Mark Richt announced on Monday that Georgia’s starting tailback would continue to wear a green no-contact jersey in this Saturday’s season opener against Georgia Southern. Knowshon Moreno has spent most of preseason camp in the no-contact jersey typically reserved for injured players, but coaches insist that Moreno is fine and that the jersey is just a precaution.

Richt noted on Sunday that Moreno was already getting some contact in Georgia practices despite the green jersey. "That green jersey is supposed to keep you from having to strike anybody or have someone strike you, but when you get the ball in your hand, you tend to get shots. I think he’s getting plenty right now," Richt said.

Georgia Southern still must agree to the arrangement, but the Bulldogs have offered to have plays involving Moreno end on "thud", a technique common during preseason scrimmages. Georgia coaches maintain that their proposal is win-win – Moreno is protected, and the Eagles don’t have to worry about completing tackles against the elusive Bulldog tailback.

Richt left open the possibility of Moreno shedding the green jersey for the Central Michigan game, and he expressed relief that Georgia was playing Central Michigan instead of Michigan State in the second game of the season. "Michigan State’s green uniforms sure would have caused us to think about some things," he admitted.

Coaches would not comment on rumors of a special road no-contact jersey ordered for the South Carolina game. Regardless of the jersey, Richt plans to use Moreno on exactly 23 plays this season to avoid the possibility of injury.

Matthew Stafford has some pretty high goals for himself this year. Kendall’s article does a good job capturing the anticipation a lot of people nationwide – not only Georgia fans – have for Stafford. Those goals show that Stafford is among those ready to see him put together a season for the ages.

Just to put those goals into perspective, here are the benchmarks so far for Georgia quarterbacks under Mark Richt.

• Yardage: David Greene, 2003 (3,307 yards)
• Percentage: David Greene, 2003 (60.3%)
• Touchdowns: D.J. Shockley, 2005 (24)

Here are the University of Georgia passing records:

• Yardage: Eric Zeier, 1993 (3,525 yards)
• Percentage: Mike Bobo, 1997 (65.03%). A 64% rate would put Stafford second all-time.
• Touchdowns: Shockley (2005) and Zeier (1993 and 1994) with 24 TDs.

Urban Meyer’s daughter Nicki has committed to play volleyball for Georgia Tech.

I like to think about this particular week not as part of preseason camp but as a bye week before the next game. Two-a-days have been over for a while, classes are in session, and Georgia started looking at Georgia Southern earlier in the week.

The Dawgs have already had a few scrimmages this month, but Thursday evening they will hold a practice game at Sanford Stadium to simulate the season opener.

Since the team is transitioning from the offseason into game preparation, we might as well too. The big Georgia Southern news of the day is the suspension of eight players including four starters. (Whew…that’s a load off.) I guess if we want to really find any significance for Georgia in those suspensions it’s that starting DE Damon Suggs is among the suspended. So one of Georgia’s new offensive tackles should have an easier debut with a reserve starting in place of Suggs in Southern’s new 3-3-5 defensive alignment. All-conference DE Larry Beard will still be there to challenge the other side.

Georgia Southern is a very young team, and coach Chris Hatcher “expects 22 of the 25 true freshmen and newcomers to play this season.”

That youth is especially evident on offense where only three starters return. The leading receiver in 2007, Raja Andrews, is among the suspended. The Eagles are also replacing five seniors on the offensive line, and two of the linemen will be redshirt freshmen.

And of course Southern’s starting center will be Georgia Tech transfer Trey Dunmon who endeared himself to the Georgia defensive line in last season’s regular season finale (see below). It should be a pleasant afternoon in Athens for young Trey and his enabling father.

It’s one thing to steal $316,000 from Georgia Tech and the state of Georgia. But using a state credit card to buy Auburn football tickets?

Off with her head!

The AP poll isn’t directly part of the national title picture anymore unless you consider that it might be a crib sheet for lazy voters in the coaches and Harris polls. We are able to see how individual members of the media voted, and it’s useful that some AP voters take the time to walk us through their ballot.

This isn’t about anyone’s placement of Georgia. I agree with Doug when he basically says look – there are several really good teams all with a reasonable claim to the top spot at this moment. Putting Georgia first, third, sixth, whatever is the voter’s prerogative at this point, and I won’t argue. You might think that I’m going to rake Jon Wilner over the coals for naming Florida #1 and dropping Georgia to #6. I’m not. I credit him for being open and even going back after the fact to look at his preseason rankings.

Wilner’s just a convenient example of a common approach to handicapping the Dawgs in 2008. "The Dawgs are the most talented team in the country," he begins, but oh, the schedule. So instead of ranking "the most talented team" at the top, he anticipates a few losses and starts Georgia out at #6.

The problem is that this approach to the poll changes during the season. Instead of remaining predictive, it becomes reactive. Ranked teams that lose fall in the polls. That’s the way it works. If, and it’s an if, Georgia loses, they’ll fall in the polls. Fine. But those using Wilner’s approach will ding Georgia twice – first in the initial poll and then again when the loss comes.

Georgia has a tough schedule, yes. Just how tough might be overstated a bit (seriously – by now it sounds as if in addition to eight SEC games Georgia’s playing the NFC East, the Redeem Team, and Michael Phelps). If that’s the case, it’ll play itself out during the season. Georgia will either win, or they’ll drop a few of these tough games and fall in the polls. If, as I do, you look at preseason polls as pole position for a race, dropping Georgia in the first poll because of a tough schedule makes about as much sense as moving a race’s top qualifier a few rows back because the race features an especially strong field.

Wilner’s reasoning should be of concern to those who want to see better and more interesting interconference games. The signal being sent is that it’s more important to navigate a manageable schedule than it is to be a good team that schedules ambitiously. Fortunately, as the first poll indicates, not too many voters feel that way.

Add the AP to the preseason polls putting Georgia at #1.

Georgia received 22 of 65 first-place votes and a total of 1,528 points to edge out Ohio State who received 21 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Southern Cal, Oklahoma, and Florida round out the AP’s top five.

The SEC has four teams (Georgia, Florida, LSU, and Auburn) in the AP’s preseason top ten.

USA Today, The Sporting News, and Sports Illustrated have already placed Georgia at the top of their preseason polls.

I thought about that question and immediately got a picture of a perfect tailgate on a sunny morning with good friends and Gameday just coming on the TV.

There’s a Pavlovian reaction to so many parts of game day. Thinking about tailgating is one of them. Just hearing the CBS theme is another. When we’re in Sanford Stadium, the pregame video means it’s time to play ball.

If you haven’t yet seen the Georgia Sports Blog’s extended pregame video, watch it here. Great stuff.

If you want to see some of the other scoreboard videos from last year, go here. Then figure out a way to be productive for the next two weeks.

The SEC and CBS have announced a 15-year extension on the contract for broadcasting rights to football and men’s basketball. Tony Barnhart reports on the “landmark deal” in the AJC. There were no details about the financial terms, but you have to imagine that they don’t suck.

Barnhart notes that, “This new deal with CBS does not eliminate the possibility of an SEC television network. That won’t be determined until the SEC announces the remainder of its television contracts with ESPN and Raycom.”

There are three key changes in the deal which I can’t see as anything but positive.

• CBS will get the first pick of games every week. Barnhart reminds us that currently “ESPN got the first pick a few weeks out of the season.”
• There will be one prime time CBS game per season.
• CBS will considering streaming some games on the internet.

The relationship with CBS has been fantastic, and they always dedicate top-notch production and broadcasting talent to the SEC games. Hopefully we’ll get to see many more years of Uncle Verne enjoying a game in Sanford Stadium.

A coaching change and unconventional offense doesn’t exactly have them lining up for tickets in Atlanta.

The Yellow Jackets have sold 25,767 season tickets, 271 short of last year’s total, associate athletics director Wayne Hogan said last week.

The AJC cites a weak home schedule as one reason for lagging sales, but this is a home slate that includes Virginia, FSU, and Miami. There’s also an SEC showdown with Mississippi State.

After this news, the Tar Heels should think very seriously about clearing up this whole “Carolina” thing. By the time everyone’s done, their uniforms will simply read 33° 58′ 22″ N, -81° 1′ 9″ W.

No Duke in this year’s preseason coaches’ poll. Was it oversight? Enough is enough? Or…lets make up some completely unsubstantiated rumor: was it a little Spurrier-Tennessee thing with Cutcliffe? Yeah, that sounds sufficiently plausible.

Yeah, that’ll sound pretty good coming over the Sanford Stadium PA on August 30.

Uga VII will debut as the mascot of the nation’s #1-ranked team according to the preseason USA Today coaches’ poll. Next week we’ll begin to see how the Dawgs go about staying on top of the mountain.

At least one AP voter agrees.

Every year there are a few teams that end up on those "teams to watch" lists that I just don’t get. What’s worse is that I usually don’t have much reasoning for doubt; it’s just more of an "O RLY?" reaction when I see these teams popping up over and over again. It’s not that I expect these teams to bomb. I just don’t see as much upside in them as others.

• North Carolina. I have to say this every so often, but before my conversion I grew up a North Carolina fan. I watched Lawrence Taylor and Amos Lawrence and considered Kelvin Bryant a worthy contemporary of Herschel Walker. I still follow the program. That said, I’m not yet sold on the Butch Davis + time = lots o’ wins formula just yet. It’s not that the team won’t improve on their win total – the schedule is favorable, and I know how close they were to more wins last year. It’s just that I don’t see them jumping suddenly to an ACC contender and a Top 25 team. It might be a year too soon for that. Steady progress is fine.
• Pitt. The win vs. West Virginia was an upset, not a sign of things to come.
• Mississippi State. Great job to get to where they finished last year, but eventually you need offense. 2007 might be a peak instead of base camp.

I’m tempted to add: Texas Tech, Clemson, and Fresno.

There are two topics that seem to get Georgia fans going more so than other fans: 1) identifying our biggest rival and 2) agreeing on the optimal start time for a home game.

We’ll leave the biggest rival (Tech) for another day, but a news item from Mississippi has stirred the kickoff time pot and has started the discussion back up once again. It doesn’t take much.

Ole Miss has announced that it will move its season opener against Memphis to 6 p.m. It’s not a huge change – the original start time was 5:00. The school mentioned the heat as a driving factor behind the change.

"The heat factor played a major role in this decision," said Ole Miss Athletics Director Pete Boone. "We have experienced exceptionally hot weather in Oxford this summer, and we hope to provide as much relief as possible for our fans in the early-season games."

Not paying $50 to see Ole Miss vs. Memphis would seem like a good starting point for fans seeking relief. There are still tickets remaining – surprised?

Anyway, the news from Oxford was enough to get the attention of Georgia fans who are facing a 12:30 kickoff for their opener against Georgia Southern and a 3:30 start for the Central Michigan game a week later. It’s easy to see why many Georgia fans are steamed. The graph below from the National Weather Service shows a typical summertime temperature forecast. The hottest part of the day is between noon and 6 p.m. (no kidding!) with a peak temperature and heat index around 3:00. After 3:00, the temperature and heat index drop gradually and then begin to fall off after 6:00.

If there’s one weather benefit to an earlier start time, it’s that we should miss any rain. Summer storms usually develop later in the afternoon and into the evening. A 12:30 start should keep things dry unless there’s an organized weather system.

A 12:30 start puts fans in the seats at the beginning of the hottest part of the day and then turns up the heat as the game goes on. A 3:30 start puts fans in the seats at the hottest part of the day and provides only slight relief towards the end. A 6:00 start keeps fans out of the stadium for most of the hottest part of the day, and there’s quite a bit of cooldown by the game’s conclusion. If heat is a concern, Ole Miss’s decision seems to make good sense.

But things are never that simple at Georgia. TV is almost always a factor. Ole Miss’s opener is not televised, so the kickoff time is much more flexible. Georgia’s opener is televised pay-per-view, so you’d still think there could be some flexibility. The Central Michigan game has been picked up by FSN.

Even when you take the heat out of it, there’s still plenty of disagreement about the optimal starting time. It usually breaks down along the lines of age and geography. Older fans are used to the traditional 1:00 kickoff before television began putting games at all hours of the day on every day of the week. There’s also a good chance you’ll be home at a reasonable hour. Younger fans like night games and the all-day tailgate, but the University administration doesn’t appreciate the condition of campus after those late games.

Fans who live in south Georgia have been very vocal in opposition to later kickoffs, and the athletic department does listen to them. That bloc is probably the reason why Georgia has showed restraint in moving kickoff times, but can you blame them? Unless you shell out for a hotel room, you’re arriving home just a few hours from sunrise.

Personally, I’m still of the age where I appreciate a later start. I’m not going to follow up a 7:45 game with a trip downtown anymore, but there’s nothing wrong with a nice, long tailgate. On the other hand, I’m starting to see how tough it is on families the later a game is. I wouldn’t want to keep up with a gaggle of kids through a day-long tailgate and a game that ends after 11:00. It seems as if CBS has it just right with their 3:30 starts…I’ve rarely seen complaints about games starting in the mid afternoon.

Don’t count on Ole Miss’s change to affect any Georgia start time. We’re stuck with 12:30. We’re not the only ones – Florida’s game against Hawaii is also set for 12:30 (due to TV), and they’ll likely have it even worse than we will.