Live Blog: Georgia vs. Tennessee Tech

PREGAME:

-- Georgia Sports Blog has some thoughts following last night's debut of Mark Fox's Georgia basketball team. From everyone I've talked to I've heard the same thing: This team may not win a bunch more games than they did a year ago, but they will be significantly more fun to watch.

-- Tennessee Tech has different names for its front seven -- stuff like "rock," "renegade," and "ram." It's entertaining hearing those positions announced over the the PA.

-- "Coming in the Air Tonight" should be played before every major sporting event.

-- I was sitting enjoying my lunch at a table in the press box, watching the start of the Iowa-Northwestern game. There was a game-day worker at the table, too, and about midway through my meal, Michael Adams came and sat down next to her, striking up a conversation. He asked her if she went to school at Georgia (she didn't) and what she did here. She then asked if he worked at Georgia, too. "Well, yes, I do," he said. "I'm the president of the university." Hilarious.

-- Cornelius Washington gets the start at defensive end today with Justin Houston out. Nick Williams gets his second straight start at Sam linebacker.

-- The starting lineup on the O line is the same as it was last week: Boling, Glenn, Jones, Davis & Davis.

UPDATE, START OF FIRST QUARTER

-- Well, I wouldn't exactly call the stadium full by any stretch, but it's filling in and there are definitely fewer empty seats than I think most people were expecting.

-- Red uniforms? Who are these guys?

-- Dawgs will kick off. Mauricio Wallace returns it for Tennessee Tech and Rennie Curran and Chad Gloer toss him out of bounds at the 27 with some nice hits. Although, I must say, I like the name Mauricio. It's got some real pinache.

-- And Rennie tops that with a tackle in the backfield on a handoff on first down.

-- Three-and-out for Tenn Tech, and Georgia sets up for its first drive at its own 31. King in the backfield.

-- Is it a bad sign that Cox couldn't find anyone open on first down? Nah, probably just a coincidence.

-- No-huddle offense for Georgia -- which of course leads to a bit of confusion on third down. I like that Bobo is exploring the studio space against an FCS opponent though. Caleb King has a nice run and picks up the first down, too.

-- Three straight runs by King has Georgia set up with another third-and-1. Michael Moore is the only wideout in the game and Ealey in at tailback. He runs up the middle for a gain of four and a first down at the TT38.

-- Cox hits a wide open Aron White at the 15 and the tackle is made at the 12 for a 26-yard gain.

-- Ealey rumbles down the middle virtually untouched for the score. Georgia 7, Tennessee Tech 0. (9-69-4:22)

-- That was Ealey's first career touchdown.

-- Not that you'd expect Tennessee Tech to stuff the run or anything, but I thought Bobo did a nice job of going back and forth between Ealey and King on that drive, and both looked good.

-- Big return by Tennessee Tech on the ensuing kickoff sets the Golden Eagles up at their own 38. The nice field position doesn't last long, however, as Geno Atkins and Demarcus Dobbs dump Lee Sweeney at the 22 for a 15-yard loss. Tenn Tech's O line is completely overmatched.

UPDATED, FIRST QUARTER, 6:45 REMAINING

-- Atkins picks up Georgia's third tackle for a loss in six plays. Again, you expect dominance, but it's been particularly dominant so far.

-- And Prince Miller jukes his way through the Tenn Tech coverage team for a touchdown, but Sanders Commings is flagged for holding. That gives Georgia the ball to start its drive -- well, the umpire seems fairly confused about that little detail.

-- Two questions: 1.) How much different might this season have played out if Georgia had a cupcake or two early to get a better feel for who deserved to play and help the younger players build some confidence? And 2.) is the cupcake this week a good thing or a bad thing? On one hand, you have to think they need an easy win after what's happened the past few weeks. But on the other hand, this answers no questions for Georgia. If they win big, they were supposed to. If it stays close, it's just more criticism.

-- Cox hits Orson Charles for a 15-yard gain. Four completions for Cox, all to the tight ends or tailbacks.

-- Make that five completions -- as Cox hits Orson Charles for a 23-yard touchdown. Georgia 14, Tennessee Tech 0. (3-47-0:46).

-- Well, at least Georgia is up big early, so we should see what we really came here to see -- the second-teamers play meaningful snaps.

-- It's fantastic how much faster the game goes when there aren't TV timeouts. I barely have enough time between plays to check stats or type in an update. It's fantastic.

-- Eight plays now for Tennessee Tech, four of them have gone in the wrong direction. Ah, stat padding.

-- Nick Williams just demolished Sweeney as he released an incomplete pass. Urban Meyer will be calling Watson Brown to remind him to complain about that hit tomorrow.

-- By the way, did you know that TT's coach Watson Brown is Mack Brown's older brother? You learn something new every day.

-- Well, that Branden Smith reverse was bound to work today. Good time to bust it out again. He takes the handoff on first down and goes 52 yards for the score. Georgia 21, Tennessee Tech 0. (1-52-0:11).

-- We're one more Georgia score away from spending the rest of the game discussing TV rather than the action. But hey... how many times in the past few years has Georgia let an inferior opponent hang around? At least the Dawgs are laying the wood like they're supposed to.

-- Here are a few predictions regarding the second-stringers: Shawn Williams will have an INT; Carlton Thomas will get his first TD; Logan Gray will have more completions than fair catches.

-- Montez Robinson records his first career sack. That's the fourth straight three-and-out for Tennessee Tech, and of their 12 plays, six have been for a loss.

-- Wooten was da ball carriah, but he fumbled, which is no way for a ball carriah to act. Luckily for UGA it goes out of bounds, no harm done.

-- That'll do it for the first quarter, played in a crisp 38 minutes. Love it. Maybe we can make happy hour.

UPDATE, START OF SECOND QUARTER

-- I go get a soda, come back 30 seconds later, and Georgia has already scored again. Ealey records his second score of the day, this time on a 44-yard run. Georgia 28, Tennessee Tech 0 (3-53-1:00).

-- This game is still a little too close to get Logan or Rambo in. Can't risk it.

-- Rushing yards so far: Georgia 221, Tennessee Tech -11. Tech has four players with at least one carry and none have positive yards.

-- And another tackle for a loss -- this time courtesy of Marcus Dowtin, who is wearing a huge cast on his hand to protect his injured finger.

-- My favorite part of every home game is when they bring professors onto the field and announce the interesting work they're doing in random fields of research. Today involved fruit flies. Invariably the big screen camera always cuts away to a drunken, shirtless frat guy while the PA announcer is talking about microbiology or astrophysics. It's that juxtaposition that makes college great.

-- Funny stat, given the score -- Once again UGA is getting killed in time of possession. I blame Branden Smith.

-- Brandon Wood flagged for offsides, giving Tennessee Tech a second shot at third down. Sweeney then hits a receiver along the sideline with a lame-duck throw for the Golden Eagles' first first down of the game.

-- Comment from Sparrow: " If I hear Willie suggest we made improvements though, I will lose it." Yeah, I have a feeling you're not alone, Sparrow. And I have a feeling that just might happen.

-- Tennessee Tech now has more first downs this half that Georgia had in the first half against LSU.

-- TT just had back-to-back rushes of 7 and 9 yards by going laterally. It was essentially what Florida did so well earlier, and even with athletes nowhere near as talented as the Gators, TT still picked up some good runs. That's not a good sign.

-- Fumble followed by sack -- this one by Cornelius Washington. The lesson? If you get Georgia running sideline to sideline, you might move the ball. If you let the line pin its ears back, it's going to get ugly for the Golden Eagles.

-- Hahahahahahahaha... a six-yard punt! Now that's comedy.

-- Branden Smith gets another carry and picks up another 17 yards. I'm going to predict Georgia has three 100-yard runners today. Is that too absurd a prediction?

-- We're halfway through the second quarter. When does Logan get his series?

-- Hey, at least Georgia is getting flagged like this is a real game. That's No. 3 so far, a false start on the O line.

-- Caleb King has back-to-back runs of 14 yards each to set up a second and inches at the 6.

-- King comes up short twice, and Blair Walsh comes on to attempt a field goal. A smattering of boos regarding that decision. Hey, why rub it in? Mark Richt is a nice guy after all. Or so I read somewhere. Georgia 31, Tennessee Tech 0. (6-40-2:22).

-- Big thanks to Jay for alerting me via Facebook that the live blog wasn't posting to the Columbus version of the blog. It's fixed now. More concerning though -- Google Adsense has inserted ads for Atlantis Gay Cruises on my Facebook page. What about my Facebook site would make Google think I'm the type of person who would take a cruise?

-- Actually, considering that Google puts ads for Mississippi State and Georgia Tech on this blog all the time, I'll just assume it's all picked at random.

-- Logan Gray in at quarterback. Casey Nickels in at right tackle.

-- Now Bean in for Nickels on third down and five.

-- Gray hits Orson Charles for a short gain, but it won't be enough for a first down. With Georgia at the TT 36, however, the Dawgs will go for it on fourth down.

-- Ealey takes the handoff and picks up the first down. Georgia has three runners over 50 yards now.

-- Gray throws a deep ball into double coverage in the end zone intended for Israel Troupe, and it's picked off by Tennessee Tech. Something tells me that's not what the Logan Gray fan club was hoping for.

-- My apologies for not posting an update in the second quarter, but here we are with just 1:21 left and it's only been about 20 minutes since my last update. I love these Pay-Per-View broadcasts.

-- Montez Robinson picks up his second sack of the game. Georgia is missing two key starters: A.J. Green and Justin Houston. I think we were expecting a wideout to step up in Green's absence and the line to get by without Houston. Instead, the D ends have dominated and Washington and Robinson look like they deserve more playing time. On the other hand, Wooten is the only WR with a catch -- a six-yarder that he fumbled after getting hit. Not exactly what Tony Ball was hoping for, I'd bet.

-- Third-and-13 for Tennessee Tech, and a shuffle pass to Henry Sailes picks up the first down. Ug-ly.

-- Note from the AP's Charles Odom: He's listening to the Tennessee Tech broadcast, and after each Golden Eagles first down, the announcers yell, "That's another Miller Lite Firrrrssst Down!" Gotta love college football broadcasters.

-- This'll do it for the half. Back with some stats shortly...

UPDATE, START OF THIRD QUARTER

-- Cox completes just his first pass of the second half to Tavarres King for a 16-yard gain. That's catch No. 2 by a wide receiver.

-- Woooooooooot! Make that catch No. 3.

-- Some stat notes from the first half: Georgia has 198 yards on 18 rushes. Tennessee Tech has 18 carries for -21 yards.; Georgia had the half's only turnover; The Dawgs also had four flags -- the only four of the half; Time of possession is 17:49-12:11 in favor of Tennessee Tech; Cox was a perfect 6-for-6 passing in the first half; Of course, Tech's Lee Sweeney was 8-of-9. How often does an entire half of football get played with only one total incompletion?

-- Another flag on Georgia. That's No. 5.

-- Cox hits Aron White for a big gain to set up a first-and-goal. Caleb King comes in to take the handoff down to the 1. King has 11 carries so far. Next best is Ealey, who has four.

-- Another flag on Georgia. That's No. 6. This time a false start on Bean Anderson, who is promptly trotted off the field, replaced by Vince Vance.

-- King gets the carry and goes around behind Vance and is hit in the backfield and fails to gain. Third-and-goal.

-- Cox hits Michael Moore in the end zone. The throw was a touch behind Moore, who made a pretty spin move to grab the ball and whirled around in the end zone for the score. Georgia 38, Tennessee Tech 0 (7-67-4:19).

-- Even after a month away, this crowd showed no rust in identifying which box of McDonalds fries Uga VII was hiding behind on the big screen. Nice work, fans.

UPDATED, 9:33 LEFT IN THIRD QUARTER

-- Tre Lamb in at quarterback for Tennessee Tech. His first pass goes incomplete, but his second picks up a first down. Lamb's dad coached at Calhoun and his grandfather was the coach at Commerce.

-- Other than at DE, we haven't seen a lot of subs among the younger guys on D just yet.

-- Also, should Georgia be concerned that they're playing a clearly overmatched opponent, dominating at the line of scrimmage and getting a ton of pressure, yet they still don't have a turnover? I think, yeah.

-- Another flag on Georgia -- this time holding on the D. That's No. 7 for the Dawgs today.

-- Kiante Tripp was in on the last play for Georgia. That's the first time I've seen him on the field today.

-- Bryan Evans and Reshad Jones seem to be having a confusing conversation on the field, with both throwing up their hands looking frustrated. I'll allow you to write your own joke.

-- More pressure from the Dawgs leads to a sack, and Tennessee Tech will punt again. Miller dangerously fielded a bouncing punt at the 30 and was tackled for a loss of 3. This is why you can't have Logan Gray at QB. He's needed on punt returns!

-- Tennessee Tech has nine yards of total offense so far.

-- Good to see Syracuse keeping things close -- only down 34!

-- And good to see my former employer, the Eastern Kentucky Colonels, keeping it close with Kentucky. Can you beleive a university actually employed me to mold young minds?

-- Branden Smith back at work with another long run, but in a shocking turn of events, Georgia is flagged for clipping. Look, I know the score is 38 to 0, but Georgia has been penalized eight times and has the game's only turnover. Short of losing, isn't this about the worst possible scenario?

-- Cox throws his first incompletion of the game with 5:40 left in the third.

-- Ealey makes up for the personal foul flag by running around the left end for a huge gain up to the Georgia 40. He's closing in on the century mark.

-- Tennessee Tech is flagged for its first penalty of the game, a 5-yarder for offsides that gives Georgia a first down.

-- And Georgia gives it back with a false start on Josh Davis. That's No. 9.

-- Richard Samuel in at tailback. He goes down for a loss on first down.

-- Cox lobs a wabbler to the sideline for Wooten and if the Tennessee Tech defender hadn't gone for the big hit on Wooten, it probably would have been a pick-six. Either way it brings up a third-and-16.

-- And that's followed by an attempted screen pass to Chapas that was almost intercepted, too. That'll bring on the punt team. Georgia needs to put together another nice drive because this isn't what you want the fans going home thinking about, regardless of the score on the scoreboard.

-- Butler's first punt of the day is another good one, and he gets a nice round of applause from the increasingly sparse crowd.

-- For the game so far, Ealey has 89 yards, Smith has 72, King has 71.

-- Georgia has just 11 completions, five to the tight ends, four to wide receivers.

-- Johnathan Batson warming up on the sidelines. I'd kill to see a Batson TD throw today.

-- Mike Gilliard in at linebacker for Georgia.

-- Fans are pouring out of the stadium now. I guess no one is interested in seeing what Logan Gray can do with a second series.

-- That'll do it for the third quarter. I've been to dentist visits that were more exciting.

UPDATE, START OF FOURTH QUARTER

-- The music hadn't even stopped playing before Tech got its first play off. Have I mentioned how much I love the speed of this game.

-- Sack by Dowtin... not sure how many tackles for a loss Georgia has in this game, but I'm guessing it's somewhere around 103.

-- Tennessee Tech to punt yet again... is anyone still reading this? Hello? Buehler?

-- Prince Miller fields a booming punt going backward at the 5-yard line and is tackled at the 10. Where's Logan Gray?!?!?

-- Oh, I see... he's apparently a quarterback, too. And he's in the game now.

-- Marlon Brown gets some instruction on the sideline from Mike Bobo before what I think is his first play of the game. Richard Samuel in at tailback.

-- Gray keeps on first down and picks up 20. First the reverse to Smith works again, now the Grayhound offense works... if only Georgia could play Tennessee Tech every week... sort of like Penn State's schedule.

-- Quintin Banks has seriously logged at least 900 miles on the exercise bike today.

-- And another false start flag on Georgia. That's number.... ah, I lost track. I think 43.

-- Samuel goes for about 14, literally running over one TT defender. His fourth-quarter numbers are really off the charts the past three games.

-- I know you don't want to get anyone hurt at this point, but I'd really like to see Ealey get back out there with a chance to cross the 100-yard mark.

-- Kevin Perez is in the game now. That's nice.

-- Gray keeps on first down for 3 yards, putting the Dawgs over 300 yards for teh day on the ground.

-- Carlton Thomas gets his first touch since the Vandy game. He loses a yard, so make that 299 yards rushing for the Dawgs.

-- Another keeper for Gray that goes nowhere on third-and-8. That brings on the punt team. You know who I've been impressed by? Zach Mettenberger warming up the QBs on the sidelines. That kid is huge. He just looks like he'd be a beast.

-- And another personal foul on Georgia on the punt. That's penalty No. 84. Yikes.

-- On that note, I'm heading to the field. This has been a less-than-inspiring second half, but hey, at least it was over quickly.