There are no shortage of Munson highlights from over the years, but now that the sun has set on his career in the broadcast booth, was this 2006 call his last signature moment?

Georgia Southern (1-1) —

Central Michigan (2-1): The Chippewas bounced back from the Georgia loss by winning their conference opener at Ohio, but it wasn’t easy. CMU fell behind 14-0, recovered to lead 31-21, and had to hold on for the 31-28 win. In fact, CMU had to force a fumble on their own goal line to stop a late Ohio drive (sound familiar?). Next they get a chance for revenge against a team that beat them not once but twice last season. THIS WEEK: @ Purdue

South Carolina (1-2): It’s possible to attach too much significance to the loss to Georgia, but at 0-2 in the league the Gamecocks might already be reduced to a spoiler role in a year where people are beginning to question the direction of the program. Two easy games should have the Gamecocks back over .500 soon, but then what? THIS WEEK: Wofford

Arizona State (2-1): Whether the loss to UNLV was a case of looking ahead or a sign of bigger problems, it wasn’t how the Sun Devils wanted to go into this weekend’s big game. The bloom is off the rose somewhat with ASU dropping out of one poll, but they are still a very dangerous team. Everyone is focused on the matchup of Arizona State’s passing offense against the Georgia defense, but the Bulldog offense should also be in the spotlight after managing a single touchdown and just 14 points last week. THIS WEEK: Georgia

Alabama (3-0): The Tide had no problems dispatching Western Kentucky, and their 3-0 start has earned them a spot in the top 10. They will put that ranking to the test and start the SEC schedule with consecutive road trips. Arkansas shouldn’t be too much of a problem, but they can’t get caught looking ahead to Georgia. THIS WEEK: @ Arkansas

Tennessee (1-1): As expected, the Vols had little trouble with a horrible UAB team and earned their first win. The win still wasn’t enough to erase concerns with QB Jonathan Crompton, and he’ll be squarely in the spotlight for the SEC opener against Florida. Tennessee has to draw some confidence from Miami’s ability to keep Florida off the scoreboard (for a while, anyway). If they’re to have a chance, they must have at least as much success against the Florida offense, and the ground game that was abandoned at UCLA has to show up. The Vols were able to win the SEC East despite losing this game a year ago, but a 1-2 start with Auburn and Georgia coming up soon would put Tennessee in a tight spot. THIS WEEK: Florida

Vanderbilt (3-0): Halfway to bowl eligibility. Again they were outgained but came away with another win. They made up the difference in return yards and defensive adjustments that shut out a quality Rice offense in the second half. Their next four games include both Mississippi schools, Auburn, and Georgia. THIS WEEK: @ Mississippi

LSU (2-0): Les Miles was itching to play a game, and I guess playing North Texas qualified. The Tigers have had two lightweight warmups and a third delayed when their stadium was damaged by a hurricane. Was it enough to prepare the defending champions and their new quarterbacks for the SEC? We’ll find out right away – there’s a lot at stake and some history to overcome in their first conference test. THIS WEEK: @ Auburn

Florida (2-0): The Gators have had two weeks to prepare for the Vols, and that doesn’t seem to be a good omen for this weekend’s hosts. Percy Harvin is back, but the story so far has been the Florida defense. They’ve been stifling in their first two games, and if they can continue to remain strong against the Tennessee ground game, Florida should come away with the early advantage in the SEC East. THIS WEEK: @ Tennessee

Kentucky (3-0): I thought last week that Kentucky’s game against MTSU might be more interesting than it seemed, and it definitely was. Rich Brooks – stolen signs or not – is getting proper criticism for nearly blowing the game, but the Wildcats narrowly avoided becoming MTSU’s second BCS conference victim. So here they are at the bye week, undefeated, and will likely head into October without a blemish before the meat of the SEC schedule. THIS WEEK: BYE

Auburn (3-0): Everyone has had a laugh at the expense of Auburn’s 3-2 win at Mississippi State, and playing against the LSU defense isn’t a good prescription for an anemic offense. No one’s laughing at the Auburn defense, and they’ll be counted on to rattle an LSU quarterback making his road debut. Brad Lester’s status for the game is still up in the air, and his absence would be a big hit to Auburn’s chances. LSU’s stable of tailbacks and receivers should give them the edge, but the home crowd and a big play or two by the defense could flip the advantage. THIS WEEK: LSU

Georgia Tech (2-1): For the second week in a row the Yellow Jackets went on the road and played a tight, competitive ACC game. This time, at Virginia Tech, they came out on the losing side. The Paul Johnson offense has struggled to get out of the upper teens against conference competition, but the defense has kept the games close so far. The over/under for their next game might be in the single digits. THIS WEEK: Mississippi State

The First Lady of Georgia Southern football passed away on Thursday, according to the Statesboro Herald. Recall that Erk passed away just two years ago around this time.

“I don’t know if Jean ever recovered from his loss,” (friend Mary Lou) Robins said. “She was his biggest fan and supporter. His loss was almost more than she could bear.”

Our sympathies again go out to the Russell family.

The State is reporting news of a brawl on campus this afternoon allegedly involving South Carolina football players. Details are still thin, and a University spokesman adds that, “campus police are investigating the incident, but no charges have been filed.”

UPDATE: Looks as if this story is a non-issue. If you buy the sanitized version of the story that’s coming out, some off-campus troublemakers came into a campus food court, started something with a few football players, and that was the end of it. Of course that’s a common problem these days on any campus – random people coming in off the street and starting brawls with the football team over lunch. “The only thing I think I know about it is we’re victims,” said SC defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson.

The last thing college football needs is Ohio State being able to claim, “yeah, but that was without Wells” at the end of the season.

Georgia Southern (1-1) —

Central Michigan (1-1): Central Michigan will try to rebound from the Georgia loss with an interesting game at Ohio. Ohio is 0-2, but they’ve lost to Wyoming by a single point and took Ohio State to the wire last week. Will the Bobcats be in a funk over the missed opportunity, or will they be fired up by playing one of the big boys so close? THIS WEEK: @ Ohio Univ.

South Carolina (1-1): It’s the classic paranoia of Georgia fans to interpret the moping from Columbia since the Vanderbilt loss as anything other than a serious kick to the jimmy of the Gamecock psyche. "Sure they’re depressed…depressed like a FOX!" For the first time in a while, another team has done the job usually reserved for Georgia: bringing South Carolina back to earth. Vanderbilt (and even N.C. State to some extent) revealed some pretty big flaws with South Carolina. We’ve been in this position too often to take them lightly. It’s CBS, the SEC opener, and it’s too important a game through which to sleepwalk. THIS WEEK: vs. Georgia

Arizona State (2-0): If the ASU offensive line is a problem, it hasn’t slowed Rudy Carpenter very much. Carpenter hasn’t been sacked yet, is completing 76% of his passes, and has thrown for at least 345 yards in each of ASU’s first two games. The Sun Devils get another tuneup at home this week before Georgia comes to town. THIS WEEK: UNLV

Alabama (2-0): Last week I wondered whether the Clemson win proved that Alabama was a contender or if it was their one "where the hell did that come from" win of the season a la Florida 2005. It’s no surprise that they had a letdown against Tulane, but posting a single touchdown on offense after such an impressive display the week before is a head-scratcher. They’ll have another chance to beat up on someone before getting into SEC play next week. THIS WEEK: W. Kentucky

Tennessee (0-1): The Vols have had over a week to stew about the loss to UCLA, and UAB should provide no serious resistance as the Vols try to get things back on track for Florida. THIS WEEK: UAB

Vanderbilt (2-0): Wow. With an eye always on bowl eligibility, the Commodores are 1/3 of the way there through two games. They’ve played defense well enough to win, and the offense has just enough misdirection to make headaches out of defensive assignments. Let’s not forget though that they did only put up 225 yards on South Carolina, and punts don’t always bounce your way. Rice can score some points, so this is no breather for anyone, let alone Vandy. THIS WEEK: Rice

LSU (1-0): Damage to LSU’s stadium forced the postponment of the Troy game to later in the season. Now Hurricane Ike is forcing LSU AD Joe Alleva to consider alternate plans for Saturday night’s scheduled game against North Texas. You have to wonder how all of the disruption and uncertainty of the past two weeks will affect this team as they prepare for a real test at Auburn next week. THIS WEEK: North Texas…maybe.

Florida (2-0): They didn’t light Miami up, but so far the folks who assumed that the Florida defense has to be better this year are looking good. Now it’s another week to rest and heal before the big trip to Knoxville. THIS WEEK: BYE

Kentucky (2-0): The Wildcats easily handled Norfolk State, and they’ve only allowed five points through their first two games. Not bad. This week’s challenge is interesting: Middle Tennessee is coming off a win over Maryland. The Blue Raiders put a scare into Louisville last year, and last Saturday’s win over a reeling Terrapin team should have the visitors from Murfreesboro full of confidence for their visit to Lexington. Keep an eye on this game. THIS WEEK: MTSU

Auburn (2-0): Everything’s building for next week’s showdown with LSU. Auburn had few problems controlling a Southern Miss offense that was supposed to put up a better fight, and they should have an even easier time of it this week against a lesser Mississippi State offense. Though the new Auburn offense isn’t setting anyone on fire at this point, a few scores should be more than enough in their SEC opener. Could Croom’s men catch Auburn looking ahead? Doubtful, especially with last year’s embarrassing loss in mind. THIS WEEK: @ Miss. St.

Georgia Tech (2-0): Give them credit – they went on the road and won their conference opener. Paul Johnson isn’t just the architect of the offense; he’s the head coach, and he deserves as much praise for games in which the defense outshines the offense. Boston College had their chances but were forced to settle for field goals instead of touchdowns, and it put Tech in a position where one big play from the option could turn the game, and it did. Has Virginia Tech righted the ship now that Tyrod Taylor is back? Maybe, but I don’t expect the same lopsided Hokie win we saw in Atlanta last season. If Tech wins in Blacksburg, a Georgia Tech team everyone expected to struggle could be 6-0 going into the Clemson game. THIS WEEK: @ Virginia Tech

To arms! To arms! The SEC release trumpeting Knowshon’s well-deserved first PotW honor did not, I repeat did NOT contain photographic or video evidence of “the hurdle.”

Congratulations to Vanderbilt. The Commodores are off to a 2-0 start and have an impressive road win and now a home win over a ranked opponent for the first time in a decade and a half. Neither were flukes, not even close.

After being stymied on offense in the first half, the Commodores feasted on South Carolina mistakes and flipped a 10-3 disadvantage into a 24-10 lead early in the fourth quarter. To South Carolina’s credit, they came back and had a chance to tie, but they stalled inside Vanderbilt territory.

From the Georgia perspective, yes, it’s always fun to see Spurrier go down, and it’s doubly enjoyable to see Vandy deliver the first dose of reality to Gamecock fans. Still, Vandy is slightly better than usual (let’s not overreact and build them up into what they’re not), and we considered ourselves fortunate to get out of there with a win last October. They’re not going to be much of a breather between Tennessee and LSU, and we know what happened the last time they came to Athens.

Is a win over South Carolina a given now? Hardly. We know how games go over there, and it’s still likely to be close and low-scoring. Georgia has scored over 20 only once against South Carolina in this decade. Georgia should bring an offense better than any the Gamecocks have seen to this point, and you like the Bulldogs’ chances of keeping South Carolina off the scoreboard again. A lot hinges on the hamstring of Kenny McKinley. South Carolina already looks pretty one-dimensional on offense, and if their best receiver can’t go, it will only make things more difficult for a shaky QB position.

On November 29, Vanderbilt will close the season at Wake Forest. That might not be a dog of a game for once.

The xs-and-os for Georgia’s next game are all well and good, but if you needed any help getting going for a relatively unfamiliar opponent, we bring you Central Michigan defensive back (and Georgia native) Josh Gordy (h/t Anti-Orange Page):

As a youngster growing up in Georgia, Josh Gordy once watched his brother help Georgia Tech upend rival Georgia on the Bulldogs’ home field. Gordy hopes to do the same thing on Saturday.

Gordy, a native of Warthen, Ga., will try to help Central Michigan’s football team down second-ranked Georgia in their non-conference showdown in Athens.

“My brother went to Georgia Tech,” Gordy said of Chris Edwards, who was a linebacker at Tech from 1996-99. “One of the best moments was when they did beat Georgia. We cut all the hedges down on the field. I would love to have the opportunity to do it again.”

Four CMU players are from Georgia, and running backs coach Jeff Beckles was a graduate assistant at Georgia under Mark Richt from 2002 through 2004.

Not all of the Georgia natives on the CMU team share Gordy’s animosity. Senior DT Larry Knight “was a big Georgia fan growing up there all my life,” and his “biggest memory of Georgia football was the play of All-American David Pollack.”

The game is still being televised on Fox Sports South at 3:30, and that’s good enough for most of us. It’s on most cable and satellite systems.

If you live outside of Georgia (or the South), you still might get Fox Sports South. My digital cable has – way up in the 200s – several Fox Sports regional channels from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Double-check your channels before going the pay-per-view GamePlan route.

Even if you don’t get Fox Sports South, you can watch the game. It will be on ESPN360 if your cable company provides that Internet service, and the game is also available through the pay-per-view ESPN GamePlan package.

The game is just one of six Georgia-related programs on Fox Sports South on Saturday. Beginning at noon, the next seven hours will be dedicated to Georgia football:

• 12:00p – College Flash Classics – 1998 Football: Georgia vs. Kentucky
• 1:00p – Georgia College Football Preview ’08
• 1:30p – Mark Richt
• 2:00p – At Home With Mark Richt
• 2:30p – Dawg Day Saturday Pregame Show
• 3:30p – College Football – Central Michigan at Georgia

Georgia Southern (0-1): We’ll wish them well and stop following the ins and outs of the Southern Conference from here on out. Cool? Cool.

Central Michigan (1-0): Central Michigan had few problems beating Eastern Illinois 31-12. They put the game away in the second quarter and posted a touchdown in each of the final two periods to maintain a comfortable lead. Their infamous offense was solid but not spectacular, posting 389 yards of total offense. Dual-threat QB Dan LeFevour was 21-31 for 217 yards and 3 TD through the air, and he added 42 yards on 11 rushes. Ontario Sneed was an effective weapon out of the backfield with 88 rushing yards, 43 receiving yards, and a touchdown on a 23-yard run. The maligned CMU defense allowed just 83 rushing yards and didn’t give up a touchdown until the 4th quarter. THIS WEEK: @ Georgia

South Carolina (1-0): The Gamecocks survived a turnover-rich first half and pulled away late to beat N.C. State 34-0. The Gamecock defense was dominant, and Chris Smelley earned a look as this week’s starter with a 5-5 performance off the bench. THIS WEEK: @ Vanderbilt, Thursday night

Arizona State (1-0): Made quick work of Northern Arizona. The Sun Devils were up 27-0 at halftime and coasted to a 30-13 win. QB Rudy Carpenter stood out with a 22-of-28 day and 388 yards passing. They didn’t do much on the ground, but Dimitri Nance added two rushing touchdowns. Receiver Michael Jones led the way with 6 catches for 162 yards. The ASU defense did give up 308 yards, but the second half was mostly garbage time. THIS WEEK: Stanford

Alabama (1-0): What an impressive 34-10 win over Clemson. They dominated the line of scrimmage and couldn’t be stopped on offense. John Parker Wilson was an efficient 22-of-30 passing, and Mark Ingram established himself as a powerful counterpart to Glen Coffee. If they can keep it up, this team could change the landscape of the SEC West. As it is, they have our attention. THIS WEEK: Tulane

Tennessee (0-1): Upset 27-24 at UCLA. For the second straight season, the Vols have opened with a loss on the left coast. They overcame the L to win the SEC East in 2007, but they’ll have to find some identity on offense to contend in 2008. Is this a power running team behind a veteran offensive line, or is this team going to throw the ball 30+ times a game? THIS WEEK: BYE

Vanderbilt (1-0): Opened the season with an impressive 34-13 win at Miami (Ohio). The ground game was dominant for the Commodores with Chris Nickson putting up 166 yards, and they also found some success with the return game. That rushing attack will be put to the test this Thursday in their home opener. THIS WEEK: South Carolina, Thursday night

LSU (1-0): The Tigers ensured early on that Appy State would not upset this season’s first opponent. They led 31-0 at halftime and came away with an easy 41-13 win. Even with copious substitutions they allowed the ASU offense only 239 total yards. Charles Scott was the man on the ground with 160 yards and 2 TD for LSU. THIS WEEK: Troy

Florida (1-0): As expected, the Gators had few problems with Hawaii and won 56-10. It did take them a while to get going; the game was scoreless after one period, but Florida put up 28 points in each of the second and third quarters. They spread the ball around enough that speedster Jeffrey Demps was the leading rusher with just 2 carries and 76 yards. Tim Tebow hardly needed to pad his stats, and he finished with 9-of-14 passing and 137 yards through the air and 37 on the ground. THIS WEEK: Miami (Fla.)

Kentucky (1-0): After impressing us with their offense over the past two seasons, the Wildcats dominated on defense and beat rival Louisville 27-2 on Sunday. It was anyone’s game until UK put up 17 points in the 4th quarter to seal the win. The UK offense wasn’t much to speak of, but they made the most of 5 Louisville turnovers. THIS WEEK: Norfolk St.

Auburn (1-0): Avoided Alabama’s embarrassment of losing to UL-Monroe with an easy 34-0 win. The new Tiger offense didn’t do much through the air, but 321 rushing yards were more than enough to do the job. Auburn didn’t get their first offensive touchdown until the 3rd quarter. THIS WEEK: Southern Miss

Georgia Tech (1-0): The Paul Johnson option attack made its debut, and the result was an expected easy 41-14 win over Jacksonville State. The Jackets rolled up 349 yards of rushing and got two rushing TD each from Jonathan Dwyer and Josh Nesbitt. They’ll face a much stronger test in their ACC opener. THIS WEEK: @ Boston College

I was wrong – it happened. The #1 team was jumped without losing a game. Southern Cal, with their impressive 52-7 drubbing of Virginia, took the #1 spot in this week’s coaches’ poll. Georgia drops to #2 with a fairly comfortable margin over #3 Ohio State. Alabama (#17) and South Carolina (#24) both enter the poll this week, and Tennessee was dropped from the Top 25.

UPDATE: Same story with the AP poll.

I’m sure someone will do a better or more detailed analysis, but here are the number of plays from a sample of games from last night.

69 (SC) – 57 (NCSU) (126 total)
64 (Baylor) – 80 (Wake) (144 total)
61 (GT) – 68 (Jax St) (129 total)
67 (Miami-OH) – 66 (Vandy) (133 total)
75 (Cent Mich) – 59 (East Ill) (134 total)

As a baseline for comparison, the Wiz tells us,

The 3-2-5e rule was abolished for the 2007 season and the average number of plays returned to 143.42, on par with the 2005 average of 140.71 (a difference of plus-2.71 plays).

Is it discouraging that only one of those games was at or above the 2005 and 2007 averages? Somewhat. Keep in mind that there were several blowouts, and many of those teams probably went into clock-killing mode later in the game – a strategy that would suppress the number of plays. This sample size is way too small to draw any conclusions, but it’s something to keep an eye on.

I thought about doing yet another preview for the opener or, worse, the season, but what’s the point? If you’ve kept up with things over the summer, any Georgia preview is like a bad movie version of a good book. I think that’s why we’re all so dissatisfied and nit-picky with most any preview that’s out there. We’ve read the book.

Even Mark Richt is over all of this preseason crap. So instead we’ll keep things a bit more casual and random until we play ball.

Simoniz your watches

The Dawg Walk will take place at 10:45. The location hasn’t changed, but construction on the Tate Center expansion continues, so keep that in mind when heading down there.

Even though it’s an early game against a 1-AA team, I hope the pregame turnout will be better than usual. There will be a video tribute to Uga VI around 12:15, and his successor will be introduced soon after. Besides, being there to hear “your #1-ranked Georgia Bulldogs” is alone worth packing up tailgate a little earlier.

Tickets

Lots of stories about ticket scarcity. I’m not really sympathetic with those who decided that this would be a good time to start getting tickets. It’s not like this is the first promising year under Mark Richt. If two SEC titles weren’t enough to get your motor going before now (when there was much less demand for tickets), I can’t feel your pain.

I’m a little more understanding when it comes to the plight of current students. It seems as if there are always complaints, but the situation is justifiably tighter this year. Due to demand, ticket packages are even being split into three-game sets. Ouch. It’s a good time to be a UGA student, but that’s the price of success. Trust us, you’d much rather have it this way instead of how we had it in 1993 and 1994.

OK, I can’t help it.

Two quick things about the team. First, as impressive as Moreno and Stafford might be, this is still a Georgia offense that was outside the top 3 in the SEC in scoring offense, rushing offense, and passing offense. I’d feel a lot better about the season if the offense can get into the top 3 in those stats. Whether it’s the addition of a playmaker like A.J. Green or another year of experience under Mike Bobo, the offense should have the firepower it needs to become one of the best units in the conference. I hope to see some of that on Saturday.

But if you believe Mark Schlabach, the defense should still be the strength of the team (h/t Blutarsky). Georgia’s schedule has been the focus of many centimeter-deep Georgia previews, but it’s not much more different than the 2003 schedule (trading Clemson for Arizona State). In 2003 the Georgia defense was simply scary, leading to big wins over Clemson, South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Auburn, and Tech. The defense even looked good in Georgia’s losses (with the lone exception of the SEC Championship). That 2003 defense helped Georgia overcome a young and, let’s face it, porous offensive line and weak running game to win the SEC East.

We have a higher regard for members of that 2003 defense (Pollack, Davis, Thurman, Jones, et. al.), but is this 2008 defense cut from the same cloth?

Repechage: You couldn’t watch much Olympics coverage without coming across the term repechage. If you missed it, it’s more or less French for "loser’s bracket". Though the application of the term varies by sport, it generally allows individuals who aren’t automatic qualifiers in preliminary rounds to remain alive and earn their way back either by being the "fastest loser" or by winning additional heats against others who failed to qualify.

College football has its own repechage. There will be teams that lose early and are outright eliminated from the national title picture. Sorry, Michigan, several Pacific islands finished ahead of you in your first heat of 2007. There will be other teams who lose and remain viable title contenders. They’ll have a tougher road back with each loss, and they might need some help. But if your qualifications are strong enough, you still have a fighting chance. The United States might drop the baton, and Pitt might beat West Virginia.

It should be noted that the last two national champions got to the national title game via the repechage.

Superdelegates: We’ll see them in action this week in Denver. They probably won’t have as much of a controversial role at the DNC as it seemed during the spring, but the concept is interesting.

Imagine if after the BCS did its thing a group of college football’s elite figures got a chance to vote and affect the outcome. Some might accept the results of the BCS and vote accordingly. Others might vote in the interests of their conference or school. Still others might feel an obligation to do what’s best for the game and override the BCS.

In many years the football superdelegates wouldn’t have much to say. Southern Cal and Texas? Fine. In other years their role might become much more controversial. Nebraska 2001? Really?

If there were BCS superdelegates, to whom would you give that job?