Thursday, Nov. 05, 2009

SEC football notes: Green's injury to test Dogs' depth at WR

ATHENS, Ga. -- Georgia probably picked a good week to be without the Southeastern Conference's leading receiver.

A.J. Green, who leads the conference with 44 catches and 732 yards receiving, will miss Saturday's game against FCS opponent Tennessee Tech after suffering a rib injury in last week's loss to Florida. Coach Mark Richt said Tuesday he hopes Green will return for the Bulldogs' Nov. 14 game against Auburn. Richt says Green's injury could be a long-term benefit team if another receiver emerges against Tennessee Tech.

Richt said Tennessee Tech is "bent on stopping your run game," which could create opportunities for big pass plays. "Those guys are going to have to make plays, and I'm hoping that they do make plays and gain confidence," Richt said.

Quarterback Joe Cox said a candidate to take advantage of the opportunity is freshman Rantavious Wooten, who has four catches for 91 yards.

"It seems like every week this year he has gotten better and better," Cox said. "You can see in practice the plays he makes, and I think he is ready to step up and be a guy that can make plays."

Getting the QB

Auburn linebacker Josh Bynes was yelling a cautionary "screen" to remind fellow defenders to be on the lookout for a pass to the running back in last week's game against Mississippi. Antonio Coleman waved him off.

"A.C. looked back at me and said, 'Nah, forget the screen. I'm going to go get this quarterback,' " Bynes said. "The next play, he got the sack. From then on, all our whole defensive line thought about was getting to their quarterback.

The Tigers sacked Jevan Snead four times and pressured him seven times. Coleman had two sacks, four tackles for a loss and four hurries.

Auburn coach Gene Chizik called it the best game of the year for the defensive front of Antoine Carter, Mike Blanc and Jake Ricks.

Sizzling returns

Trying to avoid kicking the ball to Vanderbilt's fabulous freshman Warren Norman is proving to be quite a problem.

Coach Bobby Johnson said teams have been kicking away from Norman for several games, and No. 10 Georgia Tech was trying to do the same thing last weekend when the freshman returned a squib kick 80 yards for a touchdown.

Norman has matched Willie Gault as the only SEC players with three kickoff returns for touchdowns in a season. Gault did it for Tennessee in 1980. Norman has three more games left to take the record starting Saturday night at No. 1 Florida.

"He just sees everything that's happening in front of him," Johnson said.

Running through pain

Despite running on a sore knee all season, Tennessee's Montario Hardesty still ranks among the SEC's rushing leaders.

The New Bern, N.C., native currently ranks 19th in the nation and fourth in the SEC with 105.1 yards rushing per game. He's averaging 5 yards per carry and has eight touchdowns for the season.

Hardesty is on pace to finish with 1,261 yards this season, the sixth best single-season performance by a Tennessee tailback.