Jones Honored By SEC

FOOTBALL

Georgia sophomore defensive end Abry Jones has been named the Southeastern Conference Co-Defensive Lineman of the Week, according to a league announcement on Monday.

Jones, a 6-3, 297-pound native of Warner Robins, exploded for a career-high 16 tackles, including two tackles for loss, versus Georgia Tech.  Jones was one of three Dawgs who racked up 16 tackles after the Yellow Jackets ran 92 plays on offense.
Jones also forced a fumble that the Dawgs recovered deep in Georgia territory with the score knotted at 21-all. 

Thanks in part of Jones’ presence, the Dawgs have forced 24 turnovers and converted them into 101 points while Georgia has only had 14 miscues that have turned into 21 points. 

This turnover margin (+10) ranks second in the SEC and 18th in the nation.  
Starting six games and playing in all 12 this year, Jones has recorded 32 tackles, including 3.5 tackles for loss, this season.

This is Georgia’s fifth SEC weekly football award of the 2010 season.

Sunday Conference Call

FOOTBALL

With the win over Georgia Tech on Saturday night, the Dawgs improved to 6-6 and are expecting to play in their 14th consecutive bowl game.

During his weekly Sunday conference call with the media, head coach Mark Richt said he is looking forward to the opportunity to play in a bowl game.

"I don't know what's going to happen for sure, but all I can say is that I'm excited that there are bowls that want us to play and that we are in position to play there,” said Richt. “I'll be thankful for wherever we land. We look forward to whomever we compete against, and we'll come prepared to play."

Last year the Dawgs made their 45th appearance in post-season play at the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, Louisiana, and they currently rank fifth in the nation's all-time top bowl teams, holding a 26-16-3 record.

When asked about the team’s postseason evaluation, Richt talked about the process.

"Well, the season is not over yet,” he explained. “But everything gets looked at. We want to review our offensive and defensive systems and schemes to see how they held up, and if we did have problems find out where they derived from. We also look throughout the season at things like recruiting, strength and conditioning and nutrition, and we'll really look at the football part when the season is over."

The last time Georgia needed a win over Georgia Tech to be bowl eligible was 1995 and the Dawgs came through that year too, beating the Yellow Jackets 18-17 in Atlanta. With the latest win, Georgia improves to 61-37-5 in the series and retains the Governor’s Cup Trophy for another year.

Richt thinks the 42-34 victory Saturday night was beneficial for recruits to see.

"I think it was a great experience for all the recruits who went to the game,” Richt said. “They all got to be around each other and see the great atmosphere here at Georgia and how positive things can be. That is also a great thing to take into recruiting time."

As far as recruiting goes, Richt said the following.

"We have to make sure that we are bringing in guys that can play across the board. We are looking for guys to make an immediate impact but also players that can make a difference down the road. We have a need everywhere because players are always rolling in and out."

He also commented on that status of junior standouts A.J. Green and Justin Houston.

"There is a process the NFL has put together where they can put their names in before a committee and different people from the league will look at these guys and then come to a consensus,” said Richt regarding the process of collegiate juniors testing where they would be drafted by an NFL team. “I'm not sure when this process can start, but it will be relatively soon. It will give them an idea where their draft status is."

The Dawgs expected to find out what bowl game they will be attending sometime over the next week and a half, it appears at this time that it will be the Liberty Bowl on December 31st in Memphis. Kickoff is at 3:30 pm EST against the winner of the SMU – University of Central Florida game.

Top 25 – Week 13

*	Team	Record	Opponent
1.	Auburn	12 – 0	South Carolina
2.	TCU	12 – 0
3.	Oregon	11 – 0	Oregon State
4.	Stanford	11 – 1
5.	Michigan State	11 – 1
6.	Wisconsin	11 – 1
7.	Ohio State	11 – 1
8.	Nevada	11 – 1	Louisiana Tech
9.	Boise State	10 – 1	Utah State
10.	Arkansas	10 – 2
11.	Missouri	10 – 2
12.	Oklahoma	10 – 2	Nebraska
13.	LSU	10 – 2
14.	Oklahoma State	10 – 2
15.	Virginia Tech	10 – 2	Florida State
16.	Nebraska	10 – 2	Oklahoma
17.	Utah	10 – 2
18.	South Carolina	9 - 3	Auburn
19.	Alabama	9 – 3
20.	Texas A&M	9 - 3
21.	Florida State	9 - 3	Virginia Tech
22.	UCF	9 - 3
23.	Navy	8 - 3
24.	Mississippi State	8 - 4
25.	Connecticut	7 - 4	South Florida

Dawgs Bowl Tech

FOOTBALL

The Dawgs now have won nine of the past 10 games against Tech and thanks to tonight’s 42-34 win over Tech, the Dawgs improved to 6-6 and will extend their bowl streak to 14 consecutive years. The streak began in 1997. Before tonight, the last time Georgia needed a win over Tech to be bowl eligible was 1995 and those Dawgs came through that year too, beating them 18-17 in Atlanta. With the latest win, Georgia improves to 61-37-5 in the series against Tech and retains the Governor’s Cup Trophy for another year.

Against second ranked Auburn two weeks ago, redshirt freshman QB Aaron Murray was 6-for-8 for 121 yards and three TDs in the first quarter. Tonight against Tech, Murray was sharp again, going 6-for-7 for 147 yards and two TDs in the first quarter and finished the half 11-for-14 for 220 yards and 3 TDs. One of Murray’s first quarter highlights was a career-long 66-yard TD strike to SE Kris Durham to put Georgia on the scoreboard first. It was a career-long catch for Durham too. Murray finished tonight 15-for-19 for 271 yards, 3 TDs.

With three TD passes in the first half, Aaron Murray now has 24 for the season, one shy of the Georgia single season record held by Matthew Stafford who had 25 in 2008. With 24, Murray currently is in a tie for second with Eric Zeier (1993-94), D.J. Shockley (2005), and Joe Cox (2009). This marks the sixth time this season that Murray has tied his career high with three TD passes in a game.

Also with 271 passing yards, Murray now has 2,851 which is the most ever by a freshman and ranks second in SEC history, trailing only Jared Lorenzen of Kentucky who had 3,687 in 2000. Murray passed Georgia’s David Greene who had 2,789 in the 2001. And one more record of note, Murray notched the Georgia mark for Total Offense by a Freshman now with 3,014, which ranks second all-time in the SEC behind Lorenzen (3,827).

Butkus Award finalist and Nagurski Trophy finalist junior outside linebacker Justin Houston had a fumble return for a TD, a game-clinching interception and seven tackles (2 solo, 5 assist) and one tackle for a loss tonight. A trio of Dawgs tied for the team-high tackles with career nights. Sophomore end Abry Jones, junior nose DeAngelo Tyson and senior linebacker Akeem Dent all had 16 tackles apiece. Tech ran 92 plays, which was the most against the Dawgs since last year’s Independence Bowl by Texas A&M as they ran 92 too.

Redshirt sophomore FS Bacarri Rambo forced the Georgia defense’s second red zone turnover of the season as Georgia Tech fumbled on the Dawg 5-yard line, which was recovered by junior Brandon Boykin. The turnover led to an eventual 66-yard TD reception from redshirt freshman QB Aaron Murray to senior SE Kris Durham.

Overall, Georgia got 21 points off four Tech miscues while the Yellow jackets got No points off two Georgia turnovers. Georgia forced one fumble in the first half, which led to a TD. On the year, Georgia has forced 24 turnovers and converted them into 101 points while its opponents have scored 21 points off 14 Dawg miscues on the year. Georgia junior TB Caleb King fumbled in the red zone and Georgia Tech recovered at the 9-yard line. Georgia Tech was forced to punt but a fumble by sophomore PR Branden Smith trying to field it gave Tech the ball back at the 34-yard line. Georgia Tech then turned over the ball as Georgia sophomore DE Abry Jones forced a fumble and senior ILB Akeem Dent recovered. It led to a Georgia TD and a 28-21 advantage with 0:51 left in the third quarter. On Georgia Tech’s next possession, junior OLB Justin Houston returned a fumble for an 18-yard TD giving Georgia a 35-21 advantage at the end of the third quarter. This was Georgia’s first fumble return for a TD since Tony Taylor did it against Tech in 2006. Georgia now has four defensive TDs this year. Georgia OLB Justin Houston ended the game with an interception, the first of his career.

Sophomore TB Washaun Ealey had his fourth career game of 100+ rushing yards in a contest. Tonight, he finished with 118 yards on 13 carries with two TDs. Last year against Tech, Ealey had a career-high 183.

Injury Report: Senior DE Demarcus Dobbs left the game in the second quarter with a right elbow injury and did not return.

Lady Dawgs Win

BASKETBALL

Porsha Phillips double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds led No. 17 Georgia (5-1) to a 76-44 win over Loyola Marymount (3-3) in the championship game of the Courtyard Marriott Westside LMU Thanksgiving Classic on Saturday.

Phillips, who was named the tournament's most valuable player, also dished out a career-high six assists in 25 minutes of playing time. She now has five double-doubles in six games.

"I think she gets better getting better, which we're all very pleased with," head coach Andy Landers said. "She's worked hard to get herself into the position she's playing."

Freshman Khaalidah Miller added a career-high 15 points and Anne Marie Armstrong and Jasmine Hassell chipped in 10 apiece. Hassell, who equaled her career-high with 22 points in the tournament's opening round, also was named to the all-tournament team.

Georgia seized control early. After Cowlings hit a shot-clock-beating three on the Loyola Marymoun's first possession, the Lady Dawgs scored the game's next 15 points.

"I think they were having fun," Landers said. "They find each other and it's like a machine gun going bam, bam, bam. It happened so quickly and all of a sudden you have four, five, six people who have scored in different ways."

Phillips book-ended the run with a three at the 19:11 mark and a jumper with 14:23 left in the half. All told, six different Georgia players combined to hit seven field goals during the surge.

Georgia expanded the margin to 21 points at the half, outscoring the Lions 11-1 over the final 2:55 of the period to enter the locker room with a 40-19 advantage.

The Lady Dawgs will return to action on Wednesday evening when they host Southern Miss at Stegeman Coliseum at 7 p.m.

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 Monday-Wednesday. In addition, tickets will go on sale at Stegeman Coliseum box office (closest to Sanford Drive) beginning 90 minutes before tip-off.

Dawgs Play The Jackets

FOOTBALL

 Dawgs

VS

Jackets

        Overall: 5-6                 7:45 p.m. ET                Overall: 6-5              SEC: 3-5                         Athens, Georgia                         ACC: 4-4
Sanford Stadium (92,746)

The Coaches

Mark Richt is in his 10th season at Georgia and overall with a record of 95-33 (.742). The Dawgs’ offensive coordinator is Mike Bobo and Todd Grantham serves as the defensive coordinator.

Paul Johnson is in his 3rd season at Georgia Tech with a record of 26-12 (.684) and
14th overall with a record of 133-51 (.723). The Yellow Jackets’ offensive coordinator
is Johnson and Al Groh serves as the defensive coordinator.

What To Look For When Georgia Has The Ball

A.J. Green recorded the seventh game of his career (third this season) with more than 100 yards after hauling in a career-high nine catches for a career-high 164 yards and two touchdowns at #2 Auburn. With 23 career touchdown catches, Green ranks second in UGA history. QB Aaron Murray has the highest passing efficiency rating for a freshman in the nation (17th overall) at 156.9 and is enjoying one of the best years ever by an SEC freshman quarterback. Washaun Ealey is leading the Dawgs with 633 yards rushing and nine scores on 128 carries this year. Kris Durham has 25 catches for a team-high 494 yards and two touchdown on the year.

After seeing limited action in the first four games of the season, Julian Burnett has
come on strong, ranking second on the team with 71 tackles. He had double-figure tackles against Duke, Virginia Tech, Clemson and Wake Forest and has forced two fumbles, recovered a fumble and has an interception. Brad Jeffeson leads the team in tackles with 75. He has 7.5 tackles for loss, 4.0 sacks and has forced and recovered fumbles. Senior cornerback Mario Butler has started a team-high 38 consecutive games.

What To Look For When Tech Has The Ball

Justin Houston remains the SEC sack leader with 10.0 and was named the SEC
Defensive Player of the Week following his performance against UK. Houston also has the most sacks and tackles for loss of any active SEC player and has had at least one tackle for loss in all 11 games this year. He is also second in the SEC in tackles for loss (17.5) after exploding for 3.0 versus the Wildcats and adding a combined 2.5 more against the Gators and ISU. After recording a team-high 12 stops at #2 Auburn, Akeem Dent pushed his tackle total for the year to 105 and is No. 2 in the league. Bacarri Rambo and sophomore CB Sanders Commings have three picks each through 11 games.

Georgia Tech leads the nation in rushing offense (319.4 yards per game), paced by
Anthony Allen (96.3 ypg), who ranks second in the ACC and 24th nationally. Tevin
Washington, in his first two career starts at quarterback, has rushed for 216 yards and a touchdown, and has thrown two TD passes. Senior quarterback Joshua Nesbitt will not play the final three regular season games of his college career due to injury.

Special Teams

Junior CB Brandon Boykin took over UGA’s No. 1 mark in career kickoff return yards
after reaching 1,708 in 62 returns in the matchup at #2 Auburn. So far in 2010, Drew
Butler has averaged 45.0 yards on 43 punts, 14 that went for 50+. The Dawgs are
second in the SEC and third in the nation in net punting with an average of 41.0. Blair
Walsh is now 18-for-21 on FGs for the year and 53-for-66 overall. He is on pace to rank in the top 10 for highest FG percentage in SEC history and he has the highest FG percentage of any active SEC kicker.

Scott Blair has made 15-of-17 field goal attempts (.882) and is 32-of-32 on PATs.
Blair made three field goals of longer than 40 yards in the win over Duke and he kicked
three field goals in the win over North Carolina. Blair booted three field goals of longer
than 40 yards in the win over Wake Forest.

Series/Game Notes

Record: Georgia leads, 60-37-5

Georgia and Georgia Tech will meet for the 103rd time since 1893 with the Dawgs
leading the series 60-37-5... The winner of the game receives the Governor’s Cup
Trophy... Georgia has won eight of the nine games in the Mark Richt era... Prior to Richt’s arrival, the Yellow Jackets had a three-game win streak... The Dawgs exploded for 339 yards rushing to top #7 Georgia Tech 30-24 last year in Atlanta... Freshman Washaun Ealey led the way with a career-high 183 yards while sophomore Caleb King added 166 on the ground.

Radio / TV

Dawgs: Fun 101 FM (101.1) – Pre-Game Starts At 3:45 pm / XM: 201 / Sirius: 220

Tech: WQXI-AM (790)

TV: ESPN - Mark Jones, play-by-play; Bob Davie, analyst

On Line: Georgiadogs.com / Ramblinwreck.com

Weather

In one word – Cold!

Kickoff - 45 degrees, no chance of rain, 52% humidity and winds from the northwest at 5 miles per hour, temp will drop to 41 by 11:30 pm.

Tailgaters - Sunny but cold, temp at 8 am will be 35 degrees, warming to 58 by 3 pm.

Dribble Dawgs Lose To Temple

BASKETBALL

Scootie Randall scored 18 points as No. 20 Temple took command in the second half and held off Georgia late to post a 65-58 win over the Dawgs in the second round of the Old Spice Classic basketball tournament here Friday.

The Dawgs will face Manhattan in the third round on Sunday at 4:30 p.m. at the Disney Wide World of Sports Complex.

Temple (3-1) shot 52 percent from the field in breaking open a tight game in the second half. The Owls led 37-33 when Randall connected from 3-point range with 15:43 left. Both teams went scoreless for the next two minutes before Temple's Khalif Wyatt hit a jumper that pushed the margin to 42-33 with 13:10 left.

The Owls' lead reached double figures once at 46-35 before Georgia rallied back into contention. The Dawgs cut their deficit to four at 48-44 on a pair of foul shots by Chris Barnes with 8:07 left. Temple, however, responded and built its lead back to seven when Wyatt hit a jumper with 5:35 remaining, boosting the Owls back in front 54-47.

"We just couldn’t string together enough stops, especially in the second half," coach Mark Fox said. "Our defense failed us and you have to give Temple credit. They’re a good team and they outplayed us.

"They played zone more in the first half, but I thought we handled the zone much better than last night. The key for us is that we’ve got to be a little more hard-nosed on the defensive end."

Georgia mounted one final rally when Gerald Robinson's driving layup with 1:13 left got the Dawgs within 59-55. The Owls answered with perhaps the game's biggest bucket, a turnaround jumper by Rahlir Jefferson with 41 seconds left. Georgia was unable to score again until a Dustin Ware 3-pointer with just 20 seconds left.

Lady Dawgs Beat Denver

BASKETBALL

Jasmine Hassell equaled her career-high with 22 points and Porsha Phillips recorded her fourth double-double in five games to lead No. 17 Georgia (4-1) to a 73-51 win over Denver (1-3) on Friday.

The Lady Dawgs will now face host Loyola Marymount in the championship game of the Courtyard Marriott Westside LMU Thanksgiving Classic on Saturday at 3 p.m. PT.

Jasmine James chipped in 17 points and six assists for Georgia, which shot a season-best 55.8 percent for the game. Hassell and Phillips, who scored a season-best 18 points and hauled in 11 rebounds, connected on a combined 17-of-24 field goal attempts.

"We did a good job of squaring up and establishing position inside," head coach Andy Landers said. "The guards did a really good job of getting them the basketball. As impressive and outstanding as all that was, I enjoyed most the authority that they played with. The forwards established great position before they received the ball and once they got it they moved and finished with authority."

After leading 41-29 at halftime, the Lady Dawgs opened the second period with a 6-0 run and never looked back. The lead eventually topped out at 22 points, the final margin of victory.

Anne Marie Armstrong and James knocked down threes and Hassell connected on her first two buckets as Georgia opened up a 10-4 lead. After the Pioneers battled back to tie the score at 13-13, Hassell scored the first six points in an 11-0 run over the next 2:27 that gave the Lady Dawgs a 24-13 lead with 10:34 remaining in the period.

The Lady Dawgs led by a dozen at halftime after shooting a white-hot 64.3 percent from the field. Hassell equaled her previous season high (16 points against Chattanooga) in the first half alone, largely due to connecting on 7-of-8 of her shots from the floor in the period.

After facing LMU, the Lady Dawgs will return home to host Southern Miss at Stegeman Coliseum on Wednesday night at 7 p.m.

Dribble Dawgs Suffer First Loss

BASKETBALL

Tim Abromaitis scored eight of his 25 points in the two extra periods as Notre Dame outlasted the Dawgs 89-83 in double overtime in the first round of the Old Spice Classic basketball tournament Thursday.

The Fighting Irish (4-1) prevailed despite trailing for nearly the first 32 minutes of regulation. Georgia (3-1) controlled the first half, led by 12 at intermission, and kept its hold on the game until the final eight minutes.

The Dawgs, behind 12 points from Travis Leslie, bolted to early command of the game. They needed just eight minutes to take their first double-digit lead, coming at 19-7 on a 3-pointer by reserve guard Sherrard Brantley. Notre Dame rallied by cut its deficit to five before Georgia countered with another big scoring run at the end of the first half. A driving dunk by Connor Nolte with 1:08 left put his team ahead 37-25 at halftime.

"You've got to give credit to Notre Dame," coach Mark Fox said. "They fought back and found a way to win the game. It was a battle both ways and a tough game to lose. But we're going to have to bounce back because we'll be playing a good team tomorrow."

Friday night the Dawgs will face Temple (7:30 pm / ESPNU) at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Disneyworld. The Owls participated in the 2010 NCAA Tournament and are ranked 20th in the current Associated Press Top 25 poll.

Georgia's last double-figure lead of the game occurred at 48-38 on a 3-pointer by Gerald Robinson. The Dawgs, stymied by a 2-3 zone defense from Notre Dame, went scoreless for the next six minutes. By the time they scored again -- on a jump shot by Trey Thompkins, playing in his first game of the season, at the 7:06 mark -- the Irish had taken a 52-50 lead.

"The zone gave us problems, no question," Fox said. "We didn't shoot well against it and we turned it over too much against it. And our free throw shooting in the second half cost us. We missed eight in a row at one point. If we make just one more, we win in regulation."

Notre Dame surged ahead by as many as eight points in the final minutes of regulation. Still, the Dawgs rallied to knot the score at 62 on a third-chance put-back by Thompkins with nine seconds left.

In the first overtime, Georgia overcame a six-point deficit to pull ahead 69-68 on a driving layup by Robinson with 41 seconds left. Ben Hansbrough made one of two foul shots with :04 remaining to force another extra period.

A 3-pointer by Abromaitis with 1:16 left in the second overtime put the Irish ahead for good at 79-76. After a Leslie tip-in, Eric Atkins hit a 10-foot baseline jumper that gave Notre Dame an 81-78 lead with 41 seconds left. Abromaitis secured the Irish victory with two foul shots with 12 seconds left, giving his team an 87-81 margin.

Tuesday Press Conference – Part 3

FOOTBALL

Coach Mark Richt

On Chad Gloer:

Chad Gloer is a kid that was a walk-on, had high hopes, hopes of one day playing and hopes of one day earning a scholarship. He was able to accomplish both of those things. I’m really proud of his perseverance in that regard. He’s a hard worker, he’s tough. On the special teams he does make plays for us and he’s a big part of our special teams, but then he’s also out there practicing with the scout team all day long too and gives great effort in that regard, so were really proud of the job he’s done all throughout his career. He is going to represent our seniors at the coin toss, one of the four. Every senior we have will wear a C. They are all captains, but Chad deserved that right from the special teams play.

On whether the defense this year is better than a year ago:

That’s kind of a reflective question. Lets wait until the season is over and we will talk about those things.

Inside Linebacker #45 Christian Robinson

On the factor of the running game in the Georgia-Georgia Tech game last year and it’s importance for this year's game:

It's going to be about the line of scrimmage and if you can move the ball. That's football. At the same time, if you can get them off of the field that gets them out of their game on offense. If we run the ball on them it's just controlling the time of possession. Last year, that was a big deal for us. This year, if we can repeat that it would be great.

On the Georgia-Georgia Tech rivalry in general and this year in particular: 

It just feels different. I didn't understand my first year until we got out there, and it didn't go well for us. Then we had to spend a whole year of everybody talking about you and getting awards and stuff. I didn't understand how big a deal it really was until that first one, especially being on the losing end of it. It's huge. If you don't win this game, the next year is not fun. It wasn't fun for us in off-season training just hearing about it. We want to win this game, and we are going to do our best to win it. It's just as big as it's ever been, and there's a lot more on the line for us. They've already become bowl eligible, and we don't want to lose this game and we want to go to a bowl game. We are going to do everything we can to prevent them from beating us and keeping us out of a bowl game.

Defensive End #58 Demarcus Dobbs

On this year's senior class' legacy:

We had great people come out of our class. We've had great athletes make it to the next level already out of our class. But as far as legacy I wouldn't really be able to say right now.

On the importance of getting a win against Georgia Tech:

It would get us to a bowl game, hopefully. It would get us bowl eligible, and we would be finishing on a strong note. It's a forgettable season as you look at it, but it wouldn't be something to hang you head on if you did make it to a bowl game and you were able to jump start the season for next year with two back-to-back wins if we make it to a bowl game and win. It's a way to salvage the season and a way to move forward.

 Inside Linebacker #51 Akeem Dent

On facing Georgia Techs run game:

Run wise, especially we’ve done a good job. Of course there are going to be some breakdowns every once in a while because we’ve tweaked things defensively, but we’ve got our guys out there doing the best they can to play the best they can.

On the legacy left by this senior class:

This group of guys, they’re hard workers. They’ve gone out there on every snap and every down and just try to leave it all on the field.

On becoming bowl eligible:

It’s really important. Of course we don’t want to be that class and we don’t want to be remembered as that class. It’s really important to get that next win to get to the bowl game.

ESPNU Announces Thursday Night SEC Baseball

BASEBALL

ESPNU’s inaugural Thursday Night SEC Baseball Game of the Week will begin Thursday, April 7, at 7:30 p.m. and will run seven-straight weeks through May 19. A Thursday night national game of the week is a first for the college sport, and features all eight conference teams that earned NCAA postseason bids in 2010.

“ESPNU is thrilled to feature a seven-week SEC Thursday night baseball series,” said Rosalyn Durant, Vice President, ESPNU. “Showcasing the vast talent of SEC baseball is great for the sport, fans, league and ESPNU. We appreciate the partnership with the SEC in creating this consistent Thursday night national package.”

SEC baseball is coming off a successful season that saw South Carolina win the 2010 National Championship Series, Florida advanced to the College World Series and eight SEC teams overall earned a NCAA postseason bid. It marked the sixth time since 2000 and the third straight year an SEC team played for the national title.

ESPNU Thursday Night SEC Baseball Game of the Week schedule highlights include:

· 2010 national champion South Carolina, SEC Tournament champion LSU and SEC regular-season champion Florida

· Top 25 teams that advanced to the 2010 NCAA Championship – Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, LSU, Ole Miss, South Carolina and Vanderbilt

“The Thursday night package of SEC games on ESPNU is a great opportunity for us to showcase the outstanding baseball that is played in our conference,” said SEC Commissioner Mike Slive. “The ESPNU package will be able to draw attention to the outstanding game-day atmosphere we have at our baseball stadiums as well as the rich tradition and history of SEC baseball.”

ESPNU SEC Thursday Night Baseball Schedule (Schedule subject to change)

Date	Time	Game
Apr 7	7:30 p.m.	South Carolina at Tennessee
Apr 14	7:30 p.m.	Tennessee at Alabama
Apr 21	7:30 p.m.	Ole Miss at Auburn
Apr 28	7:30 p.m.	Kentucky at LSU
May 5	7:30 p.m.	Florida at Arkansas
May 12	7:30 p.m.	Mississippi State at Ole Miss
May 19	7:30 p.m.	Vanderbilt at Georgia

Houston Finalists For Butkus Award

FOOTBALL

Junior Justin Houston has been named one of five finalists for the 26th-annual Butkus Award, which is given to the nation’s top linebacker.

Houston is one of only five finalists who have been picked from the initial Watch List of 51 players.  A panel of 51 coaches, scouts and journalists supervised by Hub Arkush of Pro Football Weekly selected the finalists.  Winners will be announced between December 5-8.

The four other finalists include a pair of players from the ACC, North Carolina senior Bruce Carter, Boston College sophomore Luke Kuechly along with UCLA junior Akeem Ayers and Texas A&M senior Von Miller.

Houston, a 6-3, 258-pound native of Statesboro, remains the SEC leader in sacks by 2.0 with 10.0 and is second in the league with 17.5 tackles for loss.  He is third on Georgia’s defense with 50 tackles this season.

Playing his first season at outside linebacker after lining up as defensive end his first three years, Houston has the most sacks and tackles for loss of any active SEC player and has recorded at least one tackle for loss in all 11 games this year.

Thanks in part of Houston’s presence, the Dawgs have forced 20 turnovers and converted them into 80 points.  Georgia’s turnover margin (+8) is second in the SEC and is tied for 18th in the nation.

Houston has already been named one of five finalists for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy and he was one of 16 semifinalists for the Bednarik Award earlier this season. 

Tuesday Press Conference – Part 2

FOOTBALL

Coach Mark Richt

On whether he is comfortable Aaron Murray will play Saturday:

If you are asking me do I think he is going to play, I think he is going to play. It’s still not 100 percent certain that he is going to play, but he practiced well yesterday. He wasn’t very sore if any. There wasn’t a lot of soreness from yesterday’s practice to today. At the rate he is going and his mentality right now, I think he has every intention of playing, and were pretty sure he’ll play. We hope there is not a setback. I don’t foresee one. We will be in pads today, and somebody could run into him on accident, but we don’t want them to. The next two days well gear it down even more so he shouldn’t have a setback. 

On how much more comfortable he is with Hutson Mason compared to at the beginning of the season:

A lot more comfortable now. We did give Logan Gray a couple of snaps, but it wasn’t to be the starter if something happened to Aaron or be the first guy in the game. But if Aaron couldn’t play and you’ve got Hutson, then Logan would’ve been the next guy in the game, so we wanted to get him a little bit of work for that reason. But Hutson, he’s had so much meeting time and practice reps that were comfortable with him being able to run our offense.

On continuing to run the ball against Georgia Tech in the game last year:

It went very well, we were scoring points, we had a lead. We felt like that was the way to continue to go throughout that ballgame considering the fact that we had the lead and we were having success doing it. Well be ready to do both.

On Kris Durham and his chances to play in the NFL:

I think he can. I think a lot of the scouts have taken notice. They like what they see. Of course earlier in the year he had a little bigger role in that when A.J. Green wasn’t there he kind of became the go-to guy and responded well and made a lot of plays. They like his range and like the fact that he’s tall and can make plays. He’s never had trouble getting by people. He’s never had trouble getting open deep. As Aaron was kind of feeling his way around, Durham was running by people and Aaron was getting it to him, but if he could have hit him on the dead run a couple of times, who knows how many touchdown passes he would have. I think Kris has an excellent opportunity.

On Washaun Ealey and Caleb King this season:

I think that they did a good job, but I think they could do a better job. I think overall they had a pretty good season, but they could do better. Hopefully Saturday they’ll do extremely well.

Wide Receiver #16 Kris Durham

On not having classes this week during Thanksgiving break:

I'm kind of accustomed to it. I've got two online classes and one normal class on Tuesday and Thursdays, so I'm kind of used to this schedule. I usually get up and get my day started. That's how I am. I'm more of a morning person. I guess that's why teaching is a good profession for me.

On if he plans to be a teacher and a coach:

That's the game plan for when I get through with football at whatever time that will be. Hopefully, I've got a few more years left. But that is the ultimate goal.

On finishing up school:

I graduated last may, but I'm not going to finish up graduate school just yet. I'm going to pursue a football career, and after that, I'll finish up grad school. It was something my parents always preached to me to finish your education, so that's why I always wanted a Master's degree, so that's something I'll shoot for after my playing days.

On what convinced him that he does have a future with football after his collegiate eligibility is complete:

I always believed that I had the ability, but with the opportunities I've been given I've taken advantage of them and I do believe I have a future in football. I'm going to pursue that, and I'm going to give it everything I've got and see how it works out. If it doesn’t work out the way I want it to then I still have a lot of goals and different aspirations in my life, and teaching and coaching, that is one of them. I'll still be a successful person in my eyes.

Fullback #49 Shaun Chapas

On the victory over Georgia Tech last year:

It was a good day. It was pretty fun. Its something that were working hard this week to try to have success like that again.

On the running game this season:

We had set some pretty high expectations for ourselves coming into the season. I think it’d be fair to say that we haven’t met those on an every single game basis.

On being able to finish the season with a win:

I mean, its a huge game for us finishing out the season. We want to finish strong, finish with a win and get bowl eligible. I’ve been to a bowl every year since I’ve been here and I want to keep that going.

USC Defeats Lady Dawgs

BASKETBALL

Southern Cal (3-1) used a 20-3 run early in the second half and withstood a pair of furious Georgia (3-1) rallies en route to a 71-63 victory at the Galen Center on Tuesday night.

The Women of Troy built an 11-point lead and made that margin hold up when the Lady Dawgs closed the gap to two points on three occasions.

Porsha Phillips notched her third double-double of the season with 11 points and a career-high 19 boards, and Jasmine James scored 15 points for the Lady Dawgs. Phillips' rebound count represented the most by a Georgia player since Katrina McClain had 22 boards against Valdosta State in December 1986.

Ashley Corral scored a game-high 17 points for the Women of Troy, including a trio of huge three-pointers, and Jackie Gemelos chipped in 14 off the bench.

After the teams traded early baskets, the Lady Dawgs used an 8-0 run to grab the game's first significant lead at 10-4 at the 13:04 mark.

Georgia gradually expanded that margin to 19-8 on a Phillips jumper before the Women of Troy chipped away to close within a bucket at 27-25 with 4:33 remaining in the period.

"We missed an opportunity early to create some distance," head coach Andy Landers said. "We built a lead but we came down and passed one time and launched a three. The problem with that is that we weren't making them do anything on defense. We were open, but we were three or four feet behind the three-point line."

Southern Cal finally knotted the score at 31-31 on a Gemelos three with 51 seconds left in the period and neither team scored before intermission.

Georgia opened the second stanza quickly and built a 39-33 lead before the Women of Troy embarked on their 20-3 surge.

After Southern Cal led 53-42 with 10:09 remaining, a Phillips stick-back started a 9-0 run. The Lady Dawgs failed to convert on two chances to tie the contest, including a painful rattle-out, hook shot from Tamika Willis.

A Len'Nique Brown three, a basket from Corral and a Kari LaPlante three throw put USC back ahead by eight before Georgia surged again. A three from Meredith Mitchell closed it to 59-57, but the Lady Dawgs couldn't get over the hump.

Phillips missed a baseline jumper, but it appeared that Georgia had secured the offensive rebound. Corral knocked the ball from Anne Marie Armstrong's hands and a scramble ensued. The ball rolled out of bounds and was last touched by James.

After a Gemelos three, Armstrong answered with a triple to make it 62-60. Briana Gilbreath hit a three from the right corner as Southern Cal outscored the Lady Dawgs 11-3 the rest of the way.

"As we got behind, we made a good run or two and cut it to two," Landers said. "Each time we either missed the shot or turned the ball over. We had some critical turnovers in the second half that in large measure weren't forced."

The Women of Troy were 13-of-16 from the line, while Georgia was just 4-of-11.

Georgia will remain in Los Angeles through the week and compete in the Courtyard Marriott Westside Loyola Marymount Thanksgiving Classic on Friday and Saturday. The Lady Dawgs will face Denver in the tournament's opening round on Friday at approximately 6 p.m. ET.

Tuesday Practice Report

FOOTBALL

The Dawgs (5-6) conducted a two-and-a-half-hour practice in full pads today as they continue to prepare for this Saturday's showdown with instate rival Georgia Tech (6-5) in Sanford Stadium.

"I'm not really sure if today's practice was as good as yesterday," coach Mark Richt said following Tuesday's practice, which featured a steady rain over the final 45 minutes and was the Dawgs second-consecutive day working out in full pads.

After practice, redshirt freshman quarterback Aaron Murray addressed his status for this weekend's game with the media.

"I'm feeling good, real good," Murray said. "I'm good enough to play and ready to go. I haven't had any pain in two days, and I feel great throwing the ball. I still have four more days too. Like I said, I haven't had any paid at all so I think I'm ready to go and ready to play Saturday."

Also on Tuesday morning, it was announced that punter Drew Butler was named an ESPN Academic All-American. Butler becomes just the seventh Dawg in school history to be named both an All-American and an Academic All-American during their Georgia career. He is the first one to accomplish this feat since offensive lineman Jon Stinchcomb in 2002. Butler carries a 3.58 grade point average (GPA) in Telecommunication Arts. This season, he is averaging 45.0 yards on 43 punts as the Dawgs rank third nationally in Net Punting. Last year, Butler was a consensus All-American and the Ray Guy Award winner as the nation’s top punter. He is one of the finalists for the 2010 Ray Guy Award too. Butler owns a career punting average of 46.4 which is on pace to be a school record.

Tuesday Press Conference – Part 1

FOOTBALL

Coach Mark Richt

Opening statement:

Big game this week. Its great to have a game like this at the end of the season and in particular at the end of this season, to have a season where we’ve not reached some of the goals, or hardly any of the goals that we set out before us. As far as won-lost record, to play game 12 and still have a game that’s this meaningful is exciting for me as a coach, because we are always looking for ways to motivate and I don’t think well have to do a whole lot of motivating this week. 

Coach Paul Johnson has done a fantastic job at Tech. Once again, offensively they’ve got it going, averaging over 400 yards a game rushing. I think that leads the nation. Of course we know that Joshua Nesbitt got hurt and Tevin Washington has taken over. He’s running it very well. You can tell he’s getting more and more comfortable every game. A lot of people ask the question, How is it different to defend the offense with Tevin compared to Josh? Right now we don’t see a huge difference. We see the same plays. We see the same system, we see the same pass routes, so we don’t see a big difference there.

It’s a great opportunity this weekend. I’m embracing the fact that we are playing in the evening. We haven’t played many night games, and this may be the first at home. I think our players will enjoy that. I think our players will enjoy the buildup to that. There usually is a little more electricity at night. I know our fans will be there ready to honor our seniors, honor our team one more time. It will be Senior Day. Our seniors will come out and get a chance to have a picture taken with their family in front of the crowd. I want to encourage our Dawg faithful to get in the stands for that ceremony. It will be as close to kickoff as we can get it and still do the things that we need to do for our pregame warm-ups, so I’m hoping everyone gets there early enough to really honor these guys. It’s an emotional time for these guys, it’s a very important time for these guys. I know the Dawg Walk will be great. I guess the little league baseball team is going to be leading the pack for us at the Dawg Walk. Warner Robins did it again I guess. So Warner Robins little league team will lead the Dawg Walk out. We will have helmet stickers honoring the Georgia National Guard, and I heard our new governor will do the coin toss. There is going to be a way to honor Governor Sonny Perdue at halftime, so there are a lot of great things happening besides the ballgame.

On the Georgia seniors:

I tell those guys it’s hard to lead when things aren’t going right. Its easy to lead when you are winning. It’s hard to lead when you are not winning like you should or the way we feel like we should. To keep a team together and to keep a team motivated and to keep persevering is not easy. You can look at the seniors too. This isn’t what we wanted our senior year. They could have sacked their bats too. They’ve not done that or even come close to doing that. I’m proud of how they’ve led through the adversity and I’m very confident that when we come out of the gate, well be ready to play, the seniors will and the rest of the team will be ready to play. That’s part of the reason why I’m proud of the effort. Most every one of them is graduating, if not already graduated. Even the ones who had a few bumps along the way, which they all have, have come out of it the right kind of men, so I’m really proud of them.

On what the Georgia Tech game means to the Georgia seniors:

It’s the last time they are going to play between the hedges. It’s the last time they get a chance to wear the red and black in front of their home crowd, so they want to have a good final memory. Guys do tend to remember the last time they are in that stadium. A lot of times as its happening they don’t think much about it, but I try to help them understand that it will be something you’ll reflect on and you want to reflect on it in a real positive way and a way that you’ll be proud of it. Just that in itself is enough.

On whether he assumes an underclassman will leave for the NFL is he is highly rated:

No, we don’t always assume it. We always try to go through the process of educating ourselves and them as to the pros and cons of that decision and try to get up with the families and talk a little bit about it, and try to come to a decision that is in the best interest of the player.

On Georgia players attending the Georgia Tech-Duke game:

I’m glad that they wanted to go. I’m glad they wanted to go check it out. If I was a player, I probably would have liked to do that. I like college football period, and you have a chance to go watch a good college game. Also its who you are playing next. There are no rules against is, and when I found out about it, I thought it was a good idea. I’m glad they cared enough to do it.

On what the Georgia Tech game means to him:

We haven’t mentioned this much, and I should have mentioned it more, but there is also the Governors Cup at stake. There is a trophy that travels to the team that wins the game and it gets to be displayed at your athletic complex year after year. It’s also a very unique situation in that this game is not quite a bowl game, but it gets treated a little like a bowl game in that there are gifts that are being allowed to give out. Every senior of the winning team gets a trophy, and every senior who plays gets a watch to signify that they played in that game. Also, the head coach gets a trophy also with the names of all the seniors who played in the game. I really like those.

On the main benefits of playing in a bowl game:

The experience of the trip, I’ve never been to a bad bowl. Every bowl you go to, the people are wonderful. They have really neat things to do. You get a chance to go compete in another college game. You get to practice along the way, which I don’t know that the players are all that excited about that part of it, but as a coach you like to get more practice opportunities in. You tend to take some time to let the younger guys get a little bit more work. I don’t do that maybe as much as other coaches do. My focus is usually to make sure we are preparing to win the game. I know graduation day, historically at Georgia you have a bunch of seniors taking off to graduate, and it’s a day where we do some scrimmaging with the younger guys. That’s important too. I think its certainly nice to be able to say you have a certain streak of playing in a bowl game. That’s important too.

On the win over Georgia Tech last year:

That was a big day. We wanted to run the ball that day no doubt. The more you run the ball, the more you can control the clock. Everybody knows that and everybody wants to keep it out of the hands of an offense that is dangerous. That was kind of our plan going in, but we didn’t really expect to run it like we ran it or as well as we ran it or as often as we ran it. I don’t know if we could predict that to happen again. When you have some of the receivers that we have and the way Aaron has played as a passer, you don’t just want to forget about that part of your plan, but running the ball will absolutely be a big part of what we are going to try to do.

Monday Practice Report

FOOTBALL

After enjoying its bye week, the Dawgs returned to the practice fields on Monday with a two-hour workout in full pads.

“I thought today was great,” coach Mark Richt said. “We challenged them before practice and told them this would be our last day of tackling if we got the job done. We’ll keep tackling the scout team this week, but the 1s vs. 1s and the 2s vs. 2s got the job done.”

Richt was asked about the health status of quarterback Aaron Murray, who participated in Monday’s drills. Murray suffered a bruised knee and bruised sternum in the game with Auburn.

“He practiced and he did a pretty good job,” Richt said. “There’s a difference between practice and playing, so we’ll have to see if he continues to improve.”

Richt announced the captains for Saturday’s game will be Demarcus Dobbs, Akeem Dent, Shaun Chapas and Chad Gloer. Other members of the Dawgs’ senior class will wear the captain “C” logo as well.

The Dawgs were idle last week after 11 straight games. On Saturday, Georgia will host instate rival Georgia Tech. The Dawgs are 5-6 overall, while the Yellow Jackets are 6-5. The game will kick off at 7:45 p.m..

Butler Finalist For Ray Guy Award

FOOTBALL

Junior punter Drew Butler has been named a finalist for the Ray Guy Award for the second consecutive year, according to an announcement made today.

Butler, a 6-2, 203-pound from Duluth, was named one of three finalists for the Ray Guy Award after winning the 2009 award for being the nation’s top punter.  He joins Iowa senior Ryan Donahue and Florida senior Chas Henry in competition to be named the nation’s most outstanding punter in 2010.

Butler is third in the Southeastern Conference and 15th in the nation with a 45.0 average on 43 punts.  He has boomed 14 punts of 50 or more yard this season and placed 18 punts within the 20-yard line.  Butler and the Dawgs are also second in the SEC and third in the NCAA in Net Punting with an average of 41.1. Only 11 of Butler’s 43 punts this season have been returned.

Butler is on pace to become the school record holder in punting average for a career with a mark of 46.4 through almost three seasons.  The current school leader holds the record at 43.2.

The winner of the 11th Ray Guy Award will be announced live on ESPN during the Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards show on December 9th.

Junior outside linebacker Justin Houston has already been named one of five finalists for the Bronko Nagurski Award, which is given to the nation’s top defensive player.  This award will be announced at a banquet in Charlotte, North Carolina, on December 6th.

Krueger Is All-American

TRACK

Georgia junior Kristie Krueger became just the third cross country All-American in Lady Dawg history at the NCAA Championships in Terre Haute, Indiana, on Monday.

In what she described as the “windiest day she has ever run a race,” Krueger was the top finisher from the Southeastern Conference after taking 28th with a 6k time of 20:40.6.  The Argyle, Texas, native was 164th during her first trip to the national cross country meet as a sophomore in 2009.

Only Natalie Picchetti (27th in 2007) and Keli Butler (11th in 1990) had earned All-America honors for the Georgia women in the program’s history coming into Monday’s race.

“Kristie’s finish is a nice ending to a fantastic season,” said Dawg distance coach Jeff Pigg, who watched as Krueger and the field battled gusts up to 30 miles per hour and unseasonably warm temperatures in the upper 60s.  “It’s been fun to see her get better and better.  When a runner who is primarily a miler steps up like this in cross country, you know it’s a special person that you are working with.  This closes out the cross country season and now we can’t wait to get going with the track season.”
Krueger said she “couldn’t even run in a straight line during warm-ups” because of the wind, but the 2010 indoor All-American in the mile was able to stay with the front pack of 30 from start to finish.

“I didn’t have my best race of the year, but I’m pleased I was able to earn All-America honors,” said Krueger. “I am exhausted from this season and looking forward to a little rest.  I wish I would have had a better finish in this meet, but overall I couldn’t have asked for a better season.”

Krueger’s 2010 campaign was a memorable one.  She captured Georgia's first NCAA South Regional individual title after winning her 6k race with her first sub-20:00 time of her career in Hoover, Alabama, on November 13th.  She was later named the South Region Female Athlete of the Year.

She was also honored as the SEC Women’s Cross Country Athlete of the Year after becoming just the second SEC cross country champion in school history on November 1st in Columbia, South Carolina.

In Krueger's five meets this season coming into the NCAA Championships, she finished in the top 10 in all of them and won three.  After opening up the year with a victory at the Georgia Cross Country Invitational at her team's home course in Bishop, Krueger took ninth at the NCAA Pre-Nationals, which was run on the NCAA Championships course.

“We put a high priority on the SEC Championships from the team standpoint and she knew the pressure was on her for both that meet and the Regionals,” Pigg said.  “It’s tough to hold that intensity for so long, it kind of zaps you.  But she came (to Terre Haute) without her teammates and answered a very tall order.  No matter what happens during a season, you are kind of left with the feeling that you had in your final meet and I would say this is a great way to conclude the year.”

Villanova junior Sheila Reid (20:06.9) won the individual competition to lead her team to its second straight NCAA title.  In the men’s 10k, Liberty senior Samuel Chelanga clocked a 29:22.2 as Oklahoma State blistered Florida State 73-193 to claim the team crown.

• Photo credit to Cheryl Treworgy – PrettySporty.com

Sunday Press Conference

FOOTBALL

The Dawgs close out the regular season this Saturday night by playing host to Georgia Tech.

With an open date this past Saturday, Georgia (5-6, 3-5 SEC) had the weekend off. On Monday, the Dawgs will resume their normal practice schedule. The Yellow Jackets (6-5, 5-4 ACC) rallied past Duke 30-20 Saturday in Atlanta.

Speaking on his regular Sunday conference call with the media, Georgia coach Mark Richt said it will be a great challenge facing the Yellow Jackets who feature the nation’s top-ranked rushing attack at 319.4 yards per game.

“It’s the type of offense that defensively, you cannot afford to have a mental lapse or you will play dearly for it,” said Richt. “Paul Johnson’s teams are like that each year. You need to be focused on every single snap and you cannot think you got them because you don’t. You may have one play when you stopped them, but you need to do what you’re supposed to each snap.”

Last year, Georgia gave the Yellow Jackets a taste of their own medicine by steamrolling them for 339 yards on the ground in a 30-24 victory. Washaun Ealey gained 183 yards and Caleb King added 166 yards to highlight the Dawg attack. Richt said the Dawgs game plan in 2009 against Tech was not simply to run the football.

“We wanted to test the waters, and we didn’t think we were going to run it like that,” Richt recalled. “Once it started going well, we stayed with it. We always feel like we have good receivers, tight ends and quarterbacks that can put it on the money. We want to do both well.”

Georgia and Georgia Tech will meet for the 103^rd time since 1893 with the Dawgs leading the series 60-37-5. The winner of the game receives the Governor’s Cup Trophy. The Dawgs have won eight of the nine games in the Richt era.

“We’re excited about this rivalry game because it’s meaningful for our players and fans,” said Richt. “Sure it helps motivate a team, but motivation has not been a problem. Our guys have shown up and played well, they just haven’t finished well. Regardless of any bowl implications, we’re playing Georgia Tech, and it’s a game we need to be mentally and physically prepared to not only start the game but to finish. It’s our desire for our seniors to leave Sanford Stadium with a great memory.”

Lady Dawgs Win

BASKETBALL

Jasmine James scored 21 points and dished out seven assists to propel the 18^th-ranked Georgia women’s basketball team to an 84-51 victory over Indiana Sunday afternoon inside Stegeman Coliseum. The Lady Dawgs jump to 3-0 to start the 2010-11 season.

James and the supporting cast of Anne Marie Armstrong (15) and Jasmine Hassell (10) helped Georgia to 50 percent shooting from the floor on the afternoon. Indiana (2-2) was led by Hope Elam with 16 points off the bench while Whitney Lindsay tallied 13 and Jori Davis 10.

“Today was just really inspired play on both ends of the floor,” said head coach Andy Landers, who today coached his 1,001^st game at the helm of the Lady Dawgs. “We prepared well and were on point with the things we wanted to do. Offensively, we were creative off the rebound as we ran the ball down the floor. In the half court we created shots for each other and for ourselves, and a lot of that came from Jasmine James.”

James tallied 18 of her game-best 21 in the first half to send Georgia into the locker room guarding a 44-25 lead. Armstrong had nine at the intermission on 3-of-4 shooting from beyond the arc.

Georgia took control of the game immediately, building a double-digit lead just six minutes in, 15-5, on a lay-up for James following a steal for the sophomore guard. The UGA lead ballooned to 15, at 26-11, when Armstrong knocked down one of her threes and Georgia forced Indiana into several first-half turnovers to continue to build.

James hit a pair of free throws to push the Lady Dawgs in front by 17, 33-16, with 4:59 to go in the opener and Georgia netted the final two buckets of the half to take the 19-point lead into the break.

The Lady Dawgs continued rolling in the second, scoring the first seven of the half to take a 26-point lead, 51-25, with 16:44 to go on a three from Porsha Phillips. Following a free throw from the Hoosiers’ Alisha Goodwin, Georgia increased the lead to 29 with 10:20 left and still led by that margin, 66-37, with 6:07 to go.

Georgia eclipsed the 80-point mark for the first time this season as Arieal Johnson hit a lay-up with 1:39 to go, giving the Lady Dawgs the 80-45 lead. Armstrong put Georgia up by its largest margin of the day of 36, at 84-48, with under a minute to go and Davis hit the game’s final bucket for the visitors, a long-ranger, to make it a 33-point game at the buzzer.

Georgia led 44-28 on the boards, led by seven each for Phillips and Meredith Mitchell.

Sunday’s game had some bragging rights at stake for these teams, as the younger sister of Georgia assistant coach Cameron Newbauer, Andrea, suited up for IU. The freshman played 11 minutes, picking up two points and three rebounds.

The Georgia squad will now hit the road for three in a row away from Athens, beginning Tues., Nov. 23 at Southern California. Tip-off vs. the Trojans is set for 10 p.m. ET in Los Angeles. From there, the Lady Dawgs will participate in the LMU Thanksgiving Classic also in Los Angeles, Nov. 26-27.

Notes:

•       The Lady Dawgs improved to 3-0 with today’s win over Indiana.
•       The Lady Dawgs are now 3-0 all-time against Indiana. 
•       With today’s win the Lady Dawgs are 10 wins shy of 800 all-time victories. 
•       With today’s win Andy Landers is 15 wins shy of his 850th career victory as a collegiate head coach. 
•       Georgia’s previous two meetings with Indiana came during the 1983 and 1995 NCAA Tournaments where the Lady Dawgs eventually advanced to the Final Four.
•       Today marks Jasmine James’ fourth 20-point game at Georgia. 
•       With two blocks in today’s game, Porsha Phillips is now five blocks away from No. 10 Kara Braxton among UGA’s career leaders. 

Double-Digit Lady Bulldogs

•       Today’s game marks Jasmine James’ second double-digit points game this season and 19th of her career.
•       Today’s game marks Jasmine Hassell’s second double-digit points game this season and ninth of her career.
•       Today’s game marks Anne Marie Armstrong’s first double-digit points game this season and seventh of her career.

Georgia Head Coach Andy Landers

“Today was just really inspired play on both ends of the floor. We prepared well and were on point with the things we wanted to do. Offensively, we were creative off the rebound as we ran the ball down the floor and in the half court we created shots for each other and for ourselves, and a lot of that came from Jasmine James.”
“The key for Southern Cal is to manage it and to understand what we are going into. We started talking to the players yesterday about it. We will go light tomorrow in practice so we’ll have energy and get rested up.”

Indiana Head Coach Felisha Legette-Jack

“I was really excited about watching the Georgia players. I liked the fact that they really played hard. I liked the fact that they didn’t quit. They really competed. We got star struck at the beginning but hopefully we learned a lot from this game and that will help us get better for the next game.”

“I like that there were some good things that came out of our guard play. Our post work had some good moves, but we only have two big players. We needed some more help. They kept keeping four or five people at us. They could go to their bench, but we didn’t have anyone to sub. I can’t wait for 2011 to get here so we have some more help.”

"This is the type of game that will help us get ready for March.”

Top 25 – Week 12

	Team	Record	Opponent
1.	Auburn	11 – 0	Alabama
2.	TCU	11 – 0	New Mexico
3.	Oregon	10 – 0	Arizona
4.	Boise State	10 – 0	Nevada
5.	LSU	10 – 1	Arkansas
6.	Stanford	10 – 1	Oregon State
7.	Michigan State	10 – 1	Penn State
8.	Wisconsin	10 – 1	Northwestern
9.	Ohio State	10 – 1	Michigan
10.	Oklahoma State	10 – 1	Oklahoma
11.	Nevada	10 – 1	Boise State
12.	Alabama	9 – 2	Auburn
13.	Arkansas	9 – 2	LSU
14.	Missouri	9 – 2	Kansas
15.	Oklahoma	9 – 2	Oklahoma State
16.	Virginia Tech	9 – 2	Virginia
17.	Nebraska	9 – 2	Colorado
18.	Utah	9 – 2	BYU
19.	South Carolina	8 - 3	Clemson
20.	Texas A&M	8 - 3	Texas
21.	North Carolina State	8 - 3	Maryland
22.	Florida State	8 - 3	Florida
23.	UCF	8 - 3	Memphis
24.	Navy	8 - 3	Off
25.	Arizona	7 – 3	Oregon

Dribble Dawgs Win On Road

BASKETBALL

The Georgia basketball team trailed by as many as 14 in the second half, but the Dawgs mounted a 13-0 run up until the 10:11 mark in the second on their way to a 61-59 win over Atlantic-10 rival Saint Louis Saturday night at Chaifetz Arena.

Travis Leslie hit a jumper with 40 seconds left to give Georgia the 59-57 lead and the Billikens’ Jordair Jett answered to tie it before Jeremy Price took a pass from Gerald Robinson and put up a lay-up as time expired to give the Dawgs the narrow road victory in dramatic fashion.

Leslie led Georgia (3-0) with 19 points on 7-of-10 scoring, followed by Price’s 16 on 6-of-11. Dustin Ware and Gerald Robinson each added 10.

Saint Louis (1-2) led by 10, 37-27, at the half, but failed to score over a span of nearly 10 minutes to allow the Dawgs back into it. After Georgia pulled to within just one, 44-43, with 10:11 left on a lay-up from Leslie, the teams began to battle for the lead for the remainder. A three for SLU’s Kyle Cassity gave the Billikens a six-point lead, 55-49, with 5:06 left, but Georgia shaved it back to two on a dunk from Leslie with 2:48 to go.

A pair of free throws from Price tied it up at 57-57 with 1:22 on the clock and a Leslie jumper gave the Dawgs the lead back, 59-57, with just 40 seconds to go. That’s when Jett tied it to set up Price’s last-second heroics, sending the Dawgs to the win and snapping their 11-game road losing streak.

Leslie had 13 points in the second half alone. Robinson tallied eight assists on the night.

The Billikens were led by 19 from forward Rob Loe, while Cassity had 13.

Georgia will next head to the Ole Spice Classic, taking on Notre Dame in the first game Thursday, November 25th at 7 p.m. in Orlando, Florida.

Dawgs Open With Boise State

FOOTBALL

The Dawgs and the Boise State Broncos will meet in the Georgia Dome to open the 2011 college football season in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game.

Chick-fil-A Bowl, ESPN and team officials made the long-anticipated match-up announcement today. The game will be played Saturday, September 3 at 8 p.m. and will be nationally televised on ESPN or ABC.

“This is the type game that excites me, it will excite our players and I know it will excite our fans,” said coach Mark Richt. “We know it will put Georgia on a national stage in the season opener.  It will make for a great off-season of preparation and anticipation to play a great team at a great facility in our home state.”

“We are excited to participate in the 2011 Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game in Atlanta against Boise State,” said UGA Director of Athletics Greg McGarity. “We are very appreciative of the efforts made by ESPN and the Chick-fil-A Bowl to create this opportunity, and we look forward to competing against one of the nation¹s elite teams. We know our fans will certainly enjoy this experience in the Georgia Dome to start the 2011 season.”

“It was a long time coming, but we wanted to make sure we got our 2011 match-up right. Today, we got it right,” said Gary Stokan, Chick-fil-A Bowl president and CEO. “With this game, we have two nationally significant programs, two teams we expect to be highly ranked and a very interesting game. It’s a win all the way around.”

It will be a game of firsts, and a second.

When the current No. 4 BCS-ranked Broncos make the trip, they will become the first highly ranked out-of-region team to compete in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game. Southeastern Conference power Georgia will become the first team from Georgia to participate in the season-opening game in Atlanta. The match-up will be only the second meeting all-time between the two programs. The Dawgs played host to the Broncos in 2005, winning 48-13 as D.J. Shockley set a school record by accounting for six touchdowns (five passing and one rushing).

The Chick-fil-A Bowl in partnership with ESPN will manage the 2011 game and its surrounding events. Ancillary events included in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game weekend include a Fan Nights at local Atlanta attractions, a Kickoff Cook-Off tailgate experience, individual team tailgate parties and an indoor FanZone event.

Billed as the “Daytona 500 of College Football,” the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game matches top-tier programs in a BCS-style game to open every college football season.

The 2010 Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game featured two top-20 teams, LSU and North Carolina, on Sept. 4. LSU held off UNC to win 30-24 in a game that came down to the final play.  The game aired nationally on ABC and earned the highest ratings of opening weekend.

Georgia was scheduled to open the 2011 season against Louisville in a home-and-home series, however North Carolina will now face the Cardinals in a home-and-home series. Georgia’s season-opening opponent for 2012 has not been set, according to McGarity.

Landers Gets Win In 1,000th Game

BASKETBALL

The 18^th-ranked Georgia women’s basketball team saw four players find double figures, paced by Jasmine Hassell’s 16, in a 79-69 victory over Chattanooga Friday night at Stegeman Coliseum. The Lady Dawgs handed head coach Andy Landers the well-deserved victory in what was his 1,000^th career game at the helm of the Georgia program.

The win pushes Georgia to 2-0 to start the season, while the Mocs fall into an early 0-3 hole.

“What was tough about the first half is we had to score two baskets to change the lead, because they were hitting one three and we’re having to score two two’s to get the lead back,” Landers said. “We were just not good defensively on the ball. I’ve known it and I’ve said it, but we’ve been working on it and we’ll get better at it. That is the biggest thing that I saw. Other than that, we weren’t real bad. We played pretty good. We shot the ball well, we ran the ball, made good decisions, rebounded but we just didn’t defend very well.”

Hassell came off the bench to register 19 minutes in the post, going 7-of-11 from the floor for her game-high 16 points. Porsha Phillips (15), Jasmine James (14), and Tamika Willis (12) followed suit as the Lady Dawgs shot 52 percent for the game. Phillips contributed 12 rebounds on the night to lead Georgia to a 45-22 advantage on the boards.

Willis shot 6-for-7 in her first career start as the sophomore has now missed only one field-goal attempt on the season after going 4-for-4 in the opener vs. Georgia Southern.

The first half was a back-and-forth affair that saw five ties and a staggering 18 lead changes. The Lady Dawgs guarded an eight-point lead, 13-5, nearly four minutes in, but Chattanooga’s three-point shooting helped the Mocs back into it. The visitors posted three straight from downtown to take a one-point lead, 14-13, with 14:25 on the clock in the first. The teams continued to trade the lead throughout, and a pair of threes from the Mocs’ Kylie Lambert gave Chattanooga the lead back, 38-37, with 2:06 to go.

Phillips stepped up for a jumper to put Georgia up, 39-38, but Lambert sank two free throws as the Mocs went back in front with 1:17 to go. The Lady Dawgs then strung together a 7-0 run to close the first frame, using a pair of jumpers from Hassell and a three from Phillips to build a six-point lead, 46-40, at the break. Hassell already had 12 to her name in the first half, followed by Phillips’ nine.

The Mocs shot 10-for-16 from beyond the arc, out of only 13 total field goals made in the first half. Townsend and Kayla Christopher owned a combined seven of them at the midway point.

Georgia built its largest lead of the game to that point at 10, 54-44, with 14:36 to go in the contest on a lay-up from freshman Khaalidah Miller. After Chattanooga pulled it back to within seven, 58-51, with 12:11 left, the Lady Dawgs tallied a 9-0 run to go up by 16, 67-51, as the clock sank under 10 minutes. Georgia’s largest lead of the night was 18, 71-53, with 8:29 on the clock, coming as James sank a jumper, grabbed a steal on the next Chattanooga possession, and finished with a lay-up.

Meghan Downes made two late threes for the Mocs, who continued to find the stroke from long-range. Downes’ second three made it an 11-point Georgia lead, 76-65, with 2:30 showing, and a pair of late free throws from Townsend closed out the night with Georgia settling for the 10-point victory in front of 2,850.

Chattanooga was led by Whitney Hood’s 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting, while Townsend ended with 13 and Christopher 11 as Georgia was able to keep the sharp-shooting guard off the scoreboard in the second half.

The Mocs – an NCAA Tournament team in eight of the last nine seasons – scored just 16 points in the paint on the night.

James added five assists on the evening, while Phillips blocked four shots and Meredith Mitchell added a pair of steals. Georgia jumps to 13-1 all-time vs. the Mocs, and remains perfect at 7-0 when playing in Athens.

The Lady Dawgs will stay home to play a matinee against Indiana this Sun., Nov. 21 at 2 p.m., before hitting the road for three straight beginning with their Nov. 23 meeting at Southern California at 10 p.m. ET in Los Angeles.

NOTES
•       With the win, the Lady Dawgs have started five consecutive seasons 2-0.
•        After winning his 1000th career game on the sidelines as head coach as the Lady Dawgs, Andy Landers is now 9-1 in “games on the hundreds.”
•       Georgia now leads the all-time series with Chattanooga 13-1, including a 7-0 mark at home. This is the Lady Dawgs’ 12th consecutive win in the series.
•       In her first career start, sophomore Tamika Willis scored 12 points in 18 minutes on the floor, both career highs.
•       Senior forward Porsha Phillips scored 15 with 12 rebounds for her 13th career and second straight double-double. She last had back-to-back double-doubles against Florida and South Carolina on February 21st and 25th last season.
•       Chattanooga hit 13 three-pointers, equaling the most ever by a Lady Dawg opponent. It was the fourth time a foe has hit 13 threes against Georgia also: Georgia Southern on Nov. 21, 2006; Santa Clara on Nov. 18, 2005; and Eastern Kentucky on Jan. 22, 1990.
Double-Digit Lady Dawgs
•       Jasmine James scored 14 points, her first double-digit point performance of the season and 19th of her career.
•       Porsha Phillips scored 15 points, her second double-digit point performance of the season 39th of her career.
•       Jasmine Hassell scored 16 points, her first double-digit point performance of the season and the eighth of her career.
•       Tamika Willis scored 12 points, her first double-digit point performance of the season and of her career.
•       Porsha Phillips had 12 rebounds, her second double-digit rebound performance of the season and 20th of her career.