Mark Richt is calling on Georgia fans to meet the team for an impromptu Dawg Walk on Saturday. By the way, Gate 10 is the southeast corner of the stadium at North Avenue and Techwood (in the same corner where our band usually sits). It’s the first gate you come to if you head over from the Varsity area.

Once again Richt was summoning the Bulldog Nation for support Tuesday. The Bulldogs coach wanted to get the word out that the team would arrive at Gate 10 of Bobby Dodd Stadium at about 1:40 p.m. on Saturday.

"I thought Bulldog fans might want to show up and say hello as we’re getting off the buses," Richt said. "It could be similar to a Dawg Walk. I don’t know if I would call it a Dawg Walk, but fans might call it that."

Tech fans aren’t too pleased. We’re drafting letters of apology as you read this.

A few thoughts on several of the storylines in this weekend’s game:

• 19, 14, 15. Georgia had more points against Georgia Tech in 2002 (51) than in the aggregate from the past three meetings. Credit Tenuta’s defense, but lesser opponents have had better success over the same span of time. Two things have been problems for Georgia in those games. First is the running game. We’re kind of used to Knowshon getting his 100 now, but Georgia failed to break the century mark as a team against Tech last year. In 2005, it was almost a big deal when Kregg Lumpkin managed a few runs of more than a couple of yards. Georgia is averaging just 62 yards of rushing over the last three meetings. Second is the deep pass. Georgia had only one completion over 20 yards in last year’s game – a 25-yarder to Kenneth Harris.
  
  It’s no coincidence that an effective running game as well as a few well-timed completions downfield played a big part in Georgia’s wins over Florida and Auburn. They’re pretty common indicators of success and should be against Tech as well. Boston College and Virginia Tech had success moving the ball against the Yellow Jackets. The Hokies had two long touchdown passes and rushed for 185 yards. Boston College threw for over 400 yards.
  
  
• Stopping the Tech running game. Easier said than done of course. Choice deserves every bit of his reputation, but the Jackets also have a quality change of pace guy in freshman Jonathan Dwyer. Dwyer was second only to Caleb King when it came to in-state tailback prospects a year ago, and he has only lived up to that billing as a true freshman. Choice shredded the Georgia defense for over 150 yards last year, and one might even argue that the imperative to get the ball to Calvin Johnson actually took Tech away from a winning strategy had they used Choice more. Choice was particularly effective in the second half.
  
  
• Matching Tech’s intensity. At some point this week, the staff will remind the players that while some might not consider Tech Georgia’s biggest rival, there isn’t a player in the other locker room who doesn’t consider Georgia the biggest game of the year. They can expect Tech to approach this game with the emotion and desperation that Georgia brought to Jacksonville. A sharp, turnover-free start is almost a must in this game.
  
  
• It’s important to make sure that an opponent’s weaknesses remain weaknesses and don’t turn into strengths. One of the most disappointing developments in the Tennessee game was the ease with which the Vols ran the ball. We knew they could pass well, but an effective passing game combined with a power running attack was too much to match. We know that Tech will at least try to establish a running game. Taylor Bennett won’t win this game by himself, but he will take a few shots downfield, and Tech will also mix in some play-action to see if they can catch Georgia paying too much attention to Choice. Tech’s passing game might hit a few plays, but Georgia cannot afford for it to turn into a big threat.
  
  
• It seems that every team now has some kind of quarterback/tailback gimmick, and Josh Nesbitt fills that role for Tech. Recruited as a safety by UGA, Tech promised him a shot at quarterback and is using him situationally. Typically he’ll get the snap and just take off running. There is one play to watch for with Nesbitt where he fakes the run, pulls back, and launches a deep pass. Only a slight overthrow kept it from working against the Hokies (and might have changed that game dramatically), and it did succeed last week against UNC.
  
  
• Will Gailey’s job status be a factor? Possibly. I can see some players trying to make that an issue, but among fans Gailey is more tolerated than supported. The analogue to Phil Fulmer’s situation is close but not quite complete. Fulmer has (check with us again on Sunday) at least some core of support. There are no former players with the status of Peyton Manning taking out full-page ads to support Gailey. Gailey’s status might even become a negative if Georgia can get out in front. As Tech was floundering against Virginia Tech a few weeks ago, fans booed even the anti-drunk driving PSA featuring Gailey. If Tech falls behind by a few scores, the home crowd could turn ugly (uglier).
  
  

Billy Humphrey was reinstated to the Georgia men’s basketball team yesterday, and it was just in time: Humphrey scored a team-high 18 points as Georgia began the post-Mike Mercer era with a 76-65 win over Elon. The Dawgs led by as many as 18, but Elon made a bit of a game of it near the end before Georgia put it away. Coach Felton was pleased with the defensive effort, but rebounding and free throw shooting were weak points.

Humphrey came in off the bench and had an immediate impact. He had been suspended pending felony charges related to a knife found in his dorm room. The junior guard was reinstated after agreeing to a pre-trial diversion deal that will see the charges dropped if he meets the conditions and completes some community service.

The Dawgs are 3-0, but the competition gets turned up this weekend as Georgia heads up to Wisconsin to complete the home-and-home series. The Badgers won a closer-than-expected game in Athens last year.

The Lady Dogs will be in the Bahamas this weekend for a four-team tournament. They survived a scare from Temple last week, but spotty shooting has been an issue early in the season. They face Prairie View A&M in the opening round, but the second round game against Southern Cal or Virginia Tech should be a much better test.

A stinger suffered in practice last week turned out to be a bit more serious than anyone had thought, and Jason Johnson’s football career is over according to Anthony Dasher of UGASports.com. Johnson stated that further participation would risk paralysis.

Johnson, a senior from Chicago, started out as a walk-on and through hard work earned a scholarship. He first made a splash as a standout in the 2006 G-Day game and was thrust into the public eye this season as injuries at tailback opened the door for a start and significant playing time against Florida. He has also become a fan favorite for his exuberance on the sideline.

It’s painful to see his career end with just a few games remaining, but he is a guy who really has lived the dream. He got out of inner-city Chicago, earned a Georgia football scholarship, and will graduate in December.

I usually don’t dwell too much on the previous game when we get into Tech Week, but one of Georgia’s low points in the last game leads to some thoughts about the Tech game.

Kentucky was the first game in a while where the offensive line was a problem. As Coach Richt left the field for halftime, he admitted that Georgia was getting its butt kicked on both sides of the line. Before the season we expected many such games where the line would struggle, but they’ve played so well recently that we’ve forgotten how thin the margin for error is up there.

Problems showed up in both the running and passing attacks. Penetration into the backfield led to Knowshon Moreno’s fumble on the second play. While Matthew Stafford made his share of mistakes against Kentucky, pressure was a factor in several poor throws and decisions. The footwork to which coaches pay so much attention suffered, and it’s no surprise that two interceptions came of it. Certainly the injury to Sturdivant didn’t help, but fortunately he should be fine.

If you watched the Lincoln Financial broadcast, they showed Richt and Coach Searels having a little chat with the offense and the line in particular before Georgia’s final drive of the first half. Richt stated that he reminded the line that it starts up front, and they responded. Georgia’s offense finally got on the scoreboard, and they looked much better in the second half. The difference wasn’t exactly night and day. Mistakes and turnovers continued throughout the game, but the effort improved enough to hold off a good Kentucky team.

Stafford and the offensive line will be front and center in this weekend’s game in Atlanta. Georgia Tech features an aggressive defense with an athletic front seven and an attacking scheme that can bring pressure from a number of places.

Stafford can make the throws that Matt Ryan and Sean Glennon did against the Jackets, but they’ll require better accuracy and form from him as well as adequate protection up front. Last year Stafford was a barely-adequate 16-of-29 for 171 yards, much of which came later in the game. Georgia didn’t manage a point on offense until the gamewinning drive. If Stafford can open things up a bit, Georgia behind Knowshon Moreno and Thomas Brown should be able to improve on the meager 2.3 yards per carry that Georgia had against Tech last year.

This is your team.

Mike Mercer has "become a distraction," so the junior guard has become the latest Bulldog player to be dismissed from the men’s basketball team.

For those keeping score, that’s:

• Leading returning scorer (Takais Brown) dismissed after being suspended for academic issues
• Second-leading returning scorer (Mike Mercer) dismissed after being suspended for academic issues
• Guard Billy Humphrey facing felony charges after a dorm search
• Forward Albert Jackson suspended for academic issues

Sundiata Gaines deserves better, but at this rate he’ll hit a moose on the way home tonight. Only Rashad Wright knows how this feels.

Dismissing Brown and Mercer is probably perfectly justifiable, but someone needs to remind Dennis Felton that 1) there’s no Jimmy Chitwood coming to quiet the townspeople, and 2) Norman Dale did eventually, you know, win.

Welcome to Tech week…the biggest one of them all in my household. 51-7 is bordering on ancient history now; the past three games for the Governor’s Cup have been as tight as it gets.

Much more later but to get the week started properly, we’ll go back to last year’s game-winner, Stafford to Massaquoi. Stafford’s pump fake gets Tech’s 6’7″ DE Michael Johnson (a heck of a player actually) and makes the clutch throw.

When I learned that the Silver Wings U.S. Army Infantry Command Exhibition Parachute Team was appearing at the Georgia-Kentucky game, my initial reaction wasn’t pleasant. We know the history here.

But you know what? Screw it. This season has been all about saying “screw it” to trends. We always lose to Florida? Screw it. We always lose to Auburn at home? Screw it. This is just one more trend to reverse. Welcome to these dedicated soldiers – omens of victory from above.

Tony Barnhart gives voice to the idea going around that sooner or later Georgia is going to have to forget about motivational gimmicks and just play football. He writes of this weekend’s Kentucky game,

There will be no black jerseys. Mark Richt won’t send the team onto the field after the first touchdown. It will just be 60 very important minutes of football and a game Georgia must win to have any hope of getting to Atlanta.

Now I don’t disagree that these gimmicks gave Georgia a big shot in the arm. Clearly they did in each game. For all of the positive that has come from the attention given to Richt’s motivational tactics, the downside is that some pretty impressive and gutsy fundamental football against quality opponents is getting overshadowed. A lot of people seem to think that the Dawgs are riding on pure emotion right now.

Georgia has already faced the situation of having to move past the gimmick and just play football. Both Florida and Auburn pushed back and actually led the Dawgs in each of those games. Georgia’s ability to regroup and answer in those games has been as big, if not bigger, than any motivational ploy.

Against Florida, the Gators proved equal to the challenge and answered immediately. While the celebration might have given Georgia the confidence to stand toe-to-toe with the national champs, there was nothing gimmicky about the rest of the game as each team threw punch after punch until Tebow’s fumble finally sealed the game. Georgia’s infamous celebration only occurred because the Dawgs had the attitude and the ability to run the ball nine consecutive times at one of the SEC’s top rushing defenses.

The swing was even more dramatic in the Auburn game. Georgia led early thanks to Kelin Johnson’s interception and a couple of big plays in the passing game. Auburn’s control of the game from the late second quarter to the early third quarter was so complete that Georgia had backs running into linemen, Stafford throwing an interception, and defensive backs unable to stop tosses and screens near the goalline. The enthusiastic crowd had been taken out of the game by the turnaround and officiating. The answer sparked by Stafford’s long pass to Bailey and capped off by Moreno’s touchdown run was just big-time football.

Richt’s "transformation"…or not

Ching questions more conventional wisdom related to the whole "Evil Richt" thing today. The perception is that we’re seeing a new and different side of Richt. I called it a "transformation" yesterday, but that wasn’t quite the right word. Much of what we’ve seen from Coach Richt this year has always been there, but it hasn’t always been so visible. Coach Van Halanger explains, "if you really look, there really isn’t much difference (in Richt)." If there is a difference, it’s that we’re seeing in public a few things that had been mostly behind closed doors in previous seasons. "It just wasn’t as up front," says Van Halanger. If you’ve seen the locker room scenes on the Mark Richt show or on a highlight video, you’ve seen the same kind of dancing and celebrating that we enjoy now, and Richt has always been in the middle of it.

There is an acknowledgment that there has been at least some change. One thing that Van Halanger and Kathryn Richt both touched on was that Mark Richt did have to step on the gas after the Tennessee game. "After Tennessee, we needed something," admitted Van Halanger. Kathryn added, "I just think he maybe has more time to do things and think about them and maybe do a little bit extra. And we’ve needed it."

Ching got a really good line from Kathryn Richt. "Now we’re having parity, parity is here, and you have to find the edge and what it is that’s gonna make you different than the other team." That’s a great point. There’s not a lot separating Florida and Georgia or Georgia and Auburn. Those teams all have talented players and capable coaches. All of them work year-round and have extreme off-season conditioning programs. Mat drills don’t separate Georgia; they simply keep the Dawgs competitive with other teams working just as hard. Games that close can turn on the smallest edge or matchup or momentum change, and Richt has found that edge over the past month.

If you, like half the people in my section on Saturday, have been looking for a #24 jersey, good news is on the way…just in time for Christmas.

Georgia fans have searched high and low for replica Knowshon Moreno No. 24 jerseys to buy, but to no avail. UGA did not approve that number for marketing purposes before the season.

But that has changed. Alan Thomas, Georgia’s senior associate athletics director for promotions and marketing, said Tuesday that the athletics department recently approved the sale of No. 24 jerseys, and they should be showing up on retail shelves soon.

I wonder whether the #24 or #7 will sell better next year or if Thomas would even release that information.

While we’re talking about jerseys, which number should get the nod if they selected a defensive jersey to replicate next year? #33? #2? #95? #35? #9?

This weekend’s final home game of the season (is it that time already?) is our annual opportunity to recognize and honor the senior class. Since 2004, Georgia is 37-11 with an SEC title. They have beaten every other SEC team. While the 2002-2005 group still sets the standard these days, it’s still been a very good and successful run for this senior class.

Coach Richt has requested that fans be in their seats 20 minutes before the game on Saturday. It’s kind of sad to have to remind people to be on time and in red, but this week’s Senior Day deserves the extra attention. It’s our last time to enter the shrine until next year, and who doesn’t want to stretch that experience out until the last postgame note from the Redcoats echos around the stadium?

This has been a particularly interesting group of seniors. It’s relatively small, numbers-wise. There aren’t many NFL draft picks among the class. Many of the team’s stars are younger players. Some of the better seniors like Fernando Velasco and Brandon Coutu play positions that are usually out of the spotlight.

On the other hand, you can’t tell the story of this season without acknowledging some very big senior contributions. For some, like Thomas Brown and Sean Bailey, it’s the story of potential and promise realized. For others like Marcus Howard, Kelin Johnson, and Mikey Henderson, this season is about the payoff at the end of a long career of hard work. Velasco’s stabilizing presence anchoring the young offensive line hasn’t received nearly enough billing.

This season also provides some stark reminders that the journey isn’t always smooth or linear with a Hollywood ending. Kregg Lumpkin played well since his freshman season but has battled injuries right up to the end. Brandon Miller was one of the nation’s top defensive prospects but has spent much of his career fighting for playing time.

The senior class has stepped back into the public eye for their role in last week’s black-out. They handled the tough job of keeping the secret with which Richt trusted them back during the summer. Their request early last week got the black-out rolling. But in a way, it might be something that the seniors didn’t do that became one of the biggest developments during this season.

Fans can point to several factors in Georgia’s turnaround during the course of this season, but most will agree with (in no particular order) 1) an improved offensive line, 2) the emergence of Moreno, 3) Stafford becoming more consistent down the field, and 4) Richt’s unprecedented dip into the motivational bag of tricks.

Richt’s breaking point came in Knoxville,

On Oct. 6, in the closing seconds of a 35-14 loss at Tennessee, Richt stood on the sideline at Neyland Stadium and said to himself, "Never again." He never wanted to experience that lack of emotion and energy in a game. So he made a conscious effort to emote those qualities himself from that point forward.

Sensing a vacuum, Richt stepped into a role that had previously been the domain of players. Jon Stinchcomb’s tirade at halftime of the 2002 Auburn game is perhaps the clearest example. D.J. Shockley was another player who exuded presence and was a natural leader as a senior. This time, Richt took it upon himself to be the catalyst for change, and now the team looks to him. As a player said at halftime during the Florida game, "Coach, you are the key. You have got to keep it going."

It’s no condemnation of the seniors to talk about a void of leadership. Many of them were (and still are) individually fighting for places on the depth chart, and that has to come before someone can worry about lifting up teammates. The personality traits and presence it takes to push a team of highly-skilled peers has nothing to do with football skills or quality of character. The point here is that a coach has to play to his team’s strengths and adapt to its weaknesses. As Richt’s role in the past month has shown, evaluating those strengths and weaknesses goes far beyond athletic ability.

It would have been easy for Richt to stay the course, and many of us (myself included) would have pulled out his resume to defend him and trust that somehow things would work out. He could have also placed the burden on the players and challenged one of them to be responsible for rallying the team. Instead he took responsibility for becoming the motivational focus for the team.

It’s still a work in progress and a learning process for Richt. After a month of "cutting loose," to use his term, the pendulum might be swinging back in certain areas. For instance, Richt has evaluated his approach to the officials:

Since I’ve kinda cut loose a little bit in some areas, I cut loose a little bit in that area. I probably went a little overboard on that, so I’ve just been convicted (?) that I don’t need to do that anymore, so I will be strictly polite and gentlemanly from here on out….If I do talk to (the officials), it’ll be in the proper tone and I’m just gonna calm down on the official thing.

As Richt refines his personal intensity and motivational approach, there will also be the opportunity for players to take some of the responsibility back on themselves. There is no shortage of young players who will be returning in meaningful roles next year. Stafford will be an upperclassmen, and it will be the third year in the program for players like Moreno and Rashad Jones.

But even if the load shifts back onto team leaders in the coming seasons, hopefully the transformation of Richt will have some lasting effects. "It is just a lot more enjoyable being around here," said Sean Bailey. That’s true not only on the practice field but also in the stands. The Munson-driven worry and negativity is loosening up, and Georgia games are fun. Recruits see Athens as the place to be. I totally see Richt’s reasons for pulling back in certain areas like officiating, but there have been a lot of things worth keeping from this experience.

How has gameday traffic been for you this season?

There was a letter in the ABH earlier this week complaining about conditions after the Auburn game, and it’s the first I had heard of really bad post-game traffic this year.

I’ll admit straight up that I’m rarely affected by traffic. We’re usually in Athens before 9 a.m. and often leave several hours after the game or even later in the evening. We’re also on the downtown side of things, so we’re never dealing with the crowds on East Campus.

I usually gauge the traffic by the time it takes my wife to navigate from her family over at the Georgia Center to our tailgate downtown. To be honest, it hasn’t seemed that bad this year. Even last weekend after the Auburn game we had clear sailing through and out of town just a couple of hours after the game ended.

For those of you with a little more urgency getting in and out of town, how has it been? I’m especially interested in feedback about East Campus and the impact of the new direct on-ramp to the bypass.

Anthony Dasher of UGASports.com reports($) that Larry Munson will be on hand to call the Georgia-Georgia Tech game on Nov. 24th in Atlanta. Scott Howard’s obligations with the basketball broadcast team will have him in Wisconsin.

For the first time this season, the tandem of Munson and Zeier will call the game.

Georgia looks to sign three quality players during this early signing period:

• Howard Thompkins : 6’8″ F from Norcross (GA) Wesleyan. #30 nationally and #10 PF according to Rivals.com
• Dustin Ware: 6’0″ PG from Kennesaw (GA) North Cobb Christian. #141 nationally and #34 PG according to Rivals.com
• Drazen Zlovaric: 6’8″ F from Weston (FL) Sagemont. Chose Georgia over Texas and Arkansas.

There are a handful of games in Sanford Stadium history that are remembered as much for the scene as they are for the outcome. Alabama 1976. Clemson 1991. Someone with a stronger Bulldog pedigree than mine can probably add a few others. We can add Auburn 2007 to that distinguished list. In 25 years, you’ll be able to mention "Auburn" and "blackout" and instantly connect with any Bulldog fan from this era.

So many of us spent last week fretting about the blackout. "Great idea, but…" But it makes us look Gamecock-ish. But there’s no way that you can get word out. But our fans think we’re above gimmicks. But blackouts always fail.

I’ll admit to being skeptical that we’d be able to pull it off. There was great effort to get the word out, fans loosened up and cooperated, and it was an incredible scene to walk into the stadium and see not 40% or 60% but nearly every Georgia fan participating. The black was so extensive that a friend remarked that one could go back through the tape and easily pinpoint which Dawg fans had sold out their tickets to orange-clad Plainsmen.

The scene when the team came out was pandemonium. Dannell Ellerbe remarked that receiving the uniforms was like a Christmas present, and several players raced as far as the west stands to show off their new toys. Meanwhile, Brandon Coutu and the other captains gave new meaning to the term "taking off the red shirt" as they shed the red decoys just before kickoff.

But the black and the emotion only carried the team so far. It was, after all, a gimmick. Auburn is a quality team, they had turned their season around, and we knew that they wouldn’t take a punch without hitting back. Down 20-17 the crowd was growing nervous and impatient, and precious little was happening against the Auburn defense. Matthew Stafford was limping. Auburn had just taken the lead. It was looking much less like the Auburn game of a year ago and much more like the 2006 Tennessee game where the Vols withstood a first half punch to come back and dominate the second half.

Georgia needed to answer before the momentum swing became out of hand, and Mark Richt took a page out of the playbook that beat LSU in 2004. In that game, Georgia’s senior receiver tandem of Reggie Brown and Fred Gibson caught several big pass plays along the sideline to lead the Dawgs to a win. Against Auburn, Richt again called for a senior receiver to make a play down the field at a key moment in the game, and Sean Bailey’s 45-yard catch was the spark that turned the game around for good. Knowshon Moreno finished off the drive, and Georgia had answered Auburn’s challenge and wouldn’t look back.

Everyone now is asking the logical question, "after the masterful job of motivating the team for Florida and Auburn, how in the world do we approach the Kentucky game?" Nearly a month ago as we were leaving Vanderbilt Stadium by the skin of our teeth, Kentucky was back on top after beating LSU. Kentucky looked like the end of a three-game Murderer’s Row to end the SEC slate. Now after losses to Florida and Mississippi State, we’re talking about the Cats as a "trap game." With some key players healthy after a bye week and a win over Vanderbilt, Kentucky is just as dangerous as they were a month ago.

I’m not going to put on my Lou Holtz hat here, but I imagine that motivation this week takes two very basic forms. One…it’s a simple revenge game. The Cats beat us in Lexington last year, tore down the goalposts, and brought us to the low point of the 2006 season. From the turnovers on offense to Kentucky’s game-winning march against the defense, every returning player should be in a foul mood about that game. The second theme is all about possibilities. The Dawgs didn’t turn come this far and beat Auburn and Florida for it to stop now. With an SEC title and BCS bid still very much in the picture, now is no time to relent. All that plus a healthy dose of respect for Kentucky should have the team more than prepared.