Things You Should Know About Georgia

Things You Should Know About Georgia

10/13/2006

Vanderbilt will continue its quest for its first SEC victory of the year Saturday when it travels to Athens, Ga., to take on #16 Georgia at Sanford Stadium at 11:30 CST. The game will be televised by Lincoln Financial Sports.

Players to Watch:

#13 Joe Tereshinski: Senior QB (6-3, 223). After missing most of four games with a high ankle sprain, Tereshinski returned last week against Tennessee, leading the Bulldogs on their two longest scoring drives of the year. A three-year contributor prior to the 2006 campaign, Tereshinski has made only four total collegiate starts. The Athens, Ga. native has hit on 21 0f 40 passes overall this year for 272 yards and two touchdowns and two interceptions.

#6 Kregg Lumpkin: Junior RB (6-1, 224). Lumpkin leads a three-pronged attack at tailback from Georgia, having gained 342 yards on 61 carries, good for a 5.7 yards per carry average. He had his first career 100-yard game against Ole Miss Sept. 30 when he rushed 13 times for 101 yards. He ran for 78 yards on 13 carries in last week’s loss to Tennessee.

#99 Charles Johnson: Junior DE (6-2, 270). Johnson leads a Georgia defense that ranks third in the SEC with 16 sacks on the year. He is the Bulldogs’ leader with three-and-a-half sacks and also leads the team with nine tackles for losses, ranking him second in the SEC in that category. He was named the SEC Defensive Player of the Week after Georgia’s 18-0 win at South Carolina Sept. 9, a game in which he had 21 total tackles — four of which went for losses — and a sack. He was named the SEC Defensive Lineman of the week after a two-sack performance Sept. 30 against Ole Miss.

#27 Mikey Henderson: Junior PR (5-10, 163). Henderson leads a Georgia punt returning corps that leads the SEC and is ranked fifth nationally with a 20.5 yards per punt return average. Overall, Henderson has returned 12 punts for 270 yards, a 22.5 yards per punt return average. His two punt returns for touchdowns leaves him ties for the national lead with three others. He broke free for a 67-yard punt return for a touchdown in Georgia’s season-opening 48-12 win over Western Kentucky and then bolted for an 86-yard punt return for a touchdown last week against Tennessee.

#93 Andy Bailey: Junior K (6-2, 226). With First-Team All-SEC kicker Brandon Coutu out for the rest of the year with a torn hamstring, Bailey is back in the Bulldog lineup for field goals and extra points after a stellar redshirt freshman campaign in 2004. He was the team’s leading kicker that year with 78 total points and was voted to the Coaches All-SEC Freshman team. He has missed just one of 40 field goal attempts in his collegiate career, and is a perfect three for three this season with a long of 34. He is also perfect on two extra point tries in 2006.

Talking Points:

Saturday will be the 67th overall meeting between Georgia and Vanderbilt in a series that dates back to 1893. Georgia has a 47-17-2 edge overall in the series.

Georgia has gotten tremendous production out of its special teams thus far this season, having returned three punts and a kickoff for touchdowns. The Bulldogs returned both a punt and a kickoff for a touchdown last week against Tennessee, the first time Georgia has accomplished that feat since a 1990 game against Kentucky.

Saturday is Homecoming in Athens, Ga. and since 1922 the Bulldogs are 66-16-2 in Homecoming matchups. They have won their last 11 Homecoming games. The last time Georgia lost on Homecoming was in 1994, a 43-30 defeat at the hands of Vanderbilt.

Georgia is 11-2 under Head Coach Mark Richt in games following a loss. The Bulldogs lost consecutively to Florida and Auburn in both 2001 and 2005.

With just two more wins, Georgia will become only the 11th team in Division 1-A history to amass 700 all-time victories.

Georgia Head Coach Mark Richt, in his sixth season with the Bulldogs, has compiled a 57-14 overall record. His .803 winning percentage during that span is good for fifth best in the nation among Division 1-A coaches, trailing only Bob Stoops of Oklahoma, Urban Meyer of Florida, Larry Coker of Miami and Pete Carroll of USC.

Currently ranked 16th in the nation by the Associated Press, Georgia is enjoying its 85th consecutive week in the poll. Its streak is second behind only Texas for the longest-tenured team in the AP’s Top 25 poll. The Bulldogs have been a fixture in the poll since beating #6 Tennessee 26-24 on Oct. 7, 2001.

The Georgia defense, annually one of the best in the nation, will be looking for some vindication after giving up 51 points in a 51-33 loss last week to Tennessee. Georgia slipped from first in the nation to 17th in scoring defense with the loss.