Competition doesn’t take a week off.

That’s the message Kirby Smart planned to relay to his team before hitting the practice field on Monday to start preparing for Saturday night’s game against Middle Tennessee State (7:15, ESPN).

“I've got my message set with the team today, and it's really about that alone,” Smart said during Monday’s press conference to preview the contest against the Blue Raiders. “It's not anything about who we play, nor any disrespect for Middle Tennessee. It's totally about us and competing within practice.”

Linebacker Juwan Taylor agreed that approach has served the team well.

“Every day is a competition,” Taylor said. “We know we can’t afford to take it easy.”

Smart said he likes what he’s seen.

“We've got some really good competitions going on where guys are battling for playing time, guys battling for spots,” he said. “And the best way to measure that is not against the scout team player, but a good-on-good situation, which every day, including today, we'll do good-on-good situations and try and find out where guys are and (let them) continue to earn playing time.”

Having daily competition also keeps complacency from seeping in.

“I think the only way you develop your team toward the end goal, which is to be as good as you can possibly be by the end of the season, is to improve during the season,” Smart said. “That’s where I think we can separate ourselves, because we can improve during the season. We have enough depth to go against each other and to continue to improve. That's the end goal for us.”

Take Saturday’s 41-17 rout of South Carolina, for example.

When Andrew Thomas was forced to leave with a sprained ankle, freshman Cade Mays seamlessly slid over to left tackle and the Bulldog offense did not miss a beat.

“We talk about that (scenarios) every game: This is the first; what happens if he moves, two go down—who is third? You have to do it at every position, because in a game, things can happen fast,” Smart said. “It was no surprise that he went in. That was a decision we all made as coaches based on how we practiced. You can't make that decision in the game. You’ve got to practice the players where they have an opportunity to play."

Smart said he has mixed emotions when it comes to playing smaller FBS programs like Middle Tennessee State.

On one hand, Smart empathizes with fans who want to see the Bulldogs play top-end programs, but he also understands what it means financially to smaller schools to be able to schedule larger FBS schools.

"I've got a lot of respect for these programs. I've got a lot of respect for student-athletes who play at these programs,” Smart said. “I think games like these, a lot of times, are an opportunity for their programs to survive and stay alive, and financially, they're important to some of these programs.”

Still, Smart sees the other side, too.

“I have mixed emotions about it when it comes to that. Because I think, look at the NFL—week in, week out, playing the caliber of opponents they're forced to play. It forces parity on more people,” Smart said. “I've said before that I've been in favor of, whether it's a nine-game SEC schedule, doesn't matter to me. It's not something we shy away from.”

According to an open records request made by UGASports.com, Georgia is paying Middle Tennessee State $1.7 million to come to Sanford Stadium.

“I think it's good for the fan base to have better games, home-and-home. I think those things are good for college football,” Smart said. “But you have to look at it through two perspectives, and sometimes these programs wouldn't survive. I'm a big advocate for football in general, and I think they need these games to survive financially. Without them, some of these programs may not be able to survive."

Deandre Baker thought he had crossed the goal line when he dropped the football after returning the football 55 yards following his interception of South Carolina quarterback Jake Bentley.

Not quite.

Baker was a bit premature, but fortunately for Georgia, linebacker Juwan Taylor was there to pick up the ball and step across for the score.

It will come as no surprise that Smart wasn’t pleased.

“Obviously I was disappointed that he would do that prior to crossing the goal line. I think it's the effect of not having many opportunities to do that. He had almost the exact same situation in the spring game. And we went back and showed him that and said, hey, you're across the goal line. You went across and handled the ball the right way. And he did,” Smart said. “He'll get some extra practice doing it today."

Taylor said it was instinct that caused him to pick up the loose ball.

““It was an immediate reaction,” he said. “It looked like he dropped the ball behind the goal line, so I just scooped it up just in case.”

Kicker Rodrigo Blankenship has been named the SEC Special Teams Player of the Week following his performance in Saturday’s win over South Carolina.

Blankenship hit on both of his field goal attempts (45 and 44 yards) and dropped all seven of his kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks.

“I actually hadn’t found out about that until about 10 minutes ago,” Blankenship said. “It's a great honor to be recognized this week, and I just hope I can continue to perform at a high level for my team.”

Blankenship is a perfect 15 for 15 on touchbacks so far this year.

…Dawg Walk is set for 5 p.m.

…Next week’s game at Missouri will kick off at noon (11 a.m. Central) and be televised on ESPN.