We are just 1 day away from the annual Florida vs. Georgia game. I’m excited and I know the Dawgs are looking to build a win streak over Florida, something they haven’t been able to do for years. Georgia has a very talented team, led by my favorite player Knowshon Moreno.

I already told you earlier this week that the Gators will do everything in their power to key in on and stop Knowshon. He absolutely tore them a new one last year, and the Gators won’t forget it.

The key for the Dawgs will be to get Knowshon going early, to deplete the high emotions the Gators will have. If they can get up early, there is no way the Gators can come back and win. Georgia can go toe to toe with any offense in the country.

The Dawgs just need to get Knowshon Moreno the rock. If they don’t want to run him 25 times, then they’ll need to get him involved in the passing game. The Bulldogs may be 6 point underdogs, but I think they’ll take this one home in a close game, something like 31-30. Knowshon will have 22 carries for 160 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Last year in Jacksonville, Knowshon Moreno torched the Gators for 188 yards rushing and 3 touchdowns on 33 carries. It was this game that made Knowshon Moreno a household name. “He was tougher and more willful than we were that day,” UF safeties coach Chuck Heater said.

The Gator defense will be keying in on stopping Knowshon this time around. There won’t be any surprises. But does that mean they can stop him? Tennessee couldn’t. Vanderbilt couldn’t. LSU couldn’t.

“He’s a phenomenal football player. He’s just got it all,” UF defensive line coach Dan McCarney said. “When you’re in (coaching) as long as I’ve been, you see great running backs, super running backs. He’s as good as any I’ve ever coached against or had on my team.

“He’s as good as I’ve seen. … His consistency, his production, and he’s so physical, so tough. He’s great for the game of college football when you don’t have to try and tackle him like we do.”

I LOVE the respect he’s getting from the Gator defense. It will make it that much sweeter when he rolls over them.

Alright Dawg fans, get ready for one of the biggest rivalries in all of college football: The Florida vs. Georgia game. Now is the perfect time to order your rivalry gear from Football Fanatics. They have 3-Day shipping for only $4.99 so you’ll be sure to get your item before this weekend’s game. They have 15 Florida vs. Georgia shirts and one figurine.

You won’t want to be in the stands without a rivalry shirt when Knowshon Moreno scores a winning touchdown against the Dawgs.

Ever since I posted something a few weeks about about Knowhon Moreno slacking during SEC Competition he has been on an absolute tear! I wonder if he read my post and got all pissed off?

The Georgia Bulldogs steamrolled LSU on Saturday 52-38. Knowhon Moreno led the way with 163 rushing yards on 21 carries (7.8 ypc) and a touchdown. His longest run of the game was 68 yards.

“I didn’t hear anything but somebody behind me trying to catch me,” Moreno said. “I was just running hard, trying to get an important score.”

The Dawgs got up to an early 21-7 lead and were able to build on that throughout the game. LSU had no chance stopping the high powered running attack of Georgia. The Dawgs are finally playing the like Georgia everyone expected them to be during the offseason.

Knowshon Moreno and the No. 7 Georgia Bulldogs will have their hands full this weekend when they travel down to Baton Rouge for a game against the No. 13 LSU Tigers. This is Georgia’s chance to make a statement. With Florida coming up next week, back to back wins over the Tigers and Gators could propel them to near the top of the BCS poll.

Knowshon Moreno is coming off a huge 172 yard performance against Vandy last week. He’s never played against LSU, so I don’t have a previous game to look back on. But I think Knowshon will be able to have a field day against them. Florida was able to run all over the Tigers, and I expect the Dawgs to try and do the same.

Below is an excerpt of a couple of things some LSU defenders were saying about Knowshon.

 ”He follows his block and takes his time; when he sees a seam, he bursts into the seam,” said LSU linebacker Darry Beckwith, who will have numerous opportunities to tackle Moreno when No. 11 LSU hosts the No. 9 Bulldogs on Saturday. “I think that’s what makes him a great back.”

Defensive end Kirston Pittman has another description for Moreno’s ability.

“He does a great job of running behind his pads,” Pittman said. “He waits for his blocker to get in front of him. If he sees a blocker pulling in front of him, he’ll slow down and let the blocker pick up the block and hit the hole. That’s one of his great assets.”

I think the Dawgs win this game 41-31.

I get a lot of fan mail coming through here. Sometimes I don’t know the answer to their questions, so I wanted to post a few of them and see if any of the readers can help out. If you know the answer to any of these Knowshon Moreno related questions, please leave a comment.

1. I would like to know the name of the rap song that is played for Moreno during football games? He is normally dancing to the song.

2. What are Knowshon’s parents names?

3. I’m wondering if you are latino yourself by carrying the latino last name?

I’ll save the rest for another post.

The University of Georgia Bulldogs may not have dominated Vandy like a great team should have, but the Dawgs will take the 4-14 victory over an SEC team. Last week I talked about how Knowshon Moreno has struggled some in SEC play. Saturday he found his rythm and made some big plays.

Knowshon finished the game with 172 yards on 23 carries plus a score. He also added 10 yards receiving from 1 catch. Generally when you see a RB with 170+ yards that usually means they busted a 50 or 60 yarder. Not for Knowshon though. His longest run of the game was only 22 yards. He was consistently pounding the ball for positive yards.

One note of concern is that Knowshon may have been banged up again during the game. The AJC noted in their game review that Knowshon was taking himself out of the game in crucial situations.

“We leave it up to Knowshon,” said Richt, seeking to describe Georgia’s substitution policy. “He takes himself out. When he’s standing by the [running backs] coach, he’s ready to go back in. When it’s a new series, he’s ready unless he’s injured.”

So why, with 2:08 left in a seven-point game, did the first call go to the freshman King, who lost 6 yards? Richt really couldn’t say.

So something may be going on. If any of you readers have insight on this situation, please post a comment and let me know.

The No. 22 Vanderbilt Commodores are headed to Athens to face off with their SEC East rivals the No. 10 ranked Georgia Bulldogs. Knowshon Moreno has a small history against Vandy. In 2007, he went for 157 yards rushing against them.

As I noted in yesterday’s article, Knowshon has been slowed during SEC play so far in 2008. If there was ever to be a bounce back game, it needs to be against Vandy.  The Commodores have a couple of big guys anchoring the middle of their defensive line. If Richt wants to get the Dawg ground game going, he’ll need to push it outside.

“I think Knowshon has run every bit as good as he has ever run it is just about getting him to a certain point where he can get some space.”

I predict Georgia to win this game pretty easily. If they can get up by two scores early, it will really help the running game. Knowshon Moreno is capable of going 150+, but I see him getting something like 115 yards and two touchdowns.

I saw this article in the AJC about Knowshon Moreno being slowed down in the SEC. You can read the article here.

Moreno is still having a fine season. He’s averaging 98.3 yards rushing, which is fourth-best in the SEC and 27th nationally, and he leads the league in scoring at 10 points per game.

But the highlight-reel runs have largely been absent in conference contests. In Georgia’s three SEC games against Tennessee, Alabama and South Carolina, Moreno has averaged 71.3 rushing yards. His longest run from scrimmage was 13 against the Vols on Saturday.

“Here’s what I say about Knowshon: Knowshon’s going to make great runs every game,” coach Mark Richt said. “Knowshon’s going to make people miss. Knowshon’s going to break tackles. The question is where does he start making people miss and where does he start breaking tackles? Does it happen at the line of scrimmage?

“He’s made some a great three-yard runs. I’ve seen him behind the line of scrimmage have to dodge a guy and spin. … I think Knowshon has run every bit as good as he’s ever run.”

Knowshon Moreno is only averaging 3.82 ypc in SEC play this year. Those are not Heisman numbers. And rushing the ball won’t get any easier when Georgia has to play Vandy, LSU and UF in the next three weeks.

For the first time in 2008, Knowshon Moreno was held scoreless. Can you imagine a game where Knowshon gets 27 carries (a season high) and doesn’t find the endzone? It may hurt his Heisman chances a little, but the fact that UGA still won the ballgame will counter it. The Bulldogs beat the Vols 26-14.

Knowshon’s final stat line was: 27 carries for 101 yards, plus 1 reception for 14 yards.

In a postgame interview, Knowshon was asked how his team was able to bounceback after that crushing defeat against Alabama two weeks ago. “Alabama didn’t give us a new perspective on the season, but guys had to refocus,” said Moreno, the Dawgs’ star tailback. “It takes a special team to refocus after loss like that and come back and win against a good opponent.”

One thing to note from the game on Saturday is Knowshon Moreno took a big hit in the fourth quarter from Tennessee safety Eric Berry. Moreno pulled himself from the game and didn’t return. I doubt it was anything too serious. I will keep you updated on his status throughout the week.