Greetings from Atlanta on a cool but comfortable night so far.

The city skyline as a backdrop stands out at night.

We will see how much Georgia has left in the tank after its home loss to Kentucky a week ago.

This used to be a near-given for Georgia since Mark Richt arrived in 2001. Seven straight wins before last year’s 45-42 Tech win.

Paul Johnson has changed all that.

Do you believe in miracles? That might be overstating things.
Georgia certainly needs to tackle better than it did in the second half of last year’s 45-42 loss.

Too many turnovers (119th in the nation turnover margin) and too many penalties (116th in the nation with 8,55 for 72.7 per game) has Georgia stuck with a label that it would love to shed tonight against Georgia Tech.

If a team holds Georgia Tech to a 3.9-yard per rush average and doesn’t allow the Yellow Jackets to get a run for 25 yards or more, you figure their chances are pretty good to win.

Mississippi State did those things on Oct. 3, and still lost 42-31.

“Where they hurt us was the big pass plays,” Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen said this week. “Where they can get you is they have a quarterback that runs that offense really well. When you're starting to shut them down and slow them down in the running game, what makes them different than some triple-option teams is there’s a couple of talented receivers and a quarterback that’s a pretty good passer. I know they don’t throw often, but when he can, they can hurt you through the air that way.”

Georgia Tech quarterback Josh Nesbitt completed only one pass for 19 yards against

Georgia reserve running back Richard Samuel is out for Saturday’s game against Georgia Tech after sustaining a concussion in practice Tuesday that sent him to the hospital, coach Mark Richt said.

Richt also said before practice this afternoon that top receiver A.J. Green is “doubtful,” with a sprained left shoulder joint.

“I wouldn’t rule him out, but the chances aren’t very good at all,” Richt said.

Safety Bacarri Rambo is also doubtful with a concussion.

“I don’t think he’ll play,” Richt said.

Samuel and walk-on cornerback Christian Norton, son of Georgia track coach Wayne Norton, collided on a pass play to Samuel that Richt said was “scary there for a minute.”

Georgia’s top receiver A.J. Green may not be able to play Saturday against Georgia Tech because he’s still not recovering from an injured left shoulder, coach Mark Richt said today.

“Right now, he’s still working on the strength and getting the soreness out,” Richt said. “He doesn’t have full range of motion right now. Sometimes those things can change.”

Richt said a decision on Green’s status might not be determined until before gametime.

“We may know sooner that he’s out if he can’t do anything at all, if he couldn’t have a full range of motion and run full speed and feel comfortable and confident by Thursday,” Richt said.

Green, who leads the Bulldogs with 47 catches and 751 receiving yards, sprained a joint in the shoulder in the first half of the Bulldogs win against Auburn and missed Saturday’s loss to Kentucky.

Georgia has nixed a proposed season-opening game with Georgia Tech in the Georgia Dome in 2011, deciding to keep the game on Thanksgiving weekend.

"After careful consideration, we did not think in the final analysis it was in the best interest of our football program to play the game as a season opener in 2011,” athletic director Damon Evans said through a spokesman tonight. “I think the most significant factor was that we did not want to give up the home game that year and make a change in the current home game rotation with Georgia Tech.”

Georgia is scheduled to play Louisville on Sept. 3, 2011 in Athens.

The Georgia Tech game will be played on campus in Atlanta in 2011 and rotate to Athens in 2012.

Atlanta Sports Council president Gary Stokan was interested in pairing the teams in the Chick-fil-A College Kickoff.

Georgia has held preliminary discussions about playing its 2011 game against rival Georgia Tech in the Georgia Dome to open that season, but a deal is not imminent, Bulldogs athletic director Damon Evans said Wednesday.

“There have been a few talks, but there’s nothing definitive about doing that right now,” Evans said. “There’s been interest expressed about the game, but nothing’s been done to any extent to say we’re going to play there.”

The 2011 game is currently scheduled for a November home game for Georgia Tech, but
Gary Stokan, president of the Atlanta Sports Council, has talked to the schools about playing the game that year as part of the Chick-fil-A College Kickoff matchup.

Evans said he last talked to Stokan about the Georgia Tech game about a week ago.

After watching a replay of the Georgia Tech game, it’s even more apparent that missed tackles and some poor angles by Georgia players led to big plays for Georgia Tech, particularly on pitches to the outside.

Safety Reshad Jones had a particularly rough day.

He appeared to took poor angles on Jonathan Dwyer’s 60-yard touchdown run off an option pitch from Josh Nesbitt and a 62-yard Roddy Jones run that led to a field goal.

He then tried to bring down Roddy Jones by hitting him with his shoulder on a fourth quarter option pitch that turned into a 54-yard touchdown down the sideline. On the same play, safety John Knox tried to make a tackle by grabbing the jersey.

Linebacker Dannell Ellerbe hit Dwyer on his 60-yard score but did not wrap him up and Dwyer bounced off and was gone.

Coach Mark Richt lamented the tackling on the long touchdown runs by Jones and Dwyer.

They will play football today at rainy and soggy Sanford Stadium, but Georgia cancelled its Dawg Walk because of the inclement weather.

Quarterbacks Matthew Stafford and Joe Cox were on the field two hours before the game getting in some throws with the wet ball. Stafford launched balls 40 yards in the air to Mohamed Massaquoi in heavy rain.

I’m told that Larry Munson will still be honored on the field between the first and second quarters. The legendary Georgia broadcaster will be on a golf cart.

Hard to tell what impact the rain might have. Georgia Tech already is fumble prone.

Will the Bulldogs defense go slip sliding on the Yellow Jacket’s misdirection plays?

Just talking to Knowshon Moreno after Monday’s practice, he seemed not to mind
playing in the rain.

We’re inside 24 hours until kickoff for Georgia Tech-Georgia.

Looks like we’ll have a wet game in Sanford Stadium Saturday. Chance of rain is between 90 and 100 percent. At least the Bulldogs practiced in steady rain Monday instead of heading indoors.

A few remaining tidbits from the week leading up to the big game:
1. Georgia Tech athletic director Dan Radakovich is thinking about more than just Georgia. The ACC title game is also on his mind. The Yellow Jackets need Virginia to upset Virginia Tech to get to the game next week in Tampa.
In his weekly column on the school’s athletic Web site, he reminded fans of the importance of going to the game if the team gets there.

Not everyone in Georgia cares who wins the Georgia-Georgia Tech football game, but of those who do, most pull for the Dogs. That was the big news this week from the North Carolina polling outfit Public Policy Polling. They’ve got to do something to pass the time, the election being over and all.

The biggest difference is in younger fans; the under-30 generation pulls for the Dawgs by a 58-16 percent margin.

The Bulldog preference is no big surprise, considering how much larger UGA has grown than Tech over the past few decades. Georgia has way more alumni than Tech.
Plus, the Uga bulldogs are ever so much more warm and fuzzy, even slobbering, than Tech’s insect mascot, Buzz the Yellow Jacket.

What was intriguing about the poll was the big difference in Democrats and Republicans — not in preference for Georgia vs. Tech, but in whether they even care.