The Associated Press

ATHENS — Georgia coach Mark Richt praised the passing of quarterback Matthew Stafford and the running of tailback Caleb King in Monday’s opening day of spring practice.

Stafford, a junior, is a returning starter while King is the top backup to Knowshon Moreno, who rushed for 1,334 yards and 14 touchdowns in 2007.

King, a top signee last year, sat out as a redshirt last season.

"He looked good today," Richt said of King, before adding "It’s just shorts."

Stafford completed 55.4 percent of his passes for 2,348 yards with 19 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

He said he hopes to improve his completion percentage this year.

"If he throws it like he did today every day, his percentage will go up," Richt said.

Georgia, which finished No. 2 in the nation following an 11-2 finish last season, is expected to be ranked near the top of the preseason polls.

Richt said he doesn’t think the national championship talk was the reason players were excited for the first of 15 spring practices.

"I don’t know if it’s the national championship, it’s that they look around and see we’ve got a chance to be pretty good if everybody does what they’re supposed to do," Richt said.