Georgia will enter preseason camp on Monday with just three scholarship quarterbacks on its roster.

About the last thing it can afford is to lose starter Aaron Murray to injury.

It’s a good thing for the Bulldogs that what Murray described as a “conditioning accident” left the redshirt freshman sporting only a shiny purple bruise under his left eye this week. He said it won’t keep him off the practice field.

Murray said it happened during an agility drill on Tuesday called `Chase the Rabbit.’

“One person has a belt connected to another person with a belt and the belt can break,” Murray said. “If you’re the chaser, you don’t want the belt to break and if you’re the rabbit you want to juke the guy behind you and have the belt break. I was the chaser and I got too close at the start to the guy and it went straight to the cheek.”

When you’re the starting quarterback at Georgia, even minor injuries will get attention.

Gearing up here for Georgia’s preseason practices that get rolling on Monday afternoon.

Before the grind of August kicks in, Georgia’s coaches already have done a summer breakdown of opponents on their 2010 schedule.

Offensive coordinator Mike Bobo explained earlier this month about the work that the coaching staff does to get ready for the season.

There’s a full breakdown on the first six opponents—Louisiana-Lafayette, South Carolina, Arkansas, Mississippi State, Colorado and Tennessee. And an “in-depth look” at teams in the SEC East and Georgia Tech. Bobo said he takes about two or three days to study each opponent and comes up with a base gameplan that he puts on paper.

Rep. Paul Broun voted against $33 billion in funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan Tuesday, but he says he still supports the troops. The bill contained additional funding for projects like the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Fund, and improvements to the Port of Guam.

“As a Marine, I understand the importance of ensuring our men and women in uniform have the resources necessary to successfully complete their mission,” Broun said in a news release. “In fact, I firmly believe that one of the primary responsibilities of the federal government is to ensure a strong national defense. However, I am disappointed that Congress waited until the last minute to pass this bill and used vital funding for our troops to pass over $25 billion of unrelated projects.”

Georgia’s 2010-11 men’s basketball schedule isn’t yet out but its season opener will be against Mississippi Valley State at 7 p.m. on Nov. 12 in Stegeman Coliseum.

The Southwestern Athletic Conference school announced that date on its website. The Delta Devils went 8-21 last season.

Georgia will also get a visit this coming season from Xavier, according to a tweet from Musketeers coach Chris Mack earlier this month.

“Get your plane tickets to Athens, GA for February X fans,” he wrote.

Georgia coach Mark Fox said he didn’t know if the contract with Xavier was signed yet, but said that “it’s in the works.”

The pairings for the Old Spice Classic on Thanksgiving weekend in Orlando have not yet been announced, but it looks like a Notre Dame-Georgia matchup in the opening round, according to a tweet from the Irish’s beat writer for the South Bend Tribune (h/t Georgia Sports Blog).

Well, the Athens-Clarke mayoral race is officially on.

It’s no longer the province of those blessed few who are actively involved with local politics, nor the even fewer who are paid to watch them, such as myself. Spencer Frye is going on the radio, taking his campaign to the masses. From Team Frye:

Spencer Frye’s campaign for Mayor will be airing a radio ad this week touting his experience.

As Executive Director of the Athens Area Habitat for Humanity, Spencer Frye interacts with several major departments in the Athens-Clarke County government: planning, inspections, public works, and human and economic development. Spencer manages the budget of one of the largest non-profits in Athens and manages a staff of 13 employees on a daily basis. It is a difficult job, indicated by the fact that there were five executive directors in the preceding six years before Spencer became director.

With his candidate of choice, Eric Johnson, out of the race, U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston is throwing his support behind Nathan Deal in the gubernatorial runoff.

"I encourage conservative Republicans in Southeast Georgia to join me in rallying behind Nathan Deal to be Georgia's next governor. For those who supported Eric Johnson, Nathan is the natural fit for the Aug. 10 runoff.

"As a member of Congress, Nathan earned a perfect score from the American Conservative Union which speaks volumes for his conservative record.

"On immigration, he introduced legislation and led the fight to end birthright citizenship. His citizenship verification law slashed Medicaid fraud, cutting Georgia's Medicaid rolls by 160,000 and saving our state millions.

It will be very difficult for Shane Coley to make up 18 percentage points on Frank Ginn in Senate District 47 and win the runoff, but these endorsements will help. Coley is going to have to either win over almost all of Kelley Gary and Doug Bower’s supporters or do twice as good a job bringing his own voters back to the polls as Ginn.

Georgia starting linebacker Akeem Dent is expected to be sidelined for four to six weeks after undergoing outpatient surgery this morning at St. Mary’s Hospital for a toe injury.

The senior sustained the injury to his left first toe in an off-field accident last week, according to Georgia associate athletic director Claude Felton.

Dent will miss at least three weeks of preseason practice and his availability for the Bulldogs season opener against La.-Lafayette on Sept. 4 is in question. Georgia starts preseason practices on Monday.

Dent was the starting “Mike” inside linebacker for the Bulldogs. He made 32 tackles last season in eight games.

“If he went down, Christian Robinson would move over and (Marcus) Dowtin would move up,” inside linebackers coach Warren Belin said earlier this month.

Vanquished insurance commissioner candidate Gerry Purcell is backing state Sen. Ralph Hudgens, R-Hull, in the runoff.

Of the remaining candidates, Ralph Hudgens is the one candidate who is prepared to lead this office through the difficult times ahead. I have the utmost respect for him. He is a successful small businessman and leader. While others have been pushing paper, Ralph has created jobs and made payroll, year after year.

His opponent is an Atlanta insurance lawyer/lobbyist who was mentored by and maintains close ties to Commissioner Oxendine. After 16 years, we need a fresh start. Ralph's positive and clean primary campaign further demonstrates he has the ethics, the honesty, and the character that the people of Georgia deserve. Ralph took the high road in the campaign, while his opponent ran a divisive and toxic campaign.

Interested in becoming the University of Georgia’s next athletic director?

The school has posted its job opening on the NCAA’s official website. There’s even an e-mail account up and running: adsearch@uga.edu .

That’s where applicants to replace Damon Evans, who resigned in the fallout of his June 30 DUI arrest, can send information for consideration or a nomination can be submitted, according to the listing posted on July 16.

Here’s the job description: