When athletes make a mistake on their home field, they have the support of fans and surroundings to pick themselves up.

But how do athletes respond when they make the same mistake in front of almost 100,000 fans whose mouths and hearts are wanting – no begging – them to fail?

That’s the challenge the Georgia Bulldogs (2-1, 0-1 SEC) face as they head to Tuscaloosa, Ala. to face the renewed Alabama Crimson Tide (3-0, 2-0 SEC) in search of their first conference win of the season.

After a fair offensive showing against Western Carolina, Georgia will have to prove they can score touchdowns against an SEC opponent and can get those points outside the comfortable confines of Sanford Stadium.

“(This game) is very important,” senior safety Kelin Johnson said. “We have to come together as a team and I believe that win helped us Saturday. Our team morale is much higher than what it was the week before. Going into Alabama is a hostile environment, and we know how to play on the road. History proves itself. We just have to stay focused and continue to keep that tradition going.”

Throughout head coach Mark Richt’s tenure at Georgia, much of the Bulldogs’ biggest wins have come on the road, including the “hobnail boot” game against Tennessee in 2001 and last year’s 37-15 thrashing of then-No. 5 Auburn at Jordan Hare Stadium.

With Richt at the helm, Georgia is 18-3 on the road in SEC play. The team has lost six home games in the same span.

“Honestly, since I’ve been here, the difference (on the road) has been the coaches,” senior cornerback Thomas Flowers said. Flowers had a 54-yard punt return against the Volunteers in a 2005 game in Knoxville.

“They prepare themselves for a hostile environment and they’re more calm and it rubs off on us.”

A point of emphasis will be the play of the Bulldogs’ young offensive line, most of which has never played in a place like Bryant-Denny Stadium.

“It’s a concern. We’ll probably do something in regard to the noise factor, there are ways to get our guys a feel of what it takes to concentrate in that kind of atmosphere, but they are about to live through something they have never been through before,” Richt said.

“I guarantee Trinton Sturdivant has never been through anything like this, same with Chris Davis and Clint Boling, who will play a lot.

Even Scott Haverkamp has probably never been through this. Chester Adams and Fernando Velasco have, they should be fine handling it.”

The challenge of holding the group together and protecting quarterback Matthew Stafford will fall to guys such as Adams and Velasco, who have been in games like this before.

“I just tell (young players) to focus. Don’t buy into all the crowd noise,” Velasco said. “I know it’s easier said than done but don’t keep looking up at the crowd and listening to the noise. Try to stay focus and make all your calls on the line of scrimmage and go out there and play hard.”

Stafford got his first taste of the SEC last season at South Carolina, when he relieved Joe Tereshinski in front of a raucous Columbia crowd of 80,250.

“It was a whole lot of fun, really. Once I got settled into the game, it was really my first game to play, which is a little different than these guys because they have played in an SEC game already,” Stafford said.

“On the road is definitely fun. It gets you going. Having everybody against you and a kind of ‘you against the world’ thing is something that I really love and I think a lot of guys on the team love, because we are such a competitive group. It’s something that I think we’re looking forward to.”

Road games are about perception and composure. If the Bulldogs play loose, the tide might roll to Georgia in the end.

“Just enjoy it. Enjoy the moment and play football. That’s really what it boils down to. If we can just settle down fairly quickly and play Georgia football then I think we have a chance,” Stafford said.