Final: Georgia 34, Vanderbilt 10

by Barca Blog - Vanderbilt dropped its third straight game Saturday with a 34-10 loss to Georgia Saturday at Dudley Field. Click here for postgame reaction from the Commodores.

Photo by John Russell

Georgia Gameday Prep

Georgia (3-3, 2-2) at Vanderbilt (2-4, 0-3)

Kickoff: 11:21 a.m. CT

Location: Vanderbilt Stadium (39,773) in Nashville, Tenn.

TV: SEC Network (Neal, Ware and Capuano)

Radio: 104.5 the Zone, XM 199, Sirius 215 (More affiliates)

Web: ESPN360 Webcast, Live Audio, Live Stats, Twitter

Weather: High 48/Low 33/10% Chance of Rain

Series: UGA leads 49-18-2 (UGA leads 22-11-2 in Nashville)

Last Meeting: Georgia won 24-14 in 2008

Commodore Gameday Central: Click Here

Other Games in the SEC (CT): Live Scoring
Mississippi State at MTSU - 11:30 a.m. (ESPNU)
Arkansas at No. 1 Florida - 2:30 p.m. (CBS)
UAB at Ole Miss - 6 p.m. (FSN)
Kentucky at Auburn - 6:30 p.m. (ESPNU)
No. 22 So. Carolina at N0. 2 Alabama - 6:45 p.m. (ESPN)

Richt praises Vanderbilt defense

by Barca Blog - Georgia head coach Mark Richt gave his assessment of Vanderbilt's defense during his weekly press conference on Tuesday.

"They've held people out of the end zone a good bit in the red zone. They've forced a bunch of field goals. The LSU game was very close at the half. Same thing with Ole Miss. They did a very good job defensively in the last game dealing with an offense that is not normal for them to participate against.

"They are doing a good job defensively. You'd like to say we are going to line up and methodically move it down the field, but I haven't seen anybody do it yet. Guys are going to have to make plays, guys are going to have to get in situations and do something to kind of break the dam.

"The one thing as you watch those games, you'll watch the defense play, and the next series you'll see the scoreboard and a lot of times there wasn't a lot of offensive production from Vanderbilt. It helped the teams that were struggling against them. It helped Ole Miss, it helped LSU as they were trying to get some points on the board that their defenses were playing extremely well that day. I think they are underrated."

To read a transcript of Richt's press conference, click here.

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Georgia kickoff time announced

by Barca Blog - Just announced by conference officials... Vanderbilt's homecoming game against Georgia on October 17 will kickoff at 11:20 a.m. on the SEC Network.

This will be the Commodores' first home game during the day in 2009. Tickets are still available - click here to purchase.

Friday baseball update- 6:05 p.m. CT start

By Travis Young - Here is Vanderbilt's starting lineup for Friday night's game against Georgia at Foley Field.

Weather Report from Athens, Ga: Party Cloudy, 82 degrees, feels like 86 degrees with 67% humidity.

1. Brian Harris SS
2. Riley Reynolds 2B
3. Steven Liddle RF
4. Curt Casali 1B
5. Aaron Westlake DH
6. Andrew Giobbi C
7. Jason Esposito 3B
8. Jonathan White CF
9. Joe Loftus LF
SP: Sonny Gray (3-1, 5.34 ERA)

Georgia's starting pitcher Trevor Holder (7-2, 4.34 ERA) is coming off a five-inning no-decision to No. 17 Florida in his last start (May 1). Holder allowed six runs on 10 hits while walking two and striking out two against the Gators. The 6-3, senior righthander has 53 strikeouts and 23 walks in 64.1 innings of work this season.

Last season, Vanderbilt tagged Holder for a career high 10 runs while scattering a career high 12 hits to the Commodores in six-innings of work.

Sonny Gray is making his first Friday night start in the Southeastern Conference. The hard-throwing freshman leads the team in saves with five and has 37 strikeouts in 32 innings of work this season.

Fans can follow tonight's action on vucommodores.com, including live stats and twitter updates. For a preview on the Vanderbilt-Georgia series click here.

If you want to crown him..

by Barca Blog - One player to keep an eye on when the Commodores travel to Georgia this weekend is Bulldog first baseman Rich Poythress.

Poythress (.406, 21 HR, 75 RBI) is putting up arcade-like numbers in his junior season and has a legitimate shot to become the first player since Rafael Palmeiro (.415, 29 HR, 94 RBI) in 1984 to win the conference's triple crown title. With only two regular season weekends remaining, the Grovetown, Ga., native is first in batting average and RBI and is second to only Alabama's Kent Matthes (23 HR) in home runs. Very impressive.

And speaking of Palmeiro, I figured I'd throw in a link to the old video of his testimony to Congress in 2005 (especially with all the Manny and A-Rod talk this week). Who could ever forget when Palmeiro emphatically stated under oath, "I have never used steroids. Period." There's nothing more comical than reading from a script while pointing your finger and sounding like a robot at the same time. Kudos to you, Rafael.

Of course, five months later, Palmeiro was suspended for 10 days by the MLB for testing positive for the drugs.