Mark Richt lost control of the second quarter.

Man, what was that – four turnovers on six plays?

The offense was ten seconds away from being booed off the field at the end of the first half when Murray uncorked one of the best passes of his career.

The defense is back, by the way.

I got ‘yer game day thread right here.

I’ll be heading up to Athens shortly, but wanted to leave y’all with a place for grumbling/praising today.

I’ve got mixed feelings – not about Georgia winning, but about how pretty the win will be.  Ole Miss has been terrific (7-1) against the spread this season.  And there’s no way Georgia comes out and plays with the same emotional intensity we saw on display last weekend.

That being said, there are factors that push me in the other direction.  For one, Mississippi’s defense isn’t bad, but it isn’t Florida’s, either.  And there’s a faint voice in the back of my head reminding me that the 2007 team used the Florida game as a jumping off point to roll through the back end of that season, and maybe today is a chance to prove that lightning can strike twice.

It’s probably heretical on my part to suggest it, but today isn’t as much about recapturing the emotion of Jacksonville as it is playing smartly and under control.  It wasn’t just that the defense was fired up last week – players communicated with each other well and played good assignment football.  Ole Miss’ fast paced offense will challenge that.  As for Georgia’s offense, can Aaron Murray get his groove back and do a good job with his mechanics and reads?

In the end, it wouldn’t surprise me if the Dawgs march out to a comfortable lead and then reel things in, much as Alabama did against the Rebels.  Or the defense could take a step back and look like it did against Tennessee and Kentucky, in which case it’ll be more of a track meet.  Either way, I think the final score comes up just a notch under the spread.

One other note:  it’s Michael Adams’ last Homecoming.  For those going to the game, don’t forget to give him the send off he deserves.

There will be run.

Todd Gurley knows what’s coming today.

“We start off with the run mostly every game,” Gurley said. “We try to get it going, get the line good confidence. If you start off running, it just makes them feel good and then keep moving on and on.”

This should make David Andrews feel especially good:  Ole Miss freshman nose tackle Issac Gross is 6-1 and 254 pounds.

But that’s not the only reason Georgia wants to establish the run today.

On 1st-down play-action passes, Aaron Murray is completing 73.8% of his passes and is averaging 14.7 yards per attempt. #UGA @ESPNStatsInfo

— Radi Nabulsi (@RadiNabulsi) November 2, 2012

That seems especially important, given the status of Ole Miss’ secondary.

Ole Miss will likely be without starter Senquez Golson (concussion) today, as well as top backup Wesley Pendleton (ankle sprain). That leaves Ole Miss looking at three reserves, including Dehendert Collins (converted this week to corner from huskie) and freshman Anthony Standifer. Defensive coordinator Dave Wommack said Thursday afternoon he did not know who would start opposite Charles Sawyer.

You may remember Wommack, by the way.  He was Georgia Tech’s defensive coordinator in 2009, when the Dawgs went into Atlanta and upset the then #7 Jackets behind 339 yards of rushing.  Bobo should be in a comfort zone today.

I’ve seen plenty of pre-game analysis that focuses on Georgia needing to be worried about Mississippi’s offense.  It seems to me that the opposite should be an even bigger concern for the Rebel Black Bears.

So much for due diligence.

It’s almost too easy to mock SOD for the news that Deion Bonner is the sole suspect in a campus theft of a cell phone.

“Deion, we did a lot of diligence on the situation. Deion was incredibly truthful, he was incredibly remorseful and I don’t know of a high school player who had to pay the piper more for what they did than what he had to go through. Had an absolute public disparagement.

“Everybody stopped recruiting him, and it was tough. It was incredible the maturity level that he showed. I believe that he can come in and represent Tennessee the right way and learn from his mistakes and be a great example.

“Certainly, it’s not the norm, but we felt like given the diligence that we did on him and, of course, he’s a good football player. Let’s don’t deny that at a key position. We felt willing to take the risk.”

Doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do it, though.  Should be another feather in SOD’s cap when he sits down with Dave Hart for his postseason evaluation.

Oh, and expect Bonner to go if the suspicions have legs.  He’s not playing on defense.  I suspect Alabama State’s about to get itself another refugee.