL injuries. Mitchell has not played since the Clemson game in 2013, and Scott-Wesley has been sidelined since the Tennessee game last season.

South Carolina was an improved football team in Saturday night’s 10-point win over East Carolina. The Gamecocks defense forced turnovers and preseason All-SEC selection Mike Davis had a big night on the ground rushing for 101 yards on 18 carries.

Richt knows what kind of test his team faces.

“We have to play better there. It is a tribute to their fans,” Richt said during his conference call. “They do a great job and when you give them something to cheer about. The lasting impression on me is what happened two years ago and we have to do a better job there.”

Georgia hasn’t won at Williams-Brice since 2008. In fact, the Bulldogs have been held to under 20 points in its last nine trips to Columbia, dating back to 1994.

The ‘Dawgs have been a hype machine since its 24-point season-opening win over Clemson two weeks ago, though Richt has tried to curb the optimism. Despite their week 1 performance, we still don’t know a lot about Georgia. It’ll be their first road test against a South Carolina team sure to be hungry. The winner will separate itself in the SEC East race.

The noise could present a challenge for quarterback Hutson Mason, whose only other road start came against Georgia Tech in the season-finale last year.

“We are going to have a lot of guys dealing with it for the first time,” Richt said regarding the noise level at Williams-Brice. “Even Hutson Mason, I don’t know if he’s been in a game that has been quite this loud. The quarterback is the guy that has to be able to handle the noise more than anyone. It is going to be interesting to see how he handles it.”

If there’s any coach in the country have can ready a thus-far underachieving team for a big game, it’s the Head Ball Coach. Richt knows South Carolina will be prepared.

“Their offensive line was very impressive. Any time you can end a game with a 10 minute drive and a field goal to finish the game is a great luxury to have,” Richt said. “They ran the ball extremely well and played much better on defense. They are getting everything right back on track and it will be one heck of a battle next week.”

Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. EST on CBS.