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The Georgia Bulldogs conducted a two-hour practice in shoulder pads and shorts on Friday afternoon in Athens as they close in on the two-week point prior to the season opener against Louisiana-Lafayette on Sept. 4.

Head coach Mark Richt praised his team’s effort and intensity and called it much-improved from the previous day’s session.

“Today’s practice was a whole lot better than yesterday’s,” Richt said. “Yesterday’s was not very good, especially after watching the film. I thought our effort was very good today, much improved. The weather probably had a little something to do with it. Yesterday was going backwards as far as the effort you need.

“The effort was not there as a team, as a unit,” Richt continued. “Everybody seemed to struggle getting in and out of the huddle, and we weren’t sharp with our personnel groups or lining up properly. If we were playing someone with a high-tempo kind of offense, we would have been in trouble yesterday.”

Richt attributed part of the problem on Thursday was the monotony of preseason practices without competition against an opponent.

“We’re over half way through camp, but we still have two weeks before the first game,” Richt said. “They might be getting a little tired of it, but you can’t get tired of getting better. The coaches are pushing them and our seniors, our leaders, need to keep pushing them.”

Richt said he believes the preparation of the Bulldogs’ special teams is going well but it’s difficult to accurately gauge.

“I think it’s going well,” Richt said. “That’s probably the hardest thing to judge before you play a game. It’s hard to get the scout team to emulate what’s going to happen in a game so you just don’t know. It looks like it’s going well. The coaches are doing a good job of teaching everyone what to do.”

Georgia will return to practice this morning before taking part in the Bulldogs’ annual Fans’ Picture Day today at Sanford Stadium. Interim mascot “Russ” will be available for photos from 1-3 p.m., while the Bulldogs will be at the stadium from 3-5 p.m.

Georgia, ranked No. 21 in the preseason edition of the USA Today coaches poll, will begin the 2010 campaign on Saturday, Sept. 4 against Louisiana-Lafayette at Sanford Stadium. Kickoff for the opener against the Ragin’ Cajuns is set for 12:21 p.m., and the contest will be televised on the SEC Network nationwide.