First quarter blog

End of first quarter, no score

It looks like if you took the under on this game, you're in good shape.

Also, if you don't believe in the forward pass, you liked that quarter.

Florida is driving, having reached the Georgia 35 as the first quarter ended. Florida quarterback John Brantley finally came alive on that drive, but prior to that he had only completed one pass.

Georgia's Aaron Murray has still - cue up the cliche' snarky comment - completed more passes to the other team (one) than his own (zero).

The tailbacks have had a huge impact: Caleb King has 33 yards on three carries, and Washaun Ealey has 21 on six. Florida's Chris Rainey has 32 on seven carries.

5:30 left in first quarter

Make it one interception for both teams. And the quarterback play in this game so far does not befit the schools that produced Tim Tebow and Matt Stafford.

Florida's John Brantley just WAY overthrew his intended receiver, and was easily picked off by Branden Smith, who looked like the intended receiver.

The Gators were getting their yards on the ground, via the recently-reinstated Chris Rainey.

Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray, meanwhile, followed his game-opening interception with three incompletions. This is the first time he's really looked like a freshman.

But who needs Murray when you have Caleb King? Also recently-reinstated, he gained 33 yards on his first two carries, then made a defender look bad on his third carry, which gained a couple yards.

8:55 left in first quarter, no score

Akeem Dent did not participate in Georgia's next defensive series - not that he was missed.

The Bulldogs had three big plays on defense, including a third-down sack by Demarcus Dobbs. The resulting punt, fair caught by the newly-healthy Branden Smith, gave Bulldogs possession at their own 49.

Christian Robinson, who replaced Dent, made a big play on first down, tackling Chris Rainey behind the line.

That's the good news for Georgia, it has depth at inside linebacker, at least in terms of the immediate backups. If they have to go further down the depth chart, they'll be in trouble.

Dent has been on the sideline with his helmet off, but is walking around. We're waiting an update on his status.

11:55 left in first quarter, no score

Well, Aaron Murray's career in the Florida-Georgia rivalry got off to a poor start. But his defense averted a further crisis for the Bulldogs.

Murray's first pass was picked off by Florida's Janoris Jenkins. Murray simply telegraphed it too much, and Jenkins just dove in front of A.J. Green to pick it off.

Two plays later, Georgia's leading tackler Akeem Dent was shaken up and had to come out after Florida got a first down to get in the red zone. So at that point you're thinking ... Uh-oh, how could this have started any worse for Georgia?

Well, Georgia's defense answered the call, with Justin Houston and DeAngelo Tyson combining on a third-down sack. That set up a field goal attempt by .. not Caleb Sturgis, the Florida kicker who re-aggravated his back injury in practice this week. Instead it was punter Chas Henry, and he missed.

So basically, we just wasted two minutes of action. Still, a few observations:

- Washaun Ealey did get the start, and got the first carry on the second drive.

- Georgia revamped its starting line again, with Clint Boling at right guard in place of Kenarious Gates, and Trinton Sturdivant taking Boling's left tackle spot.

- Florida tried a lot of Trey Burton at quarterback on its first drive. Could that have been part of Urban Meyer's offensive overhual? (If it's an overhual at all?)