ATHENS — Kirby Smart isn’t trying to hide his excitement for Georgia’s upcoming road trip to play at LSU.

It’s becoming clear the Bulldogs head coach is a fan of the football environment in Baton Rouge, as he gushed about the stadium setting awaiting his players and the Georgia fans.

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“They’ve got an incredible environment, their fanbase is second to none, and the atmosphere they create from the time you pull in on buses to playing in the stadium, it’s an awesome opportunity for our team to play on a national stage,” Smart said at his Monday press conference.

“It’s an opportunity for a lot of our guys to play in a venue that a lot of Georgia players never got a chance to play in, and some in the future won’t get an opportunity to play in.”

Smart said Saturday he’s a proponent of expanding the SEC league schedule from eight games to nine, so that more players can experience trips like this upcoming one.

The No. 2-Bulldogs (6-0, 4-0 SEC) play No. 13 LSU (5-1, 3-1) at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday (TV: CBS, Radio: WBS 750 AM, 95.5 FM).

Georgia has thousands of fans headed to LSU, a fact that Smart is aware and appreciative of.

“Our fanbase travels, they’ve been very passionate, (and) I’m sure we’ll have a lot of fans there that may not have tickets that are trying to go,” Smart said. “I think that shows the passion and energy we have within our fanbase, and that’s incredible.

“But when you line up out there between the lines, at the end of the day, it’s 11 on 11, and that’s what we have to keep it about. (LSU has tremendous fans. It’s one of the loudest places in the country to play.”

ESPN College Game Day chose to take its set to Ann Arbor, where No. 12 Michigan plays No. 15 Wisconsin.

Georgia football coach Kirby Smart

 

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