I talked about Knowshon Moreno hurdling over a defender in my post-game article. Some of you may not have had a chance to see it (for some reason it was left out of ESPN’s Top 10), or maybe want to see it again. “I think they missed the boat or didn’t do their homework or something,” Richt said of the missing highlight. “Normally they do a good job with that, so it looks like somebody would have noticed that. It didn’t make their highlights, but it’s going to make ours for a long time.” I was able to locate the highlight on Youtube.

The Augusta Chronicle is saying:

Knowshon Moreno probably won’t return punts in Georgia’s opener against Georgia Southern on Saturday, but the idea of using the Bulldogs’ star tailback on special teams is still alive.

Moreno hasn’t returned punts in a game since he played for Middletown South High School in Belford, N.J., but coach Mark Richt still says he likes the idea of Moreno having the ball in the open field on returns.

“Knowshon had a spell there where he couldn’t get any reps, and I guess that he fell by the wayside,” Richt said of a shoulder injury that kept Moreno in a non-contact jersey until this week. “I wouldn’t count Knowshon out of returning some punts before this year is over. We might trot him out there. It would be good. I would be excited to see what happens.”

I wrote about Knowshon Moreno being considered for punt and kickoff returns a week or so ago. I didn’t think it was a good idea then and I still don’t think it’s a good idea today. Yes, he’ll get more touches in a game, but I just hate seeing star players get hurt on special teams.

When pictures of Tim Tebow’s Girlfriend (allegedly) surfaced last year, it became a hot search item in Google. Everyone wanted to see who he was dating.

I just got done reading the latest featured article from ESPN The Magazine. It’s all about Knowshon Moreno, so you’ve got to check it out. In the article, it mentions that he is hanging out with his girlfriend Nikki Childs, a former UGA gymnast. I think she graduated in 2008, so is no longer at UGA. Gotta love Knowshon dating an older woman!

Anyway.. I don’t know how long they’ve been dating or even how serious they are. Judging by the pictures and videos (see below), Knowshon is a lucky guy. Not only is she an awesome athlete and gymnast, but she’s attractive too. I just hope she doesn’t distract him too much during the football season!

Photos courtesy of NikkiChilds.com

Check out this video where she moonwalks on a balance beam (about the 40 second mark)

Before we get going on this post, I want to congratulate Greg for winning the Contest Giveaway. Put that disposable flask to good use!

So back to the subject of today’s post: Knowshon Moreno is ready for some football! The Georgia Bulldogs are only a week away from their opening game against Georgia Southern on August 30 at 12:30 p.m. The Dawgs come in to this game ranked #1 and should remain #1 as the mop the floor with Eagles.

I’ll have a full game preview later in the week, but just wanted to post that Knowshon is ready to go. He’ll carry the ball a lot and hopefully will rack up 150+ rushing yards.

I just read in the AJC that Coach Richt has been using Knowshon Moreno in practice to return punts and kickoffs. My first reaction to hearing a star player is going to be used on special teams is always: NOOOO!!! Why risk injury to your best player?!

The AJC makes a good point though. Reggie Bush did it, and so did Desmond Howard. I guess the thinking is: Get your best player on the field as many times as you can. The more times Knowshon is on the field, the more big plays and touchdowns he can score.

In my opinion, Knowshon should only be used to return punts or kicks if the game is on the line, or it’s a big game like FL vs. GA or a SEC Championship game. I really don’t want to see him run on to the field for a punt against Central Michigan.

Knowshon Moreno was interviewed by ESPN a couple of days ago. He was asked about the upcoming Dawg football season and what it meant to lose Sturdivant for the year. It’s about 3 minutes long. Check it out.

Now I’m not an awesome graphics designer, so forbid me if these are pretty bland. But I thought some of you might want a Knowshon Moreno iPhone wallpaper. So I took a couple of images of Knowshon and resized them to fit your iPhone. These will work on the old iPhones or the new 3G ones.

Simply save the images to a folder on your computer, and sync it to your Photos in iTunes. Then open your photos on the iPhone and click on it. Select “set as wallpaper” and you’re done.

EDIT: We have temporarily removed all Knowshon Moreno iPhone wallpapers.

The word “nagging” never sounds good when it comes to football injuries. Luckily, in the case of Knowshon Moreno, “nagging” is being used to describe some pain in his shoulder. Thank God it’s not a hammy, knee, or ankle. Then I’d be worried. Fans were worried on Friday afternoon when Knowshon showed up to practice wearing that green, no contact jersey. “I don’t know if [the green jersey] makes a whole hill of beans,” Richt said. “When we do our [non-tackling contact] drills, it’s hard for him not to get run into, or to bump into somebody going through the line.”

Sounds like the Dawgs were just be precautious. No sense in trying to run Knowshon out there in a practice when he doesn’t need it. Give the shoulder some time to get right. “Knowshon is not the type of guy to go to the trainer and say ‘my shoulder hurts a little bit,’ ” Richt said. “[But] he’s fine. He could play today, absolutely.”

We’ll keep you updated.

I was browsing Flickr this morning and checking out some of the Knowshon Moreno pictures they have. Most of them are highlight shots, but then I found this one… It’s of a couple of guys wearing t-shirts of Tim Tebow before the 2007 UGA vs. UF game. Pretty funny stuff.

I’m not sure you can buy these t-shirts anywhere. They probably got them screen printed.

Our favorite SEC player and University of Georgia running back, Knowshon Moreno, was recently named to the first team by Southeastern Conference football coaches in their preseason poll. Moreno is only a sophomore and was 1 of 6 unanimous selections in the poll. Being named to the 1st team is an honor. It shows that coaches in the SEC respect what Knowshon did last year and believe he will still be a force to be reckoned with in 2008.