Dawg Food

Senior All Stars & Combine Invitees

2012-01-16T21:01:00.001-05:00

FOOTBALL

Seven Georgia football players have been invited to play in post-season all-star games while seven have also received invitations to the annual NFL Combine.

Cornerback and Paul Hornung Award winner Brandon Boykin of Fayetteville, punter Drew Butler of Duluth, center Ben Jones of Centreville, Alabama, and offensive lineman Cordy Glenn of Riverdale will play in the Senior Bowl game in Mobile, Alabama, Saturday, January 28th.

Placekicker Blair Walsh of Boca Raton, Florida, defensive lineman DeAngelo Tyson of Statesboro, and fullback Bruce Figgins of Columbus will participate in the East-West Shrine Game, Saturday, January 21st, in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Boykin, Butler, Glenn, Walsh, Tyson, Jones, and Justin Anderson of Ocilla have been invited to the NFL Combine which will be held in Indianapolis February 22nd - 28th.

Top Dawgs Returning For Senior Season

2012-01-13T20:23:00.001-05:00

FOOTBALL

Georgia football coach Mark Richt confirmed Friday that no other Georgia players will leave early for the NFL draft. Tight end Orson Charles announced earlier this week that he will forgo his senior season.

“Today is great day for Georgia,” Richt said. “We have a lot of good news today. Quite a few guys submitted papers for the draft to see if it was time to make the decision to fulfill their dream of playing in the NFL. These men decided to stay at Georgia. This group of players has tremendous leadership and talent and has played some tremendous football in the Southeastern Conference. I am thrilled that they have made this decision.”

Among those returning for their senior season is safety Bacarri Rambo, who started all 13 game for the Dawgs, registering 55 tackles, including 34 solo tops. He also led the SEC with eight interceptions, returning one for a touchdown.

“It means a lot to come back and play with these guys next year,” Rambo said. “Many of these guys gave up their dream of playing in the NFL just to come back. We have a lot of leaders and a lot of really talented players with experience coming back next year. We have guys who are going to go out there and work hard and help lead the young guys and show them the Georgia way. I’m really excited to play with these guys one more year.”

“Every man in this room came to Georgia with dreams and goals of winning championships,” added cornerback Sanders Commings. “That is the reason that I decided to stay here at Georgia. With the leadership in this room we realized that the opportunity of achieving those dreams are great and I am excited to be able to be a part of it.”

Carlton Thomas, who finished the season with 361 yards and two touchdowns, added that the decision to return for his senior year was a team decision.

“Coming back was really a team decision,” Thomas added. “You see all of this talent coming back. There is lot of up side to the defensive side of the ball and we still have a lot of talent on the offense. We’re coming back with maturity, experience and a lot to prove. Why not come back and get what everyone came here to get, a championship? Everyone wanted to come back for the team and to finish business.”

Junior snapper Ty Frix noted that as a lifelong Georgia fan, he is excited about next season and the chance to continue to be a part of the Dawg community.

“I think we want to win,” Frix said. “I think that is why everyone wanted to come back. You can look at last season and say it didn’t end well as it could have or didn’t start well as it should have, but we had a great year. We did a lot of things that a lot of people didn’t think we could do and we won a lot more games than people thought we should have. I think we will build off of that going into next season. If we don’t win, then these guys stayed for no reason. These guys buying in keeps everyone accountable and it’s going to make winning that much more attainable.”

Rambo Will Return

2012-01-11T18:10:00.001-05:00

FOOTBALL

University of Georgia junior free safety Bacarri Rambo has decided to return for his senior season rather than enter the 2012 NFL Draft.

Rambo, a 6-0, 218-pound native of Donalsonville, finished the 2011 season with a Southeastern Conference-leading eight interceptions to go along with 55 tackles for the SEC Eastern Division champions. The AP First Team All-American returned those picks a combined 157 yards, which ranks third all-time in Georgia history, while starting 13 games.

During his three seasons with the Dawgs, Rambo is tied for third in the school record books with 13 interceptions and has recorded 162 career tackles. He helped anchor a defense that finished third in the SEC this season in Total Defense (268 yards/game), Pass Defense (165.1) and Rushing Defense (103.4).

Charles Will Turn Pro

2012-01-11T17:21:00.000-05:00

FOOTBALL

University of Georgia junior tight end Orson Charles has decided to forego his senior season and enter the 2012 NFL Draft.

“I want to thank God, the University of Georgia, our coaches and the fans for building me up spiritually, mentally, physically and emotionally over the last three years,” said Charles. “The fans stuck with us through a rough season last year and through our struggles this season and our coaching staff provided me with the tools necessary to make it in football and in life. Either decision I made, I want to be able to look back at it and be happy with the choice I made and I think I will with this decision. It was difficult but not stressful to be in a situation where you can’t go wrong either way.”

Charles, a 6-3, 241-pound native of Tampa, Florida, finished the 2011 season with 45 catches for 574 yards and five touchdowns while starting all 14 games for the Southeastern Conference Eastern Division champion Dawgs. The AFCA First Team All-American highlighted his junior season by catching six balls for 109 yards and a touchdown versus #5 Boise State.

Charles, a Mackey Award finalist, completes his three-year career with the most yardage all-time for a Georgia tight end with 1,370 yards. He also tied with Leonard Pope (2003-05) for most touchdowns at the position with 10 and finished third interceptions (94).

Super Dawg Wins Hornung Award

2012-01-09T11:17:00.001-05:00

FOOTBALL

Georgia senior cornerback/return specialist Brandon Boykin has been named the 2011 Paul Hornung Award winner as the nation’s most versatile player, according to an announcement by the Louisville Sports Commission and Paul Hornung on Monday morning.

Boykin topped Arkansas’ Joe Adams, Oregon’s LaMichael James and Toledo’s Eric Page for the honor in the award’s second year. Boykin will now be honored on Feb. 2 at the Galt House in downtown Louisville during the annual Paul Hornung Award banquet.

"My experience at Georgia has changed my life in so many positive ways and allowed me to be considered for such a prestigious honor,” said Boykin. “Being a Dawg has helped groom me into the individual I am on and off the field. Winning the Paul Hornung Award is an amazing accomplishment and one that I will forever cherish as one of my greatest accomplishments. I am humbled by the fact that I was selected as the winner by Mr. Hornung and everyone else involved with the selection process. I would like to thank my teammates, coaches, fans and the entire Georgia program for helping me to achieve this incredible achievement."

"It's rare for a modern-day college football player to perform at a high level in all three phases of the game, especially in an elite conference," Paul Hornung said. "From what I've seen of Brandon Boykin, he is willing to do whatever it takes to help his team win games. That's how I played the game. Brandon Boykin is a deserving winner of the Paul Hornung Award."

Coach Mark Richt has witnessed Boykin be one of his defensive anchors since his sophomore season in 2009 as he started 38 career games for Georgia, including the last 22 in a row.

“There are not many players who have the skill sets Brandon possesses and he’s certainly the model of what the Hornung Award represents,” said Richt. “I wish I had three of him. He could start on offense, defense, and special teams. He’s an outstanding person as well, a great leader, and a great Georgia man. We have been blessed to have him as a Dawg.”

The Fayetteville native was a second team All-Southeastern Conference selection by the league coaches and a Jim Thorpe Award semifinalist in 2011 after recording 55 tackles, including 11 tackles for loss, three interceptions, two forced fumbles and a safety. A threat in the return game as well, Boykin added 850 kickoff return yards and 180 punt return yards.

He was also used on the offensive side of the ball this year, rushing for 103 yards and a score and catching five passes for 71 yards and another two touchdowns. For his career, the 5-10, 183-pound Dawg is Georgia's all-time leader in kickoff return yardage with 2,663, which ranks second on the SEC's all-time list.

Boykin is also the only player in SEC history with three 100-yard plays of any kind. He completes his UGA career with 159 total tackles, 20 tackles for loss, nine interceptions, four kickoff returns for touchdowns and one punt return for a touchdown.

Boykin saved one of his top performances for his final collegiate game during the Outback Bowl in Tampa, Fla., on January 2nd. In a rare decision, Boykin was named the game’s overall Most Valuable Player despite No. 18 Georgia’s 33-30 overtime loss to No. 12 Michigan State.

On the Spartans’ first play on offense, Boykin recorded a safety after knocking Keshawn Martin into the end zone. He extended the Dawgs’ lead to 16-0 late in the first half on a bowl record-breaking 92-yard punt return for a touchdown. Boykin then helped Georgia recapture the lead in the fourth quarter on a 13-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Aaron Murray.

In addition, Boykin finished with four kickoff returns for 70 yards, giving him a school record 2,663 yards on 110 returns (24.21 yards/return). The Dawgs starting cornerback was also fourth on the team with seven tackles, including two for loss, and had two carries for eight yards against the Spartans.

Boykin will now join three of his teammates at the 2012 Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama, on January 28th as he prepares for the NFL Draft.

Lady Dawgs Lose To Tennessee

2012-01-05T23:26:00.000-05:00

BASKETBALL

Glory Johnson's game-highs of 22 points and 13 rebounds led No. 6 Tennessee (11-3, 2-0 SEC) to an 80-51 victory over No. 16 Georgia (12-3, 1-1 SEC) Thursday night.

Freshman Ariel Massengale added 19 points, 15 in the first half, for the Lady Volunteers. Meredith Mitchell led Georgia with 14 points.

"We got some nice looks inside early and people that normally hit shots missed some easy ones," coach Andy Landers. "In the second half, we got good looks from the perimeter, but it seemed like none of our three-pointers would fall.

"But I wasn't impressed with us tonight," Landers continued. "I'm not going to sugar coat it. We got our butts kicked. We got our butts kicked on the offensive glass and then we drew a lot of fouls so they killed us at the free throw line. We didn't try very hard, and that's what I'm most disappointed about."

After the Lady Dawgs opened the scoring on a jumper by Jasmine James, Tennessee quickly rolled off eight straight points in a span of 96 seconds. The Lady Vols pushed their lead to double digits at 17-6 with 13:36 remaining in the first half, scoring 10 of those points on layups.

Georgia closed to within five at 30-25 with 2:05 remaining before Tennessee ended the period on a 6-2 surge. The Lady Dawgs pulled within 38-32 early in the second half and were within eight at the 15:56 mark. The Lady Vols then embarked on a 17-4 run over the next 5:21 to put the game out of reach.

Georgia will return to action Sunday, remaining on the road to face Auburn at 2 p.m. ET. The game will be televised regionally on CSS.

Lady Dawgs Win SEC Opener

2012-01-01T21:15:00.000-05:00

BASKETBALL

Jasmine Hassell's team-high 19 points led the No. 17 Georgia Lady Dawgs (12-2, 1-0) to victory over the Arkansas Razorbacks (11-2, 0-1), 67-57, Sunday afternoon.

For the third straight game, four Lady Dawgs put up double-digit points. Anne Marie Armstrong scored 15 points, helped by perfect shooting behind the three-point line and at the charity stripe.

“We have the ability to be a very balanced team," said coach Andy Landers. "They play unselfishly and share the ball. They all have the ability to score. Today, they executed the game plan very well.”

Khaalidah Miller and Meredith Mitchell scored 12 points apiece. Miller's 12 points all came from three point shots, as did nine of Mitchell's points.

“I thought that we were very good," continued Landers. "We had difficulty manning their zone at times, but overall I thought we executed very well offensively. We rebounded the ball well until the end. Towards the end of the game, we showed some signs of fatigue. We may have played people too long.”

After trailing Arkansas for a better portion of the first 10 minutes, back-to-back three pointers from Erika Ford and Armstrong tied the game at 18-18 with 10:07 left in the period.

Over the next 10 minutes, the Lady Dawgs outscored the Razorbacks 20-10, entering the locker room with a 38-28 lead. Georgia's 48.4 percent shooting from the field was aided by Hassell's 4-of-4 effort in just 17 minutes of first half play.

Georgia started the second half much like it ended the first, with a 12-4 run that lasted five minutes. Another pair of treys by Armstrong and Mitchell increased the Lady Dawg lead to 63-44 with 6:28 left in the game. Arkansas made a surge late, scoring 11 points in the last three minutes, but it was too little too late.

The Lady Dawgs will return to action Thursday, January 5th, when they travel to Knoxville to take on No. 7 Tennessee at 7 p.m. The game will be televised regionally on CSS. Georgia's next home game is a week from Thursday on January 12th when the Lady Dawgs host Florida at 7 p.m. The first 500 UGA students receive "Beat Florida" t-shirts, pizza and drinks.

Post-Game Notes

• The Lady Dawgs improved to 12-2 overall and 26-4 all-time against Arkansas.
• With the victory in their SEC opener, Georgia is now 1-0 in conference play.
• UGA has won the last five games against the Razorbacks and nine of the last 10 meetings.
• In Georgia’s last eight outings, the Lady Dawgs have converted on 117-of-164 trips to the free throw line, a 71.3 percent conversion rate.
• The Lady Dawgs converted eight Razorback turnovers into 17 points.
• Georgia has now built a 25-5 record in SEC openers since the 1982-83 season, including a 14-2 mark in Athens.
• Andy Landers is now four games shy of his 1050th contest as head coach of the Lady Dawgs.

Lady Bulldogs In Double Digits

• Jasmine Hassell tallied 19 points marking her 11th double-digit game of the season and the 31st of her career. Hassell has reached double figures in each of the past 10 games.
• Anne Marie Armstrong scored 15 points for her sixth double-digit game of the season and the 22nd of her career.
• Khaalidah Miller recorded 12 points, marking her 11th double-digit game of the season and the 25th of her career.
• Meredith Mitchell’s 12 points brought her double-digit performances to five for the season and 31 for her career.

Four Dawgs Invited To Senior Bowl

2012-01-01T15:33:00.000-05:00

FOOTBALL

Four members of the Georgia football team have been extended -- and accepted -- invitations to participate in the 2012 Senior Bowl later this month in Mobile, Alabama.
Cornerback Brandon Boykin, punter Drew Butler, offensive tackle Cordy Glenn and center Ben Jones will play in the Senior Bowl, which will kick off at 4 p.m. on January 28th.

The game and all of the practices will be shown on the NFL Network.

"Georgia had one of the more remarkable winning streaks in the country this season, and there's no doubt these four seniors played a big role in the Dawgs reeling off 10 straight victories to claim the Eastern Division title," Senior Bowl President and CEO Steve Hale said. "We're confident this group will take advantage of this opportunity to showcase their skills in front of the NFL decision makers."

Boykin was a second team All-SEC selection by the league coaches and Jim Thorpe Award semifinalist in 2011 after recording 48 tackles, including nine tackles for loss, three interceptions, nine pass breakups and two fumble recoveries. A threat in the return game as well, Boykin added 780 kickoff return yards and 88 punt return yards. He was also used on the offensive side of the ball this year, rushing for 95 yards and a score and catching four passes for 58 yards and another touchdown. For his career, the Fayetteville, native is Georgia's all-time leader in kickoff return yardage with 2,593, which ranks second on the SEC's all-time list. Boykin is also the only player in SEC history with three 100-yard plays of any kind. He enters Monday's Outback Bowl against Michigan State with 152 total tackles, 18 tackles for loss, nine interceptions and 18 pass breakups.

Butler was an Honorable Mention All-SEC selection by the Associated Press this season. He punted 51 times for 2,260 yards, averaging 44.3 yards per punt, which ranks second in the SEC and 13th in the country. He had 16 punts of 50 yards or more and downed 19 punts inside the opponents' 20-yard line. The son of former NFL great and 1985 Senior Bowler Kevin Butler, Drew set an SEC Championship Game record against LSU with a 51.6 yards per punt average, including a season-long 62 yarder. Butler enjoyed his best season as a sophomore, taking home the Ray Guy Award as the nation's top punter and earning unanimous first team All-America honors in the process. For his career, the Duluth, native has punted for 7,283 yards, averaging 45.5 yards per punt. He's had 56 punts of 50 yards or more and booted 58 punts inside the 20-yard line. A member of UGA's Team of the Decade, Butler's career long punt came in 2009 -- a 75-yarder against Oklahoma State.

Glenn was a third team AP All-American in 2011 and first team All-SEC pick by both the AP and league coaches. The left tackle from Riverdale, anchored an offensive line that ranked third in the SEC in total offense this year, averaging 413.85 yards per game. Glenn currently ranks second all-time in school history in starts for an offensive lineman with 49. His next start against Michigan State will tie him with former Senior Bowler Clint Boling for the school mark for offensive linemen.

The 2012 Senior Bowl will be a homecoming of sorts for Jones. The Centreville, Alabama, native landed on both the AP and Coaches All-SEC second teams in 2011.

He was also a finalist for the Rimington Trophy, given annually to the best center in the nation and was named SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week twice this season.

Jones was named to UGA's Team of the Decade and has made 48 career starts, ranking third all-time in school history for an offensive lineman

Welcome To 2012–The Year Of The Dawg

2012-01-01T00:59:00.000-05:00

FOOTBALL

The New Year brings a close to the current football season but it also signals the early prognosticators to begin looking at next season. The Dawgs have been ranked as a top five team in several early bird polls and more will follow as spring arrives.

The emergence of the defense under coach Todd Grantham should continue with the number of returning starters next fall. The offense will again be led by quarterback Aaron Murray and like the defense, will see a majority of the starters return. The kicking game will undergo the greatest change following the graduation of Butler and Walsh but Collin Barber and Marshall Morgan are very talented and will be ready to contribute by the opening kickoff.

The incoming freshmen have been dubbed the “Ring Team” by tailback Keith Marshall and will be expected to have an impact similar to that of last year’s “Dream Team.”

The release of next season’s favorable schedule by the SEC this week brought a smile to the Dawg Nation, replacing Alabama with Missouri was the major change.

All of the pieces are in place to make a legitimate run at another SEC East Division title and a return to the dome. With a couple of breaks along the way, the Dawgs may well end up in Miami on January 7th, 2013.

Bulldogs Wrap Up Outback Bowl Practices

2011-12-31T17:23:00.001-05:00

FOOTBALL

Georgia football worked out for 90 minutes to wrap up their practice sessions for the Outback Bowl at the University of Tampa on Saturday morning. The 18th-ranked Dawgs will take on the 12th-ranked Michigan State Spartans in Raymond James Stadium on Monday at 1 p.m.

“I think we are getting where we need to be,” said coach Mark Richt prior to Saturday’s practice. “We have to solidify our game-plan mentally and we will be ready for the game.”

The Georgia defense ranks third nationally in Total Defense (268.5 ypg) and ninth in Rushing Defense (103.4 ypg) through 13 games. While the Dawgs gave up 42 points to top-ranked LSU in the SEC Championship Game, Georgia had held five straight opponents to 20 or less points before their matchup with the Tigers.

“We have made huge strides defensively in this second year under Coach Todd Grantham,” Richt said. “We have a bunch of guys who believe what’s being taught. I have had little doubt this whole year that the group would have success. And since they have had success, it has bred more confidence in the system.”

The Dawgs arrived in Tampa on Monday and have practiced each day as they prepare for the Spartans. Senior cornerback/return specialist Brandon Boykin said Richt and the coaching staff have readied the team for its final contest of the year.

“Coach Richt has done a great job getting us in shape since the holiday,” said Boykin, who was competing in his final practice on Saturday. “Since we are playing on January 2nd, it will be nice to have an extra day to rest. But whenever the game comes, we’ll be ready.”

Boykin has started the last 21 games in a row and 37 in his career. The Paul Hornung Award finalist added that this year has helped bring the Dawgs back to the level everyone expects them to be at.

“I would describe the 2011 season as an amazing one where we got some redemption,” Boykin said. “This time last year, people were talking about the coaches being on the ‘hot-seat’ and that Georgia was not like it used to be. We had leadership this season who were committed to get this program back where it needs to be.”

Redshirt sophomore quarterback Aaron Murray, who is a Tampa native, agreed with Boykin that the Dawgs are ready for their showdown with Michigan State. “I think we are ready for the game,” Murray said. “We had great practices in Athens and have had our game-plan set for a while. We have had some awesome practices in Tampa and now it’s time for everything to slow down as we fine-tune everything.”

Murray also said that freshman quarterback Christian LeMay has made huge strides during his first season with the Dawgs. LeMay is redshirting this season while sophomore Hutson Mason, who is 18-of-30 for 254 yards and two touchdowns, has backed up Murray in 2011. “Every day at practice over the last couple of weeks, I have looked over at Coach Richt and just said, ‘wow’ watching Christian throw the ball,” said Murray. “At the beginning of the year, he seemed like he was throwing it as hard as he could and was off-balance a lot. But now that he is relaxing, he has been throwing great balls and making really good decisions.”

Kickoff for the 2012 Outback Bowl is slated for 1:08 p.m. at Raymond James Stadium, and ABC Sports will televise the game live.

Dribble Dawgs Win

2011-12-30T20:35:00.001-05:00

BASKETBALL

Dustin Ware had a team high 15 points and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Donte' Williams each recorded 12 points and nine rebounds, leading the Georgia men’s basketball team to a 58-51 home victory over Delaware State Friday afternoon in Stegeman Coliseum. The team closes the non-conference portion of the schedule on a five-game winning streak.

Georgia (9-5) overcame a slow start that put them in a 14-4 deficit nine minutes into the game after Delaware State's Casey Walker caught fire behind the arc. Walker connected on three of his first four three-point attempts while the Dawgs struggled to find its shot in the first half to find themselves in the early hole.

The highlight of the game came at the first-half buzzer, as Caldwell-Pope gathered a rebound and launched up a half court prayer to beat the buzzer and give the Dawgs a 32-29 lead at the half.

After shooting 50 percent in the first half, Delaware State (4-7) went cold in the second half, making just seven field goals while shooting 27 percent from the floor in the final 20 minutes. The Dawgs took advantage of the Hornets' poor shooting, gathering 40 total rebounds to match their second highest team total on the season and building their lead after the break.

"We did rebound the ball well and we made some plays, but we can't be successful in the SEC playing like that," coach Mark Fox said. "We'll take the win and learn as much as we can from it, but we need to grow up."

The Dawgs resume play on Saturday, January. 7th, as they host the Alabama to begin SEC play.

Dawgs Busy In Tampa

2011-12-28T16:50:00.001-05:00

FOOTBALL

The 18th-ranked Dawgs enjoyed another full day of activities on Wednesday during Outback Bowl week.

For the second consecutive day, the Dawgs conducted a two-hour workout in full pads at the University of Tampa. Georgia will practice through Saturday in preparation for its January 2nd date with 12th-ranked Michigan State.

Both head coaches participated in a media luncheon and answered questions for approximately 30 minutes.

"We had our second day in full pads, and our energy was very good," said coach Mark Richt. "Everybody was in good spirits and competed well. I like how it's going, everybody is full speed."

"We are going to have our second day in full pads too, and I'll see how we're moving around," said Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio. "We know it's going to be a great challenge, and it's important for us to finish."

The coaches were asked about the regular season, conference championship games, bowl preparations and the importance of winning the bowl game. Richt and Dantonio are aiming to end the season with an 11th win after falling short in their bowl game a year ago.

"It's not too often you have a chance to win 11 games and you're going up against a team with 10 wins," said Dantonio.

"I haven't thought about last year's bowl game too much, but we did use it as motivation in the off season and figuring out who is in or out in terms of doing things the way we want it done," Richt added. "We didn't have a lot of energy that day, and the team that wanted it more won. I've been in coaching 27 years and the more I look at what happens in the bowl games is it comes down to turnovers and special teams. The reality is it's all about executing."

After practice, the Dawgs headed to Busch Gardens for the rest of the day. On Thursday, Georgia is slated to attend a team luncheon at the Tampa Convention Center, a brief media session and then an afternoon practice. Also, the team will have a bowling night.

Kickoff for the 2012 Outback Bowl is slated for 1:08 p.m. at Raymond James Stadium, and ABC Sports will televise the game live.

Dawgs 2012 Schedule Released

2011-12-28T16:23:00.001-05:00

FOOTBALL

Georgia will be the first Southeastern Conference team to travel to the newest Eastern Division team—Missouri--according to the 2012 SEC schedule announced Wednesday by the SEC office.

The Dawgs will also play seven home games for the first time since 2007. The overall 2012 SEC schedule includes all 14 teams with the addition of Missouri in the east and Texas A&M in the west.

The Dawgs will play the Tigers in Columbia, Missouri, on September 8th, following Georgia’s season home opener on September 1st with Buffalo. The rest of the schedule features seven home games, four of which are among the first five contests. After the opener with Buffalo, Georgia will host Florida Atlantic, Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Ole Miss, Georgia Southern and Georgia Tech during the season.

The Dawgs go on the road to face South Carolina, Kentucky, Florida (Jacksonville), and Auburn in addition to Missouri.

2012 Georgia Football Schedule
Sept.1 Buffalo
Sept. 8 at Missouri
Sept. 15 Florida Atlantic
Sept. 22 Vanderbilt
Sept. 29 Tennessee
Oct. 6 at South Carolina
Oct. 13 Open
Oct. 20 at Kentucky
Oct. 27 Florida (Jacksonville)
Nov. 3 Ole Miss
Nov. 10 at Auburn
Nov. 17 Georgia Southern
Nov. 24 Georgia Tech

Dawgs Wrap Up Bowl Preparations In Athens

2011-12-20T21:04:00.001-05:00

FOOTBALL

The 18th-ranked Georgia football team held its final practice of 2011 in Athens on Tuesday as the Dawgs continued preparations for the Outback Bowl contest against Michigan State.

The Dawgs and the Spartans will square off January 2nd in Tampa, Florida, in the Outback Bowl. Georgia’s players and coaches will reconvene in Tampa on December 26th. The Dawgs worked out for about an hour on Tuesday.

“I thought we prepared well,” coach Mark Richt said. “We had the right amount of practices and we practiced each day for a good amount of time. I thought everything we did the last few days was valuable.”

Richt was asked if he thought having quarterback Aaron Murray and tight end Orson Charles playing in their hometown of Tampa would be a distraction. “As many big games as they’ve played in, I don’t think it will be a factor,” Richt said. “Maybe for a freshman or a sophomore who hasn’t played that many games, it would be, but I don’t think it will be for those guys.”

Richt also was asked for his impressions on Michigan State’s defensive front. “They’ve got a couple of really big inside guys who push into the quarterback’s face,” Richt said. “If you’re not firm up front, there’s not an area for the QB to step up.”

The Dawgs will be making their 15th consecutive bowl appearance, and Georgia ranks as one of the top five bowl teams of all time in wins and appearances, they are 26-17-3 in bowls.

This will be the third meeting between Georgia and Michigan State in bowl games, with the Dawgs claiming a 34-27 win in the 1989 Gator Bowl in Vince Dooley’s final game as Georgia’s coach and a 24-12 win in the 2009 Capital One Bowl.

Kickoff for the game between Georgia (10-3) and Michigan State (10-3) is slated for 1 p.m., and the game will be televised by ABC. A win would give the Dawgs their fourth season of at least 11 wins under Richt.

Lady Dawgs Fall To Gonzaga In Final Second

2011-12-19T22:18:00.001-05:00

BASKETBALL

Haiden Palmer hit a long three-pointer with two-tenths of a second remaining to give Gonzaga its only lead of the game in a 71-68 victory over No. 13 Georgia in the opening day of the Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic on Monday.

Palmer's three completed a 22-4 run over the final 6:45 as the Zags (9-2) erased a 15-point deficit to rally past the Lady Dawgs (8-2).

"We played very well for much of the game, but in the final minutes we came unraveled," coach Andy Landers said. "We turned it over and let them get offensive rebounds and missed some shots. You put that all together and it turned this game into a very disappointing performance."

Jasmine Hassell paced Georgia for the third consecutive game with 21 points, while Anne Marie Armstrong and Jasmine James chipped in 15 and 13, respectively. Katelan Redman posted game highs of 23 points and 10 rebounds for Gonzaga, and Palmer added 22 points.

James' three-pointer with 7:12 remaining put the Lady Dawgs up 64-49, the fourth time in the game Georgia led by 15 points. Palmer answered on the other end to ignite a 10-0 over the next 2:19 that closed the gap to 64-59.

The Zags eventually tied the game at 68-68 on a Palmer layup with 20 seconds left. Palmer then fouled James with 9.8 seconds remaining. James missed the front end of a one-and-one, setting the stage for Palmer's game-winner.

Georgia started quickly and led by double figures for most of the game.

Armstrong hit consecutive buckets to start the game and Hassell added a layup at the 18:33 mark to quickly put Georgia up 6-0. The Lady Dawgs maintained a two-possession lead for the remainder of the period, with the lead topping out at 15 points twice.

After Georgia led 31-16 with 4:27 left in the period, Gonzaga closed the half with on a 11-4 run to trim the margin to eight at the intermission.

"In the first half, we forced the game to played at the pace we wanted it to be played," Landers said. "The first 20 minutes were a very, very good half of basketball for us."

The Lady Dawgs will now face Montana State on Tuesday afternoon at 6:30 p.m. ET before returning home to host Appalachian State on Thursday at 7 p.m. That contest is the first of three-game homestand through Georgia's SEC opener against Arkansas on Sunday, January 1st at 2 p.m. The Lady Dawgs also will host Furman on Wednesday, December 28th at 7 p.m.

Dawgs Practice Sunday

2011-12-18T20:38:00.001-05:00

FOOTBALL

The 18th-ranked Dawgs held a two-hour practice in full pads Sunday afternoon in preparation for the upcoming Outback Bowl against Michigan State.

They will practice again Monday and Tuesday in Athens before breaking for Christmas. Players and coaches will reconvene in Tampa on December 26th leading up to the January 2nd contest against the Spartans.

“It was another good day,” said coach Mark Richt. “We had great weather. Guys were competing well, and I thought we got a lot done. We got some good scout team work in, and we are starting to get the game plan in. We’re getting there little by little.”

The Dawgs will be making their 15th consecutive bowl appearance, and Georgia ranks as one of the top-five bowl teams of all time in wins and appearances. The Dawgs are 26-17-3 all-time in bowl games.

This will be the third meeting between Georgia and Michigan State in bowl games, with the Dawgs claiming a 34-27 win in the 1989 Gator Bowl and a 24-12 win in the 2009 Capital One Bowl.

Kickoff for the game between Georgia (10-3) and the 12th-ranked Spartans (10-3) is slated for 1 p.m., and the game will be televised by ABC. A win would give the Dawgs their fourth season of at least 11 wins under Richt.

Dribble Dawgs Trip Trojans

2011-12-18T09:43:00.001-05:00

BASKETBALL

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored a career-high 21 points, including two late free-throws, to propel the Georgia men’s basketball team to a 63-59 victory over the USC Trojans at the Galen Center Saturday night.

Senior guards Gerald Robinson Jr. and Dustin Ware chipped in 17 and 12 points, respectively. Caldwell-Pope also led Georgia on the board with five rebounds.

"I'm really proud of our guys,” said coach Mark Fox. “It was a hard-fought game and we beat a very, very good defensive team tonight. I thought we took a big step forward."

The first half was a defensive battle that contained five lead changes and three ties. The Trojans led by as many as six points, but Georgia battled back to tie the game at 25 courtesy of a 7-2 run to end the half.

The Trojans, however, regained their lost ground early in the second half, holding a lead until Ware hit a three-pointer to tie the game at 51-51 with 4:38 remaining.

The Dawgs took their first lead courtesy of a Donte’ Williams dunk with 3:03 remaining. After Caldwell-Pope hit a three-pointer to put Georgia up by four with under a minute to play, the Trojan’s Alexis Moore gave USC new life with a three of his own bringing USC to within one, 60-59. But that’s as close as the Trojans would get. Caldwell-Pope hit two critical free throws with just 19 seconds remaining to put Georgia up 62-59.

During USC’s final possession, Robinson thwarted any final Trojan comeback, forcing a steal and dropping a free throw to put the Dawgs up 63-59 with only one second remaining.

With the win, Georgia snaps a four-game losing streak and moves to 2-0 in its series against USC.

Georgia returns home to take on in-state foe Mercer Tuesday night at Stegemen Coliseum. Last season, the Dawgs outlasted the Bears 56-53 in Macon. Tuesday’s matchup is scheduled to start 7:00 p.m. and will be televised on CSS and ESPN3.

Dawgs Looking Forward To Outback Bowl

2011-12-17T19:26:00.001-05:00

FOOTBALL

Under cloudless skies and temperatures in the upper-50s, the 18th-ranked Dawgs conducted a 90-minute bowl practice in full pads Saturday.

Georgia (10-3, 7-1 SEC) will practice daily through Tuesday before taking a five-day break for the holidays. The team will reconvene in Tampa, site of the annual Outback Bowl, to begin a final week of preparations for 12th-ranked Michigan State starting on Monday, December 26th.

Defensive Dawg Todd Grantham and Spartans head coach Mark Dantonio served as assistants at MSU under then head coach Nick Saban in the late 1990s. Grantham was a part of Saban’s staff from 1996-98. Dontonio became the head coach at MSU in 2007.

“I’m looking forward to seeing Coach ‘D’ again, that’s one of the good things about bowl games,” said Grantham. “You get to play teams that you normally don’t play and get to see some friends and guys you’ve worked with in the past. He’s got a good program and they’re playing well.”

When asked to compare the Spartans to a similar SEC opponent in regards to their offensive approach, he said they are like Arkansas and complimented the play of MSU senior quarterback Kirk Cousins.

“He is very accurate, throws with a lot of velocity, and they have good concepts,” said Grantham. “They are averaging 30 points a game and utilize multiple backs, tight ends and receivers.”

Cousins ranks third in passing efficiency in the Big Ten at 151.4 with 24 touchdowns and only seven interceptions in 369 attempts. By comparison, Georgia sophomore quarterback Aaron Murray ranks fourth in the SEC at 146.4 with 33 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in 371 attempts.

The 2012 Outback Bowl will be played on January 2nd at Raymond James Stadium. Kickoff against the Spartans (10-3, 7-1 Big Ten) will be at 1 p.m., and ABC Sports will televise the game live.

Friday Press Conference

2011-12-16T18:07:00.001-05:00

FOOTBALL

Coach Mark Richt

Opening Statement…

“It is a great day for the University of Georgia in that it’s graduation day. We had a lot of student-athletes graduate today. We had 10 today from football. A couple of them had been playing pro football for a few years and came back and finished up. We’ve been averaging about 19 football players a year graduating over the last 11 seasons. We’re just so proud of them, and it’s fun to see those guys at the tail ends of their careers and seeing their families and the young men themselves be so excited about getting that sheepskin. Congratulations to all of those guys. Everybody else got to practice today. It was a great day, beautiful. It felt like the first day of spring ball. There was a lot of lively competition. I think we had a little scrap here and there. There was just a great spirit about everybody. I thought the effort was great. I thought we got better today fundamentally and at a competitive level. You definitely either get better or get worse, and I think we got better today. That was nice.

“We know we’re in for a tremendous challenge. I’m aware that Michigan State is pretty hungry for a bowl victory right now, but they have a lot of maturity and a lot of winners to go get after it. So we have to make sure we are ready to get after it too.”

On whether motivation is different for a bowl game…

“This game has a bigger feel, having a dual purpose and a dual motivation. We want to win this game for a lot of reasons. We’d like to finish with 11 wins. We’ve had seven other teams do that and we’d like to be the eighth team. We would absolutely love for our seniors to walk out of that locker room with a smile on their face. It’s hard to get all excited at the end of your career if the last game you played was a loss. It’s tough. You’re sitting there hugging everybody’s neck and wishing them the best. It’s going to be the last time that team is going to be together, and we want that to be a great victory. It’s also the first game of 2012, and the way everything is set up in the BCS system, I think how you finish has something to do with how people see you when the season begins the next year. I think it’s important for the future too to play well and try to get the victory. There are a lot of reasons why we want to win, and they have the same motivation. They have a great football team and a great group of players and coaches. You turn that film on, and you immediately see that you are playing a well-coached bunch of guys who get after it. We better be ready.”

On how last year’s bowl experience might help this year…

“It was just so different a year ago, just the overall spirit of the team by the time we got to that one. We were all professional and we all wanted to do our best. It was hard to have a lot of life. It was a battle. Out there today if you saw those guys, they were fired up about playing football. They were enjoying each other and had a great day. I think we’ve learned to understand that we get to play in a bowl game; we don’t have to play in a bowl game. I think the guys are excited about the opportunity. I think overall this team has taken on a much more positive outlook on things from the very beginning starting last January.”

On the relationship between Aaron Murray and Orson Charles…

“They have been friends a long time. I think they truly love each other as friends. I think they’ve both taken pride that they came to Georgia and had a mission to try to win some championships at Georgia. We’ve not won the SEC or anything beyond that at this point, but to win the Eastern Division championship was something I think they both enjoyed and got excited about because they both wanted to win some championships before they left here. Just their work ethic, they both are hard workers, they both love the team. They are a lot alike. They play different positions, but they both have been great leaders for us, and enjoy their friendship and camaraderie. I think they’re happy with the decisions they made coming out of high school together. It’s been a real positive thing. To get to play in Tampa in this bowl game I’m sure is going to be a lot of fun for their families and friends.”

On whether Richt and Orson Charles have discussed Charles’ future…

“I’ve not. I would imagine every junior in the United States of America is kind of wondering when is the time and when is not the time. When the regular season is over and there is a little lull between that and the bowl game, I think some of those guys are thinking about it. If you’d been out there watching practice today, he was just soaking it in and enjoying being at Georgia. He’s just kind of an upbeat guy who is just enjoying the experience right now. I’m sure somewhere along the line he’s going to sit down and figure out what he wants to do.”

On Orson Charles’ place among the tight ends in Georgia history…

“Orson is a very talented guy. He’s not like a big giant guy when it comes to blocking, but he blocks bigger than he is. Because he’s not this big lumberjack, he’s a sleek receiver. He can run routes, he can change direction, he can catch the ball .You can split him out and play receiver. You can keep him at tight end and he’s legitimate. Some guys will line up in the tight end position, but they’re not tight ends in my opinion because they can’t block like they can. Some tight ends will flex out as a third receiver, but they’re not really a third receiver. This guy is a legitimate third receiver and a legitimate blocker. We try to take advantage of those guys best we can and hope to continue to do that.”

On Richard Samuel’s status…

“We expect him to play in the game. He got some run polish, I guess it was today. We weren’t ready to go full bore with him yet, but we expect him to play. I would imagine when we get to the bowl site he would do everything would be my guess from what I’ve heard from Ron Courson. He may go full speed tomorrow. I haven’t talked to Ron yet.”

On whether he would consider moving Samuel or another tailback to fullback next year…

“No, of the bunch of tailbacks right now, we would not put anybody at fullback. Richard I would definitely not put at fullback, none of those kids. If they came and asked me and begged me, I don’t know. I don’t see those guys as being the fullback type.”

On how much Richard Samuel has been missed while injured…

“Richard has been around the program a while. This is his fourth year. He’s got some maturity about him, and that group had a lot of inexperience. When he was in there they were just a little more grown up. There was more stability there and more maturity there, so we definitely missed him. Just as a player he’s a powerful back. He had a couple of great moments before when he played tailback, but as far as a game his last game he played when he got hurt, I think that was his best performance. I think he thought it was his best performance. Sometimes you need one of those games to give you the confidence to do it every single game. I think he was just hitting his stride and he got slowed up. I would say by the time we play the game he will have run the ball enough and changed direction enough. Hopefully he doesn’t have much rust on him at all.”

On having an open competition at running back…

“Do you guys think anybody established themselves as a solid starter at the tailback position? I’m not seeing that. Competition is a good thing, so I’m looking forward to it.”

An Update on Mike Gilliard's progress towards returning to action from injury…

"I just saw him walking on the field here towards the end of practice. He did have a boot on, but he was not on crutches, he wasn't very ginger. His gait was good, and if you didn't look down below his knees you would say he was just walking normal. So I thought that was a good sign, but I have no idea for what that means for practicing in the next couple of days. Richard (Samuel) we expect to play unless there is some kind of set back. Michael we are hoping he can play."

On player's he has coached throughout his career, if there has been a more scrutinized player than Isaiah Crowell…

"I won't talk specifically to Isaiah's notoriety, but nowadays the way the recruiting process is guys become bigger than life before they even walk on the campus. That's a tough responsibility for anybody to try to live up and to feel like you are just a regular guy when all of a sudden every move you do make somebody has got a comment on it or an opinion about it. That's got to be tough. I've talked to Isaiah. I've talked to other guys like Matthew Stafford, Knowshon Moreno and A.J. Green about learning to deal with the notoriety, the celebrity of it. I get to live with certain things, but you have to know that when you walk out the door to grab a bite to eat or something more than likely someone is going to come up to you and speak to you and maybe want an autograph, a picture or something like that. It's just kind of part of the thing, and you just kind of used to the fact that people watch you and are interested in what you say and do. That's tough on a kid that young. I'm pretty much of a full grown man I think most of the time. That's kind of hard to get used to myself, but I don't want to start a speech."

With exams wrapping up this week is everyone going to be eligible…

"I have not talked to our academic people yet. I asked a bunch of kids today how they are doing and everybody seemed to be thinking things went well. I know going into it there weren't any major concerns but there's always a chance somebody blows up. Going into these rounds of exams it wasn't like we were holding our breath on anything."

On if grades will be posted at a certain time that he knows of…

"I'm sure they will, but I don't know when the deadline is and I have not asked. Two days ago I started at 6 a.m. and got in at midnight. Yesterday, we practiced, went straight to the airplane, recruited and got in after midnight, got up went to graduation, did practice and came here, so really I haven't had much time to do anything other than recruit and coach."

If it is gratifying to be having contract extension talks…

"Oh yeah. I know I had a comment that went out, but I love Georgia. It's a great place. It's our home. I want it to remain our home for a long time. I'm thankful that Georgia wants me to be here, and I certainly want to be at Georgia and now we just got to talk about terms and all that kind of thing. All the talks we've had have been very positive and upbeat. It is about the head coach sometimes because if the coach's contract is long enough everybody has a little bit of peace and has a sense that there is stability within the program. All that is going to happen, but there are other things that we talk about too. Student-athlete welfare stuff or maybe we can do this or that. He might see something that he would like me to improve and I might say we want to work on some kind of facility issue. What I'm saying is we've just had some great talks, not only about extending my contract, but what can we do to be the 'Best in America' type talks too, which is exciting. There are no great details to talk about, but it's an atmosphere of sensing the excitement of what the future is holding for Georgia. I feel like we've created a lot of really positive momentum and just want to keep it going. We want to do everything it takes to keep it going."

On if his future has been something he's had to address in recruiting…

"There's been some that have just come out and said 'I'd like my son to go to Georgia, but I'm not sure what is going on' maybe in the summer or after the second game of the year. So there were some people that would just come out and say that, and there were others that maybe through the high school coach would say 'coach, if everything was set he would have done it a month ago.' You hear some of that type of conversation going on. Now that everything is real solid in that way I got a feeling there will be a few guys that were kind of holding back or maybe deciding on another school or rethinking what they are doing because they feel really good about what is happening at Georgia right now."

If UGA has been playing catch up in the recruiting process because of that…

"Yes. I guess that's a good way to say it. We really felt like we were going to have a really good class or had the makings of a really good class. We knew the more we won the better chance we would have to nail a great one. I think we still have the potential for a really great class."

If midseason enrollees can participate in bowl practice…

"They can but we are not going to do that. What happens is if the underclassmen participate in a bowl practice they can't play in these all-star games, so that's kind of stopped that a little bit. The other thing is that it used to be that they not only could practice on your site they could go to the bowl with you. They used to be able to get bowl gifts. Now it's a little different story. Those guys might have taken the bowl trip rather than playing in an all-star game and they had to weight that out. I think it's good. I don't think they can gain much by practicing once or twice. It's awkward. They don't know what they are doing. They're not going to be confident. I don't think it's a good idea."

On injury updates for Derrick Lott and Drew Butler…

"Derrick sprained he ankle in practice yesterday. Drew, he sprained his ankle out and about I guess. What happened was he had those shoes you get for tuxedo nights and they are kind of slick and slippery. He slipped, but I don't know exactly how it happened. You can ask him, but something happened where he slipped because the shoes were kind of slick and it tweaked it."

On what he is doing to turn special teams around…

"First of all, we know we have got to get better. It's two things in my opinion that it could be – either what we are doing schematically or its who do we have on those teams. I guess it could be a third thing – are they actually doing what we are asking them to do. In all those areas we must improve. I think there's going to be a high sense of urgency on our special teams to become more than just decent. We need to become really good. That's one of the biggest things is that we try to become one of the top teams in the league and the country in special teams play. There will be some very heavy discussions about it. We'll probably do more special teams work in the spring than we've done in the past. We knew we had a great punter, great kicker, holder, snapper and all that kind of thing, but we also knew we had some youth on some of those teams. We lost Akeem Dent, Darryl Gamble, Demarcus Dobbs – I'm trying to think of some of the other guys that were on some of these guys that were on that punt team – they were guys that could protect, escape and run and tackle a guy in the open field. We lost a batch of those guys and we were a little shy on linebacker depth and all that kind of thing, so we just have to keep recruiting those kinds of guys. If we got to put a bunch of starters on defense on some specials or starters at wide receiver or whatever you got to do – tailback. I don't care what position, we got to get the best guys out there and understand how crucial it is."

On his thoughts on his name being connected to other jobs…

"Texas A&M got bigger than life…I had not been contacted personally. Anybody who could have possibly represented me in any way, shape or form, never said to me A&M is interested. I don't know where all that came from. That was interesting to me to have that much smoke and no one that I know of got contacted on it. I have not heard a thing or word from Penn State. I've never been a guy to try and leverage a situation because the first day I got it here I said I want to be at Georgia. I said I wanted it to be the last coaching job I have. I'm very interested in winning, doing things the right way and stability for my family. I got to see at Florida State the benefits of stability in a coaching staff. I got to see the benefits of guys playing five years ago, six years ago, seven years ago, eight years ago, and coming back and seeing coach Bobby Bowden. Seeing people he knows, loves and trusts it's great. I've coached with a couple guys along the way that have never seen a class go from freshman to senior in their whole career. They never stayed four or five years anywhere long enough to see a guy through to the end. You see guys like Ben Harden and Justin Anderson and all these guys like Bruce Figgins. You see them in their house when they are 17-year-old kids and then you see them all grown up ready for life. I enjoy that a lot. That's a big part of why I coach. You don't get that if you are always looking for something better. There's always going to be something that might look better, but for me, there is no place that is better."

On if it gets irritating to have his named come up over the years in regards to other coaching jobs…

"I personally don't think it's become that big of an issue. I'll answer this. Have teams contacted me? Yes. Have people contacted my agents in the past? Yes. But I've always behind closed doors, behind the scene said you know what I appreciate your interest but I like it where I'm at and I don't have any interest. So a lot of things haven't become a big deal. I haven't said let me go fly there and take a look. I've never done that. I've never really wanted to do that because I care about our recruiting class currently. If I know in my heart this is where I want to be then I don't want to play a game for any reason. All I'm asking is for everything to be as fair as we can. I want to give Georgia my best, and I want Georgia to give us its best."

On reflecting back to his playing days and the bowl game selection process being more open compared to now bowl games being more structured and which way he likes better…

"All I know is when I was a player we went to one bowl when I was at Miami. It was the Peach Bowl. That was a big deal. We froze our rear ends off. We got a Peach Bowl watch. I gave it to my dad. But I don't know. I think one that I would be for – and I might get in trouble for this but I hope not – I think it would be interesting to rotate some of the BCS games. Where the SEC may go to the Sugar Bowl this year, go the Fiesta next year and whatever and have people do that. But there is such tradition in the SEC with the Sugar Bowl and the Pac-10 and Big Ten or 12 or whatever they are called now going to the Rose and all that kind of thing. I don't know if that will ever happen, but I think that would be interesting for fans, players and coaches to have a different destination, a kind of built in rotating destination."

If there are any concerns with the defense from the second half of the LSU game…

"A lot of the issues were special teams related and turnover related. There's some times we just got gapped out on a run and it went to the house. I don't think we left there with problems we can't solve at all."

Center Ben Jones

On playing Michigan State…

“It’s going to be a great challenge. Michigan State has one of the top defenses in the, so from an offensive standpoint, we are looking forward to the challenge.”

On playing in a bowl game…

“It’s been nice weather all week and we’re looking forward to going to Tampa. We are really excited to go down there and experience everything that the Outback Bowl has planned for us. I think it’s going to be a great bowl game for me. It’s been a rollercoaster during my time at Georgia and I’m really excited about finishing off my career here with a bowl game.”

Safety Bacarri Rambo

On getting back to practice…

“It feels good to be back on the practice field. Everyone had a good break and had a chance to give their bodies a rest after a long season. We’re excited to be back out there and continue to get better and work on fundamentals.”

On stopping Michigan State’s offense…

“We have to get in the film room and learn their offense. When we watch film, we have to pick up on some of the key things about their offense. Once we get out on the field, we just have to continue to play our best. We have to run to the ball and continue to do things that we have done all season. Everyone needs to focus on doing their job and not trying to do too much. Michigan State has good receivers and a really good quarterback. He is a guy that shows a lot of leadership and makes good decisions with the ball.”

On playing the last game of the season…

“We have to go out there and leave it all on the field. This is the last game of the season for us so we don’t have anything else to look forward to. We have to go out there and give our all for this team and the fans.”

Linebacker Christian Robinson

On playing Michigan State…

“I’m really excited to play Michigan State. I was a freshman the last time that we played them and I didn’t get to play. I think this game is going to be a great matchup because of the style of offense that they run and the defense that we have. There is a lot of motivation for both sides. We are both playing for respect and to end our seasons on a high note. These two teams match up really well on paper and I am excited to see how that translates on the field.”

On getting back to practice…

“We have had a lot of free times to finish up exams and wrap up the semester. Now, we are getting in the groove of bowl practices. We’ve had great weather this week, so practice hasn’t been as rough.”

On playing in a bowl game…

“The biggest difference in playing in a bowl game and regular season game is that there is a lot of stuff going on. We don’t have school, so it’s about playing football and enjoying the experience. This is a big trip for us. I love going to bowl games because we get to be with the seniors for one more trip and one more game. I’m ready to go out there and make some memories.”

Cornerback Brandon Boykin

On bowl preparation…

“You have a lot more time to prepare for a bowl game than you do for a regular-season game. The environment is a little more laid back because we have some time to enjoy ourselves before the game. Once the game starts though, we have o handle business. We are going to treat this like any other game but still enjoy the experience.”

On Michigan State…

“Michigan State is a great team that is evenly matched on paper. They have a great defense and a lot of explosive players on offense. They have a great group of wide receivers and an experienced quarterback, so we have our work cut out for us. We’re excited to get the chance to play them.”

Dawgs Chow Down At Outback

2011-12-15T18:54:00.001-05:00

FOOTBALL

The 18th-ranked Dawgs continued preparations for the Outback Bowl with a 90-minute practice Thursday in full pads and then dined at the local Outback Steakhouse restaurant.

It is customary for the participating teams in this bowl game to have their student-athletes and coaches enjoy a lunch at their local Outback to get a taste of what their bowl trip will be like when they arrive in Tampa. Local media that cover the teams were invited too. Outback Bowl representative Glen Shamblen welcomed the Dawgs to their local restaurant Thursday.

Waiting at Outback were:

• 170 steaks
• 120 pounds of ribs
• 600 grilled shrimp
• 100 pounds of chicken
• 120 steamed lobster tails
• 170 baked potatoes
• 60 Blooming Onions
• 170 salads and bread
• And 60 gallons of sweet tea

“We walked in and saw all that food, and it was like, ‘Oh yeah,’” said offensive tackle Justin Anderson, who will graduate Friday morning. “That was awfully nice of the folks from Outback to do for us. We really appreciated it. I’m glad we practiced before we went over there. I ate so many ribs, there’s no way I could have practiced later in the day.”

Thursday’s practice session was in full pads and under sunny skies with temperatures hovering in the high 60s. Georgia is making its 47th all-time appearance in a bowl, and it owns a record of 26-17-3. The Dawgs are 3-0 in the Outback Bowl including a 24-21 triumph over Wisconsin in the 2005 game. Georgia is 2-0 all-time against the Spartans, both coming in bowl games (1989 Gator in Jacksonville, 2008 Capital One in Orlando).

Georgia will practice the next five days in Athens before taking a five-day break for the holidays. The team will reconvene in Tampa for final bowl preparations on Monday, Dec. 26.

“I thought we started a little sluggish since it was our first time back in awhile, but the pace picked up when we got into our competitive drills,” coach Mark Richt said. “We were blessed with a great morning temperature-wise, and we got in some good work. We’re excited about this opportunity to play a quality opponent like Michigan State in the Outback Bowl. We have a lot of respect for the Spartans, and we will keep focusing our energy on this game.”

The 2012 Outback Bowl will be played on Jan. 2 at Raymond James Stadium. Kickoff against 12th-ranked Michigan State (10-3, 7-1 Big Ten) will be at 1 p.m., and ABC Sports will televise the game live.

Dawg Degrees

2011-12-14T19:01:00.001-05:00

Twenty-seven University of Georgia student-athletes will receive degrees at Fall Commencement on Friday, December 16th at 9:30 a.m., in Stegeman Coliseum.

Among the graduates are 10 football players, three members of the track and field team, three members of the swimming and diving teams, two soccer players, two members of the softball team, two baseball players, two equestrian team members, one gymnast, one women’s basketball player, and one volleyball player.

Baseball: Justin Earls, Lawrenceville, Ga., Sport Management; Carson Schilling, Macon, Ga., Communication Studies,

Women’s Basketball: Meredith Mitchell, Midfield, Ala., Management.

Equestrian: Amelia Rodgers, Burlington, Vt., Animal Science; Kate Stewart, Dawson, Ga.

Football: Justin Anderson, Ocilla, Ga., Housing; Nic Clemons, Griffin, Ga., Child and Family Development; Candler Cook, Atlanta,Ga., Management; Eric Elliot, Kennesaw, Ga., Risk Management and Insurance; Demetric Evans, Haynesville, Ga., Child and Family Development; Bruce Figgins, Columbus, Ga., Communication Studies; Ben Harden, Perry, Ga., Housing; Josh Sailors, Athens, Ga., Biology; Richard Samuel, Cartersville, Ga., Sport Management; Trinton Sturdivant, Wadesboro,N.C.; Finance.

Gymnastics: Hilary Mauro, Boston Mass., Communication Studies.

Soccer: Kelli Corless, Acworth, Ga., Exercise and Sport Science; Caroline Simpson, Atlanta, Ga., Finance.

Softball: Taylor Schlopy, West Hills, Calif., Child and Family Development; Megan Wiggins, Snellville, Ga., Sociology.

Swimming and Diving: Lexie Bryant, Duluth, Ga., Art; Lauren Cartwright, Fayetteville, Ga., Exercise and Sport Science; Chelsea Nauta, Tampa, Fla., Biology.

Track and Field: Alesha Asijie, Mesa, Ariz., Child and Family Development; Odeika Bent, Montego Bay, Jamaica, Sociology and Criminal Justice; LaTroya Darrell, Smith’s Parish, Bermuda, Child and Family Development.

Volleyball: Carla Tietz, St. Charles, Ill., Child and Family Development.

Dawgs Trio Named AP All-Americans

2011-12-14T18:55:00.001-05:00

FOOTBALL

Georgia sophomore linebacker Jarvis Jones and junior safety Bacarri Rambo have been named to the Associated Press All-America first team, while senior tackle Cordy Glenn was named to the third team, it was announced Wednesday.

Jones and Rambo are the first UGA defensive teammates to earn AP All-America honors since Jake Scott and Bill Stanfill in 1968.

A 6-3, 241-pound native of Columbus, Jones is the Dawgs’ leading tackler this season with 69 stops, including an SEC-leading 19.5 tackles for loss and 13.5 sacks, which ranks second nationally. He moved to No. 2 on the school’s all-time single season sack list behind David Pollack, who had 14 in 2002. Jones has also forced two fumbles.

A 6-0, 218-pound native of Donalsonville, Rambo is third in the nation with seven interceptions this season and has 52 tackles. He is the team’s active leader with 12 picks over the last three seasons, which is tied for fourth among active players in the NCAA. Rambo is also No. 2 on the NCAA’s list for active player interception return yardage with 241 yards, which ranks third in school history.

Glenn, a 6-5, 348-pound native of Riverdale, leads the Dawgs with 49 career starts including the last 46 contests. He was named the SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week following the Dawgs’ 24-20 win over Florida and has helped sophomore quarterback Aaron Murray stand at the No. 2 spot in the conference in both total offense (229.6 ypg.) and passing yards per game (220.1) this season.

The SEC was also represented by eight other players on the first team including Alabama tailback Trent Richardson, Alabama tackle Barrett Jones, South Carolina defensive end Melvin Ingram, Alabama linebacker Dont’a Hightower, LSU cornerbacks Morris Claiborne and Tyrann Mathieu, Alabama safety Mark Barron and LSU punter Brad Wing.

Dawgs Get JUCO Offensive Tackle

2011-12-14T17:52:00.001-05:00

FOOTBALL

Offensive tackle Mark Beard has committed to the Dawgs and becomes the 16th member of the class of 2012.

Beard, (6-5, 300) is transferring from Coffeyville Community College and will have three years of eligibility remaining. He will enroll in January and participate in winter conditioning drills and spring practice. Beard will provide immediate help at a position that the Dawgs will lose two seniors from following the bowl game, he has been told by the staff that his first opportunity will be at left tackle.

Jarvis Jones Named FWAA All-American

2011-12-12T12:25:00.000-05:00

FOOTBALL

University of Georgia sophomore linebacker Jarvis Jones has been named to the 68^th Football Writers Association of America All-America Team, according to an announcement by the FWAA.

Jones is the third Dawg in as many years to be named to the team after punter Drew Butler and linebacker Justin Houston received the honor in 2009 and 2010, respectively. The Southeastern Conference has 10 players on this year’s team, including the only three sophomores in Jones and LSU’s Sam Montgomery and Tyrann Mathieu.

A Butkus Award finalist, Jones forced two fumbles for one of the top defensive units in the country. The Dawgs are among the national leaders in scoring defense (19.6 ppg.) and rushing defense (103.4 ypg.).

Jones was also named a Walter Camp Football Foundation First Team All-American.

Four Dawgs Make Yahoo AA Team

2011-12-12T09:00:00.000-05:00

FOOTBALL

Four members of the University of Georgia football team were named to the Yahoo Sports All-America Team, it was announced Monday. Senior center Ben Jones and junior defensive back Bacarri Rambo were named to the first team, while sophomore linebacker Jarvis Jones earned second team honors and tailback Isaiah Crowell was named to the freshman team.

Ben Jones, a 6-3, 316-pound native of Centreville, Alabama, developed into one of the most dominant linemen in the nation and graded out at 82 percent average through the regular season with an average of five intimidator blocks a game. He was named to UGA's Victor's Club 10 times during the 2011 season for his outstanding play on the offensive line and of Georgia's 29 sacks allowed, Jones did not give up any.

A 6-3, 241-pound native of Columbus, Jarvis Jones is the Dawgs’ leading tackler this season with 69 stops, including an SEC-leading 19.5 tackles for loss and 13.5 sacks. He moved to No. 2 on the school’s all-time single season sack list behind David Pollack, who had 14 in 2002. Jones is currently third on the national sack list and has forced two fumbles.

Crowell (5-11, 215) ranks fifth in the SEC with 77.0 yards rushing per game after tallying a team-high 847 yards and five touchdowns on 182 carries in 11 games played. The Columbus, native has four 100-yard games this season and was named the SEC Freshman of the Week four different times.

Team Awards Gala Held Saturday Night

2011-12-11T07:00:00.000-05:00

FOOTBALL

Senior center Ben Jones of Centreville, Alabama; sophomore quarterback Aaron Murray of Tampa, Florida; sophomore linebacker Jarvis Jones of Columbus; senior punter Drew Butler of Duluth and redshirt freshman Kosta Vavlas of Tarpon Springs, Florida, took home the top awards at the University of Georgia football annual team Gala Saturday night at the Classic Center in Athens.

Ben Jones was named the recipient of the Vince Dooley Most Valuable Player of the Year Award, Aaron Murray was named the team’s Most Valuable Offensive Player, and Jarvis Jones received Most Valuable Defensive Player honors. Vavlas and Butler were named Most Valuable Special Teams players.

Sophomore guard Chris Burnette of LaGrange and sophomore linebacker Alec Ogletree of Newnan were named winners of the David Jacobs Award as the players who, by example, portray courage, spirit, character and determination.

Ben Jones was also named the team’s overall permanent captain for 2011. Junior tight end Orson Charles of Tampa, Florida, and senior guard Cordy Glenn of Riverdale were elected as the team’s offensive captains, senior defensive back Brandon Boykin of Fayetteville and Jarvis Jones were chosen as the defensive captains, and Butler was named the special teams captain.

The Leon Farmer Award for dedication to the strength and conditioning program was presented to Boykin and Ben Jones. Outstanding Scout Team Awards went to redshirt freshman quarterback Greg Bingham of Columbus (offense), redshirt freshman linebacker Corey Campbell of Hephzibah and senior cornerback Eric Elliot of Kennesaw (defense), and sophomore cornerback Luis Capella of Augusta (special teams).

Most Improved Player Awards were presented to senior tackle Justin Anderson of Ocilla and Glenn (offense); senior defensive end Abry Jones of Warner Robins and junior linebacker Mike Gilliard of Valdosta (defense); and redshirt freshman safety Connor Norman of Duluth (special teams).

Newcomer of the Year Award winners were redshirt freshman receiver Michael Bennett of Alpharetta, freshman receiver Chris Conley of Dallas, and freshman receiver Malcolm Mitchell of Valdosta (offense); freshman linebacker Amarlo Herrera of College Park and junior nose guard John Jenkins of Meriden, Connecticut (defense); and freshman defensive back Quintavius Harrow of Columbus (special teams).

Coaches Leadership Awards went to Charles, Murray and Ben Jones (offense), Boykin and senior defensive end DeAngelo Tyson of Statesboro (defense), and Butler (special teams).

The Governor’s Cup trophy for the victory over Georgia Tech was officially presented by Shelton Stevens from Healthcare of Atlanta.

Boykin Finalist For Hornung Award

2011-12-10T13:25:00.001-05:00

FOOTBALL

Georgia senior cornerback and return specialist Brandon Boykin has been named one of four finalists for the Paul Hornung Award presented by the Texas Roadhouse, according to an announcement by the Louisville Sports Commission (LSC).

Boykin joins Arkansas’ Joe Adams, Oregon’s LaMichael James and Toledo’s Eric Page as the four finalists for this season’s award. Boykin leads the foursome with eight selections to the Paul Hornung Award Weekly Honor Roll throughout the 2011 season.

The Paul Hornung Award winner will be selected following the finalists’ participation in bowl games. Fan voting to select the winner is now open on Facebook. Fans can vote as often as once a day by going to www.votepaulhornung.com.

The award winner will be announced on approximately January 8 with the winner to be honored on February 2 in Louisville, Ky., at a banquet at the downtown Galt House Hotel.

The Paul Hornung Award is given annually by the LSC to the most versatile player in major college football. The award was created by the LSC in January 2010 with the support of Paul Hornung, a native and lifelong resident of Louisville and member of the College and Pro Football Halls of Fame.

Boykin, a 5-10, 183-pound native of Fayetteville, was named earlier this week to the Coaches All-Southeastern Conference Second Team for his versatile performance this season. Starting at cornerback 37 times in his career, Boykin is fifth on this year’s team with 48 tackles, including nine tackles for loss, and has forced two fumbles. He is also tied for second on the team with three interceptions, giving him nine in his career.

Boykin has also proven himself to be one of the nation’s most prolific return specialists. As a kickoff returner, he is the active SEC career leader with 2,593 yards, including four touchdowns (three 100 yarders, making him the only player in SEC history to record three plays of 100 yards of any kind in his career), and is second on the SEC all-time list. This season, he has piled up an SEC-best 780 kickoff return yards on 34 returns for a 22.9 average.

For the first time in his career, Boykin has also returned punts in 2011, taking 13 of them 88 yards (6.8 avg.).

On offense, Boykin has also provided a boost. He caught four balls for 58 yards, including a 42-yard touchdown reception. Boykin has run the ball five times for 95 yards, including taking his first career carry 80 yards for a touchdown versus #5 Boise State in the season opener.

Butler Named Academic All-American

2011-12-10T13:07:00.001-05:00

FOOTBALL

Senior Drew Butler has been named a Capital One Academic All-American as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

Butler, a 6-2, 214-pound native of Duluth, becomes only the fourth Dawg in school history to be named a First Team Academic All-American twice. He is the first one to accomplish this feat since offensive lineman Jon Stinchcomb in 2001-02.

One of the top punters in college football history, Butler is a three-time All-Southeastern Conference selection who has a 45.5 career punting average. A graduate student who earned his B.A. degree in Journalism with a 3.62 grade point average (GPA), he is pursuing a graduate degree in Sport Management.

Butler was the winner of the 2009 Ray Guy Award as the top punter in the nation and a finalist for the honor in 2010. A two-time All-American, he is averaging 44.3 yards per punt this season while leading the Dawgs to a 10-3 record and a berth in the SEC Championship Game.

In addition to his Academic All-America selection, Butler has also been named a finalist for the Lowe’s Senior Class Award, William Campbell Trophy, ARA Sportsmanship Award and the Wuerffel Trophy this season and was a member of the 2011 National Football Foundation (NFF)National Scholar-Athlete Class, which was honored this week in New York.

Butler becomes only the fourth Georgia player in history to earn a pair of First Team honors. Terry Hoage (1982-83), Matt Stinchcomb (1997-98) and Jon Stinchcomb all received the First Team honor twice. Hoage (1981) and Jon Stinchcomb (2000) were also named to the Second Team one year in their careers.

In 2010, Butler joined an exclusive Dawg club of All-Americans who have been honored for their performance on the field and in the classroom. They are: Frank Tarkenton (1960), Lynn Hughes (1966), Bill Stanfill (1968), Terry Hoage (1982-83), Matt Stinchcomb (1997-98) and Jon Stinchcomb (2002).

The 26 members of the 2011 Capital One Academic All-America® Football Division I first team have an average G.P.A. of 3.82. To be eligible for Academic All-America® consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative G.P.A. of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director.

For more information about the Academic All-America® Teams program, please visit www.cosida.com.

Jones, Charles & Rambo Honored

2011-12-09T13:17:00.000-05:00

FOOTBALL

Georgia redshirt sophomore linebacker Jarvis Jones has been named a Walter Camp Football Foundation First Team All-American to headline a list of three Dawgs named to the 121st group honored by the organization.

In addition to Jones, junior tight end Orson Charles and junior free safety Bacarri Rambo were both named Walter Camp Second Team All-Americans.

The nation’s oldest All-America team was announced live on ESPN’s The Home Depot College Football Awards Show late Thursday night.

Jones is the first Walter Camp First Team All-American for Georgia since punter Drew Butler earned the honor in 2009. There have been eight First Team selections for UGA since Mark Richt was named head coach in 2001 and 35 since the award began in the late 1800s.

Both A.J. Green, who is currently the Cincinnati Bengals’ leading receiver, and Justin Houston, who has 39 tackles, including three sacks, for the Kansas City Chiefs this season, were the Dawgs’ two Walter Camp Second Team All-Americans in 2010.

A 6-3, 241-pound native of Columbus, Jones is the Dawgs’ leading tackler this season with 69 stops, including an SEC-leading 19.5 tackles for loss of 103 yards and 13.5 sacks. Jones surged to No. 2 on the school’s all-time single season sack list behind David Pollack, who had 14 in 2002. Jones is currently third on the national sack list.

The Butkus Award finalist also forced two fumbles to develop Georgia into having one of the nation’s most stifling defenses. The Dawgs rank third nationally in Scoring Defense (19.6 ppg.), ninth in Rushing Defense (103.4 ypg.) and 17th in Scoring Defense (19.6 ppg.) through their run to the SEC Championship Game.

In just his first season playing on Georgia’s 3-4 defense after transferring from Southern California, Jones has been the only linebacker to start all 13 games this season. Versus top-ranked LSU in the SEC Championship, Jones had three tackles and helped hold LSU to just 12 total yards in the opening half with no first downs and only seven points on a punt returned for a touchdown.

Jones was named the Walter Camp National Defensive Player of the Week earlier this season for his performance in the win over Florida. He finished with five tackles, including four sacks, and forced a fumble as the Dawgs picked up a 24-20 win.

A 6-3, 241-pound native of Tampa, Florida, Charles leads Georgia with a team-high 44 catches for 572 yards and five touchdowns and has started the last 23 games in a row. He is the school’s all-time leader at tight end with 1,368 yards receiving, is tied with former Dawg Leonard Pope with 10 career touchdowns and is third in UGA history with 93 receptions.

Charles is a Mackey Award finalist who has served as one of the team’s captains four times during Georgia’s run to the SEC Eastern Division title. A member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll with a 3.51 GPA, Charles has also contributed on the kickoff team, PAT/field goal team and the punt return team in 2011, including blocking a punt at Vanderbilt.

Charles now catches balls from his former Plant High School (Tampa) teammate, current Dawg quarterback Aaron Murray. With 44 catches already this season, Charles is just five catches away from tying the single season school record for tight end receptions (Shannon Mitchell, 49-539-2).

A 6-0, 218-pound native of Donalsonville, Rambo is third in the nation with seven interceptions this season and is fourth on Georgia’s defense with 52 tackles. He is the team’s active leader with 12 picks over the last three seasons, which is tied for fourth among active players in the NCAA.

Rambo is also No. 2 on the NCAA’s list for active player interception return yardage with 241 yards, which ranks third in school history. Starting 25 games over the last two seasons, Rambo has anchored a Dawg secondary that ranks 12th in the nation and third in the SEC with 17 interceptions in 2011.

Lady Dawgs Defeat Bears

2011-12-06T22:00:00.000-05:00

BASKETBALL

Jasmine Hassell scored a game-high 16 points to lead No. 14 Georgia (8-1) in an 80-43 victory over Mercer (2-7) on Tuesday night.

Khaalidah Miller added 15 points, 11 in the first half, and Anne Marie Armstrong chipped In 12. Jasmine James notched team-high tallies with eight rebounds, four assists and four steals.

Mercer grabbed an early lead and maintained an advantage for much of the half until a Meredith Mitchell lay-up put Georgia up 15-14 with 9:11 left in the period. That bucket helped ignite a 17-2 Lady Dawg surge covering 5:13 that put Georgia up 29-16 at the 4:21 mark.

"Early on, we were switching our man-to-man defense, which is something we traditionally don't go," coach Andy Landers said. "After six or seven minutes, we went back to the way we usually play and that seemed to get us on track on defense. Offensively, I thought we really did a nice job of running the floor but we'd get eight feet from the basket and they would road block us or we wouldn't convert."

The Lady Dawgs' first-half lead topped out at 16 points with 24 seconds left, and Georgia continued to build on that after intermission. A 13-7 surge over the first 4:09 of the second half expanded the lead to 20.

Georgia committed a season-low nine turnovers and outscored the Bears 52-6 in the paint.

Ebony Jones saw her first action of the season, checking in with 2:16 left in the first half. Jones missed Georgia's first eight games while recovering from a posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) injury in her left knee.

The Lady Dawgs will now enjoy a 13-day break from competition while Final exams are administered on the UGA campus. Georgia will return to action on December 19th when the they face Gonzaga, an "Elite Eight" team last season, in the opening round of the Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic. Georgia also will take on Montana State in Vegas on December 20th before closing out the pre-holiday portion of its slate against Appalachian State in Athens on December 22nd.

Ben Jones Rimington Finalist

2011-12-06T21:25:00.001-05:00

FOOTBALL

Georgia senior center Ben Jones has been named one of six finalists for the Rimington Trophy, which is given to the most outstanding center in college football.

With Alabama’s William Vlachos being the only other player from the Southeastern Conference on the list, Clemson’s Dalton Freeman, Oklahoma State’s Grant Garner, Wisconsin’s Peter Konz and Michigan’s David Molk join Jones as candidates for the honor.

The winner of the Rimington Trophy will be announced during the ESPNU/Home Depot College Football Awards show, broadcast live from Orlando, Florida, on ESPN on December 8th.

The 2011 Rimington winner will be recognized at the Rimington Trophy Presentation at the Rococo Theatre in Lincoln, Nebraska, on January 14, 2012.

Dave Rimington, the award's namesake, was a consensus first-team All-America center at the University of Nebraska in 1981 and 1982, during which time he became the John Outland Trophy's only double winner as the nation's finest college interior lineman.

A 6-3, 316-pound native of Centreville, Alabama, Jones has proven to be one of the most dominant linemen in the nation and joined his teammates in representing the Eastern Division at the 2011 SEC Championship Game versus top-ranked LSU on December 3rd.

Jones was honored as the SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week twice this year versus #24 Auburn and New Mexico State. Named a captain for the Dawgs nine times this season, Jones has 48 total starts in his career, including the last 21 in a row

Charles & Jones Named To AFCA All America Team

2011-12-06T21:03:00.001-05:00

FOOTBALL

Georgia junior tight end Orson Charles and redshirt sophomore linebacker Jarvis Jones have both been named to the 2011 American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) FBS All-America Team.

The AFCA has selected an All-America team since 1945 and currently selects teams in all five of its divisions. The nation’s coaches choose this squad and nine of the 25 team members this season are from the Southeastern Conference.

Charles and Jones are the first Dawgs to be named AFCA All-Americans since punter Drew Butler earned the honor in 2009. This marks the first time two Georgia players have been named to the team in the same year since safety Greg Blue and offensive lineman Max Jean-Gilles accomplished the feat together in 2005.

The Dawgs have been represented 34 times by 29 different players on the AFCA All-America Team. Herschel Walker is the only three-time AFCA All-American (1980-82) in the 67-year history of the team.

A 6-3, 241-pound native of Tampa, Florida, Charles leads Georgia with a team-high 44 catches for 572 yards and five touchdowns and has started the last 23 games in a row. He is the school’s all-time leader at tight end with 1,368 yards receiving, is tied with former Bulldog Leonard Pope with 10 career touchdowns and is third in UGA history with 93 receptions.

The Butkus Award finalist also forced two fumbles to help develop Georgia into having one of the nation’s most stifling defenses. The Dawgs rank third nationally in Scoring Defense (19.6 ppg.), ninth in Rushing Defense (103.4 ypg.) and 17th in Scoring Defense (19.6 ppg.) through their run to the SEC Championship Game.

In just his first season playing on Georgia’s 3-4 defense after transferring from Southern California, Jones has been the only Dawg linebacker to start all 13 games this season. Versus the top-ranked Tigers in the SEC Championship, Jones had three tackles and helped hold LSU to just 12 total yards in the opening half with no first downs.

Dawgs Put 7 On Coaches All SEC Team

2011-12-06T20:54:00.001-05:00

FOOTBALL

The Dawgs had nine team members named to the Coaches All-Southeastern Conference football teams, according to a league announcement on Tuesday.

Junior tight end Orson Charles, redshirt sophomore outside linebacker Jarvis Jones, junior free safety Bacarri Rambo and senior right tackle Cordy Glenn were all named to the First Team.

The Second Team selections included senior cornerback Brandon Boykin, senior center Ben Jones and redshirt sophomore quarterback Aaron Murray.

Georgia also had two members named to the Freshman All-SEC Team. Split end Malcolm Mitchell and running back Isaiah Crowell rounded out the list of Dawgs.

Charles, Jarvis Jones, Rambo, Glenn, Ben Jones and Murray were all also recently named to the same respective AP All-SEC teams while Crowell was named the AP SEC Freshman of the Year.

A member of the 2011 AFCA All-America Team, Charles, a 6-3, 241-pound native of Tampa, Florida, leads Georgia with a team-high 44 catches for 572 yards and five touchdowns and has started the last 23 games in a row. He is the school’s all-time leader at tight end with 1,368 yards receiving, is tied with former Dawg Leonard Pope with 10 career touchdowns and is third in UGA history with 93 receptions.

A 6-3, 241-pound native of Columbus, Jarvis Jones is the Dawgs’ leading tackler this season with 69 stops, including an SEC-leading 19.5 tackles for loss of 103 yards and 13.5 sacks. Also a 2011 AFCA All-American, Jones surged to No. 2 on the school’s all-time single season sack list behind David Pollack, who had 14 in 2002. Jones is currently third on the national sack list.

A 6-0, 218-pound native of Donalsonville, Rambo is third in the nation with seven interceptions this season and is fourth on Georgia’s defense with 52 tackles. He is the team’s active leader with 12 picks over the last three seasons. Rambo is also No. 2 on the NCAA’s list for active player interception return yardage with 241 yards, which ranks third in school history.

Earning a spot on Pro Football Weekly’s 2010 All-America Team, Glenn, a 6-5, 348-pound native of Riverdale, leads the team with 49 career starts (third all-time in UGA history for non-kickers), including the last 46 contests. He was named the SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week following the Dawgs’ 24-20 win over Florida and has helped sophomore quarterback Aaron Murray stand at the No. 2 spot in the conference in both total offense (229.6 ypg.) and passing yards per game (220.1) this season.

Boykin, a 5-10, 183-pound native of Fayetteville, has proven to be a threat both on defense and on special teams for the Dawgs. Starting at cornerback 37 times in his career, Boykin is fifth on this year’s team with 48 tackles, including nine tackles for loss. He is also tied for second on the team with three interceptions, giving him nine in his career.

As a kickoff returner, Boykin is the active SEC career leader with 2,593 yards, including four touchdowns, and is third on the SEC all-time list. Also, Boykin has returned 13 punts for 88 yards (6.8 avg.), caught four balls for 58 yards and run the ball five times for 95 yards. He has scored a receiving and a rushing touchdown this season.

Ben Jones, a 6-3, 316-pound native of Centreville, Alabama, has proven to be one of the most dominant linemen in the nation and joined his teammates in representing the Eastern Division at the 2011 SEC Championship Game versus top-ranked LSU on December 3. Jones graded out at 82 percent average through the regular season with an average of five intimidator blocks a game. He was named to UGA's Victor's Club 10 times during the 2011 season for his outstanding play on the offensive line and of Georgia's 29 sacks allowed, Jones did not give up any of them.

A 2010 Freshman All-American, Murray, a 6-1, 211-pound native of Tampa, Florida, put together the necessary numbers in 2011 to help him become the SEC’s leading active player in total offensive yards (6,193), completions (427), touchdown responsibility (63), touchdown passes (57) and passing yards (5,910). Murray also set a new school record in touchdown passes in a season for UGA (33) in 2011 and touchdown responsibility by a quarterback in a season (35).

Mitchell, a 6-1, 184-pound native of Valdosta, leads the Dawgs with 614 receiving yards after hauling in 38 catches. Recording four of Georgia’s 35 receiving touchdowns this year, Mitchell has led the Dawgs in receiving three times this season. He missed three games with a hamstring injury midway through the season, but had four catches for 32 yards in his team’s last action versus No. 1 LSU in the SEC Championship Game.

Crowell (5-11, 215) is fifth in the SEC averaging 77.0 yards per game after tallying a team-high 847 yards and five touchdowns on 182 carries in 11 games played. The Columbus, native has four 100-yard games this season and was named the SEC Freshman of the Week four different times

Richt Finalist For Coach Of The Year

2011-12-06T19:55:00.001-05:00

FOOTBALL

University of Georgia Head Football Coach Mark Richt was named among 10 FBS finalists for the 2011 Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award.

The Dawgs are 10-3 on the season and won the 2011 SEC Eastern Division. They are preparing to play against the No. 12 ranked Michigan State Spartans in the Outback Bowl scheduled for January 2.

The Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year award recognizes the guidance and leadership that coaches extend beyond the playing field in terms of leaving lasting impressions on the players they mentor and the communities they reach. The 10 finalists were determined by fan voting and through an objective scoring model by the College Football Hall of Fame.

“College Football fans clearly recognize Coach Richt as one of the game’s true leaders, and we agree he is an excellent finalist for the 2011 Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award,” said Greg Gordon, Liberty Mutual senior vice president. “Each year, we ask fans to vote for the coaches who best exemplify the award’s characteristics – sportsmanship, integrity, responsibility and excellence, on and off the field. Coach Richt does just that, through his success on game days, as well as providing leadership to his student-athletes and commitment to the greater Georgia community.”

Fans can vote for Coach Richt by going to www.CoachoftheYear.com between December 6th and December 22nd. The winner will be announced prior to the BCS Championship game on January 9, 2012. If Coach Richt is named the 2011 Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year for the FBS, he will receive $50,000 to donate to the charities of his choice and a $20,000 grant to his school’s alumni association.

2011 Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Finalists (listed alphabetically)
Football Bowl Subdivision:
Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State University
Brady Hoke, University of Michigan
Mark Hudspeth, University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Mike London, University of Virginia
Les Miles, Louisiana State University
Bobby Petrino, University of Arkansas
Mark Richt, University of Georgia
Nick Saban, University of Alabama
Bill Snyder, Kansas State University
Dabo Swinney, Clemson University

Dawgs Nab Top Running Back

2011-12-06T15:44:00.001-05:00

FOOTBALL

For the second year in a row, the Dawgs have landed the nation’s top rated high school running back.

Millbrook, North Carolina’s Keith Marshall (5-11, 192) will enroll at UGA in January and participate in the off season program. Marshall is a big fast back similar is build to teammate Isaiah Crowell, last years top high school back and current SEC freshman of the year.

Marshall made the announcement during a ceremony at his school this afternoon, he becomes the 15th member of the class of 2012.

Dawgs Accept Bid To Outback Bowl

2011-12-04T22:05:00.001-05:00

FOOTBALL

The 18th ranked Dawgs (10-3) were extended, and accepted, an invitation to the Outback Bowl Sunday to face 12th ranked Michigan State (10-3) in Tampa, Monday, January 2nd.

Kickoff is set for 1:00 p.m. ET and will be televised nationally by ABC TV.

Both teams are coming off conference championship game appearances. The Dawgs are 3-0 in previous trips to the Outback Bowl. The ‘Dawgs defeated Wisconsin, 33-6, in the 1998 game; defeated Purdue, 28-25, in overtime in the 2000 game; and won the 2005 game with Wisconsin, 24-21.

Georgia lost to Boston College, 27-24, in the 1986 Hall of Fame Bowl which was also held in Tampa.

This will mark the third all time meeting with Michigan State. The ‘Dawgs defeated the Spartans in the 1989 Gator Bowl, 34-27, in Vince Dooley’s last game as head coach at Georgia. The Dawgs and Michigan State also faced each other in the 2009 Capital One Bowl, a 24-12 Georgia win.

“We are delighted with the selection of our team to represent the Southeastern Conference in the Outback Bowl,” said UGA Director of Athletics Greg McGarity. “It’s a great destination for our student athletes and our fans --- warm weather, wonderful attractions, a first class stadium, and we look forward to competing against a great Michigan State team. Our fans have been a big part of our success this season and I’m confident they will support the team with their attendance in this bowl game.”

“I’m really excited for our team and especially our seniors with the opportunity to play in the Outback Bowl which is one of the premier January bowl games,” said coach Mark Richt. “We were fortunate to play in this game back in 2005 and had a terrific experience. This will be the first time the members of our team have the opportunity to play in Tampa and playing a top quality opponent like Michigan State will be a challenge we’ll look forward to.”

This will be Georgia’s 47th bowl game―sixth most of any team in the country. The Dawgs’ all-time bowl record is 26-17-3.

Lady Dawgs Swat Jackets

2011-12-04T18:00:00.000-05:00

BASKETBALL

Jasmine Hassell scored a career-high 24 points and recorded six rebounds and one assist to lead the No. 15 Georgia Lady Dawgs (7-1) to a 75-68 victory against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (5-3) Sunday afternoon.

“Jasmine was terrific tonight," said coach Andy Landers. "She played well on the defensive end of the court and shot about as well as anyone could shoot. She went out there and went after rebounds that she hasn’t gone after before. She’s really becoming a better rebounder.”

Hassell connected on 9-of-10 shots from the floor and 6-of-7 attempts at the line en route to her career outing.

The Yellow Jackets saw double-digit scoring efforts from three players and out-rebounded the Georgia 47-42, but it was not enough to overcome the solid effort shown by the Lady Dawgs as a whole.

“I was impressed by the way we played tonight," continued Landers. "We forced some turnovers to end the first half and then again to start the second half. Georgia Tech is a team that likes to force turnovers and really needs to get to the free throw line a lot to win games. Tonight, we didn’t allow either of those things to happen. We did get beat on the boards tonight, but when we are forcing turnovers and hitting free throws, you have a Georgia team that is put in the position to win.”

Meredith Mitchell led the Lady Dawgs on the boards with seven rebounds. She also contributed 10 points, three assists and one block. Jasmine James notched 12 points, five rebounds and five steals.

Georgia started the game quickly when James hit a jumper four seconds in to spark an 8-4 run that lasted 3:08 minutes. Georgia Tech then came back with a 7-2 run that gave them their first lead of the game, 11-10. Throughout the entire half, neither team led by more than six.

With 46 seconds left in the first period, James hit a layup to knot the score at 33-33. For the first time this season, the Lady Dawgs entered the locker room tied at halftime.

Georgia shot 41.7 percent from the floor in the first half. Interestingly, neither team connected from behind the three point line until late in the second half.

At halftime, Landers told the Lady Dawgs, "Every shot, every move and every rebound has to be with a purpose. Go out there and make sure they do."

The Lady Dawgs shot 64.3 percent from the free throw line for the night, including six in their 8-2 run to start the second half. Once the they took the lead with 17:43 left in the game, they never relinquished it.

With 6:47 on the clock, Khaalidah Miller stepped up and made the first three-pointer of the game.

“It was a learning experience for Khaalidah tonight," said Landers. "She usually has her pick of shots, but she wasn’t getting many looks today. I told her at the start of the second half to wait and be patient because your shot is coming. When she hit the three late in the second half, I knew before she even looked at the basket that it was her shot.”

With 4:08 left in the game, Hassell fouled Chelsea Regins on a made layup. Regins was then called on a technical foul for unsportsmanlike conduct. Regins hit the extra free throw, while Anne Marie Armstrong connected on two free throws to keep Georgia up by 10, 65-56.

With 2:28 left in the game, Georgia Tech attempted a comeback, with an 8-0 run, but were thwarted when Mitchell and Hassell connected on free throws to keep Georgia up 74-68.

With 2.6 seconds left on the clock, Regins fouled out and sent Mitchell to the line. She hit her first free throw, but missed the second, to put the Dawgs up for one last time, 75-68.

The Lady Dawgs will travel to Macon, on Tuesday to take on the Mercer Bears at 7:00 p.m. Mercer is coached by former Lady Dawg Susie Gardner, who helped lead UGA to the 1983, 1984 and 1986 SEC Championships, the 1983 Final Four and a 1985 NCAA runner-up finish.

Post-Game Notes

• Georgia improved to 30-4 all-time against Georgia Tech, including a 14-0 record in Athens.
• Georgia won after being tied at the half for the first time this season. A year ago, the Lady Dawgs lost both games when they were tied at halftime...at Florida and at Southern Cal.
• Jasmine Hassell scored a career-high 24 points, topping her previous best of 22 against both Denver on Nov. 26, 2010 and Ole Miss on Jan. 24, 2010.
• Jasmine Hassell’s 24 points represented the most by a Lady Dawg in a single game this season. Anne Marie Armstrong’s 22 points versus TCU in the season opener was the previous high.
• Jasmine Hassell notched her first 20-point game of the season and third of her career.
• Tamika Willis scored a season-high nine points, all in the first half. Her previous best was seven points against College of Charleston.
• Georgia took (four) and made (one) season lows for three-point attempts.
• Georgia took (28) and made (18) season highs for free throw attempts.

Lady Bulldogs In Double Digits

• Jasmine Hassell scored 24 points, her fifth double-digit outing of the season and 25th of her career.
• Jasmine James scored 12 points, her sixth double-digit outing of the season and 45th of her career.
• Meredith Mitchell scored 10 points, her second double-digit outing of the season and 28th of her career.

Dribble Dawgs Beaten By Bearcats

2011-12-03T22:14:00.000-05:00

BASKETBALL

The Georgia men’s basketball team took a nine-point lead into halftime before scoring a season-low 21 points in the second half in falling 57-51 to Cincinnati Friday night in Stegeman Coliseum as part of the Big East/SEC Challenge.

The Dawgs (4-4) led the Bearcats 30-21 at the intermission, with that 21-point UC output tied for a season-low by a Georgia opponent in a first half this season. But Georgia’s offensive struggles in the second half – shooting just 6-of-21 from the floor after the break – allowed Cincinnati to mount the comeback.

Freshman Kentavious Caldwell-Pope led Georgia with 16 points as the freshman has now scored in double figures in each game of his short college career. He was followed by Gerald Robinson’s 12 points. For Cincinnati, Sean Kilpatrick (22) and Dion Dixon (19) combined to lead the comeback charge for the visitors, with the pair hitting a combined eight three-pointers on the night including six in the second half.

“That was a really hard-fought, physical basketball game,” said coach Mark Fox. “Cincinnati is a really good, strong team and they fought really hard and wore us down in the second half. We competed hard but we just couldn’t make enough plays to win the game.”

“They’re an older, stronger, and more mature team than we are and you really have to give their defense a lot of credit,” Fox said. “They were very strong in the second half and they kept up their intensity.”

Georgia went down 9-3 early before erupting for an 11-0 run to pull in front by five, 14-9, with 9:03 left in the first half. Cincinnati failed to score for over nine minutes, finally snapping that drought with a three from Kilpatrick with 6:44 remaining.

A free throw by Nemanja Djurisic with 2:26 to go in the period gave Georgia its first double-digit lead of the night at 10, 27-17, and the Dawgs went up by their largest margin of 11 at 30-19 with 39 seconds left. Kilpatrick closed the half with a jumper to make the Georgia lead nine, 30-21, at intermission.

With Georgia again up 11 with 17:59 to go in the contest, Cincinnati rattled off a 17-4 run to regain the lead by two, 40-38, with 10:09 to play. Dixon’s sharp shooting from long range gave the Bearcats a six-point lead, 49-43, with 4:49 left and Kilpatrick added a three of his own down the stretch to seal it.

Cincinnati outscored the Dawgs by 15 after halftime in earning the 57-51 road win, moving to 5-2 on the year.

Georgia shot 17-for-47 on the night for a 36-percent clip, and was just 3-14 from three-point range. Caldwell-Pope padded his line with seven rebounds and four steals, while Marcus Thornton led UGA on the glass with eight rebounds.

Tonight marked the first meeting between these programs in their histories, as the Bulldogs are now 10-15 against members of the Big East. Georgia had been on the road for its previous four games and had not played in Stegeman Coliseum since Nov. 16 before tonight.

Georgia is back in action next Wed., Dec. 7 when it hosts in-state rival Georgia Tech for a 7 p.m. tip on Fox Sports Net.

SEC Championship Recap

2011-12-03T21:05:00.000-05:00

FOOTBALL

With tonight’s loss to #1 LSU, Georgia (10-3) fell to 2-2 in SEC Championship games and saw its 10-game winning streak end. In school history, the Dawgs are 1-4 when facing the top-ranked team. LSU leads the all-time series 16-12-1 including 2-1 in SEC Championship contests.

The Dawg defense held LSU scoreless in the first quarter and without a first down. LSU’s seven points in the first half came on a punt return. Georgia has now outscored its opponents 105-27 in the opening period this season. In fact, Georgia has outscored its SEC opponents 63-20 in the first quarter in 2011. The last time Georgia held an opponent to just seven points in a half was versus #24 Auburn.

The Dawgs held LSU to 11 total yards in the first two quarters. In the first half, the Tigers went 0-for-7 in third down conversions. LSU had never trailed at halftime this season and was only tied at the half with #2 Alabama 3-3. LSU’s only touchdown of the first half came on a 62-yard punt return by Tyrann Mathieu. This was the second punt return for a TD by a Georgia opponent this year (Ole Miss, 81 yards).

Of LSU’s six scoring drives, only two on offense covered more than 26 yards, both in the second half (a 70-yard, 10-play drive in the third quarter; a 4-play, 93-yard drive in 1:51). LSU scored one TD on special teams and one on defense and a total of 21 points came off turnovers. LSU finished with 237 yards of total offense on 48 plays while the Dawgs ran 85 plays for 296 yards.

Redshirt sophomore QB Aaron Murray (16-of-40 for 163 yards, 1 TD, 2 INTs) connected with senior TE Aron White for a 12-yard TD at the 0:42 mark in the first quarter to put Georgia up 10-0. This improved Murray’s school record mark to 33 touchdown passes in a season while White hauled in his fourth of the year. Freshman Malcolm Mitchell and junior Orson Charles led the way with 4 catches apiece. Freshman TB Ken Malcome had his first career reception (17 yards). Sophomore QB Hutson Mason finished the game, going 4-for-11, 55 yards. Malcome finished as the leading Dawg rusher with 37 yards on five carries.

Senior PK Blair Walsh booted a 40-yard field goal at the 11:45 mark in the opening period to give the Dawgs a 3-0 edge. Walsh set an NCAA record with the connection giving him 44 games in his career with at least one field goal. Former Dawg Billy Bennett held the record with 43. Walsh is now 19-for-31 this season. Currently, he has 404 career points, second in SEC history to Bennett’s record 409. Walsh’s field goal was set up by Murray connected with Tavarres King for a 44-yard reception to the LSU 21-yard line.

The Dawgs had their first successful onside kick since 2008 after the opening score. With Walsh also on the field, senior PK Brandon Bogotay popped the kickoff in air and sophomore ILB Alec Ogletree soared above the crowd to recover the kick. The Dawgs then missed a 45-yard field goal to end their possession. This marked the first time Georgia has recovered an onside kick since Jamie Lindley kicked off and CJ Byrd recovered the ball versus #8 Alabama in 2008.

Murray fumbled on the Georgia 26-yard line early in the third quarter. LSU then scored a touchdown to make it 14-10. Midway through the third quarter, Murray threw an interception in LSU territory. The Tigers then drove down and scored a touchdown to make it 28-10 and added a pick six late in the fourth quarter. Opponents have scored 63 points off 22 Bulldog miscues. LSU came in leading the nation at +19 in turnovers; Georgia was +10.

Sophomore Alec Olgetree had six tackles, including a sack, while OLB Cornelius Washington recorded three tackles, also including a sack.

Sophomore DE Garrison Smith got his first start in place of injured senior DeAngelo Tyson.

Injury Report: Junior ILB Mike Gilliard left the game in the second quarter with a right ankle injury and did not return. Junior TB Carlton Thomas injured his left knee in the third quarter and did not return.

Georgia’s captains on Saturday were TE Orson Charles, LT Cordy Glenn, CB/KOR Brandon Boykin and OLB Jarvis Jones.

Up next, the Dawgs will learn their bowl destination on Sunday.

Dawgs Lead Good Works Team

2011-12-02T14:40:00.001-05:00

FOOTBALL

The University of Georgia leads the nation in football players named to the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team, and on Thursday a number of those honorees gathered to further their efforts within the community.

Six former Dawg stars joined representatives from the Southeastern Conference and Allstate Insurance to lend their hands to charity as part of the third annual Allstate SEC Good Works Day in Atlanta. Planned in conjunction with Hands on Atlanta, the community service initiative benefitted CHRIS Kids, a local organization that provides safe and stable living environments and offers mental health services for children and
families.

A pair of former All-American offensive linemen, brothers Matt and Jon Stinchcomb, teamed with former Dawg quarterbacks David Greene and D.J. Shockley, defensive lineman Quentin Moses, defensive back Kelin Johnson, and several volunteers from the SEC and Allstate, to wrap holiday gifts, prepare lunches, paint murals and landscape the grounds at the CHRIS Kids facility on Fayetteville Road. SEC Commissioner Mike Slive was also on hand at the event.

The Georgia football alumni share a unique bond in that all six players were selected to the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team during their college careers for their commitment to service and volunteerism. Since the national award began in 1992, no school or conference has had more student athletes named to the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team than Georgia and the SEC.

Earlier this fall, current Georgia tight end Aron White became the 13th Dawg to receive the prestigious honor. Allstate also partnered with the SEC and former Georgia players for Good Works Day events in Atlanta leading up to the SEC Football Championship games in 2009 and 2010.

Lady Dawgs Defeat Bulldogs

2011-11-30T23:16:00.001-05:00

BASKETBALL

Jasmine James notched 17 points, five rebounds, two assists and four steals as the No. 15 Georgia Lady Dawgs (6-1) beat the South Caroline State Bulldogs (2-3), 85-48, Wednesday night.

“I’m proud of our team for the way it shot the ball," said coach Andy Landers. "We shot very well from the floor and the best we’ve shot from the free throw line this season. We did some things that were good and we did some things we’d like to have do-overs on. We left a couple of fast-break layups on the table tonight. We left a couple of chip shots underneath out there.”

Georgia started the game with a dominant 16-0 run in the first 6:38 of the game and never looked back.

The Lady Dawgs scored 18 of their first-half points by connecting on 60 percent from behind the three-point line. Khaalidah Miller paced the three-point effort with a pair of treys early in the period.

Georgia started the second period slow, after entering the locker room with a 40-29 lead. After scoring just six points in the first three minutes of the second stanza, the Lady Dawgs doubled their lead in just 4:24 minutes with a 15-2 run.

In the last two minutes of the game, Krista Donald hit a jumper and connected on four shots from the free throw line, accounting for six of her seven points of the night.
Georgia shot 78.9 percent from the line tonight, aided by Donald's 5-of-6 and Jasmine Hassell's 6-of-8 free throw efforts.

Erika Ford recorded her second consecutive double-digit scoring effort this season with 10 points; Ford also had three rebounds, two assists and four steals.

“We’ve said it before, but she’s got a sense and really smooth body control," continued Landers. "She’s got the power package to go along with it. She has elusiveness, she’ll go around you and make a play. She’s a really enjoyable player to coach.”

In all, four Lady Dawgs had double-digit scoring efforts and Georgia shot 50.8 percent from the floor. Hassell and Miller scored 12 and 11 points, respectively.

The Lady Dawgs return to action Sunday, December 4 at 2:00 p.m. when they host in-state rival Georgia Tech. The first 1,500 fans will receive replica Lady Dawg jerseys.

Post-Game Notes

• The Lady Dawgs improved to 6-1 overall.
• Georgia is now 8-1 against South Carolina State, including a 5-0 record versus S.C.S.U in Athens.
• With the Lady Dawgs 85-48 win, Georgia is now 428-7 when scoring 80 or more points during Coach Andy Landers’ 33 seasons at the helm.
• Georgia converted 30 S.C. State turnovers into 34 points.
• The Lady Dawgs’ bench came through, scoring 31 points, while the post players racked up 34 points in the paint.
• Georgia shot a season-high 78.9 percent from the free throw line.

Lady Bulldogs In Double Digits

• Jasmine James tied her season best with 17 points, marking her fifth double-digit game of the season and the 44th of her career.
• Jasmine Hassell’s 12 points, brought her double-digit performances to four on the season and the 24th of her career.
• Khaalidah Miller tallied her seventh double-digit game of the season and the 21st of her career with 11 points, including nine from behind the arc.
• Erika Ford recorded 10 points for her second double-digit game of the season and the second of her career.

Wednesday Practice Report

2011-11-30T20:46:00.001-05:00

FOOTBALL

The 12th-ranked Dawgs continued preparations for the SEC Championship game with a two-hour practice Wednesday in clear conditions and the temperature hovering around 40 degrees.

“The colder it is, the faster they practice,” said coach Mark Richt. “It seems like there’s more incentive to get it done, even during our breaks, guys wanted to keep moving.”

Wednesday’s session was the last practice in pads this week. Thursday’s workout will be in jerseys, shorts and helmets, and the team will have another walk-through in the Georgia Dome Friday. After opening the season in the Georgia Dome, the Dawgs know what the conditions will be like for Saturday’s tilt with the top-ranked Tigers.

“It will be warm and humid in there, we know it was last time and some guys were cramping,” said Richt. “There will be a lot of fans again and plenty of noise to go around.”

Georgia (10-2, 7-1 SEC) is riding a 10-game winning streak while No. 1 LSU is undefeated at 12-0 (8-0 SEC). This will be the third time the programs meet in an SEC Championship game with LSU emerging with a victory in 2003 and the Dawgs claiming the 2005 conference crown. The all-time series favors LSU 15-12-1 with the last meeting coming in 2009, a 20-13 Tiger win in Athens.

One topic that Richt did not address Wednesday was Georgia’s tailbacks.

“I don’t want to talk about tailbacks; there are no good answers, so I’m not going to answer any today. We’ll talk about that after the game,” Richt added.

Richt did confirm Georgia would be wearing its regular red jerseys and silver britches Saturday. LSU is the home team, and the Tigers wear their white jerseys when they are at home. Consequently, the Dawgs can wear their home red jerseys too.

Saturday’s kickoff in Atlanta is set for 4 p.m., and the contest will be televised nationally on CBS.

Tuesday Press Conference–Part 2

2011-11-30T06:00:00.000-05:00

FOOTBALL

Coach Mark Richt

On comparing UGA and LSU's defenses…

"They are both good defenses. They really have some great characteristics of great defenses. Both of them do with big physical lineman, linebackers who run and hit and safeties and corners who can play ball. They're all good. They are well coached. They've both had a lot of success. I'm sure they are both very confident in their ability to play the game and play defense. They are a lot alike in those characteristics."

On Georgia's defense going against LSU's offense…

"It's going to be interesting to see. That's maybe one of the most compelling match ups of the game is their run offense versus our run defense."

On Coach Todd Grantham moving Georgia's linebackers around and if that causes difficulties for an opposing team's offense…

"It's problematic. Even if you look at LSU's secondary. They have done a lot of moving guys around, and it is kind of hard to know where a guy is going to line up sometimes. Every player is different. They have different characteristics. There may be a certain match up you are trying to get, but if you don't know for sure where I guy is going to line up it is hard plan for that. Once the game gets going not many people are changing left and right, but from one game to the next if you are not exactly sure who is going to line up where it's hard to say 'I like this play in this situation versus this player,' if you don’t' know where he's going to line up."

On if Georgia's been able to move around more on defense this year compared to last year…

"Oh yeah. Some of it was because of injury. Some of it was because of the style of play of who we might have been going against. Even when Shawn Williams ended up playing linebacker one game it was just a game we thought we could get away with it. But the very next game we put Amarlo Herrera there because it was more of a downhill, physical running football team. The personality of the other team's offense will allow you to do that from time to time."

On Alec Ogletree's return to the defense…

"Alec is fast. He is physical. He loves football. He's very competitive. Without a doubt, we became better with him. I don't know if you could prove anything statistically, but we're a better defense with him than without him I can promise you."

On how much tackling there has been in practice last week and will be this week this late into the season…

"Last week, we were in pads Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. It was mainly to allow our scout team to go as hard and has fast as they could against our defense to try and at least give them a taste of what it might be like facing Georgia Tech's offense. We'll go back to our normal routine of Monday in shorts, today in pads, tomorrow shells and Thursday in shorts and helmets again. We will not tackle against each other today. It's too late in the season and by now you either know how to tackle or you don't. I think early in the year until you've established it and you're pretty good at it you got to keep doing it."

On tackling in practice throughout the season…

"I don't know exactly when we reduced it. We had probably 30 minutes worth when the season started and it reduced to 20 minutes, reduced to 10 minutes as the season went on."

On preparing the younger players for this weekend's game…

"Right now, my goal is just to continue to prepare like we've been preparing for the last 12 games. Just to get these guys to understand what they are doing schematically, what type of techniques they are going to have to deal with as far as the coverage techniques and maybe learn about as much as they can about each corner and they strengths and weaknesses of them. Then just go and attack. We really treat it like any other game."

On maintaining stamina against LSU…

“We sub a lot in some areas. Not all areas. We have a little bit of depth in certain spots. I think one thing that helps everybody is the amount of TV timeouts during a game. I think there will probably be four in each quarter, so you don’t play very long. If somebody gets in there and drives 12 plays, or there are 10-12-14 play drives, sometimes that can wear you down. There are just so many timeouts, so many change of possessions. I’m not too concerned about that. We’re in pretty good condition I think.”

On how Georgia can win with LSU being the favorite…

"You do what you do and you do it well. They're going to do what they do and they are going to try and do it well. I'm a broken record on the turnover ratio but that's huge. If we can come out of there and win that part of the game we got a lot better chance of winning it. You don't want to give up the big play on special teams. I just think that we have to look at our strengths and play to those and just get after it. That's really what it's going to come down to. It's going to be a good football game."

On the availability of DeAngelo Tyson and Richard Samuel IV…

"Both of them we really don't know for sure. Neither one of them will practice today. I guess I can say that. It's kind of day to day on those guys."

Defensive End Abry Jones

On playing in the SEC Championship…

“Most of the guys realize that this is a big game for us. Everyone wants to go out and win the SEC Championship. We are just going to go out and do what we have done all year. We are focusing on staying disciplined, executing plays when the time is right and try to make many mistakes.”

On starting 0-2…

“What we have done this kind of takes the bad taste from last year out of our mouth. We’re happy that we have won 10 in a row, but we aren’t focusing too much on that. We are really focused on this game because of what we did to get here.”

Linebacker Mike Gilliard

On playing LSU…

“This is such a big time game. I feel like as a defense, we have something to prove. They are the number one team in the country and we have to go out there and make plays. This game is about the best team from the West playing the best team from the East. It doesn’t get any better than that. LSU is a great team with a great quarterback and four really talented, young running backs who will pound you. I’m really excited about going out there and playing on Saturday.”

On playing for the SEC Championship…

“It feels great to be able to play for the championship. I feel like we focused on getting better as a team each week. I think we have done just that. To start 0-2 and to go and play for the SEC Championship, it feels great.”

Tuesday Press Conference–Part 1

2011-11-29T20:33:00.001-05:00

FOOTBALL

Coach Mark Richt

Opening Statement…

“I could have been out recruiting today, but we’re here instead. So that’s a good thing. LSU is a great football team. I think the one thing that stands out to me is their physicality. They’re not real tricky. Their goal is not to trick anybody. Their goal is to line up and play real sound football in all three phases and basically physically maul you; wear you down and wear you out, make you quit. They’ve been able to do it most every game they’ve played. They have a very impressive group of athletes. They are extremely well-coached by Coach Les Miles and his staff.

“Since I’ve been at Georgia, LSU has been the winningest team in the Southeastern Conference. It just so happens that three of the four times we’ve been in the SEC Championship Game, LSU has been our opponent. We’re looking forward to the opportunity and the challenge of it.”

On LSU trying to win a national championship and UGA trying to win an SEC Championship and if that puts added pressure on LSU and make it easier on UGA…

"There's plenty of motivation in my opinion for both teams to play their best. When you get used to winning it becomes a habit just like anything else can become a habit, so you are going to play in such a way that gives you the best chance of winning again. Only one team can win and we know that, but I think that both teams have plenty motivation to get up and play in this ball game. Just playing in the (Georgia) Dome is a special thing. You know if you are in there something good happened to you, especially this time of year. The fans will be excited. The players will be excited. Coaches will be jacked up. It's going to be a great atmosphere."

On whether Georgia has played a team comparable to LSU…

“There aren’t many defenses out there that are so obscure that you don’t know what’s going on. The thing about them, they have plenty of diversity in their defense, but they aren’t trying to trick you. They aren’t trying to trick you offensively in any way, shape or form. They’ll line up and see who the best team is. They make very few mistakes. They are plus-19 in the turnover ratio, which is number one in our league. We are number two at plus-10. Of course that stat is always a huge one. It’s been very big for us in the last 10 games. We’ve not lost the turnover battle. I don’t know if they’ve lost one all season long. To be plus-19, if they’ve lost any they might have lost one. But I imagine they won the battle every time, or tied it.“

On LSU playing this season with a bull's eye on them all year and getting everyone's best shot…

"A lot of people had them preseason number one, and I've been on teams that were preseason number one and you do get everyone's best shot. I think their style of play is just so solid that you have a lot less chance of messing it up on any one given day. It's real simple, it's real solid and it's real physical and you just get after people and they've been able to do it."

On being around football as long as he has if he trusted the team to handle their business in the locker room after starting 0-2…

"There was no business in the locker room to handle. You know what I'm saying? There was no dissention. There was no finger pointing. There was no loss or lack of confidence in each other coaches to players, players to coaches. I thought we had good leadership. I thought we had good work ethic. I thought we had a pretty good talent base and needed to grow up a little bit in some areas. I didn't know for sure what was going to happen, but I wasn't looking at the landscape and saying we don't have a chance – we don't have the personnel, I'm worried about the chemistry, I'm worried about guys jumping ship – none of that. It didn't even come close. We just went back to work, and thankfully, began to win."

On if any guys "took the bull by the horns" after the 0-2 start to get the team going…

"I can't sit here and say that, but the usual suspects of Ben Jones, Brandon Boykin, Aaron Murray, Orson Charles, DeAngelo Tyson, Abry Jones – all these guys – Jarvis Jones – it was more of a team thing really. I can't sit here and say one or two guys all of a sudden pulled everybody out of some kind of funk. We weren't in a funk. We didn't get to that point."

On the importance of a quarterback’s maturity level…

“You could probably say it in the NFL more than any league: If you don’t have good quarterback play it’s hard to win, period. Of course the Colts don’t have Peyton Manning anymore, and they’re struggling. If New England didn’t have Tom Brady, what would they be able to do? I don’t know unless someone else stepped in and played great.

It’s hard to win in our league without at least good, solid quarterback play. If your quarterback is playing well, I think the team feeds off that. If things are going rough and your quarterback spits the bit, I think you are in big trouble. If he can stand in the gap and stay strong and keep fighting and encouraging and start to make plays, I think a really good quarterback can pull you out of a bad situation. I think Aaron Murray has gotten to the point where I don’t think anyone every questions his toughness mentally or physically. No one ever questions his preparation. No one questions his loyalty to the team. I think everybody responds well to him if things got rough.”

On whether Aaron Murray’s demeanor has changed during the season…

“Not really. He is so well-prepared and he creates such good habits in practice that even if he does have an off day or an off quarter or a bad throw here and there, he can’t help but get back in pretty good shape.”

On whether LSU might pick the brain of quarterback Zach Mettenberger…

“I didn’t even think about that until just now. They might be. We haven’t changed an awful lot, and Zach certainly knew what we were doing. They might be picking his brain, I don’t know. There is so much that you can get on film now days, I don’t know how much more he could add to it. We have also gone to a no-huddle since Zach has gone, and we have code names and hand singles that he has no idea about. I don’t think it will be a factor, but it could be.”

On any concern with Georgia’s tailbacks going up against LSU…

"It's a concern. I'm concerned with how our guys will play at the tailback position, but we'll see. We've found a way so far having to mix and match a little bit. On paper, you certainly look at their backs and they are pretty stacked, they're physical and they are more of a known entity than what we've got right now."

On the notion of using two or three guys versus using the hot guy at tailback…

"I think you have to, but I think they can be one in the same. I think you can have two or three really good backs, but there may be a particular game that one guy is hot and you can let him ride. But through the course of a season you better have at least two and maybe three guys who can carry the ball for you, especially when you run the ball the way LSU wants to run it."

On team's being defined as "special" teams and how he sees this year's team…

"I think for coaches teams are special when the guys work hard and when the guys trust the staff in that they are coachable, teachable and you have sense that they will fight for you. You get sense that care about you and they care about each other. They care about Georgia and they care about doing things the Georgia way. All those things get coaches excited about teams. But I think these guys as a whole are that way. It's easy to say that when you are winning, but even when we were 0-2, I really felt that way about them and I think they did too.

Before the season I didn't know how the season would start because of the schedule we had and all, but I just felt like we had chance to be a really good team before it was over. I thought we were going to have a team that would really improve as the season went along and I think we have. The question is going to be how much have we improved and have we really got to the point we can play this game and get the job done."

Quarterback Aaron Murray

On playing in the SEC Championship…

“It’s going to be exciting. We’ve been working for this since January; it’s been our goal to get back and be able to compete for an SEC Championship. We just have to treat it like any other game and go out there and work hard in practice all week and we’ll be ready to go.”

On LSU…

“They’re a very talented team, there’s a reason why they’re number one in the nation. They’re sound everywhere. I haven’t watched a lot of offensive film on them, obviously I’ve been just focused on the defense. They’re very talented and very fast all over the place. It’s going to be a huge challenge for us.”

Receiver Chris Conley

On playing in the SEC Championship as a freshman…

“Everybody always talks about the SEC Championship and championships, period, as big games, but it’s still the same thing; we come in on Monday and do game reviews, we look over the scout report and you look at a team and you see there are 11 guys on the field. There is a certain magnitude and prestige that comes with a game like this, but really, when you think about it, it’s just another game and we’ve got to prepare the same way.”

On pre-game nerves this week in the dome…

“I don’t really get nervous because of who we play. I really like to focus on me and the things that I can do and the things that I can control. When it comes down to getting nervous, I don’t really get nervous because of teams. I might get butterflies before I step on the field, but not necessarily because of who we’re playing or what’s at stake because if you play like that I feel like you aren’t going to do your best.”

On LSU’s defense…

“LSU’s defense is a great defense, it’s going to be a challenge for our offense. It’s something that we embrace, it’s something that we look at as we’re going into this week and making the game plan for them. They’re very talented up front, very explosive in the secondary. They’re very talented. As a lot of people know, they have players who can make plays, stretch the field and cover a lot of grass. It’s definitely a challenge for us, going into this week and knowing what we have to prepare for.”

Munson Memorial Set

2011-11-29T17:52:00.001-05:00

A one-hour memorial service for legendary University of Georgia radio announcer Larry Munson will be held Saturday, Dec. 10, at 1 p.m. in Sanford Stadium.

Munson, who served as the voice of the Georgia Bulldogs for 42 years, died at his Athens home Sunday night, Nov. 20, with complications from pneumonia.

Seating will be on the south side of the stadium. Stadium gates open at 12 noon.

Free parking on a first come, first served basis will be available in all surface lots and the Tate Center parking deck. Parking will not be permitted on sidewalks.

In case of inclement weather, the memorial service will be moved to Stegeman Coliseum.

Dawgs Preparing For Dome

2011-11-29T07:27:00.001-05:00

FOOTBALL

After completing the regular season with 10 straight wins, the 12th-ranked Georgia football team began preparations on Monday for Saturday’s Southeastern Conference Championship Game in Atlanta against LSU.

In a steady rain and with temperatures dipping into the 40s, the Dawgs worked out for just over an hour under the lights on the Woodruff Practice Fields.

“I think you have more energy when it’s cold,” coach Mark Richt said with a laugh. “When it’s cold and rainy, everybody wants to move around and get it done quickly. Everybody’s in good spirits. We’re excited. There’s only two teams in the league right now practicing and getting ready for the championship game, and we know we’re in a very privileged spot and hopefully we’ll take advantage of it.”

The Dawgs pushed their win streak to 10 straight with last week's regular-season-finale victory over Georgia Tech. After an 0-2 start, the Dawgs wound up at 10-2 overall. LSU is ranked No. 1 with a 12-0 mark.

"It's a great feeling, especially coming up from starting off 0‑2 to really turn the season around," quarterback Aaron Murray said. "This is a very young team, and I think we definitely have matured during the season. And just taking each week individually, we have gotten better week by week. We feel good with the progress we've made and the direction we're heading right now."

Saturday's game at the Georgia Dome will kick off at 4 p.m. and will be televised by CBS. Georgia is making its fourth appearance in the SEC Championship Game as the SEC Eastern Division representative, winning the league title in 2002 and 2005.

Richt said the captains for Saturday's game will be offensive tackle Cordy Glenn, tight end Orson Charles, cornerback Brandon Boykin and linebacker Jarvis Jones.

"It's been a great run," Jones said. "We started at the bottom of the polls. Everybody was counting us out early with the two losses to Boise State and South Carolina. But we kept our composure. We stayed together as a unit. We locked in, and we believed in each other. We've had some great things happen for us. We had a lot of players step up, coaches step up, and everybody kept the faith. Things have been going great.”

One of Georgia's losses — the season opener against Boise State — came in the Georgia Dome, the site of Saturday's game. But Boykin said much has changed since the first week.

"We're a totally different team from the first game in the Dome," Boykin said. "Everybody has a lot more experience, and they'll be able to play in that environment and know what it's like to play in a big game. We had a lot of freshmen, a lot of young guys, that had to play that first game against a very experienced Boise team. Now that the season's progressed, they aren't freshmen anymore. They know how to play in those types of games. We'll definitely be ready."

“We were trying to get back to the Dome for a second time, we accomplished that goal and now we want to take advantage of our situation,” Richt said. “We want to be prepared. Not only were we trying to get back to the Dome on a weekly basis, but we were trying to improve to the point where if we did get back to the Dome, we’d be ready. And hopefully we will be.”

Smith & Boykin Honored

2011-11-29T07:22:00.001-05:00

FOOTBALL

Sophomore defensive end Garrison Smith has been named the Southeastern Conference Co-Defensive Lineman of the Week following his performance in the 31-17 road win over #25 Georgia Tech, according to a league announcement on Monday.

Smith is the second straight Dawg to earn the conference’s Defensive Lineman of the Week after junior Abry Jones garnered the honor following the win over Kentucky. This conference award gives Georgia 14 SEC weekly honors this year.

Smith, a 6-3, 294-pound native of Atlanta, came off the bench after senior defensive end DeAngelo Tyson went down with an ankle injury on the second play of the game. Smith finished with a career-high seven tackles, including 1.5 tackles for loss, to help limit the Yellow Jackets to their second lowest point total all season.

Thanks in part to Smith’s contribution, the Dawgs held Georgia Tech scoreless for two quarters and to 243 yards on the ground. The Yellow Jackets came into the game ranked second nationally averaging 323.6 yards rushing per game with their spread option attack. For the year, Georgia is third in the SEC in both Scoring Defense (17.8, 10th nationally) and Rushing Defense (94.8, sixth nationally).

ALSO OF NOTE: Senior Brandon Boykin was named to the Paul Hornung Award Weekly Honor Roll for the eighth time this season following his outing at #25 Georgia Tech. Defensively, Boykin finished with two tackles, including 0.5 tackles for loss, while starting his 20 consecutive game.

The Fayetteville native also had one kickoff return for 60 yards that set up the Dawgs’ third touchdown. Boykin is the active SEC career leader in the kickoff return yardage category with 2,544 yards. He is second all-time in the conference with the best average return (24.69).

Boykin also recorded one catch for 28 yards against the Yellow Jackets. Currently, Boykin has 999 all-purpose yards this season, which is the most for a defensive player since Champ Bailey had 1,138 in 1998.

The 12th-ranked Dawgs (10-2, 7-1 SEC) travel to Atlanta for the third time this season to take on top-ranked LSU (12-0, 8-0 SEC) in the SEC Championship Game on Saturday at 4 p.m. CBS will televise the matchup.

Dribble Dawgs Buffaloed

2011-11-28T23:49:00.000-05:00

BASKETBALL

The Georgia men’s basketball team fell to 4-3 Monday night, losing on the road to Colorado, 70-68.

Freshman guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope led Georgia (4-3) with 15 points and five rebounds. He has scored in double-figures in all seven games for the Dawgs this season.

Senior guard Gerald Robinson and sophomore forward Donte Williams chipped in 14 and 11 points, respectively.

Colorado was led by freshman guard Spencer Dinwiddie with 16 points and seven rebounds. Dinwiddie and three other Buffalos had double-digit point performances.

“We made too many critical errors tonight that you can’t make and still find success on the road,” said coach Mark Fox. “We got off to a really poor start defensively in the second half and then we had to play form behind and that’s hard to do on the road.”

In the first half, Georgia led by as many as 12 points. After Colorado tied the game at 30 with 2:24 remaining, Georgia rallied around Gerald Robinson to take a 38-34 halftime lead.

In the second half, Colorado opened on an 11-1 run, aided by Georgia starting the half going 0-11 from the field. Midway through half, a pair of three-pointers by freshman forward Nemanja Djurisic and senior guard Dustin Ware brought the game to a 45-45 tie.

But that’s as close as the Dawgs would get. Colorado wouldn't trail again in the half, capturing its largest lead of 11 at the 2:54 mark.

A rush of Georgia scoring in the final three minutes fell just short, as Colorado’s Asika Booker drained a free throw with four seconds remaining to put the Colorado lead to four points, and all but seal the victory for the Buffalos.

With the loss, Georgia falls to 6-2 in its series with Colorado. The win is the Buffalo’s 26th straight non-conference win in Boulder.

Georgia returns to action Friday against Cincinnati at 7:00 p.m. in Athens as part of the SEC/Big East Invitational. Friday’s matchup is scheduled to start at 7:00 p.m. and will be televised on ESPNU.

Lady Dawgs Beat Northeastern

2011-11-27T20:47:00.001-05:00

BASKETBALL

Freshman Erika Ford made the most of her first career start on Sunday, posting game- and career-high tallies of 18 points and seven rebounds to lead No. 10 Georgia (5-1) to an 81-61 win over Northeastern (0-6) in the consolation game of the UNLV Lady Rebel Round-up.

Classmate Krista Donald also started for the first time at UGA and chipped in seven points (on 3-of-4 shooting from the floor), five rebounds and a team-best four assists.

"I thought they both played well," coach Andy Landers said. "I thought Ford was great defensively and very good on the offensive end. I thought the same about Donald. We were really shuffling the lineup to try to find someone to embrace the role of being a starter."

The Lady Dawgs built a double-digit lead early and led comfortably throughout but didn't put the game out of reach until midway through the second half. Georgia led 50-40 from the 14:17 mark through 10:33 before a pair of Jasmine Hassell free throws, a Donald three and a layup from Jasmine James pushed the margin to 17 just 70 seconds later.

Hassell also scored 18 points and Khaalidah Miller chipped in 16, her sixth double-figure outing in as many contests this season.

Georgia improved to 427-7 all-time when scoring 80 or more points during Landers' 33 seasons in Athens.

Five different Lady Dawgs scored in a 12-0 run covering just 3:42 that put Georgia up 17-5 with 13:17 left in the half. Georgia expanded its lead to 17 points twice before the Huskies chipped away with a 10-0 run of their own to close within 36-29 with 51 second left in the period.

Donald and Ford became the 68th and 69th freshmen to start for Landers at Georgia. Ford responded with her first double-digit scoring performance of the year before the intermission with 10 first-half points.

The Lady Dawgs will return to action on Wednesday when they host South Carolina State at Stegeman Coliseum at 7 p.m. ET.

Reserved seat tickets for the game are $5 for adults and $3 for children and will be available at the Butts-Mehre ticket office from 8:30-4:30 on Wednesday and Thursday. In addition, tickets will go on sale at Stegeman Coliseum box office (closest to Sanford Drive) beginning 90 minutes before tip-off.

Championship Week Begins

2011-11-27T18:42:00.001-05:00

FOOTBALL

With the regular season finished, the Georgia football team looks ahead to Saturday afternoon when it takes on LSU in the Georgia Dome for the Southeastern Conference title. Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. and the game will be televised on CBS.

Georgia enters the contest riding a 10-game win streak that puts it at 10-2 on the year and 7-1 in SEC play. LSU is undefeated on the year and is ranked No. 1 in the latest BCS standings.

“It was a long, hard fight for us,” coach Mark Richt said on his weekly teleconference. “We lost out first game in league play against South Carolina and were stuck behind them for quite awhile. We knew if we kept battling, we had a chance to win the East. We improved week by week and finally got the help that we needed to get to the championship game. We were really excited to get the win over Georgia Tech last weekend, but our young men have turned their focus to this weekend.”

The Dawgs have been tested during the regular season, but their biggest test will come on Saturday against a team that has proved to be tough throughout the year.

“We are a team that improved as the season went on,” Richt continued. “We have done a lot of good things since game two that have helped us get the chance to play for the title. LSU is strong, quick and physical up front on both sides of the ball. Their front seven is tough and athletic, their defensive backs are fast and great cover guys who play with a lot of confidence. I have seen enough film of them on offense that I know that they tend to wear people out during the game. Their goal is to break the spirit of every time that they play. I don’t know how we stack up against them but we’ll find out this weekend.”

One thing that the team will be focusing on this week is not allowing LSU to go on big runs during the game.

“Everyone has to keep their composure and keep fighting,” added Richt. “From what I see, it’s not just the LSU offense that will make plays, the defense and special teams will make plays too. Before you know all three phases make a play that might result in 21 points in a short amount of time. If something bad happens, you have to shake it off, get back to work and regroup. If you let that get to you, then you’re in bad shape.”

Georgia came out of the game against Georgia Tech relatively healthy. Richt is hopeful that Richard Samuel will be back in the lineup this week after suffering an ankle injury earlier this season. Isaiah Crowell will also be back on the field after sitting out last weekend with an ankle injury. DeAngelo Tyson will not be available for practice on Monday, but his status for Saturday’s game is still unknown.

Saturday’s game mark the second time this season that the Dawgs have played in the Georgia Dome. Georgia dropped a 35-21 decision to Boise State in the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Classic to start the season. Richt is hopeful that having played in the Dome this season will benefit the team but doesn’t think the experience will be play a huge role in the outcome.

“I think there might be some benefit in playing in the dome again,” Richt said. “The thing that you have to remember is that when the ball is snapped you have to get after it, especially when were playing such a good team. For us, I don’t think it’s a bad thing that we’ve played there and experienced the stadium.”

One thing is certain, Richt understands how instrumental the senior class has been in the success of this season.

“Those guys decided to stick around for their senior year and that decision to stay says a lot,” continued Richt. “They knew we could have a special season and chose to stay. In the offseason, they had to make a decision on whether or not to buy into what we were doing here. They decided to buy in so when we did go 0-2, we were still a strong bunch of guys. They kept working hard and kept the team focused. They are a big part of the reason that we were able to weather the storm and start winning.”

Top 25–Week 14

2011-11-27T06:00:00.000-05:00

FOOTBALL

	Team	Record	Opponent
1.	LSU	12 - 0	Georgia
2.	Houston	12 - 0	Southern Miss
3.	Alabama	11 - 1	Bowl
4.	Stanford	11 - 1	Bowl
5.	Virginia Tech	11 - 1	Clemson
6.	Oklahoma State	10 - 1	Oklahoma
7.	Boise State	10 - 1	New Mexico
8.	South Carolina	10 - 2	Bowl
9.	Georgia	10 - 2	LSU
10.	Michigan State	10 - 2	Wisconsin
11.	Wisconsin	10 - 2	Michigan State
12.	USC	10 - 2
13.	Oregon	10 - 2	UCLA
14.	Michigan	10 - 2	Bowl
15.	Arkansas	10 - 2	Bowl
16.	Clemson	10 - 2	Virginia Tech
17.	Southern Miss	10 - 2	Houston
18.	Oklahoma	9 - 2	Oklahoma State
19.	Kansas State	9 - 2	Iowa State
20.	TCU	9 - 2	UNLV
21.	Nebraska	9 - 3	Bowl
22.	Penn State	9 - 3	Bowl
23.	Baylor	8 - 3	Texas
24.	West Virginia	8 - 3	South Florida
25.	Cincinnati	8 - 3	Connecticut

Lady Dawgs Suffer First Loss

2011-11-26T22:07:00.000-05:00

BASKETBALL

Jasmine James and Khaalidah Miller scored 16 points apiece for Georgia, but Georgetown's Sugar Rodgers countered with a season-high 23 to lead the Hoyas to a 64-56 victory in the opening round of the UNLV Lady Rebel Round-up on Saturday.

The setback was the first of the year for No. 10 Georgia, which fell to 4-1, while No. 21 Georgetown improved to 4-2. Jasmine Hassell added a dozen points for the Lady Dawgs.

The Hoyas used a strong second-half rebounding effort to build a double-digit lead the Lady Dawgs couldn't overcome. Georgetown out rebounded Georgia 23-13 after the intermission and for the game had one less offensive rebound than the Lady Dawgs had defensively.

"We've been talking about it since the beginning of practice and tonight, above everything we could've done better, was rebounding," coach Andy Landers said. "It was at the top of the list. And then we just didn't defend one-on-one very well in the last five minutes. Give Georgetown credit, they did what they needed to do when we got close."

A 10-0 surge early in the second half put the Hoyas up 45-35 with 13:46 left in the contest. Georgia pulled within five with 9:09 remaining but failed to pull any closer.
After the Hoyas expanded their advantage back to 11, the Lady Dawgs closed the gap to 59-56 on a pair of James free throws at the 1:55 mark, but Rubylee Wright answered with a layup deep in the shot clock on the other end to end the rally.

James helped Georgia get off to a quick start. She scored the Lady Dawgs' first seven points and then dished to Hassell for a lay-up that put Georgia up 9-2 at the 16:29 mark. Georgetown quickly knotted the score at 11-11 and the rest of the first half was a back-and-forth affair.

Rodgers, who averaged 18.1 points per game in her first two seasons at Georgetown but entered Saturday's game chipping in just 8.3 ppg this season, found her range late in the first half. She canned a trio of three-pointers in a span of 2:19 to help the Hoyas secure a 31-29 lead at the intermission.

Georgia will now face Northeastern in Sunday's consolation game at 4:00 p.m. ET.

Dawgs Take Sting Out Of Tech 31-17

2011-11-26T16:27:00.001-05:00

FOOTBALL

With today’s 31-17 win over Tech, the Dawgs (10-2) extended their winning streak to 10 straight this season. It’s the longest winning streak in a season since the 1982 team under Vince Dooley went a perfect 11-0. The Dawgs improved to 43-7 all-time in non-conference games under Mark Richt including 10-1 against Tech.

Georgia leads the all-time series over the Jackets 62-37-5.

Sophomore QB Aaron Murray finished 19-for-29 for 252 yards, 4 TDs and one INT. In the first half, he was 13-for-18 for 193 yards with 2 TDs and 1 INT. He owns the school record with 32 TD passes this year. Today, he completed passes to nine different Dawgs, and his top target was junior tight end Orson Charles (5 rec., 95 yards). His TD passes went to Michael Bennett (15-yarder), Chris Conley (14-yarder), Tavarres King (3-yarder) and Aron White (3-yarder).

Sophomore Alec Ogletree (LB) led the team with a career high 11 stops including 10 solo while sophomore Jarvis Jones had eight plus one sack. He has an SEC-best 13.5 sacks. The Dawg defense allowed just 17 points to Tech’s spread option attack as it ran 70 plays and gained 355 yards overall (243 rushing). Miami was the only team to hold Tech to fewer points this season in a 24-7 win.

Senior Blair Walsh now has made at least one field goal in 43 games in his career, tying the NCAA mark held by former Georgia kicker Billy Bennett (2000-03). Walsh made a 41-yarder to close out the first half. Walsh is 73-for-97 and has the most field goals, attempts and points of any active NCAA kicker. Today, Walsh scored seven points to give him 400 for his career which ranks second in Dawg and SEC history, trailing only Bennett (409).

Senior CB/KOR Brandon Boykin began the second half with a 60-yard kickoff return to move into 2nd in SEC history for career kickoff return yards. It was his only return to give him 2,544 yards on 103 for his career, both school records. The big return led to a 3-plays, 36-yard touchdown drive in 1:24 to put Georgia in front 24-10.

Georgia blanked Georgia Tech 7-0 in the first quarter. Georgia has outscored its opponents 95-27 in the first quarter this season. The scoring came on a 15-yard TD pass from Aaron Murray to Michael Bennett to cap a 5-play, 76-yard drive in 3:13.

Redshirt freshman Ken Malcome (TB) made his first career start. Senior Cordy Glenn (LT) made his team-high 48th overall start including his 45th consecutive start. On defense, senior Brandon Boykin (CB) made his 36th career start including 20th in a row.

In the second half, junior LB Mike Gilliard got his first career INT, getting it at the Tech 25. It led to a punt. Shawn Williams snagged his third INT of the season at the 6:31 mark in the third quarter. Following a penalty, Georgia got the ball on the Tech 39. It led to a TD (Murray-to-Aron White). The Dawg defense has 17 interceptions this year. Georgia is +10 now in turnover margin and scored 103 points off 29 turnovers. In the first half, Georgia Tech got one interception (Louis Young) at the Dawg 27 and was forced to punt. Opponents have only 42 points off 19 Dawg turnovers this year.

Senior DeAngelo Tyson (DE) injured his left ankle on Tech’s first series and did not return. Last year, Tyson had a career-high 16 tackles in the win over Tech. Sophomores Garrison Smith and Kwame Geathers saw more action with Tyson out and Smith had a career-high five tackles and Geathers had four.

In honor of legendary Dawg play-by-play broadcaster Larry Munson, who passed away last Sunday, Georgia’s players and coaches wore a special helmet decal today. The decal featured Munson with his headset along with “1922-2011” and “Hunker Down One More Time.” Also, the UGA Redcoat Band honored Munson at halftime including spelling his name out.

Georgia’s captains today: Drew Butler (P), Ben Jones (C), Jarvis Jones (OLB) and Abry Jones (DE).

Georgia will face top-ranked LSU (12-0, 8-0 SEC) in the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta. It will be at the Georgia Dome Saturday at 4 p.m. on CBS. LSU and Georgia own the best records in the SEC in the Richt era. The Dawgs are 106-36 since 2001 while the Tigers are 114-28.

Xavier Trips Up Dribble Dawgs

2011-11-25T23:30:00.000-05:00

BASKETBALL

Kenny Frease and Tu Holloway scored 12 points apiece as 12th-ranked Xavier broke out to an early lead and cruised to a 70-56 victory over Georgia in a non-conference basketball game here Friday night.

The Musketeers (4-0) scored the game's first 10 points and never trailed . Georgia, hampered by cold shooting and foul trouble, needed 7 1/2 minutes to score its first field goal and didn't reach double figures until the 8:06 mark.

''We got beat by a really good team,'' coach Mark Fox said. ''They just manhandled us early on. Their defense was so much better than our offense. I was concerned about our poor start. We had a poor shoot around this morning and obviously it carried over to the game tonight. We tried everything in the first half but just couldn't get the bleeding stopped.''

Despite the cold-shooting start, Georgia (4-2) managed to climb back within 14-11 on Dustin Ware's 3-pointer with 8:06 left in the first half. The Dawgs, however, were unable to get any closer. Still, as the first half neared its conclusion, Ware connected on two foul shots to bring the Dawgs within 26-19. After a Xavier miss, they failed to convert a final possession and Holloway closed first-half scoring with a pair of free throws.

Leading by nine at halftime, Xavier broke the game open by scoring the first 12 points of the final period. Holloway's jumper with 15:59 left finished the run and put the Musketeers ahead 40-19. The XU lead reach its largest at 63-27 on a Mark Lyons layup with 9:24 remaining.

Georgia closed the game on 12-2 run to make the final score deceptively close.

The Dawgs travel next to Colorado for a Monday night contest against the Buffaloes. Tipoff is at 8:30 p.m. (EST).

Wednesday Practice Report

2011-11-23T20:52:00.001-05:00

FOOTBALL

The 13th-ranked Dawgs held a two-hour practice in full pads Wednesday as they moved closer to wrapping up preparations for the annual clash with Georgia Tech.

“We practiced in full pads today, and we’ll get together in the morning for a few periods with the pads on and then take a break and finish up without them,” said coach Mark Richt.

The extra work in full pads is twofold, according to Richt. “Number one, it’s to prepare for their (Tech) scheme and secondly, it’s the physical part of defending against that offense with the cut blocks. You can’t practice that without pads on. You have to go full speed and hope the guys are getting better at it.”

Georgia (9-2) boasts one of the nation’s top defenses, and it will be challenged by Tech’s spread option offense. Last year, the Yellow Jackets held the football for 38:14, running 92 plays and tallying 512 yards of total offense (411 on the ground). Still, Georgia registered a 42-34 victory.

This season, Georgia ranks fourth nationally in total defense and second in rushing defense. The Dawgs are riding a nine-game winning streak. Tech (8-3) is coming off a 38-31 road win over Duke last Saturday where it posted 549 yards of total offense. Meanwhile, Georgia captured the Southeastern Conference Eastern Division crown after beating Kentucky.

When asked about the Dawg tailbacks, Richt said there’s “too much drama there, and it’s not as settled as I’d like it to be. There’s a tremendous opportunity at the University of Georgia for running backs in this class to make an impact. If I was a running back, if I was a great running back, I would want to come to Georgia, I would be so excited about my opportunity at Georgia.”

Richt indicated that as a whole this season, the running backs have been productive and that guys have stepped up when players have missed games due to injuries or suspensions.

“Ken Malcome and Brandon Harton have been getting a lot of work this week,” said Richt. “Ken will be in there, I’m just not sure how much.”

Freshman Isaiah Crowell, who has started seven games, is battling an ankle injury that limited him to two carries last week against the Wildcats. Richt said he was not 100 percent sure what he was going to do with junior tailback Carlton Thomas who did not play last week. Junior tailback Richard Samuel, who has three starts, has been out with an injury since the win over Florida in late October when he got hurt on the final play of the game.

Saturday’s kickoff in Atlanta is set for 12:01 p.m. and the contest will be televised nationally on ESPN. The Dawgs under Richt are 9-1 all-time against Tech.

Dawgs To Visit CHOA & Shepherd Center

2011-11-23T14:32:00.001-05:00

FOOTBALL

The University of Georgia football team will be taking time out of its busy schedule this weekend to stop by the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and Shepherd Center on Friday to visit with patients at the facilities.

“It’s a great opportunity for our kids to take a few minutes and brighten some young boy or girl’s day,” Director of Sports Medicine Ron Courson said. “It’s great for our players too. It’s a good community service project for them.”

The visits have become tradition for the Dawgs when they play Georgia Tech in Atlanta. This year, the players will be divided in half with the defense traveling to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta while the offense goes to the Shepherd Center.

For about an hour and a half, the players will visit with the patients and nurses while signing autographs mainly in auditoriums before breaking off into locations at the sites. At Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta the linebackers will go to the Aflac Cancer Center while another group will head to the heart ward. While at Shepherd, a few of the players will take time to visit the ICU.

The University of Georgia has a long relationship with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and the Shepherd Center. Many players and coaches have had family members or friends receive treatment at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Inside linebackers coach Kirk Olivadotti’s daughter Kasyn and former women’s basketball student manager Catrina Rushing are currently at the hospital fighting their battles with leukemia. Georgia has also had athletes stay at Shepherd Center, as baseball players Chance Veazey and Johnathan Taylor were both at the center after suffering injuries.

Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, a not-for-profit organization, is committed to enhancing the lives of children through excellence in patient care, research and education. Managing more than half a million patient visits annually at three hospitals and 17 neighborhood locations, Children’s is one of the largest clinical care providers for children in the country.

Shepherd Center, founded in 1975, is a private, not-for-profit rehabilitation hospital and one of the nation’s leading facilities specializing in medical treatment research and rehabilitation for people with spinal cord and brain injuries.

Tuesday Press Conference–Part 2

2011-11-23T06:00:00.000-05:00

FOOTBALL

Coach Mark Richt

On the Georgia team drawing inspiration from Erk Russell’s death in 2006 and how it compares to Larry Munson’s death…

“We are going to honor his memory at the ballgame with a decal on our helmet. We have a pretty good look at what it’s going to look like. It wasn’t quite what we were working on, but it will be something that will be very recognizable and obvious that we are honoring him. The thing that’s a little bit different with our guys in their relationship to Erk Russell is that we invited him to come my first year. He spoke to the team, but he also spoke to the defense.”

“There was a time where not only that group got to hear him, but we kept the video of it. From time to time we would show it to the defense, more so than the offense, because he was really talking about what he did with the defense. Our guys knew who Erk Russell was. They might not have been sitting in the room when he was there in person, but just about every defensive player that has come through here has seen the video. I don’t remember the last time we have seen it, but it’s probably time to pull the thing out. I think they felt like they had some type of a relationship. Some of the guys knew a lot about Larry Munson, and some of the guys didn’t know a whole lot about Larry Munson just by virtue of the fact that they’re young and may not have been a Bulldog fan before they came to Georgia. Our players are very well aware of who he is now. We talked a little bit about him after practice yesterday just to make sure everybody knew who he was and what he meant to Georgia football.”

On facing Georgia Tech’s offense for the second time under UGA defensive coordinator Todd Grantham…

“I think the second time through is very helpful for Coach Grantham, our players and this system itself. I think it should help, but you still have to slow it down.”

On Georgia’s defensive improvement from a year ago…

“One of the biggest statistics was third down defensive efficiency, getting people off the field on third down. If you remember a year ago we were not very good at all at that. I can’t tell you how many times we got people in third and long, then they made it. We’ve gotten those third down stops and that changes everything. You look at our time of possession, part of it is the offense being proficient and doing well, but part of it is the defense getting off the field, a lot more three and outs. If you get a first down and go again, maybe the second time you are out of there on third down where before people had some fairly long, sustained drives on us because we just couldn’t get off the field on third down. By far that’s the one stat that has made the biggest difference along with the turnover ratio, the amount of takeaways. Those are the two that hit me the most.”

“Todd spent a year in college again. In college you defend so many offenses compared to what you defend in the NFL. In the NFL everybody is a lot alike. There are a few differences here and there, but they are a lot more common than not, and in college it’s just vast the different types of offenses you have to defend and gain experience with your players and your system against it. I think a lot of guys got bigger, stronger, faster. I think a lot of guys grew up. We got a lot of people in the right spots. Even the coaches besides Coach Grantham understand what we are doing, because Todd was teaching everybody.”

On Georgia’s run defense facing Georgia Tech…

“I don’t think it matters what you are ranked against the rush when it comes to playing Georgia Tech’s offense. If you played Georgia Tech, Navy and Georgia Southern, you aren’t going to lead the nation in rush defense. That’s what they do and they do it so well. The teams that we’ve been playing are a little bit more common in what they are doing, you can call it conventional or whatever you want. The types of running game that we’ve seen we’ve stopped extremely well, but the type of running game we are about to see is not the same and the percentage of run-pass is very different. If you are going to average ‘X’ amount of yards per game, and historically 80 percent of your total is rushing, even on a bad day they are going to rush for 250. If you give up 250 rushing you think it’s horrible if you are trying to lead the world in rush defense. There is no correlation between that stat, in my opinion, to try to make some kind of prediction.”

On Georgia Tech’s Tevin Washington…

“He became the starter late in the season. I’m sure those games helped him go into this season and be more prepared. He kind of hit the ground running. If you remember those first two or three games were just phenomenal the amount of yards and the amount of points and the passing game that went along with the running game. It was very scary to see. He is a whole lot better now than he was a year ago just by virtue of the fact that he’s had that experience.”

On the advantage of preparing for the SEC Championship with the Georgia Tech game being at noon…

“If we have a noon game, I probably should relax and enjoy it, but I watch the coaches’ copy of the offense, defense and kicking. I actually get a chance to even look a tad bit of the next opponent. That’s usually what you do on the next day. So I get to knock out a lot of that stuff personally, which allows me on Sunday to really dig in to the opponent, instead of spending Sunday trying to clean up what happened on Saturday. I think all the coaches would take advantage of that time. We aren’t worried at all about it because we don’t even know who the heck we are playing. We are truly digging in on this one.”

On Jarvis Jones being named a finalist for the Butkus Award…

“I’m not surprised that he’s a finalist for any award. Of course with his performance, if you watch him, you would think he deserves to be in the mix. People around the country look at stats and compare. When you lead the SEC in sacks and tackles for loss, it draws attention to you, and also the fact that we’ve been winning lately I think helps, and what the defense has done as a whole. All those things help. I’m not surprised by that at all.”

On Branden Smith…

“Most of the snaps he’s had for us have been defensively. He’s done a nice job with that. He’s been the kick returner and the punt returner at different times. He’s had a few offensive plays here and there that have been outstanding for us. Certainly defense is where he’s had the most impact for us.”

On Quintavious Harrow…

“I’m really proud of him because he really has made a name for himself. When we looked at him we felt like at the very least he would be a great special teams player. He is what you’ve seen. He runs very fast and he’s fearless; he’s tough. He’s a football player, and that’s the greatest compliment you can give a guy. Right now, just like a lot of rookies in the NFL, they make the club because they are a special teamer. They make plays in the special teams which gives the position coaches confidence that they’re a tough football player, they’re reliable and we need to get this guy some reps. I’m sure in the spring he’ll be seen a little bit differently than just some redshirt freshmen who didn’t play a snap. He’s a guy who will be seen as a guy who has made big plays in big games and proved he’ll hit you and proved he’s a tough football player.

On Thanksgiving plans for Georgia’s players…

“A lot of them go to Rodney Garner’s, but there are a lot of teammates who take teammates home with them. Coach Garner’s family has been gracious to bring a bunch of the guys over there, whoever wants to come. All the coaches’ homes are open to the players. I think once that Garner meal got rolling, guys got excited about that, so a lot of them go there. I think it’s a tribute to Rodney and Kim Garner to open their home to those guys.”

Safety Bacarri Rambo

On defending the triple option…

“We have to play assignment football. If one person misses an assignment, then Georgia Tech will have the chance to make big plays. Everyone needs to do their job, stay focused, run to the ball and play full speed.”

On playing Georgia Tech…

“We always get excited when we play Georgia Tech. We have to go out and handle business. Everyone is really excited this week.”

On being from Georgia and playing in this rivalry…

“It means a lot to play an in-state rival being from Georgia. I got recruited by Georgia Tech so that adds something to do. I’m just glad to be around these guys. We’re going to go out there and take care of business on Saturday.”

On winning for the seniors…

“We want our seniors to have the chance to have the Governor’s Cup for their senior year. We’re going to go out and have fun with the seniors on the team and hopefully come back with a win.”

Linebacker Christian Robinson

On the rivalry…

“It’s a big in-state rivalry. It’s a good week to play football at Georgia. There is a lot riding on this game and the team is ready.”

On being from Georgia and playing in this rivalry…

“This rivalry means everything to me, being from Georgia. If we lose, then I know that I will be hearing about it from the Tech fans that I go to church with. That’s a big reason that we’re so motivated to win this game. I know for me personally, that’s adds to the excitement.”

On preparing for Georgia Tech’s offense…

“We’ve been focusing on the fundamentals of football, cut blocks and things like that. Georgia Tech’s offense is nothing like any other team we play this year. It’s going to be physical game and we have to be physical with them.”

On playing in the last regular-season game…

“This is the last chance for our seniors to play in the game and we want to send them out with the Governor’s Cup. That is a big thing for us. We want the seniors to remember that they were able to beat a lot of teams that people said we couldn’t beat.”

Dribble Dawgs Beat Irish

2011-11-22T22:30:00.000-05:00

BASKETBALL

The Georgia men's basketball team captured third place at the Progressive CBE Classic at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri. Tuesday night, topping Notre Dame 61-57.

Freshman guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope led Georgia (4-1) with a career-high 16 points and five rebounds. Caldwell-Pope has had double-digit point performances in every game this season.

The Dawgs’ offensive effort was supported by freshman Nemanja Djurisic and sophomore Donte’ Williams who had 10 and nine points, respectively.

Sophomore forward Marcus Thornton led Georgia on the boards with eight rebounds.

“It was a hard fought win,” said coach Mark Fox. “This is another terrific game for us to learn from, as was last night, but it’s good to leave here with a quality win.”

The Dawgs’ offense was kick started by junior guard Vincent Williams who scored a career-high eight points in his first collegiate start.

“I felt like Vincent was going make an impact. He’s a tough little guy…He brought out a great competitive spirit to start the game for us tonight,” Fox said.

As a team, Georgia went 12-26 from behind the arc and was plus-14 in rebounding margin, both season bests.

Georgia jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead, but a stingy Notre Dame team brought the game to a 15-15 tie midway through the first half. Georgia trailed by as many as five in the half, but took the halftime lead, 31-29, off of a Sherrard Brantley 3-pointer with just three seconds remaining.

Early in the second half, Georgia extended its lead to 42-34 off of senior guard Dustin Ware’s third three-pointer of the night. However, Notre Dame went on a 10-2 run, capped off by a pair of free throws to tie the game at 53 with 5:11 remaining. Three Georgia possessions later, Caldwell-Pope hit his fourth triple of the night to put Georgia back on top for good, 56-53.

Tonight’s win marks Georgia’s first-ever victory against Notre Dame.

Georgia returns to action Friday against No. 12 Xavier in Cincinnati. Last season, the Musketeers topped Georgia 65-57 in Athens. Friday’s matchup is scheduled to start 8:00 p.m. and will be televised on Fox Sports South.

Tuesday Press Conference–Part 1

2011-11-22T16:20:00.001-05:00

FOOTBALL

Coach Mark Richt

Opening statement…

“We have Georgia Tech coming up. Coach Paul Johnson and his staff have done a fantastic job during the time he’s been there. They are really an outstanding football team and one that we really have a lot of respect for and one that we know we have our work cut out for us. Anybody who has ever played Coach Johnson’s offense, they know it’s an awful lot of work to get done in a short amount of time. We're thankful that we don’t have school this week. It helps us to get in a few more walkthroughs and a few more meetings. The toughest part for us it to get the scout team to try to vaguely resemble it. It’s hard to simulate what we are going to experience during the game. That will be one of the greatest challenges of the week as far as scout team to do a great job.”

“They are number two in the nation in rushing and number six in the nation in pass efficiency. Third downs, which are so huge and we all understand how important it is to get an offensive team off the field, they are in the top five in the country in third down conversions. As we all know, Coach Johnson has a habit of going for it on fourth down too, and they make an awful lot of their fourth downs. That’s even more devastating, knowing that a lot of times if they don’t make it on third, they’ll make it on fourth, so they’ll continue the drive and put the pressure on your defense and your football team through that.”

“I can’t imagine the atmosphere being anything but electric. I know that our players will be looking forward to the challenge. I’m sure they will too. We’re ready to prepare for that.”

On what Georgia’s tailback rotation will be on Saturday…

“I don’t know the answer to that. We have to sort through it. It’s just not cut and dry. I don’t even know who is going to start. I don’t even know who’s going to play. We are working our way through it. We’ll know more by the end of the week. Right this second I do not know exactly how it’s going to come out. We have some guys who have to learn to hold on to the football. I just want to see them practice. I guess competition is the hold up, deciding through competition who deserves to start, who deserves to play.”

On Carlton Thomas’ status for Saturday…

“That’s a good question. I don’t know that answer right now.”

On whether running the ball is the biggest key against Georgia Tech…

“It is for us offensively for sure. We always like to run the football, but you have to have backs who can do it and some backs who are willing to hang on to the football in the process. The thing about this game is every possession really is pretty crucial. Georgia Tech’s offense, because they run the ball so much and reduce yardage throughout and get to those third-and-shorts, that’s why they are one of the best third down percentage teams in America. If you keep converting third downs, you keep controlling the ball, you move the ball, you move the field position, you get more points. My guess is there are fewer possessions in a game that Georgia Tech plays than a lot of other games throughout the year. Every possession is very vital to them and to us. If we lose a possession for a turnover, or if they lose a possession from a turnover or for any reason and a possession is lost, it’s crucial. We’ve been fortunate to win or at least tie the turnover battle the last nine ballgames. I would say it’s more crucial this week than any week of the season.”

On whether the plan has been to control the ball the last couple of years against Georgia Tech…

“Not necessarily. The goal is to run the ball well. If you are able to run the ball well, I don’t have a problem with taking as many ticks off the clock as possible in any game. If you’ve seen us finish ballgames, some of the games have maybe been a little bit boring at the end to some people because we are trying to get first downs without throwing the ball because we know we can reduce the chance of a team that might be behind us to get back into the ballgame. The longer we have it, the better chance our defense has to rest.”

On Ben Jones…

“He’s a character. He’s a great guy. He showed up and started at center as a freshman in the Southeastern Conference. That’s not easy to do. I don’t know if he’s missed a snap unless we took him out. I can’t remember a time he’s missed a snap. There might have been a time he missed a practice, but I sure don’t remember it. He’s just a tough guy who loves football. He’s a great student of the game.”

On Isaiah Crowell’s status for Saturday…

“It’s his left ankle. I think there is a chance he plays.”

On Richard Samuel…

“Richard is coming along, but it won’t be this week. He’s not in the mix this week. We hope he’s in the mix next week.”

On Aaron Murray’s performance against Kentucky compared to the Auburn game…

“He was hot against Auburn. He made a lot of good throws, and guys made really good catches too. There were two in particular that if he would have it, his passing efficiency would have jumped dramatically. There was a post early in the game where we had Tavarres King open, had good protection and could have been and probably should have been a touchdown. You get the completion, you get the yards and you get the touchdown, that jumps up the rating, which we’re not all that concerned about. There was another one where we faked a little flare screen and we were going to go deep, and he just underthrew it. If he had hit him on the run, I think (King) would have been 10 yards ahead of the defender because they bought the cheese on that one. That would have been at least 60 yards and a touchdown. Two completions, touchdowns, maybe another 80 yards, just those two throws would probably put him up there we he wants to be. Not as high as Auburn, but it would have jumped it up pretty good. It only takes a couple.”

Quarterback Aaron Murray

On the Georgia Tech game…

“It’s going to be fun; it’s a big rivalry game, one of our biggest games of the season. I know everyone on this team is looking forward to it, it’s the last regular season game of the year. It’s just another way to continue our momentum that we’ve built over the last nine games.”

On the Georgia Tech defense…

“They run a very similar defense to our defense; bringing blitzes from different angles, having guys stand up and walk around, not really knowing where they’re going. We’ve just got to do some extra film study this week; figure out their tendencies a little bit more and figure out where they’re going to be coming from in different circumstances. They like to bring some pressure, so we are going to have to protect and open up some big lanes.”

Center Ben Jones

On playing with emotion…

“I play with a lot of emotion and I think that’s why I play well in the games. You have to have a little edge about yourself when you are playing football, especially as an offensive lineman; you’re not scoring touchdowns, you’re not making tackles, you’re doing the dirty work so the other guys get the glory and we take pride in that. If your backs are doing great, if Aaron Murray has a great game, we feel like we’ve had a great game. This year, we’ve had a lot of those games. Once we win and get that W, just being able release that and show how happy I am to get the W and get this program back on track means all the world to me.”

On the Georgia Tech rivalry…

“Coming in, Auburn was the biggest rivalry game for me since I am from Alabama, but after that first year, Tech is definitely the biggest rivalry game I’ve ever played in. Once you lose a rivalry, that’s when you figure out, ‘Hey, this is a rivalry game,’ and you never want to lose to those guys again. That’s my goal, I definitely want to end my senior year with beating Tech.”

On the Georgia Tech game…

“We have to come out as the offensive line and play well; we want to try to dominate up front to give Aaron Murray time to open up the passing game and also open up some holes for our backs. Just control the ball and get ahead. Tech’s got a great offense and they really take a lot of clock away if they’re having a good game. You don’t want to put stress on your defense. If we get up, I think we’ll have a great game. I think we have one of the top defenses in the country, we rely on them and I’m glad they’re on our side.

Dribble Dawgs Tripped Up By California

2011-11-21T23:45:00.000-05:00

BASKETBALL

The University of Georgia men’s basketball team took its first loss of the season in the semifinals of the Progressive CBE Classic at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo., after falling 70-46 to No. 18 California on Monday.

“We didn’t play well in any area of the game,” coach Mark Fox said. “We had it in a position in the first half where if we finished the half better, we could have regrouped. You have to give Cal credit. That’s a good basketball team, a mature basketball team, and they taught us a good lesson.”

Freshman Kentavious Caldwell-Pope led Georgia (3-1) with 10 points and six rebounds followed by redshirt senior Gerald Robinson and freshman Nemanja Djurisic with nine each. Sophomore Marcus Thornton led the effort on the boards with eight rebounds.

Senior Harper Kamp put in 16 points for Cal (4-0) while fellow classmate Jorge Gutierrez had 14 and redshirt sophomore Justin Cobb added 10.

Overall, Cal totaled 25-of-50 shooting while the Dawgs were 19-of-58. Outside of shooting, the teams matched up close to even in many categories. The Bears outrebounded Georgia 36-31, but the Dawgs put up 11 fast break points while Cal had four.

With the Bears up 8-4, Caldwell-Pope hit back-to-back three pointers to put Georgia ahead 10-8. The Dawgs then tied the contest at 15 with a Robinson basket and again at 18 with Ware’s three. A 7-0 run that was sparked by Djurisic’s shot beyond the arc and defensive plays by Caldwell-Pope and Djurisic that turned into offensive points gave Georgia its largest lead at 25-22 with 5:12 left in the half.

Cal quickly answered back by closing the first half with 14-straight points to go into the locker room with a 36-25 advantage.

The Bears took control early in the second half with a 10-4 burst to go up 46-25 before a Georgia timeout. Offensive troubles by the Dawgs helped Cal pull away, as Georgia shot just over 33 percent compared to Cal’s 52 percent from the floor. Georgia ended the game on a 6-3 spree, which included four points from freshman John Cannon.

Georgia concludes the Progressive CBE Classic on Tuesday, Nov. 22 in the third-place game, as the Dawgs match-up against Notre Dame at 7:45 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPNU.

Dawgs In Pads Today

2011-11-21T20:28:00.001-05:00

FOOTBALL

Riding a nine-game winning streak and boasting the title of Southeastern Conference Eastern Division Champion, the Georgia football team began preparations on Monday for Saturday’s game in Atlanta against Georgia Tech.

The Dawgs worked out in full pads for just over an hour under the lights on the Woodruff Practice Fields.

The Dawgs pushed their win streak to nine straight with last week's victory over Kentucky. Seven of the wins came against SEC opponents, allowing the Dawgs to move into first place in the division. Georgia will face the winner of the Western Division in the SEC Championship Game December 3rd in the Georgia Dome.

For this Saturday's game, though, the Dawgs will step out of the conference against their instate rivals Saturday at 12:01 p.m. on ESPN. The 13th-ranked Dawgs are 9-2 overall, while No. 25 Georgia Tech is 8-3.

"We needed to work on a few things, so that's why we were in pads today," coach Mark Richt said. "We'll probably be in pads every day this week. … This game is crucial. If you don't stay focused, you'll get whipped, No. 1, and you might get hurt too, so these guys have got to be ready."

Richt was asked for his memories of legendary radio announcer Larry Munson, who passed away on Sunday.

"Everybody's got fond memories of Larry for the calls he made and for his love of the Dawgs," Richt said. "It was an honor to know him."

Richt said the captains for Saturday's game will be center Ben Jones, defensive end Abry Jones, linebacker Jarvis Jones and punter Drew Butler.

Charles Finalist For Mackey Award

2011-11-21T20:19:00.001-05:00

FOOTBALL

Georgia junior Orson Charles was named one of three finalists for the 2011 John Mackey Award on Monday night, which is awarded annually to the most outstanding tight end in college football.

Clemson’s Dwayne Allen and Notre Dame’s Tyler Eifert join Charles as the three finalists for this year’s honor. Arkansas’ D.J. Williams was the 2010 recipient as Florida’s Aaron Hernandez claimed the 2009 award. Charles represents the first Dawg to be named a finalist since the award started in 2000.

The Mackey Award winner will be presented live at the Home Depot ESPN College Football Awards Red Carpet Show in Orlando, Florida, on December 8 at 6 p.m. on ESPNU.

Charles, a 6-3, 241-pound native of Tampa, Florida, has the most receptions of any Dawg this year (35) and has recorded 435 yards receiving and five touchdowns through 11 games. With Georgia surging to third in the Southeastern Conference in total offense at 427.6 yards per game during the team’s nine-game winning streak, Charles is coming off a performance where he led the Dawgs with 40 yards receiving on three catches versus Kentucky.

Teaming up at Georgia with his former quarterback at Plant High School, Aaron Murray, Charles is tied for the most all-time career touchdown catches for any Georgia tight end with 10 and is ranked second in career yardage (1,231) and third in receptions (84). Charles has started 26 games in his career, including the last 21 in a row, and has been a key component to the Dawgs having three different 100-yard rushers this season.

Charles has been a captain three times this season as he has also contributed on the kickoff team, PAT/field goal team and punt return team, including blocking a punt at Vanderbilt. A member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll with a 3.15 GPA, Charles has played a major role in the Dawgs capturing their first outright SEC Eastern Division title since 2005.

James Named Player Of The Week

2011-11-21T18:38:00.001-05:00

BASKETBALL

Georgia's Jasmine James was named SEC Player of the Week by the league office in Birmingham on Monday after averaging 13.3 points, 7.0 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 2.7 steals during a trio of Lady Dawg victories during the previous seven days.

James, a 5-9, junior guard from Memphis, Tennessee, scored 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the floor in Georgia's 68-49 win over Georgia Southern on Nov. 15. On Nov. 17, she flirted with a triple-double with game-high tallies of 17 points, seven assists and six steals – while also grabbing eight rebounds – in a 73-48 victory over College of Charleston. James led the Lady Dawgs with nine rebounds and six assists and played all 40 minutes in a 67-60 win over No. 23 Southern Cal on Nov. 20.

"To put up those kind of numbers, you not only have to play well, you have to play hard," Andy Landers said after the College of Charleston win. "J.J. hasn't just played well, she's played extremely hard for extended minutes. She's been very impressive."

For the season, James is averaging 13.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 4.0 steals per game. Among SEC statistical leaders, she currently ranks No. 10 in scoring, No. 4 in assists, No. 2 in steals, No. 6 in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.8) and No. 4 in minutes played (34.5).

The recognition represents the sixth weekly honor during James' two-plus seasons in Athens. As a freshman in 2009-10, she was tabbed SEC Freshman of the Week a league-record five times.

Also on Monday, the Lady Dawgs climbed to No. 10 in the Associated Press top-25 poll. The top-10 appearance is Georgia's 258th all-time. Since their first AP ranking in 1981-82, the Lady Dawgs have been included in the top-10 in 47.8 percent of the AP polls released.

Walsh, Jones & Boykin Honored

2011-11-21T17:26:00.001-05:00

FOOTBALL

Senior place-kicker Blair Walsh and junior defensive end Abry Jones have received weekly Southeastern Conference awards following their performances in the 19-10 win over Kentucky, according to a league announcement on Monday.

Walsh was named the SEC Special Teams Player of the Week for the second time this year while Jones was named the SEC Co-Defensive Lineman of the Week for the second time of his career. Jones also split the honor after tallying 16 tackles against Georgia Tech in 2010.

Walsh, a 5-10, 192-pound native of Boca Raton, Florida, paced the Dawgs scoring with 13 points, including going 4-for-4 in field goals with three 39 yarders and a 25 yarder. He now has 393 points in his career, which puts him second in SEC and UGA history behind former Dawg Billy Bennett (409).

Supplying Georgia with a 12-10 edge at halftime, Walsh has now drilled 72 field goals in his career and attempted 95, which both stand at the No. 5 all-time mark in SEC history and make him the leading active NCAA kicker in both categories.

Walsh was also named the CollegeFootballPerformance.com National Place-Kicker of the Week.

Jones, a 6-3, 309-pound native of Macon, tallied four tackles, including 1.5 tackles for loss, and helped the Dawgs hold Kentucky to a single touchdown and a field goal. In fact, Georgia’s defense is ranked 11th nationally in scoring defense (17.8 points per game).

Jones is third on the team with seven tackles for loss of 29 yards while holding down the seventh spot on the Dawgs with 36 total stops this season. Georgia limited the Wildcats to just 23 yards rushing on 21 attempts (1.1 yards per carry) and just 81 total yards in the final three quarters of the game.

This pair of conference awards gives Georgia 13 SEC weekly honors this year.

ALSO OF NOTE: Senior Brandon Boykin was named to the Paul Hornung Award Weekly Honor Roll for the seventh time this season following his outing versus Kentucky. Boykin grabbed his second interception of the year (seventh of his career) and added a tackle versus the Wildcats.

In addition, he had one 16-yard kickoff return to move to No. 3 on the all-time SEC kickoff return list with 2,484 yards and is the active leader in the category. Boykin also had a 22-yard punt return in the matchup and a 2-yard reception.

The 14th-ranked Dawgs (9-2, 7-1 SEC) travel to Atlanta to take on 25th-ranked Georgia Tech (8-3, 5-3 ACC) on Saturday at noon. ESPN will televise the matchup.

Munson Memorial Service

2011-11-21T16:21:00.001-05:00

A memorial service for long-time University of Georgia football radio announcer Larry Munson will be held at a date yet to be determined; however, it will be after December 4th.

In lieu of flowers, the Munson family requests that donations be made to the Noah Harris Cheerleading Scholarship. The endowed scholarship is awarded annually to a student-athlete on the cheerleading team who demonstrates outstanding character, leadership, and dedication to the athletic program and the community. The fund was established in 2006 in memory of 1st Lieutenant Noah Harris who was a cheerleader for UGA.

Donation checks should be made payable to the UGA Foundation with the designation: Noah Harris Cheerleading Scholarship in memory of Larry Munson. They may be sent to the Georgia Bulldog Club, PO Box 1472, Athens, GA 30603.

Tribute To Larry

2011-11-21T12:41:00.001-05:00

If you’ve been a Dawg fan at any time since 1966, you really don’t need anyone to tell you what Larry Munson meant to the program. Larry was the Dawgs, his voice was heard from tailgates to deer stands all over the south. Fans of other teams made sure they caught his highlights, his peers were envious of the picture he painted.

The great memories all have his voice telling you what happened and for those, I’d like to thank, “old lady luck,” she sure smiled down on the Dawg Nation.

The Voice Is Quite Now

2011-11-20T23:04:00.001-05:00

Larry Munson, legendary voice of the Dawgs for 42 years, died at his Athens home Sunday night from complications of pneumonia according to his son, Michael.

Funeral arrangements have not been determined.

Munson wrapped up a lifetime of sports broadcasting in the fall of 2008, most of which was spent with the Dawgs from 1966 to 2008. His dramatic delivery, along with an unabashed partisanship for the Dawgs, endeared him to generations of UGA fans.

The Georgia job, which Munson landed in 1966, was the latest and longest lasting in a career that has covered over 60 years. He has been duly honored by several organizations for his outstanding contributions to broadcasting.

Born Sept. 28, 1922, in Minneapolis, Munson is an alumnus of Moorehead State Teachers College in Moorehead, Minnesota. After World War II, he used his military discharge pay to enroll in broadcaster's school back home in Minneapolis. He followed 10 weeks of training by landing an assignment to work at a small radio station in Devil's Lake, North Dakota. This job started a series of short-term jobs for Munson behind the microphone, the last of which took him to Cheyenne, Wyoming. He had gotten the job by recording an audition tape of a football game between Ohio State and Minnesota, replete with canned crowd noise and special effects. During his time in Cheyenne, Munson befriended another young broadcaster who later gained national fame: Curt Gowdy, who was calling University of Wyoming football and basketball games at the time. When Gowdy left Cheyenne for a Double A baseball job in Oklahoma City, he recommended that Munson replace him. It was the break that Munson sought. In 1949, when Gowdy joined Mel Allen on the New York Yankees radio crew, he again recommended Munson for the job in Oklahoma City.

Munson eventually spent three years broadcasting baseball there before making his next move. He left Oklahoma City for Nashville, in 1952, taking a job calling games for the Nashville Vols, a minor-league affiliate of several teams, including the New York Giants, Cincinnati and Minnesota. It was a career move that led him into other broadcasting directions. He served a stint as a Nashville disc jockey and also started what was believed to have been the first-ever TV show on fishing. Munson continued to host the fishing show long after he left Nashville for Georgia in the mid-1960s.

While in Nashville, Munson also made his second venture into collegiate athletics. He called Vanderbilt University football and basketball games over the powerful airwaves of AM station WSM. But in 1966 Munson got his big break into major-league baseball
when he landed a job calling Atlanta Braves baseball in their inaugural season. As the Braves' first spring training began, he read a newspaper story about the departure of Georgia football announcer Ed Thilenius. He then made an inquiry to UGA athletics director Joel Eaves, whom he had known during his days at Vanderbilt. Eaves offered him the Georgia football job during that first phone call.

During his career as the Dawgs’ play-by-play man, Munson has held a variety of auxiliary jobs. He called games for the Georgia basketball program from 1987-96 and for the Atlanta Falcons from 1989-92. He has also hosted various sports talk shows on radio and TV. In 1983, Munson was recognized by the Georgia General Assembly
for his role in the Georgia championship football program. Fourteen years later the same legislative body, led by Governor Zell Miller, honored him with a proclamation celebrating his 50 years in broadcasting.

In 1994, Munson was inducted into the Georgia Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame, and in 2005, he won a similar induction into the State of Georgia Sports Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association Hall of Fame on May 2, 2009. Munson was also the 2003 recipient of the Chris Schenkel Award, given annually by the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame. The award recognizes broadcasters with long and distinguished careers in
broadcasting college football, as well as their contributions to community service. He was also named winner of the 2008 Furman Bisher Award for Sports Media Excellence presented by the Atlanta Sports Council. On Nov. 17, 2007, Munson was named a UGA ‘Honorary Football Letterman' and presented with a letterman’s plaque and jacket at the Georgia-Kentucky game.

What they said through the years:

"Ask any sports fan in the South for the name of a college announcer other than his own and the chances are the one he or she will know is Munson."
--Loran Smith, 1986

"I've never known a college announcer who means more to his school's alumni and friends than Larry Munson. He delivers a passionate, emotional broadcast that has endeared him to all Dawgs and it has also made him the toast of the state."
--Mike Faherty, General Manager, WSB Radio, 1986

"Nobody that I know does play-by-play like Larry. He has a certain way of following the ball and his powers of concentration are unbelievable. He captures the feeling of the moment. He's great, but he's a horrible roommate. He could be doing a game in Montana in December and have the air conditioning on. He must have descended from a polar bear."
--Phil Schaefer, Georgia color analyst, 1986

"The voice of the Dawgs has become the voice of college football in the South."
--Boyd McWhorter, Southeastern Conference Commissioner, 1985

"Hardly a day goes by in my hectic world that I don't remind my staff to 'Hunker Down.'"
--Ronald Reagan, President of the United States, 1986

"Larry Munson is to Georgia football what fried chicken is to a tailgate party. You can't enjoy one without the other."
--Lewis Grizzard, 1985

"He's like a folk hero. He has that special style people love and relate to. I finally claimed him as one of the best after the '78 season. He just shot straight up. But I'd come out of the hotel on Saturday mornings rested after a good night's sleep, feeling good about the game and run into Munson and he'd say, 'You see how fast their receivers are, how we going to run with them?' I'd say, 'Munson get away from me.' The man is a worrier. He drove me crazy as a coach."
--Vince Dooley on Munson, 1994

Now Get The Picture……

"Matt Robinson fakes, end-around to Appleby. Appleby's gonna throw a bomb! He's got a man open down on the far side! Complete! A touchdown!..........Appleby to Washington. Eighty yards! Appleby! End around! Just stopped, planted his feet and threw it! Washington, caught it, thinking of Montreal and the Olympics, and ran out of his shoes right down the middle. Eighty yards!"
-- Nov. 8, 1975 vs. Florida

"The whole stadium is standing up and roaring against Georgia.....The whole game coming down to this!......He sets it down and it's up! Watch it! Watch it! YEAH! YEAH! YEAH! YEAH!"
--Oct. 28, 1978 vs. Kentucky, Rex Robinson winning field goal

"We hand it off to Herschel! There's a hole! Five! 10! 12! He's running over people! Oh, you Herschel Walker!.......My God Almighty, he ran right through two men.....He drove right over orange shirts, just driving and running with those big thighs. My God, a freshman!"
-- Sept. 9, 1980 vs. Tennessee, Herschel's debut

"Buck back, third down on the eight. In trouble. Got a block behind him. Gonna throw on the run. Complete to the 25! To the 30! Lindsay Scott! 35, 40! Lindsay Scott 45, 50! 45, 40! run Lindsay! 25! 20! 15! 10! Five! Lindsay Scott! Lindsay Scott! Lindsay Scott!...........I can't believe it. I broke my chair. A metal, steel chair with about a 5-inch cushion. Well, the stadium fell down.....I didn't mean to beg Lindsay to run, but I had to."
-- Nov. 8, 1980 vs. Florida, winning TD with 1:04 left

"Auburn trying to break our hearts here!......Again you guys, hunker down!....Eight-four seconds. I hate to keep saying it, but HUNKER DOWN!....A minute and four seconds. Sixty-four seconds. Sixty-four seconds to everything!....If you didn't hear me you guys, HUNKER DOWN!....It's fourth down....Ball on the 21 and they've got to go to the four for a first down. I know I'm asking a lot you guys, but HUNKER IT DOWN ONE MORE TIME!.....(A Pass by Auburn is broken up in the end zone)....The Dogs broke it up!.....Twenty-three, twenty-two, twenty-one. Clock running, running.
Oh, look at the sugar falling out of the sky! Look at the sugar falling out of the sky!"
-- Nov. 13, 1982 vs. Auburn, Georgia wins third straight SEC title

"So we'll try to kick one 100,000 miles....We're gonna try to kick one 60 yards plus a foot and a half....And Butler kicked a long one, a long one....Oh my God, oh my God....The stadium is worse than bonkers."
--Sept. 22, 1984 vs. Clemson, Kevin Butler winning field goal with 11 seconds left.

“We have come flying down the field we are on their six yard line. We are gonna have one play to try and save ourselves. Remember we left our heart down on the other end of the field. We have come all the way back to the six yard-line and we just took the last timeout like gold bouillon and had to spend it. Six yard line. Can you believe that David Greene brought us down the field that quick? Now we have one play to steal a win. 24-20 and they got the 24 with the great play Clauson to Stephens in three or four blocks. What in the world would you call now? You’re on their six yard line and Greene has brought you down there all the way. What are you gonna do now?”

”Mcgill led us out. Now he calls his hands and raises them for the huddle on the ten. Got ten seconds, we’re on their six. Michael Johnson turned around asked the bench something. And now Greene makes him line up on the right slot, we have three receivers. Tennessee playing what amounts to a four-four. A fake. And there’s a TOUCHDOWN! MY GOD A TOUCHDOWN! We threw it to Haynes. We just stomped them with five seconds left. My God Almighty did you see what he did? David Greene just straightened up and we snuck the fullback over, Hanes is keeping the ball, Haynes has come running all the way across to the bench. We just dumped it over to 26-24. We just stepped on their face with a hot nailed boot and broke their nose. We just crushed their face. We dumped it over, David Greene brought us flying down the field and Haynes caught a sneak pass wide open.”
-- Oct. 6, 2001 vs. Tennessee in Knoxville

Munson Himself

"I actually heard a commercial on a radio station. They were begging for announcers. Guys hadn't come back yet (from the war) and more and more new radio stations were popping up. There was a shortage like you can't believe. You were supposed to study for six months and they would try to place you. I went for nine weeks and they placed me."
--Larry on how he got his first job

"The Braves sent me to a car dealer to pick up a car to drive to their training camp in Florida. Before I left Atlanta, I picked up a copy of The Journal. When I got to West Palm Beach, I check into my room, threw the paper on the bed, hung up my clothes, took a shower and lay down on the bed. Then I saw this box in the paper saying that Ed Thelenius was going to have to drop Georgia football. The next morning I called Joel Eaves at the University. He offered me the job that day."
--Larry on how he got the Georgia job

"I was 20 years old and I read in a magazine want-ad somewhere that the University of Wyoming was looking for a play-by-play radio announcer to do its football and basketball games. I sent them a tape of me doing a play-by-play game. The tape was a fake. I went into the studio and taped me doing the play-by-play for the Ohio State-Minnesota game. I had never done sports or play-by-play before in my life. I recorded about seven or eight plays and added sound effects. I sent that in as my tape. Looking back on it now, I can really see just how bad that tape was. It was awful. When I got out to Wyoming the guy I was replacing was named Curt Gowdy.
Back then, I didn't know him from anybody. He was just another guy. He left to take the job doing Oklahoma A&M football and basketball. I got the Wyoming job and it paid $45 a week. Gowdy and I became good friends. His home was in Wyoming so we hunted and fished a lot together."
--Larry on how he got his first big break

"Porter Wagoner was the first to teach me to worm fish very deep. Years ago, he was throwing plastic worms off a bluff at night into 100 to 110 feet of water and walking the worm up the sides of the rocks. He was coming in with great strings of largemouths from deep water in Center Hill.
--Larry on learning to fish with plastic worms

Dawgs Preparing For Jackets

2011-11-20T19:16:00.001-05:00

FOOTBALL

With the SEC Eastern Division title clinched, the Dawgs (9-2, 7-1 SEC) look to close the regular season with 10-straight wins, as they take on Georgia Tech (8-3, 5-3 ACC) Saturday in Atlanta.

Kickoff is scheduled for 12:01 and the game will be televised on either ABC or ESPN.

“It’s a grind either way—whether you are wining or losing,” coach Mark Richt said on Sunday about the winning streak. “To find a way to win nine is big. I say that the ninth win was significant mainly because it gave us a title. It’s not the SEC title, but it’s the Eastern Division title, which is very coveted. It takes mental toughness either way. Starting 0-2 definitely tested us to our limits, and I think everybody came through pretty good.”

In the team’s 19-10 victory over Kentucky, the defensive side of the ball stepped up to hold the Wildcats in the second half to 13 yards on 22 plays and no points. The game marked the second game in a row for the Dawgs to total five sacks. This season, redshirt sophomore Jarvis Jones leads the attack, as he ranks first in the SEC with 12.5 sacks.

“When you play defense like that every week you can become a consistent winner,” Richt said of the defense’s play throughout the season. “If you rely strictly on offense, big plays and things of that nature, you are just going to have an off day. We have played well defensively that when our offense is really going well, we are putting people away, and when our offense is not doing extremely well, the defense is holding down the fort until the offense makes enough plays to win.”

Richt did not offer any further information on tailback Carlton Thomas, but did say that freshman Isaiah Crowell should be ready to take the field against the Yellow Jackets after hurting his left ankle against Kentucky.

Georgia holds the edge over Georgia Tech in the all-time series with a record of 61-37-5, which was boosted by the Dawgs winning nine of the last 10 contests. Quarterback Tevin Washington’s 1,481 passing yards and 849 rushing yards leads the Yellow Jackets this season. In Tech’s 38-31 victory over Duke on Saturday, Washington posted 185 yards through the air and 136 rushing yards including a touchdown.

“It’s a whole different world,” Richt said of Tech’s rushing offense. “It’s a different type of running game. It’s something that you may be outstanding against some of the more common things we see on a week-to-week basis, and then just get thrashed by this system we are about to go against. I just don’t know if you can equate what’s happened to this point stopping the run and what’s going to happen this weekend. It’s just too different.”

Lady Dawgs Remain Unbeaten

2011-11-20T17:29:00.001-05:00

BASKETBALL

Meredith Mitchell put up a career-high 21 points and notched five rebounds as the No. 12 Georgia Lady Dawgs (4-0) defeated the No. 23 USC Women of Troy (1-2), 67-60, Sunday afternoon.

“I thought our kids were well prepared," said coach Andy Landers. "Assistant Coach Cameron Newbauer did a great job of getting the information we needed and getting it to the team in a way they could understand. I thought we were the aggressive team and most of the time, the aggressive will win it.”

After heading into the locker room with a 26-19 lead, the Lady Dawgs started the second period with a 14-2 run and never looked back. Georgia shot 48.1 percent from the floor in the second half, including double-digit efforts from Mitchell and Khaalidah Miller, 11 and 12 points, respectively.

“The great thing about Meredith's performance was that it was all within reason," continued Landers. "I didn’t think one of her shots was ill-conceived. They were the shots I wanted her to take. She was driving the baseline, pulling up on the boards and then coming off of two screens she made a three. It was good day, about as good as it gets.”

Miller tied her season high with 17 points and added four rebounds to her fourth consecutive double digit scoring effort his season.

Jasmine James and Jasmine Hassell led Georgia on the boards with nine rebounds each. James also recorded seven points and six assists, while Hassell added nine points to her season-high rebounding effort.

“Everyday is not going to be a great day for everybody," said Landers. "Michael Jordan wasn’t great everyday. Everybody on the basketball team has to find a way to do something. They can work together. Maybe it’s going to be shot, maybe it’s going to be a rebound, or maybe it’s going to be a steal. When players learn to think like that, they become more confident. I thought Jasmine James was terrific with the ball.”

Three USC players recorded double-digit scoring efforts, but it was not enough to overcome Georgia. In the first half, Georgia held the Women of Troy to 24.1 percent from the floor and scored 12 points off of USC turnovers.

The Lady Dawgs play again Saturday, November 26th, as they take on No. 14 Georgetown at the Lady Rebel Round-Up in Las Vegas. Georgia returns to Stegeman Coliseum on Wednesday, November 30 at 7:00 p.m., when they host South Carolina State.

Notes

• The Lady Dawgs improved to 4-0 overall.
• Georgia is now 3-4 against Southern Cal, including a 2-0 record versus the Women of Troy in Athens.
• This is Georgia’s fourth win in 10 days and third straight victory in the last 115 hours.
• UGA had a strong inside presence, scoring 36 points in the paint against USC.
• Georgia converted 14 USC turnovers into 22 points.
• Meredith Mitchell scored a career high 21 points, the most since her previous career high of 18 against South Carolina on 3/4/11.
• Khaalidah Miller tied her season-high scoring record with 17 points, her previous 17-point effort was against TCU on 11/11/11.
• Tonight’s win by seven points over Southern Cal marks Coach Andy Landers 777th win at Georgia.
• Georgia shot a blistering 48.1% from the field in the second half.

Lady Dawgs In Double Digits

• Meredith Mitchell scored 21 points, marking her second double-digit game of the season and the 28th of her career.
• Mitchell’s 21 point performance marks her first 20-point game and the highest points scored in a game in her career.
• Khaalidah Miller scored 17 points, marking her fourth double-digit game of the season and the 18th of her career.

Southern Cal Head Coach Michael Cooper

On the game…

“We couldn’t hit shots. When you don’t hit shots out on the road, it’s going to be difficult for you to win games. Our last three games, we came out as a whole. But today, towards the beginning, whenever you dig a hole like that for yourself it’s hard to climb out. But I’m proud of our team, our ladies played hard. They closed the gap and they stayed with it.”

Top 25–Week 13

2011-11-20T01:48:00.001-05:00

FOOTBALL

	Team	Record	Opponent
1.	LSU	11 - 0	Arkansas
2.	Houston	11 - 0	Tulsa
3.	Alabama	10 - 1	Auburn
4.	Arkansas	10 - 1	LSU
5.	Stanford	10 - 1	Notre Dame
6.	Virginia Tech	10 - 1	Virginia
7.	Oklahoma State	10 - 1	Off
8.	Boise State	9 - 1	Wyoming
9.	South Carolina	9 - 2	Clemson
10.	Georgia	9 - 2	Georgia Tech
11.	Michigan State	9 - 2	Northwestern
12.	Wisconsin	9 - 2	Penn State
13.	USC	9 - 2	UCLA
14.	Penn State	9 - 2	Wisconsin
15.	Oregon	9 - 2	Oregon State
16.	Michigan	9 - 2	Ohio State
17.	Kansas State	9 - 2	Off
18.	Clemson	9 - 2	South Carolina
19.	TCU	9 - 2	OFF
20.	Southern Miss	9 - 2	Memphis
21.	Oklahoma	8 - 2	Iowa State
22.	Virginia	8 - 3	Virginia Tech
23.	Georgia Tech	8 - 3	Georgia
24.	Rutgers	8 - 3	Connecticut
25.	Nebraska	8 - 3	Iowa

Dawgs Win East

2011-11-19T16:58:00.002-05:00

FOOTBALL

The Dawgs punched their ticket to the SEC Championship game in Atlanta on December 3rd with a 19–10 win over Kentucky today.

Former walk-on tailback Brandon Harton rushed for 101 yards and Blair Walsh kicked four field goals while the Dawg defense shut down the Wildcats in the second half.

Coach Mark Richt

"I left the South Carolina game encouraged. I wasn't encouraged that we lost, but I was encouraged that as we moved forward that we could win. I knew we had good leaders, good players and good coaches. We had to protect the ball and get after it. It's hard to win nine in a row, especially when you need every single one to get back to the Dome. I'm just so proud of them right now."

"Today was definitely a team victory. Everybody had to do their part. I thought the special teams played extremely well. The offense made enough plays and the defense did their thing."

"Brandon Harton had to come through for us. Even though the ball came out a few times, he had over 100 yards. And Ken Malcome did a few things. Overall, the tailbacks protected pretty good. As the game went on, they made some plays."

"Our defense stoned them again. Twenty-three yards net, that's pretty fantastic. They didn't throw that well either. Our defense played lights out I thought."

"I am so proud of the guys for winning the SEC East. Guys could have quit, pointed fingers and found a way to fall apart. But they didn't do that. Last season was pretty horrible by record, but the players never gave up on the coaches and the coaches never gave up on the players. We maintained our unity. That's what carried us through the offseason and carried us through the early part of this year."

"Kentucky played hard. We missed some opportunities, but we kept fighting. I'm glad there was not a lot of drama at the end."

"You take it one game at a time, one play at a time, one practice at a time. It's hard to win nine in a row -- period. I'm just thankful that we did."

Quarterback Aaron Murray

On the win and clinching the SEC East…

“It’s a victory. We didn’t play great, but it's great to get back to Atlanta. We’re excited. We have our game at Georgia Tech first, but we’re definitely blessed to be back in the SEC Championship game this year. It’s a great feeling.”

On today's game…

“We just weren’t connecting and you’re going to have those games. We just fought through it. The defense played great and we’re just happy to get out of it with a win.”

Linebacker Jarvis Jones

“We knew they would come in with some confidence and that they were going to give it their all. Last time they were here they beat us, so we knew they were coming to play. We just came to battle and stepped up. “

“After the beginning of the season we were a little down, but you just have to keep fighting and that’s what we did. Now we’re headed back to Atlanta and it’s a really good feeling.”

Tailback Brandon Harton

On rushing over 100 yards in the SEC East clinching victory…

“To come in and have this kind of game in this kind of game makes me feel so good. It’s the best feeling I’ve ever had. I just wanted to go out have fun, do what I was supposed to do, hit my assignments, but have fun."

Free Safety Bacarri Rambo

“It’s feels so good. The last time Georgia made it to the SEC championship I was in ninth grade, so it’s a great feeling. We put in a ton of work in the off-season and pre-season and it’s all paying off.”

Cornerback Brandon Boykin

“I’m feeling great. This is what I came back to do. It’s like a fantasy. As a senior, to win on senior day and to win the SEC East is a great feeling.”

KENTUCKY POST-GAME QUOTES

Kentucky Head Coach Joker Phillips

On the way his team played today…

“I am proud of this team and how they fought. A lot of people knew how much this week meant for Georgia and no one talked about what we were playing for. We’re playing for pride, our university and an extra win. The game that this team played proved they played for each other as well. I am proud of them.”

On the Kentucky defense…

“I said at half time that our defense had a lot of wins today. They forced some field goals instead of touchdowns that kept us in the game. It was good to see some young guys come up and make some plays. We had some guys who haven’t practiced lately and really came through with some good plays for us today. It was probably the best game this defense has played this year. We didn’t get pushed around and we have seen Georgia push some really good teams around. I don’t think that they pushed us around.”

On the Kentucky offense…

“We made some plays in the first half. We proved that we could move the ball on any defense that we face. We couldn’t get the run game started in the second half because of some of the schemes Georgia ran but I am proud of the way these guys fought for each other out there today. No one can see we didn’t fight.”

On Georgia’s defense…

“It’s hard to play against a defense that is as good as Georgia. This is one of the best defenses in the conference. We’ve seen Georgia hold some good teams to just a few points. It’s a tough to play against a team with great personnel, great schemes and athletic players.”

On Danny Trevathan…

“Danny is a pro and plays like a pro. Nothing he does surprises me anymore. He knows where he is supposed to be and where everyone else is supposed to be. That makes him play faster. I don't think I have been around a better tackler. He plays with emotion and excitement every week and he means a lot to this program.”

Notes

With today’s 19-10 victory over UK, the Dawgs (9-2, 7-1 SEC) captured the SEC Eastern Division title outright, the sixth for the program since the league split into divisions in 1992. Georgia will be heading to Atlanta for the SEC Championship game on Dec. 3 for the first time since winning it in 2005 over LSU. The Dawgs are 2-1 in SEC Championship Games.

Georgia won its ninth consecutive game, the longest winning streak in a season since the 1982 team under Vince Dooley went a perfect 11-0 during the regular season.
Under Richt, Georgia won 11 straight games over a span of two seasons, winning the final seven in 2007 and the first four contests in 2008.

Georgia’s defense shutdown the Wildcats in the second half as they managed just 13 yards on 22 plays and no points. Overall, UK gained 165 yards on 57 plays and 65 of those yards came on their first drive of the contest. The Dawgs had five sacks and won their seventh straight SEC game.

Redshirt sophomore OLB and Butkus Award semifinalist Jarvis Jones recorded 2.5 sacks versus the Wildcats to give him 12.5 in a season. This ties David Pollack (2004) for the No. 3 spot in the school record books for a season and leads the SEC this year. Jones was third in the nation coming into the game with 10 sacks. Pollack owns the school record with 14 in 2002. Sophomore Alec Ogletree led the Dawgs with eight tackles while Shawn Williams, Bacarri Rambo and Jarvis Jones had seven apiece.

Senior Blair Walsh booted three 39-yard field goals and a 25 yarder to pace the Dawg scoring. This is the second time Walsh has had four in a game after going 4-for-6 at Vanderbilt. His first FG was set up after Connor Norman recovered an onside kick on the Wildcat 44-yard line. Walsh’s second FG came following Smith’s INT return. The third FG came after Brandon Boykin returned a punt 22 yards to the Kentucky 23-yard line. Brandon Bogotay recovered a fumble on the Wildcat 30-yard line to set up Walsh’s fourth FG. He added a PAT and with those 13 points, Walsh is now second in SEC history with 394 points (72 FGs, 177 PATs). Former Dawg Billy Bennett owns the UGA and SEC records with 409 points from 2000-03.

Junior CB Branden Smith snagged his second interception of 2011 and returned it 53
yards to the Kentucky 27-yard line in the second quarter. He now has four in his career. The Dawgs have 15 picks this season. Smith also had a 21-yard kickoff return. Senior CB Brandon Boykin also had an INT in the first half.

Redshirt sophomore QB Aaron Murray improved on his single season touchdown pass record by adding this 28th TD pass in the third quarter. Murray connected with Marlon Brown in the back of the end zone for a 7-yard score at the 14:55 mark in the third period. Murray now has 28 in 2011 and 52 in his career. The Tampa, Florida, native finished 16-of-29 for 162 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT.

Smith’s interception in the opening period led to the second Blair Walsh field goal. True freshman Quintavius Harrow forced a fumble on a kickoff late in the second quarter and PK Brandon Bogotay recovered it. Walsh connected on another field goal following the Bogotay recovery. Boykin’s interception came with :01 left in the
second quarter. OLB Jarvis Jones forced a fumble by hitting Kentucky’s quarterback late in the third quarter and ILB Christian Robinson jumped on the loose ball. QB Aaron Murray connected with Marlon Brown for a 7-yard score on the ensuing possession. Georgia has forced 27 turnovers and converted them into 96 points.

TB Ken Malcome fumbled at the 10:44 mark in the second quarter on the Dawg 27-yard line. Kentucky then scored a touchdown just more than two minutes later. Murray threw an interception in the Dawgs’ opening drive of the first half. The Wildcats had to punt on the next possession. TB Brandon Harton fumbled in the third quarter after gaining 44 yards earlier in the drive. Kentucky also had to punt on this possession. Opponents have scored 42 points off 17 Dawg miscues.

Redshirt sophomore TE Arthur Lynch and sophomore FB Alexander Ogletree both started for the first time in their careers.

Injury Report: TB Isaiah Crowell injured his left ankle in the first half and did not return. With Crowell out, sophomore Brandon Harton had a career-high 101 yards on 23 carries.

Georgia’s captains on Saturday were all members of the 2011 senior class. C Ben Jones, LT Cordy Glenn, DE DeAngelo Tyson and CB/KOR Brandon Boykin represented their teammates at midfield.

The Dawgs travel to Atlanta to take on Georgia Tech on Saturday, November 26th. Kickoff is scheduled for 12:01 p.m. and ABC or ESPN will televise the game.

Lady Dawgs Defeat Cougars

2011-11-17T23:05:00.001-05:00

BASKETBALL

Jasmine James put up 17 points, recorded eight rebounds, dished out seven assists and collected six steals to lead the No. 12 Georgia Lady Dawgs (3-0) to a 73-48 victory over College of Charleston (1-2) Thursday night at Stegeman Coliseum.

"We’re playing good defense, we’re knocking balls down and we’re playing well in transition," said coach Andy Landers. "The difference tonight was that we passed the ball well in transition. I thought we did some really nice things when we passed the half line tonight.”

With a dominant 18-0 run to open the first half, the Lady Dawgs started strong and held the Cougars scoreless the first 9:14 of the game. Georgia shot 48.6 percent from the field in the first half and entered the locker room with a 44-22 lead.

The second half was much like the first, as the Lady Dawgs had an impressive 15-4 run the start the period.

College of Charleston had 31 turnovers for the night, 20 of which were forced by the Lady Dawgs.

“We won the points off of turnover battle which is really important," continued Landers. "Our defense really created a lot of offense tonight."

Krista Donald posted her first career double-double, as she led Georgia on the boards with 10 rebounds and put up 10 points.

“Krista Donald, Jasmine James and Erika Ford played with a lot of energy and seemed to focused on what it was they intended to do tonight," said Landers.

Khaalidah Miller and Anne Marie Armstrong were also productive for the Lady Dawgs, putting up 10 points each, and Ford and Tamika Willis contributed seven points apiece.

The Cougars, who shot 41.9 percent for the night, were paced by Megan Fischer with 15 points.

Georgia wraps up a busy week of three games in six days, when they play host No. 23 Southern Cal on Sunday at 2:00 p.m.

Notes

• The Lady Dawgs improved to 3-0 overall and 1-0 against College of Charleston in their first meeting with the Cougars.
• UGA is 47-11 all-time versus teams currently competing with the College of Charleston in the Southern Conference.
• This is Georgia’s third win in seven days and second straight victory against a SoCon team, including Tuesday’s 68-49 win over Georgia Southern.
• Freshman Krista Donald’s double-double (10 points, 10 rebounds) was the second time this season that a Dawg recorded a double-double. Meredith Mitchell scored 10 points and grabbed 12 boards against TCU in the season-opener.
• Georgia converted 31 CofC turnovers into 40 points, the most for the Dawgs this season.

Lady Dawgs In Double Digits

• Krista Donald scored 10 points and pulled down 10 rebounds to earn the first double-double of her career.
• Donald’s 10-point performance was also a career-best. Her previous high was four against Georgia Southern.
• Jasmine James scored 17 points, marking her third double-digit game of the season and the 42nd of her career.
• Khaalidah Miller scored 10 points, marking her third double-digit game of the season and the 17th of her career.
• Anne Marie Armstrong scored 10 points, marking her second double-digit game of the season and the 18th of her career.

College of Charleston Head Coach Nancy Wilson

On the game…..

“We were honored to play a very athletic and good Georgia team. Obviously, the first 10 minutes or so were pretty scary when we couldn’t get on the score board. Once we got out of the zone and started playing man and started penetrating a little more and they were fouling that opened up things a little bit. But we do realize what a good team they are.”

Diamond Dawgs Sign Five Including Nation’s Top-Rated Prospect

2011-11-17T14:13:00.001-05:00

BASEBALL

Byron Buxton, who is the nation’s top-rated prospect, along with Morgan Bunting, Joe DeCarlo, David Gonzalez and Matthew Taylor are the latest additions to the baseball recruiting class after each signed a national letter-of-intent to attend UGA, coach David Perno announced Wednesday.

Here is a look at the newest Dawgs who will be joining the program for the 2013 season:

BYRON BUXTON

A 6-2, 170-pound right-handed hitting outfielder from Baxley, Byron is the son of Carrie and Felton Buxton. He is the number one ranked high school prospect in the country by Baseball America. The newspaper’s top 100 is based on future pro potential after getting input from dozens of scouts and college coaches. Buxton attends Appling County where he plays for coach Jeremy Smith and summer baseball with Round Trip coached by Braxton Jeffers. Buxton also plays quarterback for the Pirates. He has participated in various showcase events and been named an All-American by Baseball America and Under Armour.

“Byron is a five-tool prospect and the top-rated recruit in the country,” said Perno. “His speed and arm strength are exceptional and his power is developing plus he is throwing 93-94 miles per hour. He will be one to watch in the pro draft.”

JOE DeCARLO

A 6-1, 205-pound right-handed hitting third baseman from Glenn Mills, Pennsylvania, Joe is the son of Susan and Michael DeCarlo. He is ranked No. 57 on Baseball America’s Top 100 High School Prospects list. A first team All Delco (Delaware County) selection, DeCarlo also made 1st Team All Central as a standout infielder for the Garnett Valley Jaguars and coach Rudy Shiller. He has started since his freshman year when he batted .340 with five home runs. DeCarlo comes from an athletic family featuring his father who played football at the University of Delaware, brothers Nick and Mike played baseball at William & Mary, his sister Alissa played lacrosse at Virginia and his sister Natalie plays Special Olympics basketball.

“Joe is one of the better third baseman we’ve come across in quite some time,” said Perno. “He has a power bat, he’s very strong and one guy we’ll have to battle with when it comes to the professional draft.”

MORGAN BUNTING

A 6-3, 180-pound left-handed hitting first baseman from Atlanta, Morgan is the son of Suzanne and Paul Bunting. He batted a team-best .474 with 10 home runs as a junior for the Woodward Academy War Eagles and coach Jim Minor. Last season, he led them to a 29-5 mark, a 5-AAA region title and the school’s first-ever semifinal appearance in the state playoffs. He was named MVP. He has played summer baseball with the East Cobb Astros and Braves and earned First Team Perfect Game USA All-America honors in 2011.

“The decision to sign with UGA was not hard; Coach Perno and his staff presented a family-oriented environment that really appealed to me,” said Bunting. “I knew that this is where I wanted to spend my college career.”

“Morgan moved to first base from third this summer and has a tall, rangy body and good power from the left side,” said Perno. “He’s got a lot energy and good makeup.”

DAVID GONZALEZ

A 6-1, 200-pound right-handed pitcher from Gainesville, David is the son of Nydia and J.P. Gonzalez. He is a two-way threat for the Gainesville Elephants and coach Jeremy Kemp. A three-year member of the varsity, he went 7-2 with a 3.48 ERA and 71 strikeouts in 52.1 innings as a junior to earn MVP honors. Also, he batted .369 with eight home runs and 29 RBI. As a sophomore, he posted a 7-1 mark, 3.38 ERA with 67 strikeouts in 47.2 innings plus batted .289-4-26.

“I chose UGA because of the great coaches who are very supportive and the university has a great reputation,” said Gonzalez.

“David is a power right-hander who is throwing around 94 miles per hour,” said Perno. “If he throws strikes consistently, he’s going to be very good.”

MATT TAYLOR

A 6-3, 185-pound right-handed hitting utility player from Fitzgerald, Matt is the son of Lisa and Harvey Taylor. A two-sport standout for the Fitzgerald High School Hurricanes, he plays shortstop/pitcher/catcher for coach Jason McDonald. He batted a team-best .462 with four home runs and 32 RBI plus 19 stolen bases as a junior and won five games on the mound with a 2.81 ERA and 74 strikeouts in 69.2 innings pitched. He was named the All-Region utility player, All-Middle Georgia catcher as well as All-Region punter.

“I am excited about the opportunity to play for UGA, and I look forward to representing UGA not only as an athlete but also a student,” said Taylor.

“Matt is an athlete; he can play all over the field, a true utility player,” said Perno. “He has a lot of potential with his bat, and it will be exciting to see him develop as his best baseball is ahead of him as he grows in to his body.”

Georgia is close to wrapping up its early recruiting class as the signing period comes to an end.

Dawgs Outrun Jackrabbits

2011-11-16T22:45:00.001-05:00

BASKETBALL

Donte’ Williams scored a career-high 17 points as Georgia overcame a 7-point deficit in the second half to defeat South Dakota State in the Progressive CBE Classic basketball tournament here Wednesday night.

The Dawgs (3-0) will continue in the Classic next week, when they face #23 California in Kansas City on Monday night. Also in the 4-team gathering will be 24th-ranked Missouri and Notre Dame.

After battling to a 28-all tie at halftime, Georgia quickly found itself in a deficit in the second half. The Jackrabbits (1-2) scored a free throw and 3-point shot on their first two possessions of the final period. Eventually, they built their advantage to its largest at 38-31 on a jumper by Chad White with 17:08 left.

Georgia then responded with a 21-6 scoring run that covered the ensuing seven minutes. Five different Dawgs scored in the rally, none more important than freshman Nemanja Djurisic, who tallied 12 of his 14 points in the second period.

“Nemi’s a very skilled player for us and I think he was just really would up in the first half,” coach Mark Fox said. “Fortunately, he was able to settle down a litter later into the game, which allowed him to come into his own and make plays for us that contributed to the victory.”

Georgia took the lead for keeps on a 3-pointer by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope that pushed his team ahead 43-40 with 14:10 left. Despite a pair of answering buckets by South Dakota State, the Dawgs continued their run with three straight scores, a trey by Sherrard Brantley and a basket each by Djurisic and Caldwell-Pope, the latter ending Georgia’s 21-6 barrage at the 10:20 mark of the second period.

Consecutive layups by Djurisic got the Dawgs their first double-digit margin at 64-53 with 4:19 left.

South Dakota State dropped a 16-point decision at Minnesota two days before, a game which followed an identical pattern to its contest against the Dawgs. The Jackrabbits led their big-name foes both nights into the second half, only to fade in the final minutes.

Indeed, Georgia seemed to take over the final quarter of this game. The Dawgs won the second-half rebounding battle 20-15 and shot a much-improved 47 percent over the last 20 minutes.

“We were hoping to really wear them down throughout the game and I think we were able to do that successfully,” Fox said. “We didn’t play exceptionally well, but we played really hard for all 40 minutes and it gave us a good win that we can continue to build on as the season progresses.”

The 17 points scored by Williams represented a major offensive breakthrough for the sophomore from Ellenwood. It marked his first double-figure scoring game as a collegian, 12 better than his previous high of five points. Just as important, however, were his team-high four blocked shots and seven rebounds.

“I just wanted to play aggressively, play hard,” Williams said. “I needed to rebound more than our last game, and I also needed to step up the intensity of my play on defense.”

Wednesday Practice Report

2011-11-16T19:38:00.001-05:00

FOOTBALL

The 13th-ranked Dawgs made a slight change in their midweek practice Wednesday as they moved indoors.

Georgia (8-2, 6-1 SEC) went through a 90-minute split squad workout. After a special teams meeting, the offense worked in the multi-purpose room indoors while the defense conducted meetings, film study and a weightlifting session. Then, the two groups switched places.

“After watching practice yesterday, they guys were fighting hard but they looked tired,” said Georgia coach Mark Richt. “I looked at the forecast and it was 100 percent chance for rain, and I decided it was a good day to practice inside. I did it for a few reasons. I want them to have fresh legs on Saturday, and we got a good lifting cycle in today. If we did more 11-on-11 work today, the guys would be banging in to each other and somebody could get hurt and we are thin in some spots.”

Also, Richt said the team has been working hard, and he felt like this would be the best way to work on the game plan and then on Thursday, the team will head back outside and time everything up.

Georgia ranks third in the Southeastern Conference in scoring offense (35.8 points per game) while Kentucky is last at 17.0 In scoring defense, Georgia is third at 18.6 while the Wildcats are 10th at 27.0. In turnover margin, Georgia is second in the SEC at +9 while Kentucky is 10th at -2. Still, the Georgia-Kentucky series has been a battle in recent years including the Wildcats posting a 34-27 win in their last visit to Athens in 2009.

“We’ve had our struggles with them, and a lot of our games have gone down to the wire,” said Richt. “We know every time we play them, they’re good enough to beat us.”

The Dawgs play host to Kentucky (4-6, 1-5 SEC) on Saturday, and kickoff is set for 12:21 p.m. The SEC Network will televise the game.

It will the final home game for Georgia’s seniors and that’s always an emotional time for the players and families, according to Richt.

“I know the seniors are excited about playing for a shot at going to the SEC Championship game, and it’s always a special game when you realize it’s your last time playing Between the Hedges,” said Richt.

Tuesday Press Conference–Part 2

2011-11-16T06:00:00.000-05:00

FOOTBALL

Coach Mark Richt

On becoming a fourth quarter team…

The goal is always in your offseason to build stamina and strength and a physical and mental toughness that will help you win games in the fourth quarter. Sometimes you can’t really go by the statistics. If you look at our fourth quarters right now, you might say they aren’t doing a lot in the fourth quarter. We’ve had a couple of games where we’ve had the game in hand and you don’t really need to do a lot in the fourth quarter sometimes. We did have a great fourth quarter victory in the Florida game, which was huge. That’s the biggest emphasis. I think the fourth quarter itself was a big deal.

In our weight room we have all the fourth quarter comebacks in the history of Georgia football. That was definitely a big point of emphasis. More than saying winning the fourth quarter, are you physically and mentally tough enough, and do you have enough stamina to play hard for the full 60 minutes? I think we have. Sometimes I sound like the weatherman, but we’ve had good weather this year. Sometimes you’ll have a summer that’s mild and you’ll play the first three games and it’s scorching. All of a sudden it looks like your strength and conditioning program isn’t very good because they are so used to playing in a certain amount of weather, and then they start playing in something they didn’t prepare in. Sometimes it might be the other way around. It will be hot all summer and it’s a relatively mild fall. Weather does make a difference, I can tell you.

I played at the University of Miami, I coached at Florida State…you invite some teams from up north to come play in September, it gets them. I think we were blessed with pretty good weather when it came to that type of thing. It’s definitely more than the weather, don’t get me wrong. We’ve prepared well and we’ve had very few injuries that have cost anybody the season. Sometimes it’s luck and sometimes it’s how you prepare. I think we’ve done a very good job in the offseason.

On the path of being on the brink of the SEC Championship game…

We have this game here that we know is a very crucial game. We have to focus on the game more than anything else. Usually the loser of that Georgia-South Carolina game, historically you’ve been done. We have a chance to get back in it and control our own destiny. I don’t know if there is a time that that team controlled its own destiny until this season. If we can finish strong, that’ll be a first, so it would be unusual in that way.

On if Georgia can win the SEC Eastern Division, if it would be as satisfying as the other three SEC Eastern Division titles the Dawgs have won under Richt…

In 2002, that was pretty special and miraculous winning that Auburn game. The thing I remember most about 2005 has got to be D.J. Shockley and how he persevered. That was a special year without question. Of course, I skipped the one [overall SEC Championship] we lost. I don't know why. I don't even remember that year. Let's try to win this week.

On if at any point this season he sensed a weight being lifted off of everyone from the players to the coaches…

I don’t know. I've been so focused. I knew the best shot we got was for everybody to just do your job. You focus on doing your job. Don't focus on anything swirling around – good or bad. Just do your job. So I kind of have been in that mindset and I'm still in that mindset right now. I'm not sitting her saying that there's been any moment in time that I've had some kind of weight lifted. I'm just trying to finish the drill. I'm trying to do my job.

On if there is any statistic that he looks at in regard to Georgia getting back on track…

The turnover ratio for sure. That's number one. We've not lost the turnover ratio in our win streak. We certainly lost it against South Carolina. If we had won the turnover battle that day we might have won that game too. I think we did win or it was tied – there was not many turnovers in game one. That wasn't the deciding factor in game one. We just got beat. But that's the number one thing is the turnovers.

The funny thing is you spend hours on schemes – offensive, defense, special teams – you're grinding, but the most important thing you can do is secure the ball or disrupt the ball on defense. It's not some type of rocket science. It's the most important thing, so why don't you spend 50-percent of your time on it? Well, there's not much to coach once you teach the fundamentals. You've just got to do it. Sometimes it's funny we spend so much time on all these things and really the most important thing is are you going to secure that ball?

You guys [the media] have been out there a lot of times when we are doing ball disruption and ball security as soon as kicking is over, and we do it every day we are wearing pads. It's hard to do those drills when you're not in pads. But that's every single day. Every single day in camp we do it. The goal is to keep it from being such a mundane thing or such a boring thing – you don't want it to become a boring thing – you got to make sure the drills are still meaningful and they are really working hard on it. What will happen is things throughout the season will happen where you are like 'look at that, that's the difference between winning and losing.' So what I'm saying is that if there is a crowd of people get on the thing and don’t try scoop it up in a crowd it's because of what happened right there. It's the most important stat.

On the UGA-UK series being marked by turnovers…

Certainly, two years ago we were up by 14 I think at half and turned it over at least four times in the second half. It didn't help us at all.

If Drew Butler is in a slump this season…

I don't think so. He only punted one time last game and that was not a good hit.

On Georgia's net punting being ranked high nationally last year but lower this year…

That's a team thing. The punt itself is part of the net, but net punting is when you tackle people when you get there. You don't let them return it for touchdowns and big plays like we did this year. Is that the punter’s issue? He has some responsibility. But Drew Butler really hasn't done a whole lot different this year than he has done every year. The difference is that we didn't run down the field and tackle well – the biggest difference.

On keeping a kicker rotation the rest of the way…

It's possible. So far it's been good. It's been good for Georgia.

On DeAngelo Tyson…

I would consider him an unsung hero. He plays a position that sometimes doesn’t get a whole lot of credit, but he’s just been very efficient. He’s been a really good football player for us, but he’s done it in quiet fashion. He’s a quiet guy. He’s a man of few words. He’s really come a long way as a player and even more so as a person. He’s a grown up now. He’s a man now. I’m really proud of him.

Cornerback Sanders Commings

On the team’s confidence…

We are very confident right now. We know what we are capable of doing and we know what we are supposed to do. Coming off of last week’s game against Auburn, we see what can happen when every part of the team plays like they are capable of and we are team that is tough to beat.

On Kentucky’s offense…

Kentucky has playmakers on offense. All of their skill players have the capability of making big plays. We have to do our part to limit the big plays that they are capable of.

On the team’s preparation…

Our coaches make sure that we know that we have to prepare for this game the same way that we have prepared for every other SEC game this year. That’s what we’re going to go out and do.

On this senior class…

This senior class came in at a time when Georgia was on top. The guys have done their part to get us back to the way things were back in 2007 and 2008. They have taken over this team and have held everyone accountable, which are two big things that you have to do to be a good leader.

Defensive End Abry Jones

On Kentucky…

Kentucky has a really good offensive line that plays well together. They also have two good running backs that can run the ball well. One thing that we have to do is to not let them get into a rhythm because when they do, they can be really dangerous.

On the fans…

We want to go out and show the fans that we are grateful for their support, even through the slow start. We’re happy that we got things turned around and the fans were a big part of that. We want to go out and have a good game so that the fans can send the seniors out in a blaze of glory.

On creating turnovers…

We have a better understanding of the defense. We come ready to play at every phase. The DBs are doing a great job of getting interceptions because the line as done a better job of rushing the passer. When the ball is out or loose we really go after it instead of hoping that it will bounce in our direction.

On the team after the 0-2 start…

It was tough after the 0-2 start but as a team we knew what we could do. The difference this year is that after both losses, we didn’t feel like we got beat, more like we beat ourselves. That is something that has turned around for us. We aren’t beating ourselves anymore and I think that the defense is doing a great job of getting the offense the ball close to the end zone. The offense has gotten better at putting together long drives that run the clock out. We have done a lot to make sure that both sides have come together.

Lady Dawgs Win

2011-11-15T22:40:00.000-05:00

BASKETBALL

Jasmine Hassell scored a game-high 17 points, largely due to connecting on 7-of-9 shots from the floor, to lead the No. 12 Lady Dawgs to a 68-49 victory over Georgia Southern here on Tuesday night.

Jasmine James and Khaalidah Miller both chipped in 16 points for Georgia (2-0), while MiMi DuBose paced Southern (0-2) with 14 points.

"Hassell was great when we got her the ball," coach Andy Landers said. "I wish we could've gotten it to her more often. She did a nice job defensively as well. She had some breakdowns, but she was still pretty solid."

The Lady Dawgs shot well early, connecting on 4-of-5 shots from the floor in the opening 3:23 to secure an 11-6 lead. Southern responded with a 9-0 surge of its own to build a 15-11 advantage.

A layup from Anne Marie Armstrong at the 11:46 mark ignited a 13-2 run over the next 7:51. Georgia's largest lead of the opening period was 14 points, lastly at 35-21 with 2:24 on the clock.

Southern remained as close as 41-32 with 16:07 left in the game before Hassell scored the first six points in a quick 9-0 run that covered just 1:58 and put the game out of reach. The Lady Dawgs' largest lead was 66-43 with 4:18 left.

For the game, Georgia shot 46.0 percent from the floor and held the Eagles to 39.5 percent. Hassell and Armstrong both collected a game-high seven rebounds.

The Lady Dawgs will return to action on Thursday when they face the College of Charleston at Stegeman Coliseum at 7 p.m. ET. That contest is the second of three in a six-day span. Georgia also hosts No. 23 Southern Cal on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET.

Reserved seat tickets for the game are $5 for adults and $3 for children and will be available at the Butts-Mehre ticket office from 8:30-4:30 on Wednesday-Friday. In addition, tickets will go on sale at Stegeman Coliseum box office (closest to Sanford Drive) beginning 90 minutes before tip-off.

Recruiting News:

Merritt Hempe, a 6-3, forward from Stafford High School in Fredericksburg, Virginia, has signed a letter-of-intent to attend the University of Georgia on a basketball scholarship, Andy Landers announced on Monday.

"It's rare when you find a player with Merritt's size who also possesses a skill set that allows her to playing facing the basket as well as with her back to the basket," Landers said. "She's extremely versatile at 6-3 and very well developed on the offensive end. We're very excited about her future at Georgia."

Hempe (pronounced Hemp-ee) was an honorable mention All-State selection for Class AAA a year ago after averaging a double-double of 20.1 points and 10.8 points per game while helping Stafford to a 17-7 finish. She was named first-team All-Area by the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star, as well as honorable mention All-Met by the Washington Post.

As a sophomore, Hempe averaged 12.6 point per game.

"Merritt has a tremendous skill set for her size," Stafford coach Carl Harris said. "She can play inside or outside, she handles the ball well, she can get her own shot off relatively easy and she can also play with her back to the basket low. Merritt's very dynamic offensively, and she's developing her leadership skills. This will be my second season at Stafford and her second season as our captain. The effort and attitude Merritt plays with is always very good."

Hempe is Georgia's fourth prospect this fall. Last Wednesday, the Lady Dawgs announced the signing of Shacobia Barbee, a 5-11, guard/forward from Riverdale High School in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and Marjorie Buter, a 5-7, guard from the Webb School in Knoxville. Barbee and Butler are the reigning Miss Tennessee Basketball winners for Class AAA and Division I Class A, respectively. On Friday, Georgia signed Kaelyn Causwell, a 6-4, forward from the Wesleyan School in Norcross who helped the Lady Wolves to their third straight Georgia Class A state title as a junior.

Tuesday Press Conference–Part 1

2011-11-15T21:32:00.001-05:00

FOOTBALL

Coach Mark Richt

Opening statement…

Kentucky has an awful lot of Georgia boys on their team. I know they’ve had tremendous success recruiting our state. They have gotten a lot of great players out of our state. I’m certain that will be a big motivation for those guys. You wish you could sign all the guys in your state, but there’s just not enough room with the current rules.

Coach Joker Phillips is a guy we have a lot of respect for. When we watch their offense, we really like what they do. Schematically they have tremendous concepts and do great things and have great balance. So we know we have our work cut out for us. We’re excited about the possibility of winning the SEC Eastern Division championship. That’s the goal: win the game and if we win that game we’re in. We know what’s at stake. I think our guys are going to continue to stay focused throughout the week. I can’t imagine them going backwards now. We’re in a good place right now. I just hope we continue to prepare well and play well.

On Georgia’s seniors…

They sit in the front row of this team meeting room every time we meet. Our seniors always sit in the front row. Sometimes they can’t believe how fast they got to the front row. When you’re in the front row you have to lead, and you know it’s on your watch. You know it’s basically your team and it will be the memory that you’ll have for the rest of your life. Right now they are very optimistic about how their senior season can finish. We all know it wasn’t a tremendous start, but through their leadership and their play and perseverance, we’ve found a way to battle back in this thing and turn this thing into a season that might be one that everybody will remember real fondly. I’m proud of them. They’ve been through a lot. They’ve been through some rough moments, but they’re here and they’re in a good place right now.

On speaking confidently to the team after the South Carolina game…

I went back to the locker room after the game and I basically said, 'Men, just don't put your heads down. Don't lose heart. We've got a chance to be a good team.' I said, 'I left the field feeling encourage that we have the right stuff. Now, what are we going to do with it? Are we going to keep grinding and keep believing, or are we going to fall apart and start feeling sorry for ourselves and start pointing fingers?

We can't do that. The only chance we got is to stay together, keep fighting and keep grinding.' I was encouraged. I've said before sometimes you got to think quick and try and make something up to make guys feel better after the game or to try and help the moral of your team. It was very heartfelt. I really believed that we had a special group of guys and a special chemistry that was built through the offseason, especially in camp. I left camp feeling like we got a chance to be really good.

On Georgia’s offensive line…

I really like what offensive line coach Will Friend has done. We knew Will was a good coach. I think the greatest compliment you can give a guy is you’ll say, ‘He’s a ball coach.’ He loves football. He loves his family, he loves those linemen, and he loves the game of football. He’s kind of a low-maintenance guy. The guys know he loves them and he cares about them. They also know he knows what he’s talking about, and he’s a joy to work with really. He has a lot of good suggestions. Some line coaches only see their picture. They don’t really see the big picture. Will sees the big picture. I think some line coaches want to do nothing but hammer the run no matter what. It’s kind of a macho thing. I think Will knows it takes a little bit of everything to be good up front. You can’t just run the power every down and win. He understands those things. He’s done a good job.

There wasn’t a lot of depth. Especially in the spring and fall when you are working two units and you’re shaking your head saying we don’t have much depth and we don’t have much experience. Thankfully we’ve only had the one injury. We’re not glad Dallas Lee got hurt, don’t get me wrong, but we haven’t had a rash of injuries up front with the veteran players or at least the players we felt like were ready to play SEC football. That’s been helpful. Certainly it took a little while to mix and match a little bit before we settled in, but the guys are playing well. Cordy Glenn is playing left tackle when before he was playing guard. It takes a little time to get used to being out there on that island and being out there in space. Justin Anderson didn’t even play offensive line last year. He didn’t even play football last year. Ben Jones of course has been real solid. Dallas Lee came out of nowhere because in the spring he hadn’t done anything for a year either. We weren’t mad at him; we were just hopeful for the guy. Chris Burnette all last year had a knee issue. There were a lot of question marks coming into the season, and I think they’ve answered most of them pretty good.

On Cordy Glenn and Brandon Boykin returning this year after they considered entering the NFL Draft…

I mentioned the little moment with Cordy after the Florida game. Cordy is a little bit like DeAngelo Tyson in that he doesn’t say a whole lot. That moment might have been worth it for him. That’s just my guess. I think with Boykin, we probably had that same conversation somewhere along the line in the celebration after that game, but I think they both have grown as people and they have become better football players and learned what it’s like to be a leader. I think it’s an important phase of college life. If you leave without having that opportunity to be the leader and be the senior, I think you do miss something. I’m not saying that should be the factor for staying all the time, but you do miss an opportunity to grow as a man.

On Trinton Sturdivant’s plans after this year…

I’ve talked to him over the course of the season and they’ve kind of bounced around a little bit like a lot of guy his age trying to decide what’s best. It’s been anything from continuing school to maybe getting out and getting some work experience as he tries and prepares to get into law school. I know he has a tremendous interest in athletic administration also. He’s kind of bounced around a little bit. He’s just a real smart guy who has a bright future, and we are going to help him realize whatever goals and dreams he has. He was talking about playing tight end too, so who knows?

On the team doing well overall this year in securing the football and not having a lot of fumble despite two from Isaiah Crowell last week…

The first time I saw him carry the ball in a live drill for us my first thought was that the guy has good fundamentals in securing the ball. Once it's secured, it might have come out once this year. Our problem with him has been the exchange. Not saying that the QB was wrong or that he was wrong, but once he got it tucked it might have come out once. So we just got to make sure we are doing a good job.

A lot of times when you guys [the media] watch us practice all you see us do is practice handing the ball off and you're like 'What are these guys doing? Every day they do it.' You can lose a game, and we have lost a game if you look at Colorado, if you have the ball on the ground. I think they have good ball security. Brandon Harton got one knocked out, but Harton had a little trouble with that in the spring. That was my biggest fear with him because I think he's a good runner and I think he's a tough kid. But would he secure the ball? After that he did a very good job.

Tight End Aron White

On playing in Sanford Stadium for the last time…

Hopefully it’s a situation where we can come out and get a good lead and ensure victory as early as we can. I’m sure as soon as my mind shifts to ‘This game is winding down and it’s almost over,’ it’s going to be very emotional. Coming out for my senior day game and meeting my family on the field is something that I’m going to cherish forever. At the same time, it’s bittersweet. Even though I want to cherish my last game between the hedges, it’s sad that my time here at Georgia is coming to an end and I’m never going to put the G on my helmet and suit up in Sanford again. I’m just going to try and make the most of it and make as many memories as I can on Saturday.

On Kentucky’s defense…

Their defense has something like eight or nine returning starters. They’re definitely a team that has played well and beaten us before; the starters on that team have beaten my teams in the past. Definitely, we have a healthy amount of respect for them. They’re in a position where they’ve gotten left out on the field for a lot of snaps, and I feel that maybe that’s contributed to some of their statistics not being as impressive as other teams.

We know that they’re a team that has a good defense, can stop people and can play very well. We definitely don’t want to take it for granted how good of a team they can be, because we’re 2-2 against them since I’ve been here. We know that they can beat us on any given Saturday and we want to respect them. We’re going to prepare for them just like we prepare for Florida, Tennessee, Auburn or anybody else; and that’s with a healthy amount of respect, but without any fear in our hearts because we know that with our abilities, if we play the game that we know how to play and if we prepare like we should this week, nobody should be able to stop us.

On the chance of going to the SEC Championship…

It’s really good for our program, as a whole. It’s been too long since we’ve been back to the SEC Championship. You know, 2007 was a year I think we definitely should have been playing for the championship. We dropped the ball against two SC East opponents early, and it put us out of the running. That was tough to see that happen and since then, we seem to put ourselves out of contention early. That weighs on your season a little bit, not being able to stay in that hunt.

On the positive side, it means a great deal to me because I haven’t had the chance to play in the SEC Championship, nobody on this team has. If we can go out and handle business like we should this Saturday, we’ll be afforded that opportunity. What we need to do right now is focus in on Kentucky, because they’re what’s standing in between us and going back to the Dome.

Quarterback Aaron Murray

On the opportunity to play for the SEC Championship…

It’s a great opportunity. It’s something we’ve been working for ever since January, we took a little hit after the second game of the year, but we never lost confidence in ourselves, our teammates or our coaches. We’ve just been chipping away, chipping away, chipping away, and we had confidence that South Carolina might lose a couple of games and we wanted to be in the position that if they did, we’d have a chance to make it back to Atlanta. Our guys have stayed extremely focused, we’ve played extremely hard and we’ve put ourselves in that situation. We’re one game away from getting back there and it’s pretty exciting. I know our guys are pumped up and ready to go.

On the Kentucky defense…

Very athletic defense. They’re like any SEC defense you’re going face, and they probably have two of the best linebackers in the country on their team. One guy has about 118 tackles and the other guy has about 108 tackles. They’re very athletic, right up the middle. They’re athletics all around, but definitely the heart and soul of their defense is in that linebacking corps. We’re going to have to work hard; we’re going to have to prepare hard like we’ve been doing all season and I think we’ll do fine.

On the pressure going away this year…

I think we put the pressure on ourselves. I know we feel like we’re a great team. I think we’re a young team and we have a lot of potential. I think we saw that, especially after the South Carolina game, we have the potential to be something special and we just had to continue working. Like I said, we put the pressure on ourselves to continue working hard and get better. I think that’s why we’ve done so well and why you’ve seen the improvements week in and week out. We are pushing ourselves to be the best team we can be.

Charles Named Mackey Semifinalist

2011-11-14T16:02:00.001-05:00

FOOTBALL

Georgia junior tight end Orson Charles has been named one of eight semifinalists for the 2011 John Mackey Award, which is given annually to the most outstanding tight end in college football.

The Nassau County Sports Commission announced that Charles, who is the only representative from the Southeastern Conference, will now be a candidate for the finalists group that will be announced on Nov. 21. The SEC has had the last two award winners (2009, Aaron Hernandez, Florida; 2010, D.J. Williams, Arkansas).

Charles, a 6-3, 241-pound native of Tampa, Florida, is the Dawgs’ leading receiver through 10 games with 32 catches for 395 yards and five touchdowns. Starting all 10 games and the last 20 in a row, Charles has played a pivotal role in a Georgia offense that is leading the league in pass efficiency and is ranked second in the SEC in total offense (438.7 yards per game).

Charles has tallied 1,191 yards and 10 touchdowns on 81 catches during his career. He is tied with current Kansas City Chief Leonard Pope for the tight end school record with 10 scores and is already third on the all-time list in yardage at his position. In addition, only three other tight ends in Dawg history have more career catches than Charles.

Tech Kickoff Set

2011-11-14T15:37:00.001-05:00

FOOTBALL

The Saturday, November 26th, football game between the Dawgs and Georgia Tech in Atlanta will be televised by either ABC or ESPN with kickoff set for 12:00 noon ET.

This will mark the 11th game Georgia has been televised this season. The Dawgs have been aired by ESPN twice, ESPN2 once, CBS twice, Fox Sports South twice, CSS once, and the SEC Network twice.

Jones & Crowell Honored

2011-11-14T10:28:00.001-05:00

FOOTBALL

Both Georgia senior center Ben Jones and freshman running back Isaiah Crowell have been given weekly Southeastern Conference awards following their performances in the 45-7 win over #24 Auburn, according to a league announcement on Monday.

Jones was named the SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week for the second consecutive week as Crowell garnered his fourth SEC Freshman of the Week honor this season.

A 6-3, 316-pound native of Centreville, Alabama, Jones graded out at a team-best 85 percent with 10 intimidation blocks during the Dawgs’ eighth win in a row. Starting the 45th game of his career, Jones was a part of an offense that racked up 45 points and 528 total yards versus the Tigers, which gives Georgia 108 points and 1,155yards over their last two games and an average of 35.8 points per game for the season.

A captain for the seventh time in 2011, Jones anchored an offensive line that allowed quarterback Aaron Murray to post a career-high pass efficiency rating of 255.6 after he completed 14 of 18 passes for 224 yards and four touchdowns versus the Tigers. The Dawgs also managed 304 yards on the ground and had a pair of 100-yard rushers.

The Dawgs have now won three straight SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week awards. Fellow senior Cordy Glenn earned the same award following the Dawgs’ victory over the Gators on October 29th.

Crowell, a 5-11, 215-pound native of Columbus, recorded the fourth 100-yard rushing game of his career by shredding the Tigers for 132 yards on 24 carries (5.5 avg.) and a touchdown. Thanks to the help from his junior teammate Carlton Thomas who had 127 yards on 15 carries, the Dawgs had two players reach the century mark in the same game for the first time since the 2009 Georgia Tech game.

Georgia’s 304 yards rushing against Auburn also marked the team’s highest output since churning out 339 against the Yellow Jackets two seasons ago. Crowell is the top freshman, third in the league overall, versus SEC competition with an average of 96.4 yards per game.

This pair of conference awards gives Georgia 11 SEC weekly honors this year.

No. 13 Georgia (8-2, 6-1 SEC) hosts Kentucky (4-6, 1-5 SEC) in Sanford Stadium on Saturday at 12:20 p.m. ET. The SEC Network will televise the game. The Dawgs beat Ole Miss in an earlier SEC Network televised game this season.

Dawgs Get Florida Quarterback

2011-11-14T09:20:00.001-05:00

FOOTBALL

West Palm Beach, Florida quarterback, Faton Bauta has become the 15th member of the Dawgs class of 2012.

The 6-3, 225 pound Bauta attended Saturday’s massacre of Auburn in Athens and committed while there, he will graduate in December and enroll in time to participate in spring practice.

Dawgs Top Falcons

2011-11-13T23:01:00.000-05:00

BASKETBALL

Gerald Robinson scored 15 points that included six key free throws in the final 80 seconds as Georgia nudged past Bowling Green 63-54 in its first game of the Progressive CBE Classic here Sunday night.

The Dawgs (2-0) led this game throughout but were never able to take firm command. Their largest lead came three times at 14 points, the last of which came at 42-28 on a jumper by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope with 15:35 left.

Bowling Green, however, took advantage of an extended dry spell by Georgia to close its gap considerably. The Falcons pulled within five at 48-43 on a jumper by Dee Brown with 7:17 left. Then, after Georgia had responded to boost its lead by to 10, they rallied again, getting within five on a 3-point play by Brown that cut the margin to 53-48 with 2:49 remaining.

From there, Georgia seniors Robinson and Dustin Ware helped to save the day for the Dawgs. A steal by Ware thwarted the Falcons’ next possession, and the duo then scored nine of the Dawgs’ final 10 points, all from the free-throw line.

“It was a hard-fought game on both ends,” coach Mark Fox said. “It was not hard-fought enough on the backboards. That’s a great concern of ours and has been since last season. But we’ve been working to improve our rebounding and we will get better. We made some immature plays, too, but we’re an immature team. We need to grow up fast.”

Bowling Green dominated Georgia in the rebounding ledger, 43-28, including 19 offensive boards. The Falcons stayed close in the game thanks to 16 second-chance points, compared to just two for Georgia.

Brown led Bowling Green with 15 points while Caldwell-Pope contributed 11 for Georgia, his second double-figure scoring effort in as many collegiate games.

Georgia continues its run in the CBE Classic on Wednesday, when the Dawgs play host to South Dakota State at 7:00 p.m. The Dawgs will travel to Kansas City next week for the CBE Classic semifinal and final games on Nov. 21 and 22, playing Cal first and then either Notre Dame or Missouri in their second game.

Dawgs Preparing For Kentucky

2011-11-13T21:28:00.001-05:00

FOOTBALL

After improving their winning streak to eight with a 45-7 victory over Auburn, the No. 14 Dawgs (8-2, 6-1) are looking to continue the streak when they take on Kentucky (4-6, 1-5) on Saturday at Sanford Stadium.

As the team begins to look ahead to Kentucky, coach Mark Richt does not expect the method of preparation to change.

"I go into every game respecting our opponent and we go through the same process as coaches on our preparation, and we go through the exact same practices," Richt said on Sunday. "Our schedules don't change that much; it's pretty much etched in stone. We do make some changes here and there once and a while, but we're just going to keep grinding. We want to get the best plan possible and we want to get after these guys like we've been doing lately. We just want to keep playing hard, keep playing disciplined and keep winning that turnover ratio."

With Isaiah Crowell and Carlton Thomas both notching over 100 yards rushing against Auburn, Coach Richt attributed their success to an overall effort by the offense.

""It was a great day for the running backs. I think an awful lot had to do with their determination and their effort. This is one of those games where you absolutely have to give credit to the line up front, the tight ends and the fullbacks; they really did create a lot of space. There were a few times where there wasn't much there, but for the most part they had room to run opportunities to make it to safeties or corners that were not blocked in the scheme. It was a really good effort by the backs, no doubt, but they were provided a lot of room to run."

Georgia's defense looks to continue to improve, after holding Auburn to 195 yards of total offense.

"We're doing things that good defenses do; we're stopping the run most of the time, we're big up front, we're very physical, we play hard and we've been causing a lot of fumbles. We've caused 29 fumbles and the majority has been the defense, but there are probably some special teams fumbles thrown in there. We need to recover some more, we only recovered 10 out of 29, but when you're knocking the ball, you're going to get a chance for turnovers. We've had a lot of picks, but we've dropped a lot of picks too. We're getting sacks, we're getting quarterbacks to hurry their throws and we're getting interceptions. We're just believing right now. It's just been good. I hope we keep it up."

Georgia holds a 50-12-2 all-time lead against the Wildcats, including last year's 44-31 win in Lexington. Kickoff against Kentucky is set for 12:21 p.m. and will be televised on the SEC Network.

Top 25–Week 12

2011-11-13T00:35:00.001-05:00

FOOTBALL

	Team	Record	Opponent
1.	LSU	10 - 0	Ole Miss
2.	Oklahoma State	10 - 0	Iowa State
3.	Houston	10 - 0	SMU
4.	Alabama	9 - 1	Georgia Southern
5.	Arkansas	9 - 1	Mississippi State
6.	Oregon	9 - 1	USC
7.	Stanford	9 - 1	California
8.	Clemson	9 - 1	North Carolina State
9.	Virginia Tech	9 - 1	North Carolina
10.	Southern Miss	9 - 1	UAB
11.	Oklahoma	8 - 1	Baylor
12.	Boise State	8 - 1	San Diego State
13.	South Carolina	8 - 2	Citadel
14.	Georgia	8 - 2	Kentucky
15.	Michigan State	8 - 2	Indiana
16.	Wisconsin	8 - 2	Illinois
17.	USC	8 - 2	Oregon
18.	Nebraska	8 - 2	Michigan
19.	Penn State	8 - 2	Ohio State
20.	Kansas State	8 - 2	Texas
21.	TCU	8 - 2	Colorado State
22.	Michigan	8 - 2	Nebraska
23.	Cincinnati	7 - 2	Rutgers
24.	Florida State	7 - 3	Virginia
25.	Georgia Tech	7 - 3	Duke