Georgia will make its first and only appearance this year on the 12:30 Lincoln Financial broadcast when they host Kentucky in Athens.

CBS seems to be going with LSU-Ole Miss on that weekend.

ESPN’s Colin Cowherd will broadcast his nationally syndicated radio show from the Tate Center on Friday. The show will air from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

With wins over Florida and Troy, Georgia has scored 40+ points in consecutive games for the first time since 2002. The Dawgs accomplished that feat twice in 2002. Otherwise, you have to go back to 1993 for the last time that Georgia scored at least 40 in consecutive games.

With that yang comes the yin – the Dawgs have also surrendered 30+ points in consecutive games. Unless someone beats me to it, I’ll also find out the last time that happened.

It’s to the point now that you’re slightly disappointed when Knowshon Moreno doesn’t make something happen on a particular play. Moreno, after his 196-yard performance against Troy, has once again been named the SEC Freshman of the Week. It’s the third time this year that Moreno has earned that honor.

His 80-yard touchdown run in the first quarter was the longest by a Bulldog since Robert Edwards took one the same distance against Kentucky ten years ago in 1997.

Even more impressive is Moreno eclipsing the 1,000-yard mark with three games remaining in the regular season. For a program that is sometimes called "Tailback U", 1,000 yards in a season has been a rare feat for Bulldog tailbacks. Moreno joins Musa Smith as the only Georgia tailbacks since 1992 to break through that mark. 1,000 yards isn’t just an accomplishment based on ability; it’s also a testament to a tailback’s endurance. Several good tailbacks, including Edwards, Brown, and Lumpkin, came up short of 1,000-yard seasons during their careers due to an assortment of injuries. Moreno is just the 12th back in Georgia history to rush for 1,000 yards in a season, and he now has the second-best total for a Georgia freshman behind only you-know-who.

The question of endurance comes up as Thomas Brown returns to practice after missing three games. Brown’s role against Auburn, if he plays at all, will naturally be governed by his injury, but the question of the distribution of carries remains. Richt in his postgame press conference was hesitant to run Moreno 25-35 times per game due to the beating that tailbacks take in this league. While we should expect Moreno to start and get the clear majority of the carries, fans should expect to see Brown (if he’s able) get more than a couple of carries. Even McFadden sits now and then.

Homecoming 2007 was about as brilliant a day as you could want for college football. The highlight of Homecoming every year for me is the opportunity to venture back down Between the Hedges. The radio broadcast team noted a strong attendance at the Dawg Walk, and I have to add that the pregame crowd was as loud as I’ve ever heard from the field for a Homecoming. I believe that the crowd noise really helped the Georgia defense hold off Troy’s early scoring chances.

I disagree that the Dawgs came out flat in this game. If someone can pinpoint that two early fumbles were the result of a casual attitude, they’re far more astute than I am. It’s fortunate that the defense wasn’t flat to open the game; they limited Troy to just three points from those Georgia turnovers. Troy generally played well, and there was a reason why they received votes in last week’s poll. If there was an area of the game that was sluggish, I’d say it was Stafford’s accuracy in the first half. He picked it up at the end of the half with very accurate passes to Chandler and Bailey. As Ching notes, Stafford is 28-for-47 for 434 yards, five touchdowns, and two interceptions in the past two games.

Stafford’s third quarter interception was pivotal. A better throw from Stafford on the preceding play would have sent a wide-open Mikey Henderson into the end zone, but the long pass play still set the Dawgs up with a good chance to score. Another touchdown and a score of 31-13 early in the third quarter probably would have made the rest of the game much less dramatic. As it was, Troy quickly turned the interception into a touchdown of their own, and we were set for a back-and-forth finish.

Defense

You know, I’m not going to get on the defense that bad for giving up 34 points to Troy. It was a big play day for the defense, and I mean that in both a good and bad way.

The good was the takeaways highlighted by Marcus Howard’s sack and fumble recovery. The Dawgs just missed on a couple of other interceptions – one was taken away after review, and another bounced off of Rashad Jones. Remembering Georgia’s ability to feast on Auburn turnovers last year, the Bulldog defense picked a good time to start creating some takeaways.

The bad was the big plays that burned the defense. pwd correctly points out that Troy frequently used pesky screens to get the ball on the perimeter, but as annoying as those plays were to Georgia fans, they were relatively benign. The real damage came on big plays right down the middle. Troy’s first touchdown was a 32-yard pass down the middle of the field (not long after a 29 yard pass). Troy’s second touchdown was a 44-yard pass into double coverage. For the second straight game, Rashad Jones missed on an opportunity to break up a long touchdown pass. Troy’s third touchdown was set up by a 38-yard run again down the middle of the field.

Though it seemed as if Troy was converting 75% of their third downs, reality is that they were just 6-of-16. Two of those conversions came on their final throwaway drive at the end. They were able to convert a 3rd-and-13 and a 3rd-and-10, and memories of some big third down conversions by Florida probably distorted how effective Troy was. The Trojans converted 50% (2 of 4) third downs with 10+ yards to go and just 33% (4 of 12) with 9 yards or less to go. Strange, huh?

For all of the inconsistency on defense, the difference between a less-than-comfortable win and an upset loss were some big defensive stands. The two at the beginning of the game were impressive enough, but I think one defensive stand that really helped the outcome of the game was the goalline stand on Troy’s first drive of the third quarter. Troy had a first down on the Georgia 5 yard line, but the Dawgs held and forced a field goal. Since Troy was able to get a touchdown on their next drive, holding them to a field goal meant that Georgia maintained a four-point advantage. A tie game in the second half could have really changed the approach by both teams.

Asides

• Can someone please put the mike man/woman back in the box when grownup football returns to Sanford Stadium this weekend? God forbid a CBS camera captures that.
• Geno Atkins continues to be more and more disruptive from the defensive tackle position. If he can continue to get into the backfield, he could be a big factor against a less-mobile Brandon Cox.
• There was some question whether Sean Bailey would play, but it’s a good thing he did – he was Georgia’s leading receiver. He continues to be a very steady performer as a senior.
• Georgia didn’t give up a sack on Saturday and has only allowed two in the past three games. There’s definitely something good going on up front, and the best news is that the progress has been steady and consistent.

If there’s a bench-clearing celebration in Athens this weekend, it’s going to be one for the record books.  Mark Richt plans to dress 124 players for this weekend’s non-conference game against Troy.

The Bulldogs will dress out all 124 available players Saturday because of their showing all week in practice, Richt said.

“I just feel like everybody’s worked extremely hard and I’d like to reward them if I can,” Richt said.

There are no restrictions for nonconference games about how many players can suit up.

For SEC home games, teams are only allowed to dress 80 players.  It should be a much more crowded sideline this weekend.

Credit to ladyQdawg on the DawgVent

The AJC ran an article on Wednesday detailing how valuable Georgia Tech considers its Thursday night ESPN appearances.

“It’s just like Monday Night Football in the NFL,” Yellow Jackets coach Chan Gailey said. “You do get the national stage.”

A Thursday night game at Bobby Dodd Stadium is electric,” (Giff) Smith said. “It definitely helps us in recruiting. The atmosphere is what it’s all about.”

After Tech’s most recent Thursday night game, a 27-3 loss to Virginia Tech last night, Tech fans are probably thinking less about the electric atmosphere and more about the electric chair for Chan Gailey.

While the national stage gives you the opportunity to showcase your program, the exposure can also turn on you.  Last night ESPN viewers were treated by the home team to a non-sellout, jerseys stolen from the visitors locker room, a turnover fest, boos, and a stadium that started emptying in the third quarter.

Things got so bad that even the ESPN crew  got into the act of ragging on the Yellow Jackets.  Did you know that QB Taylor Bennett dressed up as Tinky Winky from the Teletubbies for Halloween?  Me neither.  But thanks to Chris Fowler and the rest of the crew, we do now.  As Bennett’s night descended into a living hell, Fowler and company became more and more relentless with the Tinky Winky references.  (Did Fowler really imply something about his state of mind when he watched the Teletubbies?)

The night ended with a still shot of the Teletubbies while the Georgia Tech fight song played over it.  On this night on this “national stage” in an atmosphere that challenged touching a door knob for electricity, Tech ended up being humiliated and mocked.  They are now 9-and-11 under Thursday Night Lights.

Photo: Athens Banner-Herald

The celebration back on campus was a bit too much for the Chapel bell to take:

The yoke that holds the 172-year-old bell in place broke Saturday night as fans clanged to celebrate the Bulldogs’ 42-30 win over the University of Florida.

The bell fell to a wooden platform inside its tower and no one was injured, but the break ended the ringing to celebrate a rare win over the Gators, only the third Georgia win in the last 18 games between the two teams.

The bell should be repaired and back in place in time for this weekend’s game, but go easy on it – more permanent repairs are going to be required after the football season.

Kudos to Doug Roberts and the UGA welding shop for the quick fix. Kinda sucks when tech support from the original manufacturer hasn’t been available for over 50 years.