"LIVE" THOUGHTS FROM BETWEEN THE HEDGES

Bernie's blog went live from the press box at Sanford Stadium. Sitting here gives you a much better perspective on a football game when you're surrounded by people who haven't spent their day playing beer pong or treating Jack Daniels like water before kickoff. FYI, these notes were written live, but put to digital form Sunday night. Hopefully you'll like my blog from above the hedges.

PREGAME

Great crowd in Athens. This should be a more fired up UGA fan base due to a later kickoff and manageable weather unlike last week’s sauna. A.J. Green got a huge ovation during player introductions. He is the real deal. Will be interested to see how CMU’s offense does vs. UGA.

FIRST QUARTER

Ramarcus Brown starts out with a great return on the opening kickoff. UGA has always had solid special teams play under Richt. Look for it to continue in 2008.

Moreno and the UGA o-line are pushing around CMU’s line early. I think he’ll have a huge game.

A.J. Green hauls in a 15 yard pass and looks effortless.

Stafford hits MoMoss on a short TD pass after he breaks away from CMU defenders.

Great drive for UGA that took nearly six minutes off the clock.

CMU with a quick series then a punt. They tried a lot of short stuff to no avail.

UGA is running the ball at a 4-5 yard clip. Poor CMU.

A.J. Green got mauled but Steve Shaw of the SEC officiating crew calls nothing. Dawgs punt.

CMU cannot run the ball out of the spread offense and punts to end the first period.

7-0 DAWGS after one quarter.

SECOND QUARTER

Knowshon Moreno looks like a much improved runner when you can see how he’s waiting for holes to open up instead of just plowing through defenders like last year. Scary news for opponents.

Stafford also shows the same patience in hitting Mo Moss. These two have great chemistry and Stafford seems to be on pace for a huge year.

Caleb King plows into the endzone for his first career touchdown and his first in over two years since he redshirted last year and broke his leg his senior year of high school. Good for Caleb.

Hmmm. Blair Walsh needs to improve his accuracy and depth on kickoffs. This could be an issue next week in Columbia.

Wow. Rennie Curran has a great tackle for loss on a first down pass from Dan LeFevour. LeFevour looks shaky early on. He’s sailing passes over open receivers.

UGA is playing a vanilla man defense so far. No pressure really in CMU’s backfield – perhaps holding back for next week.

CMU punts and a UGA penalty occurs. This has been a big problem and desperately needs to be corrected this week.

Today’s game day sponsor is SunTrust bank. Great to have a sponsor that closes at noon on a Saturday.

Another penalty for UGA. A false start. Unacceptable to have those when playing at home. Another penalty for UGA. A false start. Unacceptable to have those when playing at home.

Kris Durham drops a wide open pass. Wow, he should have hauled that one in. A bad series on offense for the first time today for UGA. 3 and out.

Let’s see if LeFevour can get his guys on track.

Nope. Another 3 and out by the Chips. Asher Allen has a great punt return for 25 yards. He’s becoming a solid return guy and a great CB. Definitely one of the anchors for the Georgia defense.

No sign of UGA VII yet today after the fanfare last week. Perhaps he’s holding out for an extra bag of ice.

Mikey Moore hauls in a great pass from Stafford and gets back in front of the sticks for another first down.

Same play and result. Moore hauls in another one. Georgia’s going no huddle to test CMU as they look a tad winded.

Knowshon recovers a fumbled reception for a touchdown.

Or not…further review overturns the call so the Dawgs get the ball at the one-yard line.

Dawgs stuffed on first and second down. They need to punch it in.

Bobo calls a toss sweep to avoid the CMU middle and Moreno takes it in.

LeFevour is still sailing passes. This could get very ugly if he can’t settle down.

Mark Richt is trying to pump the crowd up as the Alpharetta wine and cheese crowd has tired out.

CMU and UGA swap punts as the tempo has slowed.

LeFevour shows his wheels as he runs for a first down for 18 yards. CMU is finally doing some work on offense.

LeFevour throws high out of the endzone again. Yikes!

Dawgs jump offsides. Their seventh of the year so far. Not good, not good.

Okay, THERE we go. Demarcus Dobbs takes a deflected pass by Prince Miller to the house. The big fella from Savannah rumbles with a convoy to give the Dawgs a 28-0 lead. Dobbs won’t challenge Mr. Bolt, but it’s a great effort as he actually followed blocks downfield to score his first career touchdown.

Crowd going bonkers prior to kickoff. About time. Georgia kicks off from their own 15 due to a sketchy unsportsmanlike penalty called on Asher Allen.

Crowd still loud as they want a first-half shutout.

CMU with great field position as they start this drive on the Georgia 40.

Okay, there’s your LeFevour touchdown pass. He hits a wide open receiver on busted coverage to put the Chips on the board.

Crowd goes back to their seats.

Remarcus Brown was a shoestring tackle from breaking a return on the kickoff.

UGA not running out the clocks as it looks like they’re trying to get into reasonable field goal position for Blair Walsh.

That’s confirmed as A.J. Green hauls in a long one from Stafford. An incompletion and now comes Mr. Walsh.

From 56 yards…………………………..NO GOOD!

Walsh had the distance but was about a couple of feet wide right. Walsh definitely has the leg and this was a good test for him by Richt. He should be money though from 45 yards and in.

That ends the first half with Georgia leading 28-7. Off to the press room to grab some water and see what spread we have.

THIRD QUARTER

Notable figures seen at halftime while munching on sugar cookies that were perhaps baked too long in the oven :

Buck Belue
Noted AJC rabble-rouser Terrence Moore
Local sports guy Chuck Dowdle
UGA radio guy Scott Howard
Mike Bobo
Matt Stewart from Comcast Sports Southeast (way shorter than I imagined)
Brian Jordan, yes the ex-Brave/Falcons – Guess he’s done with the Braves as well

Okay Dawgs to kickoff to start the third.

LeFevour seems to be more patient from the outset of the quarter taking more time and not hurrying his passes.

He’s hitting soft spots in the UGA secondary. Looks like CMU made some adjustments.

UGA getting NO pressure on CMU still. Not encouraging.

Now LeFevour seems in rhythm. CMU looks very composed now vs. the opening quarter.

Touchdown Chips! LeFevour hits Jean Pitts on a go route with Prince Miller trailing behind for 30 of the 32 yards. Great drive by CMU. 68 yards and have cut the lead in half.

Dawgs up 28-14. Fans not getting restless yet, but a feeling of concern.

UGA calls a timeout before their first snap of the 2nd half. Very odd.

Screen pass to Durham for four yards.

Knowshon Moreno runs fast! He busts a 52-yard touchdown run to get the crowd jacked. This just in, he’s very good.

Dawgs get the three TD lead back. Let’s see if they can step on the gas unlike last week.

Blair Walsh kicks the ball out of bounds. Not so good. He may be in trouble kicking off. Can’t have SEC teams start drives from the 40.

LeFevour looks sharp now as UGA is starting to miss some open tackles. Unfortunately for CMU they can’t run the ball to save themselves.

LeFevour hits another long pass for 22 yards to Anderson. He’s the real deal. I feel for opposing MAC defensive backs.

LeFevour hits an open hedge on a third-down and goal. CMU squeezes a FG through the uprights. Good drive that got points.

Not a good series for UGA’s defense. LeFevour’s jersey is whiter than a cup of flour.

Stafford keeps for three yards. He’s no D.J. Shockley…or Joe Cox.

BUT…His arm makes up for it as he hits a legit BOMB to MoMoss for 54 yards and the touch. Mo was wide open and could be there all day if the Dawgs wanted to exploit the CMU secondary. Suddenly the Dawgs have 42 points, most without fanfare.

Another penalty…A personal foul. This is getting ridiculous.

UGA has no sacks and is now starting to blitz.

Steve Shaw misses an intentional grounding call. Fans not pleased.

CMU punts and downs the ball inside the UGA 1-yard line. This should be fun.

Dawgs get nothing and Stafford is knocked on his rump on 2nd down. Dawgs still backed up to the Tate Center.

Holy…Stafford keeps for 22 yards and a first down. Great decision by Stafford with green grass in front of him.

Richard Samuel moves the pile on his first carry. Samuel is like Jerome Bettis but with actual foot speed.

ANOTHER false start by the Dawgs. I’ve lost count by now.

Screen pass to Knowshon gets back some lost yardage.

OH MY FREAKING GOODNESS!!! Knowshon Moreno HURDLES over a CMU cornerback during a 32 yard run. Everyone (including press box) picking up their jaws from the floor. I look over to my left and see CMU’s stat people in the box just lost for words. Probably the funniest thing I’ve seen today. They look over at me and I just shrug my shoulders like Jordan during the 1992 NBA Finals. That ends the third quarter and unofficially starts the legitimate Moreno for Heisman campaign. The “no cheering in the press box” rule is being bent as far as it can go without it breaking. I let out a “wow!” out of just natural amazement. Just when you think the kid from Jersey has done it all…

End of the third. 42-17 Dawgs rolling.

FOURTH QUARTER

LeFevour still has a crisp jersey.

Just got stats through the third. Dawgs have 70 penalty yards. A bad mark on a great game so far.

LeFevour is finally knocked down on his rump. Willie Martinez is officially sick of vanilla.

Finally a sack by the Dawgs D. CMU runs a draw that’s blown up by Rennie Curran. We have a Joe Cox sighting.

Cox throws a beautiful ball to Israel Troupe. Get to know that name. Cox is mauled and CMU is flagged for bullying the backup quarterback.

Troupe again wide open. He and A.J. Green are going to be the anchors of the UGA receiving corps next year and beyond.

Cox hits yet another pass to Mikey Moore. For a guy who has come off the pine Joe Cox seems very sharp.

Richard Samuel on a toss sweep finds the endzone for his first career TD as a Dawg. Everyone in Vegas exhales. Samuel can be the kind of guy to finish a game and chew clock ala Corey Dillon.

To quote Marv Albert “it’s officially garbage time.” The game ends with the Dawgs winning easily by 39 points (56-17).

POSTGAME THOUGHTS

The offense is rolling. Granted it’s been Georgia Southern and Central Michigan, but points are points.
Knowshon looks to be in midseason form.
UGA needs to vastly improve their pass rush by next week. I know USC has not looked sharp, but let me give you two words why next week will be a four-quarter game: Steve Spurrier
TOO MANY PENALTIES
The UGA press box would look great with additions of ceiling fans.
UGA’s o-line has excelled so far. I know, check the completion, but 168 yards by Moreno is not his effort alone.
Looking forward to the start of conference play in Columbia. Should be quite a matchup.

That’s all for now.

Think the Dawgs are for real? Let me know right here.