Live Blog: Georgia vs. Kentucky

Greetings from Sanford Stadium, for the final time until G-Day. Fans are just now shuffling into the stadium, and the vast majority are in black. If you're watching at home, however, your job is to make snide comments about the announcing team each time they make a broad analogy about Uga's death and the Georgia season. I'm sure it's coming. It's so much easier than actually providing analysis of the game.

Some pregame thoughts...

-- I apologize in advance if this live blog stinks.

For one, I'm a little depressed about humanity today. We have a fenced in backyard that borders a few apartments behind us. My dog managed to pull a Houdini act today and get out of the yard. The neighbors behind us watched this happen and did nothing. Then we we went out to get her and were chasing her around the neighborhood, more than a dozen people refused to lend a hand, even after my girlfriend begged them to help. They just sat there and watched. Pathetic. (In the end, a box of milk bones did what the neighbors would not.)

Secondly, as you're no doubt aware, I'm on a bit of a hellish deadline tonight. Macon's paper goes to press early, so my stories need to be submitted within a few seconds of the game ending. Columbus is a little later than that, but by the time I do interviews, etc., there won't be much time to write. So... I'm going to have to spend a bit of time writing in-game rather than blogging. Bummer.

-- Great question from Herschel Blogger: "If UGA will seriously be without a live Uga on the sidelines tomorrow for the first time since 1956... Who will we attempt to find behind the fries?"

I'm curious to find out the answer. I feel like the Uga hiding would be in poor taste. Herschel's suggestion? Willie Martinez's defense, since "Lord knows we can't find it anywhere else."

-- Oh, and if you want a little extra motivation for hating Tech next week, this ought to do it. Classy stuff.

-- Also, there are 23 seniors who will be taking the field at Sanford Stadium for the final time tonight. I figured since I've been covering most of them for the majority of their careers, it'd be worth giving them a little page space here by sharing a few memories from myself or their teammates and coaches.

Jonathan Batson, Stephen Braue, Devin Hollander, Andrew Jensen, Andrew Johnson, Christian Norton, Vernon Spellman, Justin Fields -- All these guys spent their careers as walk-ons, and I never had a chance to interview any of them. But that doesn't mean they didn't make an impact. Here's Richt on their final game: “For some of them, it may be the only ovation they get from the crowd. I don’t say that in a negative way, but it’s just how it goes. But they get an ovation from me and the coaching staff and their teammates. Those guys do a very tough job, and they do it out of the love of football and the love of their team and we can’t function without them.”

Ricardo Crawford -- I always liked Ricardo a lot, but I must admit, it never ceased to make me laugh when Rodney Garner would talk about him in interviews. I think reporters specifically kept asking about Crawford's playing time just to see the look on Garner's face. His trip to England to study Shakespeare this offseason also made for some great lines.

Casey Nickels -- Every week Chris Starrs does a feature for the Banner-Herald on a random UGA player who may or may not have done much on the playing field. He's hit Arthur Lynch, Ty Frix, Fred Munzenmaier and plenty of others throughout the year, even provoking a weekly guessing game among some writers as to whom that week's mystery player would be. I generally end up overhearing a good bit of Chris' interviews for these stories, and I must say that my favorite this season has been Nickels.

Brandon Wheeling -- Can't tell you too much about Brandon, but the fact that the kid transferred in from West Georgia and has earned a spot in a DT rotation along with three guys who will be playing on Sundays should tell you all you need to know.

Kade Weston -- On my list of players I've covered that I'd least like to have mad at me, Kade comes in a close second to Max Jean-Gilles. Two of the biggest human beings I've ever seen.

Kevin Perez -- I'm not sure why, and I never asked, but he's ALWAYS the first player off the field after a game ends. It's uncanny. Not to say that's his only impact, but it's the thing that I'll remember most.

Marcus Washington -- I did a story on Marcus over the summer about how he has raised a family and worked a part-time job while playing football and getting his degree. He really is a remarkable person, and I'm incredibly appreciative of him opening up his personal life for me to do the story. He's also been a great inspiration to players like Rennie Curran: “In terms of family life, I look to Marcus as that example of being there for his family, setting that example for guys like us. Me having a daughter and him being married with kids, he sets such a great example doing the things he does, being so young and in college and not going out of town, giving up that college life to make the sacrifices for his kids.”

Geno Atkins -- This from Kade Weston: “Geno can eat. We had a cookout at the house. He had three plates of meat and still was like, ‘I’m not even full. I’m still hungry.’ So you’ve got to come prepared when you’re having a cookout with Geno.”

Vince Vance -- My only hope is that he'll move on into the real world with a valid driver's license.

Rod Battle -- I don't think I ever saw Rod without a smile on his face. He just seemed like the type of guy who was always looking on the bright side of things. That couldn't have been easy after seeing his past two seasons cut short, but as Richt said, he still has plenty to look forward to: “It’ll be bittersweet for him. He would have wanted to play in this game with his teammates and have a senior year where he was healthy and could contribute on the field every week. But I’m sure it’ll be meaningful to his family, and he certainly has been great for Georgia as a player and as a person. Roderick is one of those guys as a coach that you know he’s going to be just fine whether he plays pro ball or doesn’t. He’s going to make it in life because he’s smart, he’s personable, he’s just the kind of guy that everybody’s going to want to hire. I have all the confidence that he’s going to have a wonderful life.”

Darius Dewberry -- Most people will remember this as a low point in Dewberrys' career: After two of his teammates were involved in a fight outside a downtown bar last summer, they were taken to the hospital, where Dewberry went to meet them. He was so angry about the incident that he took out his frustrations on a parking barrier and some potted plants outside the hospital -- not a smart move, but clearly an indication of how much he cares about the guys he plays alongside. I've heard stories from so many of Georgia's players about how close they've been with him, from Rennie talking about how much he learned early on from Dewberry to Justin Houston talking about how Dewberry helped keep him focused this summer after his suspension was announced. But this was my favorite quote, from Nick Williams: "I've called Dewberry on numerous occasions when I've needed something, and he's always been there for me. It's going to suck because I can't imagine not having Dewberry. We always (wrestle) in the locker room, I go over his house to play games. At first I didn't know he was a senior. Just recently, maybe like a month ago, I found out Dewberry was a senior. I was just like, oh man."

Prince Miller -- I know Prince has taken his share of heat, and I'll admit, he's not always been the easiest guy to interview either (although he's had some great moments in interviews over the years, too). But the kid has always played hard, and that's admirable. Bryan Evans was telling me about how Miller got close to 100 snaps against Okie State and, while so many of the other defensive vets were getting IVs, Prince never came off the field. Here's Richt on Miller: “Prince did a great job for us in his career, and he actually this year took on more of a leadership role in a verbal way with the young corners that he’s trying to help mold. Even the secondary in general, he’s being a little more demanding of his teammates in practice that I’ve seen. Just to play as many snaps as that guy plays, punt return, gunner. That gunner, he’s one of the best, and he’s almost playing every snap on defense. He’s probably played more plays than anybody on our team this season. He hasn’t complained one time. Early in the season when it’s hot it is tough. It’s cooled down a little bit and I think it’s been a little easier on him. Prince has been very solid in a lot of areas and has been a great Bulldog for us.”

Mike Moore -- Here's what probably would have been a good story if Joe Cox was allowed to tell all the details. It's his favorite memory of Mike Moore: “We had a little trip to Atlanta one time with Knowshon, Demarcus Dobbs and Kevin Perez. That was probably one of the funnest times I’ve had since I’ve been at Georgia. It was a funny night and that’s probably the first thing I’ll think about. – I’ll leave it at that. We had a blast in Atlanta one night and didn’t get back until around 7 and it was just a fun time.” Trust me, I asked for more. He wouldn't crack.

Bryan Evans -- I don't know anyone on the roster who has probably heard more criticism in his career, but Evans has perservered, for better or worse. He's smart and personable and, while his play may not have warranted too many pats on the back in the past two seasons, the effort he gave should never have been questioned. Here's what he had to say about his last game at home: “It’s probably going to be mixed emotions, but I know that’s how football is. You’re going to get criticized, but it’s how you fight through it. Hearing my name go across that screen the last time, it’s going to be very exciting for me, just knowing that I made it the whole five years I’ve been here. Hopefully I’ll get a good ovation for it.”

Joe Cox -- I'm not sure what I can say about Cox, other than that despite having to pose some very tough questions to him this season, he has been an absolute joy to cover. He's genuinely a really good person, and that's not hard to see from the quotes his teammates had to say about him.

Jeff Owens -- For an old-school newspaper person like myself, I must say I occasionally cringe at the spelling and grammar of Owens' tweets, but I've never failed to enjoy his commentary. Plain and simple, Jeffis just the type of person you'd love to be friends with -- always a good attitude, always something funny to say, always a smile on his face. And the kid has given an awful lot to Georgia. I've had a blast covering him.

UPDATED, 10 MINS UNTIL KICKOFF

-- Forgive any typos tonight. My hands are cold.

-- I'm incredibly impressed by the grassroots blackout movement. Nice job, Georgia fans.

-- Wooten was announced as the starter at WR.

-- The seniors were just introduced pregame, and the stadium was pretty full in time for it. Again, nice job, Georgia fans.

-- As you'll remember, my predictions last week were pretty good (Caleb TD, Reshad pick, etc.) so here are a few for this week: Georgia will win the turnover battle again. Darryl Gamble will get one of those turnovers. Washaun has been close to 100 yards the past two games. He'll get there tonight. Marlon Brown gets two catches. I've been predicting it all year, and I'm not giving up now. Kentucky has one of the better O lines in the SEC, but I'm gonna predict sacks from both Jeff Owens and Geno Atkins. (And remember in SEC Media Days when Zipp Duncan said no one gave him more trouble than Atkins?) And finally, I'll predict an easier deadline this week in a game that -- for once -- won't come down to the final play.

UPDATED, START OF FIRST QUARTER



-- UGA wins the coin flip and will kick off. A few splotches of empty seats, but overall a nice crowd for the final home game (and I'm sure people are still filling in). The vast majority are wearing black and definitely a lot of energy. Fun way to end the season. (Now let's just hope all the people inside the stadium cleaned up after themselves before they came in.)

-- Nice kick return for Kentucky who will start from its own 36. Newton under center. Randall Cobb is playing.

-- Justin Houston picks up the sack on second-and-3. Weston assisted on the pressure. That's a loss of four. If Georgia can win the line of scrimmage against this line, that's a good sign.

-- Well, we're 1:21 into the game and Kentucky has called timeout, which'll send us to commercial break.

-- Apparently Darryl Gamble is rocking No. 18 tonight for some reason.

-- Nice scoreboard tribute to Uga VII that got a huge ovation from the crowd.

-- Newton hits Matthews for no gain after a nice play by Prince Miller. UK will punt, and Miller grabs the fair catch at around the 22.

-- Randall Burden breaks up a deep ball to Tavarres King on first down. It was essentially the same play Georgia ran a half-dozen times last week... go route down the sideline. Wooten did get the start opposite King.

-- Caleb King picks up three on second down, and Cox's pass for Aron White on third down is incomplete on what looked like a sloppy play from the beginning. Not a great start on offense for the Dawgs. Again, one of the reasons I think Bobo needs to run early, then get cute after that.

-- Cobb takes the punt at the UK33 and returns it to the Georgia 48. Not one of Butler's best efforts this season.

-- Well, this is the Georgia we all know and don't remotely love. Newton shows some wheels, gets outside the right tackle and out to the sideline for a gain of 9. Bryan Evans then gets flagged for a late hit out of bounds, which gives UK a first down at the UGA24. Will Newton be this year's Cobb?

-- John Conner gets the carry on first down. A shiny, potentially non-existent prize to whomever makes the best Terminator reference in the comments section.

-- Newton hits Derrick Locke over the middle and Locke uses the ref as a screen, Rennie misses the tackle and Locke cruises in for a TD. Kentucky mishandles the snap, however, and Cobb is run out of bounds. Kentucky 6, Georgia 0. (4-48-1:22)

UPDATED, FIRST QUARTER 10:01 TO PLAY

-- Joe Cox to Orson Charles for 24 yards. Orson s such a mismatch. I could see him getting a majority of the passes A.J. might have gotten.

-- Third-and-three after two Ealey runs into UK territory. Ealey takes it again and pushes the pile forward close to the first down.

-- How about my Syracuse Orange, eh? Dominant win over North Carolina on the hardwood last night and a huge upset over Rutgers on the gridiron today? Even a blind squirrel, right?

-- Fourth and inches and Georgia goes for it... Cox sneaks and picks up the first down. Ninjas are good at sneaking.

-- Exceptional play fake, with UK completely biting on the run. Instead Cox hits Charles on the same route as his first pass for a 13-yard gain. First down at the UK31.

-- Cox hits Charles tumbling to the turf down the middle of the field for a 16-yard gain and a first down at the 11. A.J. who?

-- Tremendous run by Washaun down to the two, dragging tacklers with him. That's the type of hard running Georgia missed so much earlier in the season.

-- Smart play by Cox. It was a play fake with a bootleg right, but Sam Maxwell came unblocked and Cox tossed the ball out of the end zone. Third-and-1 at the UK2.

-- Brandon Boykin has suffered a right hip injury and is out of the game "for now." Do I need to make another "Spaceballs" reference?

-- OK, before they fire Willie, they need to fire the guy who makes sure the play clock works. How many games has it gone out for this year? Five of six home games? It's a clock! I think instead of the playclock they should just hang up an oversized Salvador Dali poster.

-- Ealey comes up short on a third-and-1 run and the crowd offers a few boos -- I assume for the play call. I guess Bobo could have rolled the dice, but I don't see anything wrong with calling the run. If you can't trust your line then, when are you supposed to? Anyway, Walsh boots a short field goal. Kentucky 6, Georgia 3 (12-76-Time pending because they have poorly trained squirrels operating the game clock, which didn't move on the last two plays).

-- There was supposed to be 4:23 left in the quarter after that score. Instead the game clock had 4:13, then began running a full 20 seconds before the kickoff occurred. The time keeper is clearly too drunk to work night games. I may go see where he has his bourbon stashed though.

-- Georgia has now allowed the opposition to score first in seven of 11 games and has trailed at some point in eight of 11.

-- Boykin is riding the exercise bike on the sideline. Looks like he'll be back in at some point.

-- Two nice plays by the D to start the drive. Kentucky isn't running the ball well so far. Third-and-9 from the 38.

-- Game clock not running now when it should be.

-- Another sack. This time it's Jeff Owens (that's one prediction right!). UK will punt. Loss of seven.

UPDATED, FIRST QUARTER, THREE-FIFTHS OF A BOTTLE OF SCOTCH LEFT IN THE TIME KEEPER'S BOTTLE

-- Miller returns the punt 22 yard to the Georgia 39 and only the kicker saved the touchdown.

-- King picks up four, fumbles the ball forward and Georgia recovers it at the UK48 for what looks like a first down. Replay seemed to show King was down, however, and they're going to the review booth where a legally blind retired official will check a 13-inch black-and-white TV to see the replay if he can get the antennas to work properly.

-- Seriously, I'd just like to point out that ESPN is paying billions to the SEC to broadcast these games. ESPN has HD tvs hanging from the side of their sideline camera trucks. The SEC does not have HD tvs in the replay booth. Fail.

-- After further review -- i.e trying to make out what happened on the play like I used to watch the scrambled version of the Spice Channel -- they decide that King was down before the fumble. Second-and-six.

-- Ealey appears to have the first down after a nine-yard run but a flag comes in. It's a deadball personal foul on Chris Davis that backs Georgia up to the 37. Davis is out of the game. Bean in.

-- We're closing in on the end of the quarter, but only the referee with the lime green Swatch knows just how close. The scoreboard says 3:44.

-- Nice run by Caleb across the 45 just shy of the first-down sticks. It'll be third-and-inches at the 46-and-a-half.

-- Our leader in the clubhouse for the best John Conner joke comes from Shan: "John Conner was almost tackled by his father, but was flagged for a paradox."

-- The Ninja sneaks for another first down. Sam Maxell finds a pair of nunchux wrapped around his leg and a throwing star lodged in his back.

-- Press box announcement: "We're anticipating the end of the first quarter." Aren't we all?

UPDATED, START OF SECOND QUARTER

-- My second-favorite game break announcement -- talking about professors who are way smarter than me. These guys are doing algorhythms and training monkeys. Sounds like they should be handling the clocks.

-- I typed that joke, and the official announced, "please reset the game clock...". You just can't make this stuff up.

-- Biggest cheer of the night comes when the refs announce, "The game clock is now operational."

-- Branden Smith run and away we goooooo. Reverse handoff for a 32-yard gain. Man he's fast.

-- ChicagoDawg asks: "Is the atmosphere as flat in person as it seems to be on TV? I know the result has been mixed -to- poor thus far, but it seems as though there is a dull edge in the stadium."

It's been fairly quiet. There was a ton of energy pregame, but it's been pretty lifeless since. A Dawgs' score may turn things around.

-- Cox had Aron White wide open across the middle but White dropped the pass. He angrily slams the turf afterward, and Georgia now faces a third-and-10 at the 21.

-- Beautiful pass by Cox, timed perfectly and a great route run by Rantavious Wooten who darts in front of Trevard Lindley at the last second and fell back into the end zone for the score. I think the ball was thrown right at Lindley. He froze thinking he had an easy pick, and Wooten just curled inside and caught the pass for his first career TD. Perfectly executed all around. Georgia 10, Kentucky 6 (9-61-2:51).

-- Locke returns the kickoff all the way to the UK49. And we add yet another to The List. Walsh makes the tackle. The kickoffs have been atrocious. I'd argue that this has been nearly as big a problem as anything the D has done this year, and it's so much easier to fix.

-- Vance Cuff in the game and makes the tackle of Locke for a loss back to the 43. Georgia is lucky UK's offense is so bad because the Cats have had great field position throughout.

-- Cobb with his first carry of the game. Cuff makes the tackle again after a 10-yard gain. Third-and-7.

-- OK maybe I spoke too soon on both Willie's D and Kentucky's O. Locke runs for a first down, breaking several tackles along the way.

-- Locke's doing the same thing each run -- takes handoff, slight delay for the D line to get engaged, then breaking it around tackle for a big gain. Second-and-1 at the Georgia 29.

-- The equasion is pretty simple right now: Inside runs go nowhere against UGA, outside runs pay off.

-- Third-and-5 for Kentucky at the UGA 34. Georgia has eight in the box, and Reshad Jones makes the tackle of Newton for a sack to bring up fourth down.

-- Logan Gray in the game to decide whether a ball is over his head or not. He's the best folks. Soak it all in.

-- Wow.... Gray waved with absolute perfection, then showboats the catch a bit to add a touch of drama for the crowd before securing the fair catch. What a pro. Just a thing of beauty.

UPDATED, SECOND QUARTER, TIME KEEPER IS NOW DOING JAGER SHOTS WITH A COUPLE OF HOT DOG VENDORS

-- Seriously the clock has been running throughout the commercial break here. I hate to pin it on the time keeper, who I'm sure is utterly confused right now and wishing he had a drink. But this really is absurd. I can order a pizza to be delivered to the press box from my phone, and they can't make a clock count down from 15 properly.

-- At least the ref's mic sounds like something he bought at Skid Row's yard sale.

-- Branden Smith runs again and picks up another big gain... this time for 16 yards to the UGA31.

-- Ealey breaks a huge run down the left side of the field. They're going to flag Tavarres King for holding about 40 yards downfield, which is absurd. Of course UGA also gets called for clipping, which negates the play and backs Georgia up to the 11-yard line to set up a first-and-25. So that was essentially about a 75-yard penalty. Well, that one-week repreive was nice while it lasted.

-- Refs synchronize Swatches and announce the time left, but sadly the mic is so distorted I couldn't hear what he said.

-- Cox hits King on a deep route down the sideline. Another perfectly placed ball from Cox for a 34-yard gain to the Kentucky 45. Cox has played the past three games like he's actually the QB the coaches said he was in the preseason.

-- So I see Chris Hatcher was fired today by Georgia Southern. Man, I gotta think that was a bit shortsighted. You'll now be on your third coach in five years there.

-- Cox hits Mike Moore down the middle with a laser for a gain of 15 yards to the Kentucky 25. Aside from that first three-and-out Kentucky has shown no ability to slow Georgia's offense whatsoever.

-- Man, Ealey really runs hard. I can't wait to see how much better he is next year with some serious experience under his belt and an offseason of legit college conditioning.

-- Cox to a wide open Orson Charles for the touchdown. Kentucky has no answer for Orson, and I have to think this game is yet another example of how much talent is going to be on the field for the Dawgs next year. Wow. Georgia 17, Kentucky 6 (8-85-T.O.P.=six Jager bombs).

UPDATED, SECOND QUARTER, SQUARE ROOT OF THE RADIUS OF PI REMAINING.

-- Brandon Boykin is still riding the bike on the sideline but doesn't look like he's angling for a return just yet. But he's not getting any medical attention, so that seems like a good sign.

-- Another shanked kick bounces at the 30. Locke fields it at the 20 and returns it back to around the 30. I'm not sure I can explain what is happening on the kickoffs right now. But it sort of reminds me of what's going on with the game clock.

-- Just occured to me... Gamble is wearing 18 to honor Bacarri Rambo tonight. Man, I'm dumb.

-- The tackles for a loss keep coming. Weston and Houston sack Newton and Kentucky will punt again.

-- Meant to mention this earlier, but the sidelines pregame were jam packed with recruits. It seemed like way more than last week to me.

-- The referee, who I assume is Mushmouth from "Fat Albert" says there is 3:08 left. The punt is short and goes out of bounds at the UGA42.

-- I haven't had a chance to look, but I think I'm doing quite well on my picks again this week. Except that I actually picked against Syracuse. I'm dumb.

-- OK, apparently there's 3:59 left. This is such a joke. Caleb King runs for 8. That is not a joke.

-- Third-and-4 for the Dawgs at the UK39. Three wide for Georgia and the handoff goes to Caleb who fights for a first down. That was all on King. Great run.

-- Pressure on Cox, who wisely gets rid of the ball in Caleb King's direction. Second-and-10.

-- Caleb picks up seven on second down to the UK28. Third-and-3. Cox's pass is batted at the line of scrimmage, which should bring on Blair Walsh. A smattering of boos (or maybe more of a groan), which seems utterly absurd to me at this point.

-- And Walsh is good yet again, this one from 45 yards. Kid's money. Georgia 20, Kentucky 6 (9-30-2:37).

-- Watching Fabris yelling instructions at the kickoff team is like watching my dog bark at squirrels. There's a lot of energy and enthusiasm there, but at the end everyone's going to run in 10 different directions.

-- For some reason, I've made a lot of references to squirrels today. Odd.

-- Credit Newton for completing an 11-yard pass. He got drilled by Geno Atkins after the play.

-- I'm putting the over/under on miles Boykin has logged on the bike tonight at 63.

-- Dobbs gets pressure and Newton throws incomplete to bring up a third-and-2 with 54 seconds to go in the half.

-- Alfonso Smith runs it and rolls for what appears to be a first down. They'll measure it.

-- Screen pass to Moncell Allen goes nowhere. Another nice play by Prince Miller. He's been all over those screens and misdirections the past two games.

-- Another tackle for a loss, and again by Miller. I'm interested to know what the TFL numbers are in this game so far. Seems like a dozen at least. That'll do it for the first half, which may have taken 87 minutes off the clock for all we know.

UPDATE, START OF THIRD QUARTER

-- Branden Smith fumbles the kickoff (man, why did Boykin have to stay on the exercise bike?) and Kentucky gets an easy one. Randall Cobb runs for the score. So much for my UGA winning the TO battle prediction. Georgia 20, Kentucky 13 (2-14-0:46)

-- Boykin back in the game to receive this kick, ideally with better results. OK, they weren't much better... but at least he didn't fumble. Georgia will start at its own 13.

-- Side note here: I tried to get Bob Davie to eat a bunch of the halftime hot dogs, assuming it would make him ill. He wasn't having it. Just took a handful of pretzels and moved on. Said something about having to go give Willie a shoulder rub before the second half resumed.

-- Israel Troupe is back at work... Troooooooooupe! -- and gains 17 yard on third-and-long for a first down to the UGA35.

-- Caleb King is running like a man possessed. See what solid foods will do for you? Another first down to midfield.

-- On third-and-8, Cox hits Aron White again, but again White drops it. Good coverage by Calvin Harrison. Butler on to punt. Not a great start to the half for Georgia.

-- Hilariously bad joke of the day comes from Dawg'85: "Any chance Charlie Weiss, Ralph Friedgen, and Mangino wind up as co-HC's for the Buffalo Bills, and they change the team name to Buffalo Wings?"

-- Admit it... you laughed.

UPDATED, THIRD QUARTER, 10:07 REMAINING

-- Newton to Cobb for a gain of 19 on first down. Locke follows that with a good run close to midfield. This just has all the makings of a game Georgia is going to throw away. They need a momentum changer.

-- I can't figure how Georgia nearly had four picks against one of the most accurate passers in the SEC last week and they've yet to come close to anything against a true freshman backup QB tonight. But if Bob Davie has taught me anything, it's that this can't be Willie's fault.

-- Ty Frix has replaced Boykin on the bike. Good to know he'll be warmed up for his next long snap.

-- Third-and-10 at the 49 for Kentucky. The crowd is loud right now. Georgia rushes four and Vance Cuff makes a great play to tip Newton's pass away from tight end Nick Melillo.

-- Did you ever notice the Walgreens' 'W' and the Washington Nationals logo look just alike? Something to think about.

-- The play-action bootleg works again, and Cox hits Tavarres King for a 37-yard gain to the Kentucky 43. It looks like Mike Bobo watched the Tennessee game tape and decided to do to Kentuckyt what Crompton did to Georgia.

-- Wooooooooooooooooot!!!!!!

-- Cox throws a wabbler right down the middle to Wooten, it's tipped by Randall Burden and Wooten hauls it in for a 43-yard touchdown, the second of the game for Wooten. Georgia 27, Kentucky 13 (2-80-0:40).

-- Georgia's scoring drives: 12 plays, 9 plays, 9 plays, 9 plays, 2 plays. Gotta like that... running up T.O.P. and then the quick strike right when it was needed.

-- So Georgia has taken to squib kicking and letting a tight end return it to midfield. Seriously, Fabris needs to be releived of his kickoff duties right now. This is a joke. I don't have the energy to keep updating my list. Why not just on-side kick each time. At least then there's a chance something goes your way.

-- Locke picks up a first down inside the Georgia 40 after a seven-yard run. Georgia hasn't gotten nearly as much pressure on Newton in this half, and the special teams are keeping UK in this game. But still, it seems like something is missing.... just can't put my finger on it... something that should have happened already...

-- And Bryan Evans is beaten on a deep bomb, assaults Matthews and is flagged for pass interference in the end zone. Aaaaah, that's better.

-- Hate to see Evans get booed on senior day, but man, that was bad.

-- Got a nice little handout with facts about the Independence Bowl in Shreveport at halftime. I think someone needs to hand that to Fabris and let him know his kickoff unit is going to be the reason Georgia ends up there at this rate.

-- Newton kits La'Rod King, who had Darius Dewberry beaten over the middle and waltzes in for the touchdown. Georgia's secondary is getting schooled by a QB who had thrown for a total of 198 career yards in SEC games. Georgia 27, Kentucky 20 (4-49-2:09).

-- Newton had thrown two touchdowns in his career. Both were against Eastern Kentucky, a school so bad at judging talent that they once hired me to teach journalism there. And now he has two against Georgia. True story.

UPDATE, THIRD QUARTER, 4:48 REMAINING

-- Kentucky's kicker is named McIntosh. He seems OK. Georgia's kick coverage is more like Windows ME. Not good.

-- I'm going to have to bail on the blog after this quarter, sadly. Gotta get my game story written 8 seconds after the game ends so you can read about it tomorrow. Ah, newspapers. You're so quaint.

-- Caleb King with another nice run, picking up 12 yards. He's having a very impressive game so far. He's got 70 yards on 13 carries.

-- Georgia loses to UAB in hoops tonight, 72-56. This year might get ugly for Fox's crew. Thompkins was just 2-of-11 from the field.

-- Cox goes deep for TK and it falls incomplete. Butler will come in to punt from UK's 44. Cobb stands deep at the 10. I'm confused... how come the same guy who returns other punts for Kentucky can also decide when to fair catch the ball or let it go over his head? Cobb must be some kinda rocket scientist or something.

-- UK takes over at its own 5. Defense needs to make a play here. 2:41 to go in the quarter.

-- And as I type that, Locke runs for 10 yards on first down. Yikes.

-- Interesting point by Dawgfan17: "With 7:03 to go in third quarter UGA has a realistic chance at 3 recievers going over 100 yards in the same game, a game without AJ, who would have predicted that?"

-- Third-and-6 from the 19 for Kentucky. I smell a pass to the tight end.

-- Actually it went to McCaskill, but Vance Cuff tipped it out of bounds. Another nice play by Cuff, who apparently emerged from the alley he's been hiding in before the game.

-- Prince Miller takes the fair catch at the UGA33. I'll stick with ya through this drive, but then it's game story time.

-- Cox is just 11-of-23 in the game, but he has thrown for 249 yards and three touchdowns without a pick. When he's connected, it's been big. He's just got to complete a few more.

-- Marlon Brown in the game. Not sure but I think this is his first action. He's split out on the near side with two receivers wide left. Handoff goes to Ealey who goes nowhere.

-- See that seemed like a passing down and the run might have been a good call, but make it a delayed handoff and give the receivers a chance to run those corners and safeties downfield. Instead it was Lindley who makes the tackle because, by going three wide and telegraphing the handoff, you essentially had all 11 defenders at the line of scrimmage. Just my two cents.

UPDATED, START OF FOURTH QUARTER

-- Cox's third-down pass goes to Troupe but is low and falls incomplete. That'll bring on the punt team, and my prediction (i.e. hope) of a deadline game that doesn't come down to the last drive looks like it';s not going to happen.

-- Or will it?!?!? The punt is blocked, but Chapas picked it up and ran the ball to midfield for what should be a first down, but, of course, there's laudry on the field.

-- And it's a personal foul on Georgia -- facemask, I'd tell you who but the ref mic still sucks -- so they'll punt again with Butler 15 yards farther back.

-- This one gets off. Cobb is brought down by a good tackle by Akeem Dent, but Kentucky sets up shop at the 36 with a chance to tie the game.

I gotta run... for all our sakes, let's hope this doesn't come down to another heartbreaker.