It’s finally game week.

After almost a month of a grueling fall camp, Georgia football now has a very specific and very near goal to focus on – Sept. 5 and No. 11 Oklahoma State.

“The countdown has been going on for quite some time, but once it gets down to a week’s time, you think one week from today, where will I be?” said head coach Mark Richt after Saturday’s practice. “If the juices haven’t already been flowing, they start pretty heavy right about now.”

Game week means a more concentrated focus on game planning and film watching, and for Georgia, a large emphasis will be put on how to stop the Cowboys’ three-headed Heisman hopeful on offense: quarterback Zac Robinson, tailback Kendall Hunter and wide receiver Dez Bryant.

“They’ve got weapons,” said defensive tackle Geno Atkins. “A quarterback that can run and throw, a running back that’s fierce. They’re a spread offense so you’ve got to look for a lot of things. Dez Bryant is tremendous, a great receiver. It’s going to be tough.”

The Cowboys put up more than 40 points and just under 500 yards per game in the offense-driven Big XII last season.

Robinson, a senior and the school record holder for career total offense, threw for 3,064 yards and 25 touchdowns in 2008, adding 146 carries for 562 rushing yards. Hunter, a 5-foot-8, 190-pound junior, was a first-team All-American and has averaged 6.5 yards per carry as a Cowboy.

Bryant, another junior, was the runner-up in the Biletnikoff Award (given to the nation’s top receiver) in 2008 and was a top-three national performer in just about every receiving categories.

Add all that to Oklahoma State’s highest preseason ranking ever, the opening of a renovated stadium and Georgia’s 35-14 thrashing of the ‘Boys in 2007, and it will truly be a tough first test for a much-maligned Georgia defense.

“This offense is very highly-ranked and they’ve got a veteran bunch, but we’ve faced guys with high rankings before,” said linebacker Rennie Curran. “We played in the [2008] Sugar Bowl against [Hawaii quarterback] Colt Brennan and other situations like that. I feel like this is another one where we have the chance to set the tempo and show that we are a defense that is focused and is disciplined and can make plays.”

The Bulldogs had a good and major-injury free August, a world of difference after all kinds of injuries slowed practice (and reduced the opportunities to tackle) a year ago.

“By a long shot we were able to prepare the way we like to, as far as the number of days we scrimmaged and tackled to the ground,” Richt said. “Even every single day in inside [run] drill was live with tackling. We’ve added some light tackling to our two-on-two drill, which is a perimeter drill, so we got to practice perimeter tackling every day we were in pads.”

Curran provided two of the Bulldogs’ eight sacks of Brennan during their 41-10 Sugar Bowl romp in 2008. He and the rest of Georgia’s defense will get their shot at Robinson & Co. in just five days.

“We’ve got a lot of hungry guys who are ready to get out there and make things happen,” Curran said.

Offensive line falling back into shape

Richt said Saturday that he expects sophomore center Ben Jones (ankle) to be back practicing when the Bulldogs take the field today.

“Ben might do everything, but my guess is he’ll do mainly scout work,” Richt said.

Jones, a preseason All-SEC honoree, sprained his ankle in practice about two weeks ago and has been day-to-day since. In his stead, junior Kevin Perez has been getting a lot more reps.

Perez, who hasn’t seen much game action at all since coming to Athens, has done an admirable job, Richt said.

“Perez knows what to do,” he said. “His body just didn’t get as big as we hoped and as he would have hoped. But he’s very very smart and he’s been tremendous in our meeting rooms, and now that he’s had his chance to play he’s done a very admirable job.”

“It was good for him and it was good for us to see him do that, because we could certainly function with him in the game.”

Perez is listed at 6-foot-3 and 264 pounds.

Tackle Chris Davis missed practice again Saturday, also with an ankle sprain, and Richt was unsure about his status for Monday’s practice.