G-Day Live Blog

Greetings from Sanford Stadium on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. The weather couldn't be better, Kelin Johnson just ran 60 yards for a TD in the flag football game, and I'm about to get some free press box food. What's not to like? Well, other than the guy doing the PA for the flag football game. He has a certain "Wootendaballcarriah" approach that's not mixing well with the Crown and Cokes from last night.

In any case, the live blog is back... and hopefully I won't be too rusty. Now... free food awaits...

UPDATED, 12:45 PM

Answering a couple reader questions:

Opsomath writes: Mr. Hale, will you be personally covering G-Day? Where will you be? I feel that, given your consistent feeding of my Georgia football habit, I owe you a beer or something.

David: I'll be in the press box, but thanks to Mr. Fletcher Page, I think I'm giving up drinking forever.

Anonymous writes: Any idea if ESPN3.com archives the games so you can watch later?

David: They usually archive games for a few days, but not forever. If you check the "replay" section, you should be able to find it for the next few days to a week.

Kathleen writes: What happened to Samuel? Did I miss that somewhere?

David: As they say in the business, I'm still efforting that information. I can tell you, however, that Samuel is DEFINITELY out for the game.

Mpstrick writes: We'll do it Live! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tJjNVVwRCY

David: Exactly!

Schlagdawg writes: They better have a good dessert spread...

David: Jason's Deli for lunch, which is good. Unfortunately, the soda machine is broken and someone has spelling problems. Here's the sign...

OK, be back shortly...

UPDATED 1 PM

-- A handful of players will be playing for both teams today, in addition to the QBs. They are: Chris Burnette, Jordan Love, Rantavious Wooten, Darryl Gamble and Bruce Figgins. I'm hoping they have those Gaylord Perry-type jerseys that work for both teams.

UPDATED, 1:15 PM

-- Mark Weiszer has the depth charts for the game on his blog. Here's the first teams:

First-team offense (Red team): QB Logan Gray or Aaron Murray or Zach Mettenberger, TB Washaun Ealey, WR A.J. Green, Tavarres King (Kris Durham, Rantavious Wotten backups), LT Clint Boling, LG Cordy Glenn, C Ben Jones, RG Chris Davis, RT Josh Davis, TE Orson Charles (Aron White backup), FB Shaun Chapas.

First-team defense (Black team): LE Abry Jones, N DeAngelo Tyson, RE Demarcus Dobbs, SLB Cornelius Washington, WLB Justin Houston, MLB Darryl Gamble, MLB Akeem Dent, FS Jakar Hamilton, SS Baccari Rambo, SC Brandon Boykin (Branden Smith), WC Vance Cuff (Sanders Commings).

-- Just ran outside to give our pal Brandon Spoon his credential for the game, and I ran into Rennie Curran. I'm assuming he was barred from participating in the letterman's game so no one would get hurt.

UPDATED 1:25 PM

-- The letterman's game just ended with the black team defeating the red team 34-27. Fletcher Page had the under in the game, so he's pretty bummed. I'm heading down to the field in a few minutes. The players are about to head out to stretch.

UPDATED, 2 PM

-- We're just a couple minutes from kickoff, although a few players are still stretching and we may be a tad behind schedule.

-- Some useless info from the sidelines...

- Still don't know what Richard Samuel's injury was, but he was wearing giant sunglasses and looked a bit like Bono on the sideline.

-- Friends of the blog Mike Moore & Drew Williams were on the field as well.

-- Current leader for quote of the day from Fletcher Page, upon hearing "In the Air" by Phil Collins: "Man this song gets me jacked. If I heard this at a baby shower, I'd tackle someone." True dat.

-- Watched Todd Grantham working with a handful of the OLBs (actually, there are only a handful period, I guess) in the corner of the end zone during warm-ups. He is intense all the time, I think.

-- Rough guess on attendance: About 35k. About half of the lower bowl is full.

-- The press box soda machine has been fixed. I assume temporally.

-- The black team has won the toss, and we're about to get started.

UPDATED: 2:05 PM

Note from Dustin: "The spring game has been blacked out in savannah on espn3.com. Now you are my only hope!!"

David: This is not surprising. Every time I go to Savannah, I end up blacking out, too.

Also of note, Richard Samuel is out with a concussion. So there ya go.

And lastly, Logan Gray is getting the first reps at QB.

UPDATED, Start of 1st Quarter

-- 23-yard completion from Gray to TK on first play. I guess he'll be the starter now.

-- Third-and-8 after two short runs by Ealey. D is in the nickel with four down linemen. Gray hits a wide open Tavarres King, who bobbles the ball and can't come up with it. We'll have our first punt of the game.

-- Butler shanks a punt. Man, that guy stinks.

-- Murray in at QB for the black team. He hits Wootendaballcarriah (and we get our first "Woooooot!" of the year) for a 4-yard gain.

-- Dontavius Jackson picks up the first down. Second-team D isn't quite as good against the run.

-- Brandon Wood sacks Murray on first down for a loss of 8.

-- Another big run for D-Jax. He picks up 13. Quintin Banks makes the tackle.

-- Murray airs it out on third-and-5 but overthrows his receiver. Joe Cox never would have done that.

UPDATED, 7 Minutes Remaining in 1st Quarter

-- To answer to recent questions:

1.) Charter may be the most evil corporation in the world.

2.) As far as I know there are no rules about how often I update per quarter, but it'll still probably only be three or four times, as I don't want to miss too much of the action going through and updating the blog. So be patient.

-- Logan Gray still in at QB for the Red Team, which is the No. 1 offense BTW. He misses AJ Green on first down.

-- Carlton Thomas gets his first carry, and once again it goes for just a few yards. If nothing else, the first team D looks stout against the run.

-- Gray on a keeper on third-and-7 runs for 10 yards and a first down. Brandon Boykin should have had the sack, but since there's no tackling of the QBs, the whistle never blew. Boykin was hot afterward, too. I assume Penn Wagers is reffing the game.

-- Lot of four down linemen schemes so far. Looks to me like they are really working to not show too much of this D.

-- Big run by Carlton Thomas for 30 yards down to the 20. Here's a prediction: I'm betting Thomas graduates as Georgia's all-time leading rusher on G-Days.

-- Third-and-2 from the 12... and we have our first timeout of the day.

UPDATED, 2:25 Remaining in 1st Quarter

-- Washaun Ealey picks up the first down inside the 10. Akeem Dent makes the tackle.

-- Gray hits Kris Durham wide open in the end zone for the TD. Get those "Fire Todd Grantham" chants ready. Walsh's PAT is good, RED 7, BLACK 0 (1:33 to play in the first)

-- Fletcher Page points out that the hedges on the East side look like crap. Ironically, Fletcher isn't looking too hot either.

-- Murray still in at QB for the 2s, but it's a quick three-and-out. Time for one more play in the quarter.

-- Huge crowd getting Israel Troupe's autograph right now. They're totally missing a fullback run by a walk-on right up the middle! And these people call themselves football fans!

UPDATED, Start of 2nd Quarter

-- Saw my live blog described on one of the message boards as "better than nothing." I'm adding that to my resume.

-- Still haven't gotten our first look at Zach Mettenberger today. Cornelius Washington sacks Logan Gray on a third-and-7 to force yet another punt. Drew Butler gets the largest applause of the day so far for a soaring punt to the 15-yard line.

-- Well, there's our first look at Zach and he throws a bomb, perfectly placed and connects with Wooten on the sideline. Play of the day so far... by a longshot. That was pretty.

-- First-and-10 at the RED 39. Wooten takes an end around and moves it down ot the 25 for another first down.

-- The 3-4 scheme is pretty interesting. Kwame Geathers has worked the nose for most of the game so far. The OLBs are about a yard off the line of scrimmage. Hasn't seemed particularly confusing thus far, but then again I doubt they're trying to do anything too technical either.

UPDATED, 9:15 Remaining in 2nd Quarter

-- Third-and-7 for Mett & the Black team. Mettenberger floats a jump ball into the end zone that walk-on receiver Rhett McGowan comes down with. Bogotay boots the PAT and we're tied. RED 7, BLACK 7 (8:21 left in 2nd Quarter).

-- Mark Richt is up in the TV booth, so I'm guessing he's not calling the plays for either team right now.

-- Gray is back in with the 1s and goes nowhere. Cornelius Washington picks up his second sack of the game. So far, Logan is the only QB to get snaps with the No. 1 offense.

-- Gray hits Kris Durham on a short pass, and Durham cuts across the field and picks up a huge gain to the 43.

-- Gray lofts a long one toward TK, but throws it just out of reach.

-- Third straight incompletion by Gray, and the Red team will line up for a field goal. This would be a 61-yarder. Fans are pumped, but it gets tipped at the line and falls well short.

UPDATE, 4:49 Remaining in 2nd quarter

-- Mett hits tight end Derek Rich for a first down into Red territory. Also, I can't type the name "Rich" anymore without accidentally typing "Richt."

-- Darryl Gamble swats away a Mettenberger pass at the line of scrimmage. That brings up a third-and-11.

-- Mett hits Derek Richt again, but Rich fumbles at the 7-yard line, recovered by the Red team. Our first turnover of the game. Guess we won't see much of Derek Rich this year.

-- Gray back in yet again for the Red team. He hits Shaun Chapas on first down for a 12-yard gain. Gray has looked pretty sharp thus far.

-- Justin Houston with the sack. Again, hardly an accurate representation of the real defense, but Washington and Houston have three sacks between them already.

-- Gray hits Ealey just across the line of scrimmage and Ealey darts upfield to the 31 for a first down -- 1:25 to play in the half.

-- I'd say at least half the plays so far -- and potentially more than that -- have been run with four down linemen. Fans definitely aren't getting much of a look at the new D.

-- AJ gets his first catch of the afternoon, but Branden Smith stands him up immediately. It does pick up a first down though at the 44.

-- Carlton Thomas takes the handoff and runs up the middle, fumbling. DeAngelo Tyson recovers the fumble for the Black team, which will have about 23 seconds to try and make something happen. Mettenberger back in at QB.

-- Mett throws a rope to Arthur Lynch, who rumbles over a handful of defenders and into the end zone for the score. That was a pretty pass. Mett has looked far and away the best of the three QBs so far. BLACK 14, RED 7, 12 seconds left in the 2nd.

HALFTIME

A few quick halftime updates...

-- Mike Bobo praised Mett's work and his ability to step up in the pocket amid pressure and deliver some strong throws.

-- That Carlton Thomas fumble comes just two days after Mike Bobo praised Thomas for doing a much better job of holding onto the football this spring.

-- Damon Evans was being interviewed by CSS and refused to make a guess on the attendance. Lame, Damon! I hope he at least has the cojones to pick which Hairy Dawg the McDonalds' fries are hiding behind on the Jumbotron later.

-- Blair Walsh and Drew Butler each were honored at halftime for being finalists for national awards (and in Butler's case, winning the Ray Guy trophy).

-- QB info... Gray has played the entire game with the No. 1 offense. Murray played first quarter with the No. 2s, and Mett played the second quarter with the 2s.

-- QB stats: Gray 7-of-13 for 102 yards and 1 TD; Murray 2-of-3 for 0 yards; Mettenberger 5-of-7 for 147 yards and 2 TDs. No INTs for any of the QBs.

-- The question of the hour: Will Mettenberger be allowed to talk to media after the game? Usually, players facing a suspension are barred from media contact, and Mett has been off limits all spring.

UPDATE, Start of third quarter

-- First penalty of the day is an offsides on the D. Mettenberger back in with the No. 2 unit. Odd that they haven't switched them up, since Richt did say the QBs would all switch teams. Not sure if we should read something into this or not.

-- Dustin says you can listen to the game here: http://streaming.1340wgau.com/_players/coxradio/index.php?callsign=WGAUAM

-- The GameDay Chef says: "I am watching ESPN's spring practice update (on mute). Syracuse looks really good from what they are showing. Thought that would make you happy."

See how little spring games really mean?

-- Mett hits Wooten (Wooooooooot!) for a short gain, bringing up third-and-5.

-- A few other stats from halftime: Ealey 4 carries, 8 yards, Jackson 4 carries, 24 yards. Durham 2 catches, 41 yards and a TD, Derek Richt 2 catches, 50 yards and a fumble, Artie Lynch 1 catch, 39 yards and a TD.

-- Mett's third-down pass sails incomplete. Red team back on offense, and this time Murray is at QB for them.

UPDATE, 8:59 Remaining in 3rd Quarter

-- Oh wait, correction from GameDay Chef... "Dave, my bad, that was Boise State they are showing practice clips of-sorry for the false alarm." Now that makes more sense.

-- Murray hits AJ for a first down to the 45. It was thrown a bit behind AJ, but he did a Stretch Armstrong impersonation and reeled it in.

-- Murray looks for Orson, and it's nearly picked off by Bacarri Rambo, who made a great break on the ball. Instead, Rambo swats it out of bounds.

-- Cornelius Washington is having a very nice game so far. He's one of my picks to click in 2010 along with Abry Jones.

-- Murray has an arm, and his last pass was one of the prettiest spirals of the day. Unfortunately the throw went nowhere near AJ Green, bouncing in the end zone instead. Brings up a third-and-10.

-- Murray throws a tick behind Orson, who grabs it on his shoulder pad and hauls it in to pick up the first down.

-- Under a ton of pressure, Murray throws a Joe Cox special right into Marcus Dowtin's chest for an interception that is returned to the Black 38 yard line. It is OK that we joke about Cox now, right?

UPDATED, 2:58 Remaining in the 3rd Quarter

-- Mettenberger still in with the 2s. Dontavius Jackson takes the handoff and goes up the middle for 4 yards.

-- The run game has not impressed today. Other than a 30-yarder by Carlton Thomas and a 13-yarder by Jackson, there's been nothing on the ground.

-- Mett throws a bullet over the middle that hits Wooten in the chest, but Woot drops it. It was a pretty play. Mett rolled out to the right, set up and delivered an absolute rocket. The stories about his arm are not exaggerated.

-- Murray sails another pass over A.J. head on a deep ball. Fletcher Page's synopsis: "He's trying too hard." Oddly, that's exactly what I told Fletcher as he tried to talk to girls last night.

-- Nice run by Thomas up the middle for a gain of 9.

-- And that's the end of the 3rd quarter.

UPDATE, Start of 4th Quarter

-- The fans are starting to pour out of the stadium already. Seriously, how do you leave the spring game early?

-- No signs of Logan Gray in the second half thus far.

-- Murray hits Orson Charles with a rope, but Charles drops it. Punt team comes on.

-- I'm officially bored.

-- Our pal Brandon Spoon did some research of the past five G-Day games last week. In games in which one of the offensive teams scores more than 14 points, UGA typically has a good season (05, 07). In the games when they score 14 or fewer (06, 09), they have bad seasons. (And in 2008, a notoriously middle-of-the-road season, they scored 17.) Our score right now... 14-7.

-- Rennie Curran being interviewed on the sideline right now. They're showing that on the Jumbotron. Even the camera guys don't care about the game anymore.

-- Logan Gray is back in the game -- with the Black Team for the first time. He hits one of the walk-on receivers for a first down.

UPDATED, 7 Minutes Remaining in the 4th Quarter

-- Gray hits another walk-on receiver for another first down.

-- By the way, Russ is chilling in his doghouse. Fletcher compares him to Keith Lockhart -- a very solid pinch hitter.

-- Gray hits Artie Lynch for a gain of 11 and another first down. I'll probably finish up this drive from the press box, then head down to the field... FYI.

-- Kevin Lanier runs up the middle for a big gain down to the 22 yard line. D-Jax follows that up by bouncing off the line up the middle, then taking out around the left side down to the 13. Second-and-1.

-- Gray throws a Donovan McNabb special at the feet of Royston. Third-and-1 at the 13.

-- D-Jax goes up the middle and comes up just short of the first down. Bogotay on for the FG, and I'm heading down to the field. I'll have notes up postgame.

Live Blog (cont.): UGA vs. Arkansas

OK, I'm utterly fried from signing day, but I've had a lot of coffee and Diet Coke, so we're going to keep this live blogging going into tonight's hoops game.

Not exactly a killer crowd tonight -- maybe about 3,500 here so far -- but perhaps it'll fill out.

Anyway, I've got a few notes from football to finish up (plus I have to paint myself in peanut butter)... but I'll be back with a litany of snarky quotes in the next few minutes.

Start of First Half

-- I'm digging the new uniforms. Gray with red trim. It's no black helmets, but it's nice.

-- No Peanut Butter guy tonight... but our pal Tyler Estep does have a story on him in the Banner-Herald. My favorite line: "I was thinking about doing a whole suit made of meats." Yes. Please. Balogna.

-- Call me crazy, but Trey Thompkins looks 10 pounds lighter in these new uniforms. That's it... I'm wearing nothing but gray with red trim from now on. So much easier than the gym.

-- By the way, I've taken to calling the trainers at the gym, "Gym-ocologists." I find immaturity amusing.

-- We're 3:50 in and Georgia is up 7-5 thanks to two buckets by Dustin Ware.

FIRST HALF, 16:10 REMAINING

OK, recapping a few of my favorite signing day moments....

-- The random guy in his 70s who was sound asleep on a folding chair in the Butts-Mehre atrium with about 100 Georgia fans chatting around him.

-- Stacy Searels making his first comments to fans in forever, stepping to the microphone, then having almost no voice. Best of all, in answering a question about Trinton Sturdivant, he explained his raspy voice like this: “My voice is gone because I was hollering at somebody else this morning.”

Way to keep up the image, CSS.

-- Sprinting from my house to Butts-Mehre in time to hear Grantham talk only to realize I could have just watched it on my laptop. Then not being able to get on my laptop and jogging back home. Then driving back to Butts-Mehre an hour later, realizing I left my camera in the car, sprinting from the Coliseum to the Butts-Mehre parking lot, sprinting back just in time for the Richt interview. Oh wait, all of that actually sucked.

-- A fan asked Mark Richt why Kathryn wasn't at many games this year. Here was his reply: "She felt like she needed to be at my son's (Jon)games. She felt she needed to be there as a mother. But he's supposed to get married May 8th. So I'm telling her, he's got a wife now, and she needs to be back on the sideline with us. Hopefully that will be the case."

I won't name names, but here's the response of one other person on site: "Getting married halfway through college? He needs to de-commit from that."

Of course, as my pal Paul said (and I'm paraphrasing here), an engagement ring is really more of a soft verbal than a letter of intent.

FIRST HALF, 11:45 REMAINING

-- Georgia's up 18-9 behind seven apiece from Jeremy Price and Dustin Ware.

-- Congratulations to the winners of the Papa John's delivery of the game... But really, can you trust a pizza company that doesn't reveal in their commercials that focus groups think their crust tastes like cardboard?

-- And seriously, is charging $12 for two large pizzas supposed to convince me that you're using better ingredients now, Dominos?

-- And also, where are these chefs in white coats individually lathering the crust in spices and butter? I've been in a Dominos. It didn't look like that.

-- You know who I haven't seen at the games in a while? Red-and-black checkered sweater guy. Maybe he's mad that Peanut Butter Guy is getting all the hype these days. Come on, Checkered Sweater Guy! You don't become a fan at a D-1 school like Georgia without wanting to compete!

-- If this game were to be decided by hair length alone, Courtney Fortson could take on every other guy on the court and win in a landslide.

-- I asked Fletcher Page what his thoughts on why Georgia was playing so well tonight were and he offered this: "I was reading about Jerry Rice." He's not the best color man in the business for nothing, folks.

-- You know, I've noticed that Mark Fox is fond of a particular light gray suit he wears a lot. Now the uniforms seem to match. Quite an eye that Mark Fox has. Like a young Heidi Klum. Except not married to Seal.

-- It's time to get Drazen'd.

-- Georgia's bench is, um, not great. And Fox doesn't have a starter on the floor right now. It's 23-16 Georgia.

FIRST HALF, 6:38 REMAINING

-- Nice follow by Jeremy Price, slamming home a miss by Thompkins to give Georgia a 25-18 lead. Price has nine.

-- Did you know they still do Bud Bowl? I saw something about this the other day and was absolutely shocked. I assumed once Bud Dry retired from athletic competition that the whole ad campaign had ended.

-- I've seen fans here tonight resembling all three different lead singers Van Halen has had over the years. Odd.

-- What do you think Jeremy Price's high for the season is? Fletcher says 12. I'm guessing 14. Either way, he's at 11 now, and Arkansas seems unconcerned with guarding him near the basket.

-- I want a t-shirt gun. Seems like it could be so useful in so many aspects of my life.

-- Here's my guesses for impact players from today's signing class in 2010: Hamilton (he'll start at safety), Ogletree (he'll get some PT but won't start... maybe similar to Branden Smith last year), Stripling (maybe at OLB) and Garrison Smith (wouldn't surprise me if he bulks up and gets some time at D end). We'll probably see a bit of Ken Malcolme, too, with Samuel moving to defense. But my best guess is that this class isn't going to have a ton of immediate break-out stars. Plus, even last year's stellar class only had four or five guys playing major reps.

-- More likely, I think we're going to see some big impacts from last year's red shirts.

-- Oh, and one more of my favorite aspects of today's signing day festivities: Jakar Hamilton's family.

Hamilton's oldest brother plays for the Carolina Panthers and another brother plays basketball at Gonzaga, so you'd think all this fanfare around signing day would be old hat for them. Instead, they were thrilled about the whole thing, soaking it in with Jakar, walking around the Coliseum and taking pictures with him... it was obvious how proud they were. Really nice to see.

-- Oh, right, I'm supposed to be writing about hoops. Well, we're at halftime, and it's 37-25 Georgia. Price leads the way with 11. Thompkins has 8 and Ware has 7. More after the break.

START OF SECOND HALF

I feel like a guy who is a mile short of finishing a marathon before twisting his ankle. I'm gonna have to call it a day from live blogging... Had to throw together a story during halftime and now due to some deadline issues, I've got to have my gamer done immediately after the horn for the hoops game.

I will, however, leave you with this great interview with Mark Fox from the Reno newspaper. (h/t Left to Right)

I'll have lots more signing day stuff tomorrow, and be sure to check the Telegraph for tonight's game story.

Live Blog: Georgia vs. Texas A&M

Greetings from the Independence Bowl in balmy Shreveport, La. We're about a half-hour before kickoff, and the stands are still about 20 percent full... maybe.

Some early notes...

-- I'm probably being generous in saying it's 2-to-1 A&M fans. That number is probably closer to 3-to-1.

-- You know, it's not often you can say this, but this is hands down the biggest college football game in the country today.

-- The stadium here is very Vandy-esque. Pretty low-key. The elevator ride to the press box was a little scary. There was some creaking and cracking. I was glad I hadn't eaten a big breakfast. That might have put it over the edge.

-- No fun messages on Washaun Ealey's arms today... Just the letters G D S A. I have no clue what that means.

-- Speaking of food... the press box meal was not actually a press box meal. We had to leave the press box and go down to field level to get it. The room it was being served in had a sign on the door that said, "ESPN Meal." Ummm... you know, there are media here from other places, right? I was expecting to open the door and see Ron Franklin enjoying a feast by himself.

-- The food wasn't terrible, but it was pretty indistinguishable. There was something that resembled chicken covered in something that resembled old motor oil. But they had banana pudding which is always a big plus in my book.

-- There's a press box seating chart on the elevator. In persuing the list I noticed there are a whopping eight media members here for Georgia.

-- Even better, there are two scouts from the CFL's Edmonton Eskimos here for the game. I really think Joe Cox needs to give pro football a shot. Hey, Doug Flutie was a star in the CFL, right?

-- Here's some early thoughts from Marc Weiszer and Tim Tucker.

-- And a few intriguing links... A bashing of the passer rating stat and some info on the real profitability of bowl games.

-- Your YouTube clip of the day is.... Joe Kines!

-- Our predictions for the game: Joe Cox sets the school record for TD passes and the coachless Dawgs D pitches a shutout.

-- Seriously, how funny would either of those things be considering how this season has gone?

OK, back with more soon.

START OF FIRST QUARTER

-- OK, so I think there's a real possibility that there are more LSU fans here than Georgia fans.

-- You can really just feel the enthusiasm as the Aggies take the field. Oh, no, that's not enthusiasm. I've just had too much caffeine.

-- A pretty hearty round of boos greet the Dawgs as they take the field.

-- I did see Russ on the field, which leads me to an important question: Which is more likely to happen...

Georgia's D plays great and Mitch Doolittle gets a full time job or...

Russ goes 2-0 and interim mascot and gets hired as the full-time Uga?

-- The Intergoogles have been a little spotty here, so we'll see how this goes. I supposed I should have anticipated this. One day, I'd like to think newspapers with tight deadlines will invest in wireless cards for their beat writers. I assume I'll be collecting medicare by the time that happens.

-- Hahaha... just kidding. Newspapers won't still be around by then.

-- Brandon Boykin deep to receive the opening kickoff and he does his usual acrobatics to set the Bulldogs up at the 33 yard line.

-- No Josh Davis to start the game as anticipated. Vince Vance in at right tackle.

-- A.J. Green with his first catch in a while picks up a first down to the UGA 48. Good to see A.J. back.

-- Another pass to A.J. and for the second time he was one tackle away from taking it to the end zone. OK, bold prediction time: A.J. gets to 1,000 yards today. He needs just 240-some yards.

-- Caleb can't pick up the first down and Georgia punts. Drew Butler comes in an drops a beautiful kick 42 yards and it's downed at the A&M 4. I don't think teams should punt in this game. It needs to be played like a game of Madden... just try to score every time.

-- A&M loses a yard on its first play. Doolittle for DC!

-- Three-and-out for A&M. I say hire Todd Hartley. It would be great for Georgia to have a DC that still gets carded at liquor stores.

FIRST QUARTER 10:13 REMAINING

-- Prince Miller fair catches a short punt from A&M and Georgia takes over at the Aggies' 43. Somewhere, Jon Fabris is shaking his fist and yelling at the TV that only Logan Gray can call for a fair catch. "What the heck are these dang GAs doing? Where's Logan! Hey you kids, stay off my lawn!"

-- The two quarterbacks in this game are Cox and Johnson. Hehehehehe. Ah, childishness is great.

-- Georgia gets its first penalty of the game, a false start on Boling. Or maybe Ben Jones. No one seems to be sure. I blame Josh Davis.

-- This is really turning into a defensive struggle. Man, Georgia needs to fire Mike Bobo, make Mitch Doolittle offensive coordinator and make Hartley the DC. That's the plan.

-- Another screen pass... this time to Chapas. And again, Georgia's punting from the A&M 41. Heck, let Blair kick from here.

-- Hey Darryl Gamble makes his first noticeable play (well, noticeably good anyway) of the year and makes a nice tackle to stop Johnson short of the first down for another three-and-out.

-- And good to see Logan Gray back out there. I assume Fabris texted Hartley between series to let him know how it's done.

FIRST QUARTER, 6:49 REMAINING

-- Interesting fact texted to me from our pal Fletcher Page... McShay has Prince Miller rated as the No. 22 cornerback in the country. And he also rates Millard Filmore as the country's sixth-greatest president.

-- Jordan Pugh with the stop on Caleb King on second down. Markiri Pugh must be angry to hear his name being announced so often. "Oh, so that's what it would be like if anyone ever gave me some playing time!"

-- And the Drew Butler show continues... at least this time he can boost his average a bit.

-- Our buddy Dan who helps write my "Picking the Winners" column has some scratch on Georgia today. I've already gotten about six angry text messages.

-- Johnson finds a hole down the right side of the field and picks up about 13. Second-and-1. Of course a holding call goes against A&M and backs them up.

-- Johnson's shovel pass falls incomplete on third-and-10 -- after a few UGA players couldn't come up with the pick, you know, ball bouncing the other way and all -- and we get punt No. 6 of the game.

-- Updated stats: Punts 6, First downs 1, Fair catches by Prince 2, Fair catches by Logan 0. Who could have seen any of this coming?

-- Joe Cox hits Aron White down the middle. The refs call it incomplete. The Jumbotron flases the words "Great Catch!!!" I'm pretty sure the NCAA rule book suggests that Jumbotron graphics overrule the referee.

-- For all the talk of A&M's hurry-up offense, they haven't seemed too up-tempo so far. And remember all the trouble Georgia had adjusting to the hurry-up against Auburn? Doesn't seem to have been a problem today. What was Willie doing all this time?

-- And Drew Butler is on for punt No. 4. Josh Davis = Georgia's offensive MVP.

-- A&M takes over again at the 13-yard line. The over-under in this game was 67. We may have that many punts.

-- Christine Michael picks up A&M's first first down of the game on a five-yard run to the 24. He follows it up with yet another on a 14-yard run around the left side.

-- A&M is rolling now. Johnson hits Fuller for a 13-yard gain. The Aggies have finally exposed the holes in Mitch Doolittle's D!

-- I take back what I said about the tempo. A&M is moving fast now and it has Georgia off guard. Johnson runs for another first down. The middle of the field is wide open on every play.

-- Prince Miller with a nice tackle standing up Swope for a loss of one. McShay moves him up to No. 21 on his list.

-- That's the end of the first with your score... wait a minute, let me double check this... Um... Nothing-nothing?

START OF SECOND QUARTER

-- So apparently Rennie didn't start as punishment for not running some laps he was supposed to run for disciplinary reasons. I'll mark that down as something I wouldn't have seen coming. But then again, Mitch Doolittle is a staunch disciplinarian. Anyway, Rennie is back in now.

-- Georgia blocks an Aggies' field goal attempt. Geno Atkins on the block. Georgia takes over at the 31.

-- I'm wondering if perhaps Mike Bobo was suspended for the first quarter, too.

-- Cox hits A.J. to midfield. So Green is working out well. The running game sucks again. Is it October again and I missed something?

-- Nice move by Mike Moore to pick up a first down to the A&M 38. If Moore's whole career was bowl games, he'd be an All-American.

-- Just a quick tidbit of info... the only other game this season that was 0-0 after the first quarter was the Tennessee game. We know how that ended.

-- Washaun Ealey is on the ground for a spell. He jogs off the field under his own power. Doesn't look too serious.

-- No need for Drew Butler on this one. Joe Cox throws a floater intended for Green to about the 10 that's picked off and returned near midfield. Just a horrific throw. On the upside, A&M flagged for a personal foul that backs them up 15 yards.

-- I can't wait to hear the Joe Kines halftime interview today.

-- Another wide open pass down the middle to Tanneyhill picks up 21 yards. Seriously, Georgia is aware that they can defend that portion of the field, right?

SECOND QUARTER, 9:03 REMAINING

-- Georgia has failed to score in the first quarter in five of 13 games this year. They've scored seven or fewer points in the first quarter in nine of 13 games this year. South Carolina, Arkansas, Arizona State and Tennessee Tech were the only exceptions. In fact, if you take out the Tenn Tech game, Georgia has scored just 17 points in the first quarter COMBINED in its last eight games against D1 opponents.

-- Aggies pick up a first down after Bryan Evans decided to discipline himself by sitting out that play.

-- Third-and-10 for the Aggies at the 27 yard line of Georgia, but a penalty backs up A&M 5 more yards. This is seriously excruciating to watch.

-- Rennie breaks up Johnson's pass on third-and-15, and the Aggies consider going for it. In the end, they send out the kicking unit once again for a 49-yarder.

-- During halftime, Mark Richt should call Mike Leach and ask if he wants to call the offensive plays for the rest of the game. I hear Leach has some time on his hands.

-- These TV timeouts are really dragging down the pace of this uber-compelling game. Come on guys! They have a flea market scheduled here for 9 p.m.

-- Pooch kick! Easily the most exciting play of the game so far. I think my eyes are bleeding.

-- Cox falls down handing off to Ealey. He's still working on his footwork. Ealey healthy and back in the game though.

-- Another false start on Georgia. Seriously, it's like this team completely regressed to the way it played against LSU.

-- Michael Moore hauls in a pass from Cox for a 19-yard gain to the 27.

-- And Cox's third-down pass is incomplete. Tight coverage from A&M that has the Georgia sideline begging for a flag. Do you realize the Dawgs have a whopping three points in the first halves of their past two bowl games?

SECOND QUARTER, 4:37 REMAINING

-- Harry Doyle couldn't spice up this game. I'm sure the dulcet tones of Ron Franklin have put most of you into a deep slumber. I wish I were so lucky.

-- You know what? I say pull Aaron Murray's redshirt for the second half. The kid needs the experience.

-- Mettenber, too. Just to be safe.

-- A&M turns a third-and-12 into a first down to Uzoma Nwachukwu. You know what would be a great name? Ndamukong Nwachukwu. The kid would be a junior in high school before he knew how to spell his own name.

-- OK, I'm looking around on the sideline to make sure Willie isn't here. Johnson runs for 10 yards on third-and-long to pick up another first down.

-- I meant to mention this before, but amid a litany of stupid questions asked in yesterday's news conferences with the coaches was this gem: "Um, Coach Sherman, you coached in Green Bay. How would you compare Jerrod Johnson and Brett Favre?" Seriously, Sherman's answer was, "Well, they're both quarterbacks." Great line. Anyway, Johnson just looked like Favre against the Georgia D, throwing between two defenders for a long completion to the UGA 15-yard line.

-- By the way, it was Prince Miller in coverage on that play. Todd McShay shakes his head in dismay.

-- And one play later we have the game's first score. Johnson hits Jamie McCoy in the end zone for the 15-yard TD. Texas A&M 7, Georgia 0 (9-75-2:04). Fire Mitch Doolittle!

-- Dowtin was in coverage on what must have been a ugly zone... he let McCoy get behind him and Boykin never came up to cover him. McCoy was wide open in the end zone. Just like Jancek drew it up?

-- Boykin taketh away, and Boykin giveth... He takes the ensuing kickoff and returns it 81 yards for the score... his third kick return for a TD this year. And for a little extra enthusiasm, A&M gets a 15-yard personal foul flag following the touchdown. Georgia 7, Texas A&M 7.

-- Boykin really wasn't even touched on that run back. He took it straight down the field, running behind big Derek Rich, who made a decent block at the end, but other than that it was all Boykin (or more to the point, all A&M's special teams).

-- Boykin's third touchdown on a kick return sets the Georgia career record... and he did it all in one year. That's two big special teams mishaps by A&M that have turned what should have been a 10-0 Aggies lead into a 7-7 ballgame. Boykin tied Willie Gault for the SEC record for kick returns for a score in one season, too.

-- Demarcus Dobbs sacks Johnson and strips the football. A&M recovers because... well you know the old story about the oblong ball and its haphazard bouncing.

-- I guess this note from Prince Lightfoot makes me feel a tad better: "Btw, David, by "wireless card," do you mean cellular data card and not wifi? Do any of your compatriots in the press box use those, successfully? 'cause I haven't been able to move data From the stands using AT&T in a stadium this year, and that's for games in the SEC, Big-10, and Pac-10. Official Wireless Sponsor, indeed."

-- Johnson overthrows his receiver on third down and Georgia blocks Epperson's punt on fourth down. Bacarri Rambo on the block, recovered by Vance Cuff at the 3-yard line. Interesting point in the press box: Boykin, Rambo and Cuff were all guys running stairs on Saturday.

-- Caleb King takes the handoff and piles into the end zone for the touchdown. Talk about a huge swing all on special teams. Georgia 14, Texas A&M 0 (1-3-0:07).

-- Brandon Boykin needed 119 return yards today to reach 1,000 for the season. So far, he has 107. A&M needs to score one more time to give him a chance to get it though.

-- Quintin Banks shaken up on the kickoff. Seriously, that poor kid has it worse than Samuel L. Jackson's character in "Unbreakable."

-- A&M marching down the field... first-and-10 at the Geogia 46 with 35 seconds left.

-- Geno Atkins with the sack of Johnson on second down. Georgia has had plenty of pressure but Johnson's athleticism is legit. Nice play by Atkins.

-- Johnson hits Fuller on third-and-16 for 18... the Dawgs just can't get off the field on third-and-long. They really are upholding the standard of the previous administration.

-- Tanneyhill wide open down the middle for another first down but A&M pulls a Les Miles and spikes the ball as the clock expires. Georgia darts off the field while Johnson argues his case. Mike Sherman tells the refs, "Come on, this is how it's done in the SEC!" And the boos from the crowd are the loudest the stadium has been all day.

OK, halftime... gotta do some real work.

HALFTIME NOTES

-- I spoke to the scout from the Edmonton Eskimos, and he said the top talent scout in the CFL -- which I believe is Rick Moranis -- now has Prince Miller rated as the 36th top cornerback for the next Canadian Football Draft.

-- Some stats of note:

First downs: A&M 14, Georgia 4
Rushing: A&M 20-65, Georgia 14-27
Total yards: A&M 260, Georgia 99
Punts: 10
Jerrod Johnson: 15-of-26 for 195 yards plus 10 carries for 31 yards.

-- And despite not playing in the first quarter, Rennie still leads the team with five tackles.

START OF THIRD QUARTER

-- Aaaaaand we're back. But as of right now, we're back without Internets.

-- And Jerrod Johnson is back, too. He completes his first pass for a 13-yard gain to the 40. Bryan Evans on coverage.

-- Michael runs around like a Roomba amid Georgia tacklers and still manages to pick up the first down. Somebody hurry up and register FireMitchDoolittle.com.

-- Dowtin gives McCoy the Reshad Jones treatment... shoulder tackle that does little to slow the momentum. McCoy picks up the first down and Dowtin is down on the field.

-- Atkins had Johnson for a huge loss but couldn't bring him down. He had him by the jersey but I suppose that's the problems with trying to jersey tackle a 6-foot-5 QB.

-- Hey the Internets are working again! Way to use some Liquid Plumber on the series of tubes, Indy Bowl!

-- Kiante Tripp sighting!

-- Johnson hits Ndamuking Nwachukwu for a first down in the middle of the field... AGAIN. On the next play Michael goes down the left sideline for the touchdown. Hey, Georgia D. You just got scored on by a guy name Christine. Georgia 14, Texas A&M 14 (9-73-2:24).

THIRD QUARTER, 12:36 REMAINING

-- So at least we'll get to see Boykin go over 1,000 receiving yards now. That speaks as much to the Georgia defense as anything though, right?

-- Some good insight from rbubp... "Dowtin had responsibility for the TE on their touchdown--it was man coverage. Dowtin stood there and let the TE get behind him when the QB rolled out to the sideline. As someone else wad rushing the QB--two players, even--that TD was all on Dowtin, not Boykin. Marcus froze like a Georgia LB looking at a...QB roll-out."

-- Seriously, Georgia cannot handle athletic QBs.

-- And they kick short so we don't even get to 1,000 for Boykin. Instead, it's Fred Munzenfaircatcher.

-- False start for Georgia. Seriously, I miss Josh Davis.

-- Caleb goes nowhere. I feel like I've typed that before. How could Josh Davis have been this important to the offense? Or is it that Vince Vance is that bad?

-- The screen pass finally goes somewhere. Cox hits Caleb King on a third-and-9 and Caleb goes 32 yards to the Aggies' 38.

-- Back-to-back runs by Ealey sets up a third-and-3 at the 31.

-- Prince Lightfoot's TV critique: "I am not at all impressed with Quint Kessenich's decision to work the sidelines sans a cute hat. He'll never get a camera in his hotel room peephole with an effort like that." So true.

-- Cox had A.J. Green but the throw was just a tick behind him. It was close and would have probably gone for a TD, but it was just a touch off.

-- Blair Walsh in for the field goal. Here's Marc Weiszer's commentary as the kick goes up: "Short? Wide? Good." He's not the best color man in the business for nothing, folks. Georgia 17, Texas A&M 14 (7-40-3:11).

-- Walsh's 49-yarder is the third-longest in Independence Bowl history. See, Blair... who needs a Groza award when you've got that on your resume?

-- In case you were wondering, the longest field goals: Adam Crossett (Missouri, 2005) and David Hardy (Texas A&M, 1981) both kicked 50-yarders.

-- First down count so far: A&M 20, Georgia 5.

-- The Aggies take over at their own 33 with an empty backfield. Johnson's pass is complete to McCoy to the 43 for a gain of 9.

-- Third-and-10 for A&M and Georgia jumps offsides. Aggies use the free play to go deep but Reshad has coverage. It'll be a third-and-5.

-- Johnson had Tanneyhill, but he couldn't haul it in. On comes the punting team. And Logan Gray deep to receive. The energy in the stadium right now is throught he roof.

-- The snap goes over Epperson's head and Cornelius Washington hauls him down at the A&M 24. Man, special teams are bailing the Dawgs out here.

-- OK, we're going to review the previous catch by Tavarres King. While we have some time... do you think there'll be a point in like 25 years that Urban Meyer is regaining coherence at his palacial estate somewhere in the deep south and sees one of his kids, asks his name, then has a catch with him, a la Dewey Cox? I'd like to think that's what he's looking forward to.

-- And the replay shows that TK didn't make the catch. A person in the Aggies suite next to us literally just yelled "whoop whoop." Texans are strange.

-- Question from Spencer: "David, how tall is Joe Cox really? Like Michael J. Fox short, or munchkin from Wizard of Oz short?" Ummmm... bigger than a breadbox?

-- Third-and-10 and -- oh my! -- Marlon Brown is on the field. This is what the coaching staff envisioned when they burned that redshirt.

-- Aron White may have gotten away with a bit of a push off, but no matter... it's a 24-yard TD catch. Georgia 24, Texas A&M 14 (3-24-0:27).

THIRD QUARTER, 7:49 REMAINING

-- So Georgia's scoring drives today: 0 yards, 2 yards, 24 yards.

-- OK, Indy Bowl. If you already hadn't woven your way into my heart... you send an intern to DELIVER cookies to us. Well played.

-- Third-and-3 for A&M. If you're the Aggies, you go for it on fourth right? You can't possibly send that punting unit back out.

-- Doesn't matter. The Doolittle defense gives up another big play... Howard Morrow takes the short pass from Johnson and Boykin comes in with a bit hit. But Morrow falls on Boykin and never touches the ground, getting back up and darting down the sideline to the UGA 32.

-- And it's another third-and-long... right where A&M wants them. Johnson runs with it and it'll be close. Curran comes up and makes a big tackle that appears to have saved the first down. Fourth-and-1 from the UGA 23.

-- A&M goes for it, Johnson flushed out of the pocket and his heave is intercepted by Sanders Commings. And yes, Commings was also running stairs on Friday.

-- Point just made in the press box: If Texas had trouble beating A&M, is there any chance in the world they can hold off Alabama?

-- Posts on the Dawg Vent poted exactly one minute apart: "Dowtin is a stud, making every play" and "Congratulations Dowtin on quitting on the team."

-- The tight ends are coming up big. Another first-down grab by Orson Charles at the 35.

-- OK, I take that back. Charles drops a pass near the sideline.

-- "Charles is a stud. He's making every catch!"

-- "Congratulations Orson for quitting on the team."

-- Washaun finds a hole up the middle and goes for 19 yards... finally some real running success. That was all on Ben Jones who just stoned his block. That kid has improved by leaps and bounds this season.

-- On third-and-six, A.J. goes about 50 feet up in the air to knock down an overthrown ball by Cox. Not sure if that would have been picked, but it would have been close. Drew Butler boots a touchback.

-- Georgia has really dominated the line of scrimmage defensively in this game, but Johnson's athleticism has made it interesting.

-- I'd be a big fan of some running plays... I need some clock killing to make deadline.

-- And another first down on third-and-long. "Bottom line, we gotta get off the field."

-- Facemask on Jeff Owens gives the Aggies 15 yards to the Georgia 47. I'm going to guess Georgia will win this game, but they really have no business doing so.

-- Oh my... Johnson throws up a Joe Cox special... lobbed into double coverage. Prince Miller had a shot at the pick, but Reshad made the interception and returned it all the way to the A&M 28. Pressure from Demarcus Dobbs set the play up. Todd Hartley adds another line to the "accomplishments" section of his resume.

-- Cox connects with A.J. Green at the 12-yard line to end the third quarter. Georgia will set up shop with a first down at the 12 to start the fourth.

START OF FOURTH QUARTER

-- Johnson may have two picks, but he's already over 300 yards passing. See, Doolittle and Hartley have taken Willie's philosophy but made the bend-but-don't-break defense work.

-- You get me for about five more minutes and then I've got to write a game story. Deadlines!

-- Heck of a run by Washaun who breaks a few tackles making his way down to the 1. First and goal.

-- Von Miller made the tackle on that run by Ealey. That's the first time I've heard his name today. Nice work by Clint Boling to hold the nation's leader in sacks to a quiet day.

-- First two plays go nowhere. Third-and-goal from the 2 and A.J. is on the sideline. No matter, Cox hits Aron White wide open in the end zone for the touchdown. Cox is now one TD away from the passing TD record. Georgia 31, Texas A&M 10 (6-28-2:13).

-- OK, that'll do it for me for the remainder of the game. Gotta write my game story. Ideally, we avoid any epic collapses and Todd Hartley can submit his application for the open Florida defensive coordinator job.

Live Blog: Florida vs. Alabama

PREGAME UPDATE

Greetings from the Georgia Dome, home of an inordinate quantity of 'Bama bangs, a handful of NFL scouts looking for their next great fullback and NO FRIGGIN' COFFEE OR DESSERTS in the press box. What a sham!

Some pregame notes...

-- This blog will contain very little helpful information regarding the game. I'm here to make snide comments, occasionally let you know when a score happens, and in all likelihood, complain about the lack of quality press box fare for the next three hours.

-- So I had the TV on this morning while I was doing a little work. I was only casually listening to a classic Tom Rinaldi story (which are seriously paint-by-numbers melodrama at their finest) about a boy Tim Tebow made a promise of some sort to. I'm sure it was sweet and heartbreaking, but again, I really wasn't paying close enough attention to tell you any details. But this line I did hear: "To this day, one of the nine bracelets Tebow wears each day signifies that promise he made to a young boy." Nine bracelets? Seriously? It's like that scene in "Talladega Nights" where Will Ferrell has a Fig Newtons sticker on his windshield. We're three weeks away from Tebow rocking a fanny pack commemorating a promise he made to a homeless guy to bring him some extra chicken the next time he eats at a KFC.

-- Seriously, Tebow is a warrior. Don't forget that. Warrior.

-- Drink!

-- Oh, right... forgot to share the Tim Tebow drinking game... be sure to stock up on whiskey and read the rules in full.

-- If I find out the reason there were no press box desserts is because Terrence Cody ate six cheesecakes, I'm going to be very, very angry.

-- Brandon Dreaderick for Alabama is still rocking the Kid N Play haircut. Good for him.

-- The SEC gave us a form to fill out that includes all the information about our blogs so they can check to make sure we're properly following the rules of SEC blogging... and yet they provide no desserts. Even in George Orwell novels, I think people got to eat desserts.

START OF FIRST QUARTER

-- Florida fans booed Matt Stinchcomb in the pregame honors for the SEC Legends team. That didn't come anywhere close to how loudly Heath Shuler was booed though.

-- I'm not sure if there are more 'Bama fans here, but they are definitely louder and potentially drunker.

-- Bama takes the kickoff and returns it to the 22. I'd like to just take a moment of silence here to honor Jon Fabris. Where will we find real challenges next season?

-- Greg McElroy to Julio Jones for an 18-yard gain. By the way, Jeff Owens just suggested on his Twitter page that UGA do a black out in their bowl game. Whatever gets you pumped for Shreveport in late December, I suppose.

-- Interesting story from Urban Meyer about his trying to get a job from Nick Saban at Toledo 20 years ago... "I want to say 1989 I was a linebacker coach. I made this clear, too, not a very good linebacker coach at Illinois State University. Wanted to move back to Ohio. And somehow some way, there were no cell phones. I got a phone number and said call Coach Saban. Called Coach Saban, and his lovely wife picked up the phone and we chatted for about 10 minutes. I got her; she was sold. She was ready to go. And then I remember telling Shelly at the time -- I think she was my fiancee at the time, "Looks like we're going to Toledo." The phone call never came back. I had her; I didn't get him."

I'm struggling to come up with a joke that could be deemed "tasteful."

-- Impressive first drive by Bama so far, which just secured a first down at the Florida 37.

-- I think Florida fans are mad it's not really jorts weather.

-- Third-and-4 from the 31 for Bama. McElroy hits Jones in stride, but Julio bobbles the ball and can't come down with the catch. Somewhere, A.J. Green is rolling his eyes.

-- Leigh Tiffin on for the 48-yard field goal -- a short wobbler that still manages to float over the crossbar. Alabama 3, Florida 0, 10:37 left (10-50-4:23).

-- Courtney Kupets honored on the field as the SEC's scholar athlete of the year. She's nearly as tall as Mike Slive. Seriously.

-- Tim Tebow is also honored as the SEC's best warrior who still wears bracelets.

-- If I had known there wouldn't be desserts, I would have just gone to watch the game on the big screen at Hooters with Carlos Dunlap.

-- Jeff Demps just drops a wide open second down pass along the sideline. Florida faces a third-and-8 now from its own 24. Tebow dances around in the backfield like he has to pee as Bama's pressure collapses the pocket, and like a true warrior, he throws the ball away. He's like Braveheart in a football helmet. Florida punts it away.

FIRST QUARTER, 9:29 REMAINING

-- Our old friend Paul Dehner is now covering Cincinnati and was blogging live from the UC-Pitt game today (which was a fantastic game). Sadly, I cannot read beyond his fourth entry. I hate you, Paul.

-- Greg McElroy looks fantastic so far. He completes a 19-yard pass on first down top open Bama's second drive.

-- Mark Ingram on the carry takes it all the way down to the Florida 35. This Gators defense has to be stunned.

-- Second drop of the game by Julio Jones, though to be fair, he was sandwiched between two Florida defenders as soon as the ball got to him. Third-and-7 at the UF32.

-- McElroy delivers a strike to Marquis Maze for the first down, and Ingram follows that with another nice run down to the 10. What Florida's defense really needs right now is someone to give them an impassioned speech. But who?

-- Ingram rumbles seven yards for a touchdown after a Florida penalty gives the Tide a first down. Leigh Tiffin misses the PAT. Alabama 9, Florida 0, 5:33 remaining in the first. (8-76-3:56)

FIRST QUARTER, 5:33 REMAINING

-- An anonymous poster seems to think I'm complaining too much about the lack of dessert options. Thankfully, a reasonable person (Gameday Chef) stepped in on my behalf: "Your job is not as prestigous and demanding as Mr. Hale's. Prestigious people get free food, it's just a reality of America. If Mr. Hale is forced to suck it up, as you advise, the Terrorists win."

Well said, sir.

-- Prestigious people also don't need working email accounts. That's why I'm OK with mine never getting fixed. I wanna be like Paul Sorvino in "Goodfellas." Just have like 10 people who take messages for me, and if it's really important, I'll walk to the payphone at the end of the block and call you back.

-- Tebow hits Deonte Thompson for a 19-yard gain to the 40. He's going to look exquisite in a Buffalo Bills uniform next year.

-- Florida crosses into Bama territory for the first time after Tebow converts a third-and-seven. After the game, he's getting a special bracelet to commemorate the event.

-- Speaking of my prestigious job... I haven't gotten a paycheck in a month. Apparently the last one got lost in the mail. I'm secretly curious if perhaps the newspaper industry has already folded and I just wasn't told. No paycheck and a lack of press box desserts are two of the seven signs of newspaper apocolypse. If Mike Lupica doesn't spend 10 minutes telling us how we need to stop worrying about Tiger's personnal life on "The Sports Reporters" tomorrow, then I'll know we're in real trouble.

-- Fourth-and-12 for Florida at the Bama 31, and Sturgis lines up for the field goal. But the Bama band is playing the "A-Team" theme song. This could be interesting.

-- Meh. Field goal is good. Alabama 9, Florida 3, 28 seconds left in the quarter (12-56-5:05). If you don't think that missed PAT isn't going to come back to haunt Bama, then clearly you have never gambled on sports.

-- By the way, I've already received three texts from my fellow handicapper Dan, each saying, "Shove it, Florida."

-- Ingram in the Wildcat for Bama. That works about as well as when Mike Vick is in the Wildcat for the Eagles.

-- By the way, I'm furious about this whole Vick situation. I could have easily gotten tickets for tomorrow's Birds-Falcons game right up until they signed Vick. Now he has produced absolutely nothing for the Eagles all year, but has put tickets for the game out of my price range (which, admittedly, isn't particularly high). I can't help but feel like this is exactly why Andy Reid signed him. I hate you, Andy Reid.

START OF SECOND QUARTER

-- Alabama faces a third-and-4 from its own 38. I think Greg McElroy has risen up to No. 2 on my list of favorite McElroys. You just can't top Chuck McElroy though. Now that was a good-lookin' fella.

-- Bama is forced to punt. Brandon James looks like he might have an angle for the end zone, but Tide punter PJ Fitzgerald makes a great tackle near the sideline at the UF35.

-- Some interesting first-quarter numbers: Total offense - Bama 119, Florida 58; rush yards - Bama 56, Florida 17; McElroy 5-7-63, Tebow 5-10-41.

-- Tebow's pitch to Bredon James finds Bama out of position and James darts into Bama territory, only a holding flag brings it back.

-- Marquis Johnson tips away Tebow's third-down pass, marking what could have been the 2nd pick of the game for The Warrior. I see what he's doing... showing some compassion for the enemy he's about to vanquish. He's been watching some Steven Segal films.

-- Note from anonymous commenter: "You forgot that ESPN/ABC/CBS doesn't allow any negative comments about Saint Tebow. They have their eyes on you, buddy."

-- Tim Tebow is a warrior. Tim Tebow is America's greatest human being. Tim Tebow will be great in the NFL. Yes, this is definitely David typing this. No, this is definitely not an SEC official who has hijacked his laptop. Hey, why doesn't this damned email work?

-- Great run by Trent Richardson to pick up seven yards. He broke about 43 tackles along the way. That brings up a third-and-3.

-- McElroy hits Maze for a 34-yard gain to the Florida 27. Bama is simply taking it to this Florida defense. Florida's Major Wright is hurt after the play and being attended to by Florida medical staff, who I assume will ask Tebow what his advice is before performing any real medical examination.

-- Tebow is actually standing by himself on the sideline with a headset on. I'm guessing he's listening to Air Supply's Greatest Hits.

-- OK, I gotta minimize some of the Tebow jokes. I wanna save some material for the second half.

-- If McElroy's receievers could hang on to the football, his numbers would be through the roof right now. Third-and-5 at the Florida 22.

-- Wow, what a run by McElroy. He goes to the sideline to avoid pressure, then sidesteps down the sideline as he's falling backward to pick up the first down. Chuck would be proud.

-- Interesting article from the Tampa Tribune on the early tailgating that Tech and Clemson fans are doing for the ACC title game. I'm confused though... I don't see a video game console anywhere in the accompanying photo of the Tech fan.

-- Oh wait, never mind... money quote: "David Boney of Savannah, Ga., grilled burgers and hot dogs a few feet from his car. His chemical engineering textbooks waited for him inside."

-- McElroy is sacked for a huge loss and Bama will line up to kick another field goal, this one from 34 yards out. Tiffin's kick is good. Bama 12, Florida 3, 6:03 remaining in the half (12-68-5:27)

SECOND QUARTER, 6:03 REMAINING

-- Passing yards so far: Alabama 116, Timmy 38.

-- So since Georgia isn't going to have but one defensive coach on staff for its bowl game, and since fans have been complaining about the defense for two straight years, I'd like to see the Indy Bowl set up a system whereby the fans do all the defensive playcalling for the Bulldogs. I'd be much more interested in watching that game. If you would like to have Bryan Evans start at safety, press 1. If you would like Bacarri Rambo to start, press 2. I mean, if "American Idol" can do it, why can't Georgia?

-- Tebow reverses field and runs for a gain of 23 to the Bama 38. He follows that by going straight up the middle for a gain of 15. He jumps around and celebrates but in no way draws attention to himself.

-- Tebow to David Nelson for a 23-yard TD. I have no idea what happened to Bama's defense on that drive. Just brutal. Alabama 12, Florida 10, 4:31 left in the half (4-70-1:32).

-- McElroy hits Ingram on a screen on the first play from scrimmage and Ingram darts down the sideline for 69 yards to the 3 before being pushed out. Urban Meyer asks if he can help Charlie Strong pack for Louisville.

-- Oh my there are some unattractive Alabama fans on the Jimbotron. One girl looked an awful lot like Zach Galifianakis. Also, I think I saw Chuck McElroy.

-- Ingram finishes what he started, rumbling three yards into the end zone. That didn't take long. Alabama 19, Florida 10, 3:32 remaining in the half (2-72-0:59).

-- Tebow hits Riley Cooper on first down for a 59-yard gain to the Alabama 21. What the heck happened to these defenses? Saban will now allow Kirby Smart to take Mark Richt's calls.

-- Interesting play on second down. Tebow tried to hit Aaron Hernandez in the end zone. Corey Reamer broke up the play, but in swatting the ball out of Hernandez's hands, nearly batted it right to another Florida receiver. In the end, however, it was much like a "Flash Forward" episode... a lot of buildup to nothing.

-- Fourth-and-4 with 1:21 to go at the 19 and Sturgis boots the field goal. Alabama 19, Florida 13, 1:18 remaining in the half (5-65-2:14).

-- Maybe there will be halftime desserts. Perhaps they were just saving the good stuff til then. Fingers crossed.

-- OK, be back after the half, hopefully with cheesecake.

HALFTIME UPDATE

-- There were cookies and brownies out. They ran out before I got to the front of the line. They replaced them with a bowl of oranges. This is the worst day of my life.

-- I gave Finebaum a dirty look, just to try to even out my karma. Then I thought, I think he'd probably be more frightened by someone who smiled at him. He gets dirty looks all the time.

-- Here's an interesting stat for you: If this game ended at halftime, this would represent the fourth-most yards a team has compiled against Florida's D all season.

-- The halftime highlight was clearly a girl schooling some dude from Florida in the Dr. Pepper football toss. Absolutely hilarious. If that guy's friends let him come back and sit with them they ought to all be escorted from the game.

-- The really sad thing, however, was that the girl who won the toss had a better arm than Tebow.

-- You know who I feel bad for? The guy in line in the men's room who, when a urinal opens up and he's at the front of the line, has to wave the guy behind him on through. It's just a signal to everyone else in there that, yes, he's waiting on the stall, and no, it's not going to be pretty. There's no alternative but to hang your head in shame in that situation.

-- And no, that was not myself I was referring to.

-- And one other press box note: There is an unusually high level of bad facial hair here today. I keep looking for Jonathan Crompton but haven't seen him yet.

START OF THIRD QUARTER

-- One of the truly sad things about writing these live blogs from the press box (other than the lack of dessert options) is that I don't get to make fun of the broadcast team. Big thanks to those of you who have filled me in on some of the Danielson-Lundquist gems. In the 2nd half, I'll just try to predict what they're saying, and if I get any right, then you have to drink.

-- Florida goes three and out to start the half and Chas Henry boots a punt that sets Bama up at its own 26. I have trouble respecting people who choose to go by "Chas." That's like someone named Doug going by "Doogie." And in a show about a 16-year-old doctor, the fact that he wanted to be called "Doogie" was probably the most unlikely plotline.

-- Ingram goes around right end for a two yard gain to bring up a third-and-1 at the 35 then follows that with a dive up the middle to pick up the first down. He's up to 65 yards and 2 TDs so far... not bad for a guy playing hurt.

-- McElroy goes deep and hits Maze for a 28-yard gain to the Florida 32. Bama has been in Florida territory in five of seven drives, with one of the short drives being the end of the half.

-- Beautiful over the shoulder grab by Colin Peek in the end zone. Just a great looking play all around. Tebow looks dazed on the sideline. Alabama 26, Florida 13, 9:53 left in the third quarter (5-74-2:48).

THIRD QUARTER, 9:53 REMAINING

-- Verne: "Oh my that was quite a catch by, uh, Peek."
Gary: "Hell yeah."
Verne: "And Tim Tebow looks stunned."
Gary: "Hell yeah."
Verne: "But he's a warrior. You know he has to be thinking about a comeback right now."
Gary: "We're out of bourbon."

-- Interesting note: Mark Ingram has officially posted the most rushing yards in a season ever by an Alabama player. That's pretty impressive. Gary: "Hell yeah."

-- If I had a quarter for every pass Alabama has batted down in the secondary today, I'd have enough to go by a dessert treat from the concessions. Doogie Henry, M.D. back on to punt.

-- I'm currently perusing the Wikipedia page for Shreveport to see what I'm in for during bowl week. Apparently there's quite a history of movies being filmed in Shreveport, including gems like "Soul Men," "Blonde Ambition" and "The Guardian." I'm really holding out hope I'll get to meet Tom Sizemore while I'm there.

-- Nice run for Trent Richardson sets Bama up with a first down at the 37. McElroy goes for the home run to Julio Jones, but it falls incomplete. You have to feel like another TD here would be a backbreaker for Florida.

-- Another interesting note: "Mardi Gras celebrations have been going on in Shreveport now for over 20 years." Wow, way to jump on the bandwagon early, Shreveport!

-- Alabama is up to 363 yards of offense -- the most any team has tallied against Florida this season. And there is still 20 minutes left in the game.

-- McElroy is averaging 21 yards per completion. Carlos Dunlap must be sick. And only partially due to that last shot of tequila. (Was that in poor taste? Wait, tequila always tastes poor. Nevermind.)

-- First down Bama at the Florida 38 and Richardson runs down the middle for 5. This Florida D is absolutely gassed. Tide is 7-of-10 on third down and Tebow is still searching for just the right adjectives to use before giving his inspirational speech. Dramatic moments, folks.

-- Verne: "This is very uncharacteristic for the Gators defense."
Gary: "But let's not forget what a warrior Tim Tebow is, Verne."
Verne: "He is indeed, Gary. Quite a warrior."

-- Make that 8-of-11 on third down for the Tide. Ingram just rumbled to the 12 yard line for a 10-yard gain. And that'll do it for the third quarter.

START OF FOURTH QUARTER

-- Apparently if you test drive a Ford, you get a free Tony Gonzolez fathead. I'm just curious, who actually buys fatheads? I can't fathom anyone with a girlfriend or a wife would be allowed to hang it up, and the things cost like $100. In fact, I would purposefully NOT test drive a Ford to avoid having a giant Tony Gonzolez stuck on my wall. Plus, you then avoid the danger of Matt Ryan haphazardly throwing a football at your wall every time he's under pressure from the defense.

-- My eyes must be deceiving me. I just saw a stat that said Tim Tebow had a 2-5 career record when trailing in the second half. That can't be right. I mean, he's th greatest player of our era. He always rallies his team back because he's so inspirational. The stat guy must have gotten into Verne's bourbon.

-- Anonymous comment: "Mark Ingram is circumcising Florida's D today." How had I waited this long to make a joke like that? I'm not on my game today.

-- First-and-goal from the 1 and Ingram barrels forward for his third touchdown of the game. Tebow is still calmly listening to Air Supply on the headset. I'm not sure the "All Out of Love" lyrics are going to be enough to inspire a comeback this time, Timmy. Alabama 32, Florida 13, 13:49 remaining (17-88-8:47).

-- I'm curious what CBS's argument is now for Tebow still winning the Heisman. I guess it's not his fault his teammates have let him down so much. I mean, he's told them they have to get inspired. What more do you want from him?

-- Lorenzo Washington absolutely levels Tebow in the backfield as he's drops back to throw. The ball comes loose, which is initially ruled a fumble. A review calls it an incomplete pass, however, because everyone knows Tebow doesn't fumble in the fourth quarter.

-- Tebow takes another huge shot but gets a pass off to Aaron Hernandez, who twists and turns down to the 28-yard line. Tebow completes a 22-yarder down to the 6 on the next play. His third pass, however, is picked off in the end zone by Javier Arenas, who will now go down in history as the guy who ruined college football for everyone.

FOURTH QUARTER, 11:51 REMAINING

-- Note from commenter: "On another totally irrelevant point, Verne likes cheese."

I bet that's who ate all the desserts. Damn you, Verne!

-- Three-and-out for Bama. Not exactly what Saban was hoping to see, I'm sure. On the other hand, he has to stand on six phone books to see much of anything anyway.

-- Big Jumbotron announcement for fans to stay off the field after the game. Just once, I'd like to be involved in a fans-rush-the-field situation. I'm tall, so I feel like I could really be helpful in a tearing-down-the-goalposts plan.

-- In case you're wondering, here's Tebow's eye black passage: "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. And look out for Arenas in the end zone."

-- What's worse, when I Googled that, there were already several news stories pointing it out.

-- What's even worse, when I just checked the comments, someone had already posted it.

-- I'll give Tebow credit, he makes a good billboard.

-- Fourth-and-3 at the Bama 13-yard line. Florida takes a timeout with 7:33 to play.

-- Pass is broken up. That should about do it. I'm heading to the field. I'm going to try to catch some of Tebow's tears in a plastic cup. I assume they'll eventually be useful in curing a deadly disease or something.

Live Blog: Georgia vs. Georgia Tech

UPDATED, PREGAME, 3 HOURS TO KICKOFF

How about some links to get the live blogged kicked off in the right direction?

-- David Ching writes that this may well be the last time we'll see the old-school Georgia Bulldogs.

-- Tim Tucker has a good story on the emergence of Caleb King after numerous setbacks.

-- Marc Weiszer writes about the recruitment of both King and Jonathan Dwyer by the Dawgs.

-- The Telegraph has an update on former Bulldog Michael Lemon, who wrapped up his season with NC State today.

-- Here's a great post on how Georgia Tech students are getting some help talking to the ladies.

-- Bubba N Earl offers some additional nerd-related humor.

-- A big happy birthday to our good friend Bernie.

-- And to cap off the festive holiday weekend, here's a list of the top Thanksgiving TV episodes of all time. While I'll heartily agree with much of the list (the Thanksgiving "Cosby Show" is one of my favorites) it is absolutely inexcusable to forget the Thanksgiving foodfight episode of "Cheers."

And on to some gameday issues...

First off, last year, it was the second half that cost the Bulldogs against Tech. This year, it could be the other way around.

Georgia Tech has outscored its opponents 103-55 in the first quarter this season, so they're used to fast starts.

Georgia, on the other hand, has been dreadful in the early going. In the Dawgs' five losses, they've been outscored 23-10 in the first quarter, and with the exception of Tennessee Tech, Georgia has racked up just 10 first-quarter points in any game since the beginning of October.

So while last year's game will no doubt serve as a reminder that Georgia needs to finish strong, it could be the start of this year's game that makes the difference in the outcome.

And one more link for you...

Chris Low takes a look at how the SEC's quarterbacks stack up against common competition -- i.e. SEC games. And you might be surprised to learn, Joe Cox is among the best.

While Cox has obviously thrown too many interceptions, that's essentially the only knock on his in comparison to his peers throughout the conference. That, I think, reinforces a lot of what I've said about Cox all season -- it's not that he's a bad quarterback who never should have started at this level. It's that when he has been bad, he's been REALLY bad.

If you had those same numbers from Cox, but he was a redshirt freshman, you'd be pleased. But for a fifth-year senior, you would have hoped for more consistent results. And while you can blame that on the coaching staff, I have little doubt they, too, expected more consistent results.

Be back soon with some more pregame updates...

UPDATED, TWO HOURS UNTIL KICKOFF

-- So South Carolina thumps Clemson. What does that mean for your Bulldogs? Well, for one, it might give some hope that the ACC stinks and the Dawgs have a good shot tonight. Of course, it also means that South Carolina's profile for bowl season just got a bit better. Coming in to today, the Gamecocks were really the only team obviously behind Georgia in the SEC pecking order. Now? Well, we might be spending some time in Birmingham.

-- That means Papa Johns in the press box for me. That stinks, since I can get Papa Johns at UGA hoops games. I was hoping for a bowl upgrade.

-- The PapaJohns.com Bowl is played Jan. 2, which means Georgia can forego any major changes because, after all, they will have played in yet another January bowl game!

UPDATED, ONE HOUR TO KICKOFF

-- So there's about 5,000 people in the stadium, but those boos when Georgia ran onto the field for warmups were awfully loud. But I'm sure that Tech would never artificially create crowd noise. Besides, where would the get the technology?

-- And speaking of the Tech-savvy nerds, half the people in the press box can't get on the Intergoogles. Oddly, I had no problems. There's a first time for everything.

-- Tech charges for its press box food. I'm not complaining because, well, what have I done to deserve a free meal? But if I have to pay for it, couldn't they have at least had boneless chicken and not have it be so soggy?

-- Also, they ran out of red velvet cake before I got a slice. Not cool.

-- Apparently there's a little traffic on I-75. Who woulda thought.

-- I can't wait to see Rennie Curran hijack the Ramblin' Wreck. Also, I'm going to need him to give me a lift to my car. I think I might be parked in Buckhead.

UPDATED, 10 MINUTES TO KICKOFF

-- Was just down on the field. Saw Tashard Choice, fresh off putting up 11 points against me in fantasy football.

-- Two people I didn't see on the field: A.J. Green and Willie Martinez.

-- Willie may have simply been hiding behind A.J. Harmon the whole time, but I noticed every other assistant coach out there but didn't see him. Not saying that means anything, just saying I didn't see him.

-- Rambo was on the field, but wearing street clothes. Tavarres King was rocking a No. 8 on his arm, but no signs of A.J.

-- The video board had short messages from each senior naming their favorite moment at Tech. The vast majority said beating Georgia.

UPDATED, START OF FIRST QUARTER

-- The Internet here absolutely sucks.

-- Georgia wins the coin toss and will receive.

-- Branden Smith in on the return and gets some nice yardage up to the UGA 26... wonder if that means bad news on Brandon Boykin.

-- Two straight runs to King. That's a big change from how Georgia has started most of its recent games. Third-and-1.

-- Two tight-end set and King runs straight up the middle for the first down.

-- Fourth straight run. This one goes to Ealey around the right side, and he picks up five. Think perhaps Bobo is concerned about controlling time of possession?

-- Fifth straight run -- this one picks up a first down. Whatever happened to balance?

-- Sixth straight run... this one a designed run by Cox that gains a yard to midfield. Milking the clock.

-- Seventh straight run... this one to Caleb King who gains 10 yards. Bobo better be planning to open the second half with 10 straight passes or this balance is going to be completely off.

-- From Anonymous... what a win could do for Georgia... http://twitpic.com/rd0gi

-- Ninth straight run and this one goes to Ealey for a huge gain down to the 1-yard line. First-and-goal.... just in time for a false start! This one's on Chris Davis, backing UGA up to the 6.

-- Caleb King finishes off the drive with a 6-yard run for the touchdown. Well, you won't see Bobo script 10 straight runs very often, but it worked to perfection. Georgia 7, Georgia Tech 0 (10-74-5:21).

UPDATED, FIRST QUARTER, 9:29 REMAINING

-- Michael Adams on the jumbotron gets a nice round of boos... not sure if that was exclusively from Tech fans.

-- Kickoff goes through the end zone for a touchback. Are we sure Richt didn't replace the coaching staff before the game?

-- Alright, I'm officially confused. UGA runs 10 straight times for a TD. Georgia Tech comes out throwing on first down. WTF?

-- Josh Nesbitt keeps on second down and is forced out by Reshad Jones after a 24-yard run.

-- Jeff Owens with a nice tackle of Nesbitt for no gain. That'll bring up a third-and-three at midfield.

-- Nesbitt hits Thomas along the right sideline for a 10-yard gain. Vance Cuff was in coverage, and I'm guessing we're not going to see Boykin tonight.

-- Toss to Roddy Jones, who fumbles the pitch but, as always, the ball doesn't bounce Georgia's way. Jones recovers his own fumble to bring up second-and-6. That's 13 fumbles against UGA this year and they've recovered just one... way back in Week 3.

-- Third-and-six from the 36. Nesbitt rolls out and pitches to Marcus Wright for the first down and a gain of 13 to the 23. There's a guy sitting behind me yelling out the results of every play at an exceptionally loud volume.

-- We've run more than 10 minutes off the clock and we havne't yet completed the second series of the game. I might make deadline after all.

-- Dwyer rumbles through about 43 tackles before Bryan Evans brings him down after a gain of 8. That was just hard running right up the gut.

-- Pitch to Allen goes nowhere after Justin Houston does a great job of lateral pursuit where Vance Cuff jumps in and finishes off the tackle. Fourth-and-two from the 15 and Tech is going for it.

-- Tech does its best UGA impression, getting flagged for a false start on Joseph Gilbert. That brings up a fourth-and-7, and Tech misses the 37-yard field goal try. That's a huge turn in Georgia's favor.

-- Remember what I wrote earlier today... winning the first quarter will be huge for the Dawgs. They're in good shape to do that now.

-- 12 straight runs now for Georgia. Ealey goes outside and has plenty of room to run. This is an impressive start. Gain of 14 for Washaun.

-- Run No. 13 was not so lucky for Georgia. Caleb King fumbles and Georgia Tech recovers and will take over at the 40. Man, that really is both devestating and not at all surprising at this point.

-- Tweet from David Pollack: "To all, It does appear that Willie Martinez will not be back next year. Will be an intresting next 46 hours to see what happens"

-- Roddy Jones picks up a first down. Nesbitt shaken up one play later. He's down on the turf after a four-yard run and looks to be in a good bit of pain. The crowd is chanting "Nes-bitt, Nes-bitt" but I really think they mean "Ram-bo, Ram-bo."

-- Nesbitt walks off the field under his own power, but he's clearly hobbled. Might just be a stinger, but he's having trouble just hobbling over to the sideline. Jaybo Shaw in at QB.

-- Shaw keeps it on second down and goes nowhere. Rennie Curran makes a nice tackle, and that ends the first quarter.

UPDATED, START OF SECOND QUARTER

-- David Schmidt just won a 2010 Camaro. Good for him. Now turn down the volume on the friggin' Jumbotron. It's not a Skid Row concert.

-- I'm gonna have to take a break here in a few minutes. I have to have a notebook in for the paper by 9:30 so the readers on the outskirts of Macon can enjoy the highlights of the first quarter of this game tomorrow morning. Ah, newspapers. You're such a delightful throwback industry.

-- Tech connects on a 43-yard field goal. Georgia 7, Georgia Tech 3 (6-15-1:14). That's a great stop by the D. Willie should be rumored to resign every week. It apparently gets the guys really pumped.

-- Brandon Boykin is in the game returning the kick and he goes nowhere, brought down at the 10. Not sure why he's out there now but not earlier in the game. Branden Smith took a big hit on his first kick return though and looked a little loose with the football, so perhaps that's it.

-- First pass from Cox is a quick out to Wooten, who picks up just two. That seems like a wasted play to me. If you're going throw, challenge Tech deep. Particularly when the play-action has been set up so perfectly by the first two drives.

-- Ealey goes up the middle and picks up nine yards to the 22 for a first down. At this point, why throw the ball at all?

-- Three wide, and Cox has Israel Troupe open at the 30, but he simply drops a well-thrown ball. Again, Tech has to be expecting the run now. Why no play-action?

-- Well they may be expecting the run, but they sure as heck can't stop it. Ealey goes straight up the middle again, gaining 17 yards for the first down. Seriously, how bad is the ACC? "It's Clemson. It's Georgia Tech. Catch the best missed tackles and soft defenses the ACC has to offer live from Tampa! ACC football... it's FAAAAAN-marginal!"

-- I think you know that this game is going UGA's way when it's the other team that constantly has players limping off to the sideline.

-- Cox had Wooten wide open down the left sideline for what probably would have been six and Wooten simply dropped the ball. Cox hasn't always been sharp this year, but man have the UGA receivers dropped a lot of passes. Remember when A.J. said it was impossible NOT to catch a ball Cox threw? Whatever happened to that?

-- And yet another GT injury. Now third-and-seven. Cox has all the time in the world, hits Orson Charles down the middle and picks up a first down into Tech territory.

-- Handoff on second-and-10 to Ealey goes 34 yards around left end down to the Tech 15. Maybe Willie isn't the DC who should be on the hot seat. By the way, Ealey's stats so far: 8 carries, 122 yards. Yikes!

-- Caleb King with a big gain sets up a second-and-2 at the Tech 7. Another false start -- this one on Orson Charles -- backs up the Dawgs to the 12, however.

-- King runs hard and picks up nine to the 3. This is simply domination at the line of scrimmage. The ACC is just not a physical conference.

-- The flickering "Louder" sign on the jumbotron is seizure-enducing. Like listening to Mary Hart. (How's that for a timely reference?)

-- Third-and-goal from the 5, Derrick Morgan gets pressure on Cox and his pass goes out the back of the end zone. Blair Walsh on to kick. He connects from 22 yards out. Georgia 10, Georgia Tech 3 (15-84-6:40). Wow. 15 plays. Wow.

-- Sorry for the lack of updates. The Internet is not working.

-- Reshad Jones picks off Jaybo Shaw with a beautiful catch at the UGA 44. That's probably the prettiest catch I've seen all year... including the work A.J. has done.

NOTE: Internet stopped working and I had to get a notebook in before 9:30. Sorry for the lapse. We'll see how things go in the second half with the Internet. We can't expect the Tech school to have proper network capabilities, after all.

Live Blog: Georgia vs. Kentucky

Greetings from Sanford Stadium, for the final time until G-Day. Fans are just now shuffling into the stadium, and the vast majority are in black. If you're watching at home, however, your job is to make snide comments about the announcing team each time they make a broad analogy about Uga's death and the Georgia season. I'm sure it's coming. It's so much easier than actually providing analysis of the game.

Some pregame thoughts...

-- I apologize in advance if this live blog stinks.

For one, I'm a little depressed about humanity today. We have a fenced in backyard that borders a few apartments behind us. My dog managed to pull a Houdini act today and get out of the yard. The neighbors behind us watched this happen and did nothing. Then we we went out to get her and were chasing her around the neighborhood, more than a dozen people refused to lend a hand, even after my girlfriend begged them to help. They just sat there and watched. Pathetic. (In the end, a box of milk bones did what the neighbors would not.)

Secondly, as you're no doubt aware, I'm on a bit of a hellish deadline tonight. Macon's paper goes to press early, so my stories need to be submitted within a few seconds of the game ending. Columbus is a little later than that, but by the time I do interviews, etc., there won't be much time to write. So... I'm going to have to spend a bit of time writing in-game rather than blogging. Bummer.

-- Great question from Herschel Blogger: "If UGA will seriously be without a live Uga on the sidelines tomorrow for the first time since 1956... Who will we attempt to find behind the fries?"

I'm curious to find out the answer. I feel like the Uga hiding would be in poor taste. Herschel's suggestion? Willie Martinez's defense, since "Lord knows we can't find it anywhere else."

-- Oh, and if you want a little extra motivation for hating Tech next week, this ought to do it. Classy stuff.

-- Also, there are 23 seniors who will be taking the field at Sanford Stadium for the final time tonight. I figured since I've been covering most of them for the majority of their careers, it'd be worth giving them a little page space here by sharing a few memories from myself or their teammates and coaches.

Jonathan Batson, Stephen Braue, Devin Hollander, Andrew Jensen, Andrew Johnson, Christian Norton, Vernon Spellman, Justin Fields -- All these guys spent their careers as walk-ons, and I never had a chance to interview any of them. But that doesn't mean they didn't make an impact. Here's Richt on their final game: “For some of them, it may be the only ovation they get from the crowd. I don’t say that in a negative way, but it’s just how it goes. But they get an ovation from me and the coaching staff and their teammates. Those guys do a very tough job, and they do it out of the love of football and the love of their team and we can’t function without them.”

Ricardo Crawford -- I always liked Ricardo a lot, but I must admit, it never ceased to make me laugh when Rodney Garner would talk about him in interviews. I think reporters specifically kept asking about Crawford's playing time just to see the look on Garner's face. His trip to England to study Shakespeare this offseason also made for some great lines.

Casey Nickels -- Every week Chris Starrs does a feature for the Banner-Herald on a random UGA player who may or may not have done much on the playing field. He's hit Arthur Lynch, Ty Frix, Fred Munzenmaier and plenty of others throughout the year, even provoking a weekly guessing game among some writers as to whom that week's mystery player would be. I generally end up overhearing a good bit of Chris' interviews for these stories, and I must say that my favorite this season has been Nickels.

Brandon Wheeling -- Can't tell you too much about Brandon, but the fact that the kid transferred in from West Georgia and has earned a spot in a DT rotation along with three guys who will be playing on Sundays should tell you all you need to know.

Kade Weston -- On my list of players I've covered that I'd least like to have mad at me, Kade comes in a close second to Max Jean-Gilles. Two of the biggest human beings I've ever seen.

Kevin Perez -- I'm not sure why, and I never asked, but he's ALWAYS the first player off the field after a game ends. It's uncanny. Not to say that's his only impact, but it's the thing that I'll remember most.

Marcus Washington -- I did a story on Marcus over the summer about how he has raised a family and worked a part-time job while playing football and getting his degree. He really is a remarkable person, and I'm incredibly appreciative of him opening up his personal life for me to do the story. He's also been a great inspiration to players like Rennie Curran: “In terms of family life, I look to Marcus as that example of being there for his family, setting that example for guys like us. Me having a daughter and him being married with kids, he sets such a great example doing the things he does, being so young and in college and not going out of town, giving up that college life to make the sacrifices for his kids.”

Geno Atkins -- This from Kade Weston: “Geno can eat. We had a cookout at the house. He had three plates of meat and still was like, ‘I’m not even full. I’m still hungry.’ So you’ve got to come prepared when you’re having a cookout with Geno.”

Vince Vance -- My only hope is that he'll move on into the real world with a valid driver's license.

Rod Battle -- I don't think I ever saw Rod without a smile on his face. He just seemed like the type of guy who was always looking on the bright side of things. That couldn't have been easy after seeing his past two seasons cut short, but as Richt said, he still has plenty to look forward to: “It’ll be bittersweet for him. He would have wanted to play in this game with his teammates and have a senior year where he was healthy and could contribute on the field every week. But I’m sure it’ll be meaningful to his family, and he certainly has been great for Georgia as a player and as a person. Roderick is one of those guys as a coach that you know he’s going to be just fine whether he plays pro ball or doesn’t. He’s going to make it in life because he’s smart, he’s personable, he’s just the kind of guy that everybody’s going to want to hire. I have all the confidence that he’s going to have a wonderful life.”

Darius Dewberry -- Most people will remember this as a low point in Dewberrys' career: After two of his teammates were involved in a fight outside a downtown bar last summer, they were taken to the hospital, where Dewberry went to meet them. He was so angry about the incident that he took out his frustrations on a parking barrier and some potted plants outside the hospital -- not a smart move, but clearly an indication of how much he cares about the guys he plays alongside. I've heard stories from so many of Georgia's players about how close they've been with him, from Rennie talking about how much he learned early on from Dewberry to Justin Houston talking about how Dewberry helped keep him focused this summer after his suspension was announced. But this was my favorite quote, from Nick Williams: "I've called Dewberry on numerous occasions when I've needed something, and he's always been there for me. It's going to suck because I can't imagine not having Dewberry. We always (wrestle) in the locker room, I go over his house to play games. At first I didn't know he was a senior. Just recently, maybe like a month ago, I found out Dewberry was a senior. I was just like, oh man."

Prince Miller -- I know Prince has taken his share of heat, and I'll admit, he's not always been the easiest guy to interview either (although he's had some great moments in interviews over the years, too). But the kid has always played hard, and that's admirable. Bryan Evans was telling me about how Miller got close to 100 snaps against Okie State and, while so many of the other defensive vets were getting IVs, Prince never came off the field. Here's Richt on Miller: “Prince did a great job for us in his career, and he actually this year took on more of a leadership role in a verbal way with the young corners that he’s trying to help mold. Even the secondary in general, he’s being a little more demanding of his teammates in practice that I’ve seen. Just to play as many snaps as that guy plays, punt return, gunner. That gunner, he’s one of the best, and he’s almost playing every snap on defense. He’s probably played more plays than anybody on our team this season. He hasn’t complained one time. Early in the season when it’s hot it is tough. It’s cooled down a little bit and I think it’s been a little easier on him. Prince has been very solid in a lot of areas and has been a great Bulldog for us.”

Mike Moore -- Here's what probably would have been a good story if Joe Cox was allowed to tell all the details. It's his favorite memory of Mike Moore: “We had a little trip to Atlanta one time with Knowshon, Demarcus Dobbs and Kevin Perez. That was probably one of the funnest times I’ve had since I’ve been at Georgia. It was a funny night and that’s probably the first thing I’ll think about. – I’ll leave it at that. We had a blast in Atlanta one night and didn’t get back until around 7 and it was just a fun time.” Trust me, I asked for more. He wouldn't crack.

Bryan Evans -- I don't know anyone on the roster who has probably heard more criticism in his career, but Evans has perservered, for better or worse. He's smart and personable and, while his play may not have warranted too many pats on the back in the past two seasons, the effort he gave should never have been questioned. Here's what he had to say about his last game at home: “It’s probably going to be mixed emotions, but I know that’s how football is. You’re going to get criticized, but it’s how you fight through it. Hearing my name go across that screen the last time, it’s going to be very exciting for me, just knowing that I made it the whole five years I’ve been here. Hopefully I’ll get a good ovation for it.”

Joe Cox -- I'm not sure what I can say about Cox, other than that despite having to pose some very tough questions to him this season, he has been an absolute joy to cover. He's genuinely a really good person, and that's not hard to see from the quotes his teammates had to say about him.

Jeff Owens -- For an old-school newspaper person like myself, I must say I occasionally cringe at the spelling and grammar of Owens' tweets, but I've never failed to enjoy his commentary. Plain and simple, Jeffis just the type of person you'd love to be friends with -- always a good attitude, always something funny to say, always a smile on his face. And the kid has given an awful lot to Georgia. I've had a blast covering him.

UPDATED, 10 MINS UNTIL KICKOFF

-- Forgive any typos tonight. My hands are cold.

-- I'm incredibly impressed by the grassroots blackout movement. Nice job, Georgia fans.

-- Wooten was announced as the starter at WR.

-- The seniors were just introduced pregame, and the stadium was pretty full in time for it. Again, nice job, Georgia fans.

-- As you'll remember, my predictions last week were pretty good (Caleb TD, Reshad pick, etc.) so here are a few for this week: Georgia will win the turnover battle again. Darryl Gamble will get one of those turnovers. Washaun has been close to 100 yards the past two games. He'll get there tonight. Marlon Brown gets two catches. I've been predicting it all year, and I'm not giving up now. Kentucky has one of the better O lines in the SEC, but I'm gonna predict sacks from both Jeff Owens and Geno Atkins. (And remember in SEC Media Days when Zipp Duncan said no one gave him more trouble than Atkins?) And finally, I'll predict an easier deadline this week in a game that -- for once -- won't come down to the final play.

UPDATED, START OF FIRST QUARTER



-- UGA wins the coin flip and will kick off. A few splotches of empty seats, but overall a nice crowd for the final home game (and I'm sure people are still filling in). The vast majority are wearing black and definitely a lot of energy. Fun way to end the season. (Now let's just hope all the people inside the stadium cleaned up after themselves before they came in.)

-- Nice kick return for Kentucky who will start from its own 36. Newton under center. Randall Cobb is playing.

-- Justin Houston picks up the sack on second-and-3. Weston assisted on the pressure. That's a loss of four. If Georgia can win the line of scrimmage against this line, that's a good sign.

-- Well, we're 1:21 into the game and Kentucky has called timeout, which'll send us to commercial break.

-- Apparently Darryl Gamble is rocking No. 18 tonight for some reason.

-- Nice scoreboard tribute to Uga VII that got a huge ovation from the crowd.

-- Newton hits Matthews for no gain after a nice play by Prince Miller. UK will punt, and Miller grabs the fair catch at around the 22.

-- Randall Burden breaks up a deep ball to Tavarres King on first down. It was essentially the same play Georgia ran a half-dozen times last week... go route down the sideline. Wooten did get the start opposite King.

-- Caleb King picks up three on second down, and Cox's pass for Aron White on third down is incomplete on what looked like a sloppy play from the beginning. Not a great start on offense for the Dawgs. Again, one of the reasons I think Bobo needs to run early, then get cute after that.

-- Cobb takes the punt at the UK33 and returns it to the Georgia 48. Not one of Butler's best efforts this season.

-- Well, this is the Georgia we all know and don't remotely love. Newton shows some wheels, gets outside the right tackle and out to the sideline for a gain of 9. Bryan Evans then gets flagged for a late hit out of bounds, which gives UK a first down at the UGA24. Will Newton be this year's Cobb?

-- John Conner gets the carry on first down. A shiny, potentially non-existent prize to whomever makes the best Terminator reference in the comments section.

-- Newton hits Derrick Locke over the middle and Locke uses the ref as a screen, Rennie misses the tackle and Locke cruises in for a TD. Kentucky mishandles the snap, however, and Cobb is run out of bounds. Kentucky 6, Georgia 0. (4-48-1:22)

UPDATED, FIRST QUARTER 10:01 TO PLAY

-- Joe Cox to Orson Charles for 24 yards. Orson s such a mismatch. I could see him getting a majority of the passes A.J. might have gotten.

-- Third-and-three after two Ealey runs into UK territory. Ealey takes it again and pushes the pile forward close to the first down.

-- How about my Syracuse Orange, eh? Dominant win over North Carolina on the hardwood last night and a huge upset over Rutgers on the gridiron today? Even a blind squirrel, right?

-- Fourth and inches and Georgia goes for it... Cox sneaks and picks up the first down. Ninjas are good at sneaking.

-- Exceptional play fake, with UK completely biting on the run. Instead Cox hits Charles on the same route as his first pass for a 13-yard gain. First down at the UK31.

-- Cox hits Charles tumbling to the turf down the middle of the field for a 16-yard gain and a first down at the 11. A.J. who?

-- Tremendous run by Washaun down to the two, dragging tacklers with him. That's the type of hard running Georgia missed so much earlier in the season.

-- Smart play by Cox. It was a play fake with a bootleg right, but Sam Maxwell came unblocked and Cox tossed the ball out of the end zone. Third-and-1 at the UK2.

-- Brandon Boykin has suffered a right hip injury and is out of the game "for now." Do I need to make another "Spaceballs" reference?

-- OK, before they fire Willie, they need to fire the guy who makes sure the play clock works. How many games has it gone out for this year? Five of six home games? It's a clock! I think instead of the playclock they should just hang up an oversized Salvador Dali poster.

-- Ealey comes up short on a third-and-1 run and the crowd offers a few boos -- I assume for the play call. I guess Bobo could have rolled the dice, but I don't see anything wrong with calling the run. If you can't trust your line then, when are you supposed to? Anyway, Walsh boots a short field goal. Kentucky 6, Georgia 3 (12-76-Time pending because they have poorly trained squirrels operating the game clock, which didn't move on the last two plays).

-- There was supposed to be 4:23 left in the quarter after that score. Instead the game clock had 4:13, then began running a full 20 seconds before the kickoff occurred. The time keeper is clearly too drunk to work night games. I may go see where he has his bourbon stashed though.

-- Georgia has now allowed the opposition to score first in seven of 11 games and has trailed at some point in eight of 11.

-- Boykin is riding the exercise bike on the sideline. Looks like he'll be back in at some point.

-- Two nice plays by the D to start the drive. Kentucky isn't running the ball well so far. Third-and-9 from the 38.

-- Game clock not running now when it should be.

-- Another sack. This time it's Jeff Owens (that's one prediction right!). UK will punt. Loss of seven.

UPDATED, FIRST QUARTER, THREE-FIFTHS OF A BOTTLE OF SCOTCH LEFT IN THE TIME KEEPER'S BOTTLE

-- Miller returns the punt 22 yard to the Georgia 39 and only the kicker saved the touchdown.

-- King picks up four, fumbles the ball forward and Georgia recovers it at the UK48 for what looks like a first down. Replay seemed to show King was down, however, and they're going to the review booth where a legally blind retired official will check a 13-inch black-and-white TV to see the replay if he can get the antennas to work properly.

-- Seriously, I'd just like to point out that ESPN is paying billions to the SEC to broadcast these games. ESPN has HD tvs hanging from the side of their sideline camera trucks. The SEC does not have HD tvs in the replay booth. Fail.

-- After further review -- i.e trying to make out what happened on the play like I used to watch the scrambled version of the Spice Channel -- they decide that King was down before the fumble. Second-and-six.

-- Ealey appears to have the first down after a nine-yard run but a flag comes in. It's a deadball personal foul on Chris Davis that backs Georgia up to the 37. Davis is out of the game. Bean in.

-- We're closing in on the end of the quarter, but only the referee with the lime green Swatch knows just how close. The scoreboard says 3:44.

-- Nice run by Caleb across the 45 just shy of the first-down sticks. It'll be third-and-inches at the 46-and-a-half.

-- Our leader in the clubhouse for the best John Conner joke comes from Shan: "John Conner was almost tackled by his father, but was flagged for a paradox."

-- The Ninja sneaks for another first down. Sam Maxell finds a pair of nunchux wrapped around his leg and a throwing star lodged in his back.

-- Press box announcement: "We're anticipating the end of the first quarter." Aren't we all?

UPDATED, START OF SECOND QUARTER

-- My second-favorite game break announcement -- talking about professors who are way smarter than me. These guys are doing algorhythms and training monkeys. Sounds like they should be handling the clocks.

-- I typed that joke, and the official announced, "please reset the game clock...". You just can't make this stuff up.

-- Biggest cheer of the night comes when the refs announce, "The game clock is now operational."

-- Branden Smith run and away we goooooo. Reverse handoff for a 32-yard gain. Man he's fast.

-- ChicagoDawg asks: "Is the atmosphere as flat in person as it seems to be on TV? I know the result has been mixed -to- poor thus far, but it seems as though there is a dull edge in the stadium."

It's been fairly quiet. There was a ton of energy pregame, but it's been pretty lifeless since. A Dawgs' score may turn things around.

-- Cox had Aron White wide open across the middle but White dropped the pass. He angrily slams the turf afterward, and Georgia now faces a third-and-10 at the 21.

-- Beautiful pass by Cox, timed perfectly and a great route run by Rantavious Wooten who darts in front of Trevard Lindley at the last second and fell back into the end zone for the score. I think the ball was thrown right at Lindley. He froze thinking he had an easy pick, and Wooten just curled inside and caught the pass for his first career TD. Perfectly executed all around. Georgia 10, Kentucky 6 (9-61-2:51).

-- Locke returns the kickoff all the way to the UK49. And we add yet another to The List. Walsh makes the tackle. The kickoffs have been atrocious. I'd argue that this has been nearly as big a problem as anything the D has done this year, and it's so much easier to fix.

-- Vance Cuff in the game and makes the tackle of Locke for a loss back to the 43. Georgia is lucky UK's offense is so bad because the Cats have had great field position throughout.

-- Cobb with his first carry of the game. Cuff makes the tackle again after a 10-yard gain. Third-and-7.

-- OK maybe I spoke too soon on both Willie's D and Kentucky's O. Locke runs for a first down, breaking several tackles along the way.

-- Locke's doing the same thing each run -- takes handoff, slight delay for the D line to get engaged, then breaking it around tackle for a big gain. Second-and-1 at the Georgia 29.

-- The equasion is pretty simple right now: Inside runs go nowhere against UGA, outside runs pay off.

-- Third-and-5 for Kentucky at the UGA 34. Georgia has eight in the box, and Reshad Jones makes the tackle of Newton for a sack to bring up fourth down.

-- Logan Gray in the game to decide whether a ball is over his head or not. He's the best folks. Soak it all in.

-- Wow.... Gray waved with absolute perfection, then showboats the catch a bit to add a touch of drama for the crowd before securing the fair catch. What a pro. Just a thing of beauty.

UPDATED, SECOND QUARTER, TIME KEEPER IS NOW DOING JAGER SHOTS WITH A COUPLE OF HOT DOG VENDORS

-- Seriously the clock has been running throughout the commercial break here. I hate to pin it on the time keeper, who I'm sure is utterly confused right now and wishing he had a drink. But this really is absurd. I can order a pizza to be delivered to the press box from my phone, and they can't make a clock count down from 15 properly.

-- At least the ref's mic sounds like something he bought at Skid Row's yard sale.

-- Branden Smith runs again and picks up another big gain... this time for 16 yards to the UGA31.

-- Ealey breaks a huge run down the left side of the field. They're going to flag Tavarres King for holding about 40 yards downfield, which is absurd. Of course UGA also gets called for clipping, which negates the play and backs Georgia up to the 11-yard line to set up a first-and-25. So that was essentially about a 75-yard penalty. Well, that one-week repreive was nice while it lasted.

-- Refs synchronize Swatches and announce the time left, but sadly the mic is so distorted I couldn't hear what he said.

-- Cox hits King on a deep route down the sideline. Another perfectly placed ball from Cox for a 34-yard gain to the Kentucky 45. Cox has played the past three games like he's actually the QB the coaches said he was in the preseason.

-- So I see Chris Hatcher was fired today by Georgia Southern. Man, I gotta think that was a bit shortsighted. You'll now be on your third coach in five years there.

-- Cox hits Mike Moore down the middle with a laser for a gain of 15 yards to the Kentucky 25. Aside from that first three-and-out Kentucky has shown no ability to slow Georgia's offense whatsoever.

-- Man, Ealey really runs hard. I can't wait to see how much better he is next year with some serious experience under his belt and an offseason of legit college conditioning.

-- Cox to a wide open Orson Charles for the touchdown. Kentucky has no answer for Orson, and I have to think this game is yet another example of how much talent is going to be on the field for the Dawgs next year. Wow. Georgia 17, Kentucky 6 (8-85-T.O.P.=six Jager bombs).

UPDATED, SECOND QUARTER, SQUARE ROOT OF THE RADIUS OF PI REMAINING.

-- Brandon Boykin is still riding the bike on the sideline but doesn't look like he's angling for a return just yet. But he's not getting any medical attention, so that seems like a good sign.

-- Another shanked kick bounces at the 30. Locke fields it at the 20 and returns it back to around the 30. I'm not sure I can explain what is happening on the kickoffs right now. But it sort of reminds me of what's going on with the game clock.

-- Just occured to me... Gamble is wearing 18 to honor Bacarri Rambo tonight. Man, I'm dumb.

-- The tackles for a loss keep coming. Weston and Houston sack Newton and Kentucky will punt again.

-- Meant to mention this earlier, but the sidelines pregame were jam packed with recruits. It seemed like way more than last week to me.

-- The referee, who I assume is Mushmouth from "Fat Albert" says there is 3:08 left. The punt is short and goes out of bounds at the UGA42.

-- I haven't had a chance to look, but I think I'm doing quite well on my picks again this week. Except that I actually picked against Syracuse. I'm dumb.

-- OK, apparently there's 3:59 left. This is such a joke. Caleb King runs for 8. That is not a joke.

-- Third-and-4 for the Dawgs at the UK39. Three wide for Georgia and the handoff goes to Caleb who fights for a first down. That was all on King. Great run.

-- Pressure on Cox, who wisely gets rid of the ball in Caleb King's direction. Second-and-10.

-- Caleb picks up seven on second down to the UK28. Third-and-3. Cox's pass is batted at the line of scrimmage, which should bring on Blair Walsh. A smattering of boos (or maybe more of a groan), which seems utterly absurd to me at this point.

-- And Walsh is good yet again, this one from 45 yards. Kid's money. Georgia 20, Kentucky 6 (9-30-2:37).

-- Watching Fabris yelling instructions at the kickoff team is like watching my dog bark at squirrels. There's a lot of energy and enthusiasm there, but at the end everyone's going to run in 10 different directions.

-- For some reason, I've made a lot of references to squirrels today. Odd.

-- Credit Newton for completing an 11-yard pass. He got drilled by Geno Atkins after the play.

-- I'm putting the over/under on miles Boykin has logged on the bike tonight at 63.

-- Dobbs gets pressure and Newton throws incomplete to bring up a third-and-2 with 54 seconds to go in the half.

-- Alfonso Smith runs it and rolls for what appears to be a first down. They'll measure it.

-- Screen pass to Moncell Allen goes nowhere. Another nice play by Prince Miller. He's been all over those screens and misdirections the past two games.

-- Another tackle for a loss, and again by Miller. I'm interested to know what the TFL numbers are in this game so far. Seems like a dozen at least. That'll do it for the first half, which may have taken 87 minutes off the clock for all we know.

UPDATE, START OF THIRD QUARTER

-- Branden Smith fumbles the kickoff (man, why did Boykin have to stay on the exercise bike?) and Kentucky gets an easy one. Randall Cobb runs for the score. So much for my UGA winning the TO battle prediction. Georgia 20, Kentucky 13 (2-14-0:46)

-- Boykin back in the game to receive this kick, ideally with better results. OK, they weren't much better... but at least he didn't fumble. Georgia will start at its own 13.

-- Side note here: I tried to get Bob Davie to eat a bunch of the halftime hot dogs, assuming it would make him ill. He wasn't having it. Just took a handful of pretzels and moved on. Said something about having to go give Willie a shoulder rub before the second half resumed.

-- Israel Troupe is back at work... Troooooooooupe! -- and gains 17 yard on third-and-long for a first down to the UGA35.

-- Caleb King is running like a man possessed. See what solid foods will do for you? Another first down to midfield.

-- On third-and-8, Cox hits Aron White again, but again White drops it. Good coverage by Calvin Harrison. Butler on to punt. Not a great start to the half for Georgia.

-- Hilariously bad joke of the day comes from Dawg'85: "Any chance Charlie Weiss, Ralph Friedgen, and Mangino wind up as co-HC's for the Buffalo Bills, and they change the team name to Buffalo Wings?"

-- Admit it... you laughed.

UPDATED, THIRD QUARTER, 10:07 REMAINING

-- Newton to Cobb for a gain of 19 on first down. Locke follows that with a good run close to midfield. This just has all the makings of a game Georgia is going to throw away. They need a momentum changer.

-- I can't figure how Georgia nearly had four picks against one of the most accurate passers in the SEC last week and they've yet to come close to anything against a true freshman backup QB tonight. But if Bob Davie has taught me anything, it's that this can't be Willie's fault.

-- Ty Frix has replaced Boykin on the bike. Good to know he'll be warmed up for his next long snap.

-- Third-and-10 at the 49 for Kentucky. The crowd is loud right now. Georgia rushes four and Vance Cuff makes a great play to tip Newton's pass away from tight end Nick Melillo.

-- Did you ever notice the Walgreens' 'W' and the Washington Nationals logo look just alike? Something to think about.

-- The play-action bootleg works again, and Cox hits Tavarres King for a 37-yard gain to the Kentucky 43. It looks like Mike Bobo watched the Tennessee game tape and decided to do to Kentuckyt what Crompton did to Georgia.

-- Wooooooooooooooooot!!!!!!

-- Cox throws a wabbler right down the middle to Wooten, it's tipped by Randall Burden and Wooten hauls it in for a 43-yard touchdown, the second of the game for Wooten. Georgia 27, Kentucky 13 (2-80-0:40).

-- Georgia's scoring drives: 12 plays, 9 plays, 9 plays, 9 plays, 2 plays. Gotta like that... running up T.O.P. and then the quick strike right when it was needed.

-- So Georgia has taken to squib kicking and letting a tight end return it to midfield. Seriously, Fabris needs to be releived of his kickoff duties right now. This is a joke. I don't have the energy to keep updating my list. Why not just on-side kick each time. At least then there's a chance something goes your way.

-- Locke picks up a first down inside the Georgia 40 after a seven-yard run. Georgia hasn't gotten nearly as much pressure on Newton in this half, and the special teams are keeping UK in this game. But still, it seems like something is missing.... just can't put my finger on it... something that should have happened already...

-- And Bryan Evans is beaten on a deep bomb, assaults Matthews and is flagged for pass interference in the end zone. Aaaaah, that's better.

-- Hate to see Evans get booed on senior day, but man, that was bad.

-- Got a nice little handout with facts about the Independence Bowl in Shreveport at halftime. I think someone needs to hand that to Fabris and let him know his kickoff unit is going to be the reason Georgia ends up there at this rate.

-- Newton kits La'Rod King, who had Darius Dewberry beaten over the middle and waltzes in for the touchdown. Georgia's secondary is getting schooled by a QB who had thrown for a total of 198 career yards in SEC games. Georgia 27, Kentucky 20 (4-49-2:09).

-- Newton had thrown two touchdowns in his career. Both were against Eastern Kentucky, a school so bad at judging talent that they once hired me to teach journalism there. And now he has two against Georgia. True story.

UPDATE, THIRD QUARTER, 4:48 REMAINING

-- Kentucky's kicker is named McIntosh. He seems OK. Georgia's kick coverage is more like Windows ME. Not good.

-- I'm going to have to bail on the blog after this quarter, sadly. Gotta get my game story written 8 seconds after the game ends so you can read about it tomorrow. Ah, newspapers. You're so quaint.

-- Caleb King with another nice run, picking up 12 yards. He's having a very impressive game so far. He's got 70 yards on 13 carries.

-- Georgia loses to UAB in hoops tonight, 72-56. This year might get ugly for Fox's crew. Thompkins was just 2-of-11 from the field.

-- Cox goes deep for TK and it falls incomplete. Butler will come in to punt from UK's 44. Cobb stands deep at the 10. I'm confused... how come the same guy who returns other punts for Kentucky can also decide when to fair catch the ball or let it go over his head? Cobb must be some kinda rocket scientist or something.

-- UK takes over at its own 5. Defense needs to make a play here. 2:41 to go in the quarter.

-- And as I type that, Locke runs for 10 yards on first down. Yikes.

-- Interesting point by Dawgfan17: "With 7:03 to go in third quarter UGA has a realistic chance at 3 recievers going over 100 yards in the same game, a game without AJ, who would have predicted that?"

-- Third-and-6 from the 19 for Kentucky. I smell a pass to the tight end.

-- Actually it went to McCaskill, but Vance Cuff tipped it out of bounds. Another nice play by Cuff, who apparently emerged from the alley he's been hiding in before the game.

-- Prince Miller takes the fair catch at the UGA33. I'll stick with ya through this drive, but then it's game story time.

-- Cox is just 11-of-23 in the game, but he has thrown for 249 yards and three touchdowns without a pick. When he's connected, it's been big. He's just got to complete a few more.

-- Marlon Brown in the game. Not sure but I think this is his first action. He's split out on the near side with two receivers wide left. Handoff goes to Ealey who goes nowhere.

-- See that seemed like a passing down and the run might have been a good call, but make it a delayed handoff and give the receivers a chance to run those corners and safeties downfield. Instead it was Lindley who makes the tackle because, by going three wide and telegraphing the handoff, you essentially had all 11 defenders at the line of scrimmage. Just my two cents.

UPDATED, START OF FOURTH QUARTER

-- Cox's third-down pass goes to Troupe but is low and falls incomplete. That'll bring on the punt team, and my prediction (i.e. hope) of a deadline game that doesn't come down to the last drive looks like it';s not going to happen.

-- Or will it?!?!? The punt is blocked, but Chapas picked it up and ran the ball to midfield for what should be a first down, but, of course, there's laudry on the field.

-- And it's a personal foul on Georgia -- facemask, I'd tell you who but the ref mic still sucks -- so they'll punt again with Butler 15 yards farther back.

-- This one gets off. Cobb is brought down by a good tackle by Akeem Dent, but Kentucky sets up shop at the 36 with a chance to tie the game.

I gotta run... for all our sakes, let's hope this doesn't come down to another heartbreaker.