Kirby Smart is looking at the same Georgia football schedule you are with the Bulldogs opening against Tennessee State followed by Western Kentucky.

UGA is favored by 45.5 points over the FCS-level Tigers and 30.5 points over the Conference USA Hilltoppers — the Oregon and Clemson season-opening games of yesteryear, this is not.

But as Smart explained on his 92.9 The Game appearance on Friday, the relatively light (our words, not his) opening opponents are only part of the reason preparation for No. 3-ranked Georgia has been somewhat modified this fall.

“Camp is camp, I don’t philosophically change camp unless we’re changing it because the NCAA makes us or we have nine SEC games — we may change it based on that, but we’re not going to change things based on who we play first,” Smart said.

“Now, the week of the first game or when you start (game-planning) the opponent, sure we’ll change based on who that match up is.”

Smart, who has said before “if it ain’t broke, find a way to make it better,” said the Bulldogs are taking advantage of the opportunity to experiment.

“We give twos more reps, threes more reps based on who we play and where we are in the season, so with the openers we have, we have the luxury of being able to experiment …,” Smart said. “We’ll experiment with a different format Tuesday or Wednesday in season, and maybe do less on a Thursday and more on a Friday.

“I’m always open to listening to how other people do things to try to find a better way.”

Smart pointed to the SEC’s new nine-game schedule this season and next year’s earlier season-opening date as other reasons Georgia changed things up this fall.

“The NCAA Gave us a different format, and they are changing it again next year with the Week Zero (start of season one week earlier) implantation,” Smart said. “They are giving you less days in camp and less practices leading up, and we as coaches voted not to start earlier (just) because they start at Week Zero.

“In anticipation of that, we had a practice format of three days on, one off, three on, one off, instead of years past when we would go five or six days in a row and then we’d take a day off.”

Smart made it clear the intensity did not drop in Georgia practices, even if the number of days working did.

There was a degree of common sense about it, too, as Smart pointed to the nine-game SEC schedule and record-breaking heat Georgia has encountered.

“You get the day in between for recovery, and there were some lighter, shorter practices due to the heat,” Smart said. “We looked hard at the heat and the temperatures we practiced in last year versus this year and it was 7 or 8 degrees different from the heat we practiced in last year to the heat we practiced in this year.

“It was trying to be smart and cognizant of the nine-game (SEC schedule) part of it and how long the season is going to be.”