Second-ranked Bulldogs battle Chippewas in Athens
Sports Network | September 03, 2008
Athens, GA (Sports Network) - The now second-ranked Georgia Bulldogs finish up a two-game homestand to kickoff the 2008 season, as they welcome the Central Michigan Chippewas to Athens this weekend. Mark Richt's Bulldogs looked solid in the season-opener, but not enough to keep them atop the national polls, as they took out instate foe Georgia Southern, 45-21. The Bulldogs have never faced Central Michigan before, but they are 5-1 against current members of the Mid-American Conference. The Chippewas will attempt to pull off the monumental upset this week and opened their campaign with a victory as well, topping Eastern Illinois, 31-12 last week. It was CMU's first season-opening win since the 2002 campaign. The Chippewas are starting to build a reputation as a strong offensive team. Dating back to last year, CMU has now scored 30+ points in seven straight games, second longest current streak in the country behind Florida (eight). It was a balanced attack for Central Michigan last week, as the team churned out nearly 400 yards of total offense (389), with 172 yards on the ground and 217 through the air. With the 2007 MAC Player of the Year under center, there is a chance that CMU will have success on the offensive side of the ball, regardless of the competition. QB Dan LeFevour became just the second player in FBS history to pass for 3,000 yards and rush for 1,000 in the same season. LeFevour got off to a good start against the Panthers last week, accounting for 259 yards of total offense, with three TD passes. It was the ninth time in his career that he has thrown for three or more TDs in a game. Bryan Anderson was the main recipient downfield, hauling in nine balls, for 66 yards and one score. A veteran receiver, Anderson is now third in school history in receptions (172) and fourth in receiving yards (2,065). Tailback Ontario Sneed provided some solid running out of the backfield, averaging nearly seven yards per carry and finishing the game with 88 yards on 13 carries with one TD. Despite the solid effort offensively, head coach Butch Jones is looking for more consistency on this side of the football. "I felt like we never got into a rhythm. Thats something we need to work on, getting that rhythm going. We also need to run the ball more consistently. We had big plays, but we never broke that big run. That will be an area of focus this week. We need to be more consistent on our run game" The Chippewas stood tall defensively as well against EIU, limiting the Panthers to just 284 total yards, including a mere 83 yards rushing. A pair of talented defenders stood out in sophomore LB Nick Bellore and junior DT Frank Zombo. Bellore was all over the field, registering a mind-boggling 16 total tackles and tying his career-high. Zombo was a one-man wrecking crew in EIU's backfield, recording 2.5 sacks and forcing a fumble. Zombo finished with six total stops and was named the MAC West Defensive Player of the Week. The Georgia offense looked potent in the season-opener, as the team amassed a whopping 535 yards of total offense, with 212 yards on the ground (6.6 ypc) and another 323 through the air. All-American candidate Knowshon Moreno scored three times and averaged 7.4 yards on his eight carries. Redshirt freshman Caleb King actually led the team in rushing, netting 95 yards on almost eight yards per touch. Quarterback Matthew Stafford was efficient under center, completing 61.9 percent of this passes, for 275 yards with two TDs and no interceptions. Stafford spread the ball out effectively in the game, with junior Kris Durham, and senior Mohamed Massaquoi leading the way with three receptions each. Defensively, the Bulldogs did a decent job against Georgia Southern, although the unit looked tired at times. Still, the Eagles could manage just 290 yards of total offense, including a mere 188 yards through the air. Sophomore LB Darryl Gamble and senior DT Corvey Irvin led the team in stops, with six tackles each. Irvin was also responsible for one of the team's three sacks in the game. After losing offensive tackle Trinton Sturdivant (knee) for the year prior to the season, it didn't take long for the injury bug to strike again, this time on the defensive side of the ball, with starting tackle Jeff Owens (knee) going down with a season-ending injury in the opener. The defensive line is now a little thinner, but Richt believes in the players he has. "Corvey (Irvin) and Geno (Atkins) would be our top two now," said Richt when asked about how the defensive line shapes up without Owens. "Corvey played the most snaps against Georgia Southern and had a very productive game. Geno was productive as well."
