No. 10 Georgia 34, UAB 0

<p>The way Georgia's defense is playing, Matthew Stafford can take his time learning what it takes to be a successful college quarterback.</p><p>The freshman scored his first touchdown in a winning debut as the Bulldogs' starter Saturday, but it was the guys on the other side of the line who made sure there wasn't any pressure on the youngster.</p><p>Georgia's defense put up its second straight shutout _ the first time that's happened since 1980 _ in a 34-0 rout of UAB.</p><p>"Those boys are playing lights out," center Nick Jones said. "We see them in practice every day, so we know they're good. Back-to-back shutouts just shows everybody else how good they are."</p><p>The special teams aren't so bad, either.</p><p>C.J. Byrd scooped up a blocked punt and returned it 12 yards to the end zone midway through the third quarter, which gave Georgia (3-0) a 20-point lead and essentially finished off a team that couldn't muster anything offensively.</p><p>Brandon Coutu kicked two more field goals, including a 55-yarder. He's 7-for-7 on the season.</p><p>That made things easy for Stafford, who completed 10 of 17 passes for 107 yards and powered into the end zone on a 4-yard run in the fourth quarter. He broke a couple of tackles and dove across with another defender wrapped around his feet.</p><p>"There wasn't any big stress or big burden on me," said Stafford, who took over the No. 1 job after senior Joe Tereshinski went down the previous week with a severely sprained ankle. "It's just fun to be playing on Saturday."</p><p>After beginning the season with a surprisingly close 24-17 loss at Oklahoma, UAB (1-2) managed only 163 yards against a defense that shut out South Carolina 18-0 the previous week.</p><p>The Bulldogs opened with a 48-12 victory over Western Kentucky, giving up a field goal in the closing minutes. They have gone 123 minutes, 32 seconds since then without allowing a point.</p><p>"This is the best team I have played in quite a while," UAB coach Watson Brown said. "They just physically dominated us at times."</p><p>Georgia's last back-to-back shutouts were 41-0 over Vanderbilt and 27-0 over Kentucky in 1980 on the way to a national championship.</p><p>"If we continue to play defense and special teams the way we are, and we get a little better on offense," coach Mark Richt said, pondering the possibilities, "I don't know how good we can be, but we certainly have a chance to get better."</p><p>UAB averaged less than 2.9 yards per play and never seriously threatened to score. The Blazers' deepest drive was to the Georgia 36, where they were snuffed out on downs.</p><p>"There's a little pressure on us," end Charles Johnson said. "We want to step up for him. We want him to know we've got his back."</p><p>Stafford, the first freshman to start at quarterback for the Bulldogs since 1998, made his most glaring error when he failed to pick up a blitzing safety, who knocked the ball loose with a big hit.</p><p>Georgia recovered the fumble and kept Stafford from being tainted by any major mistakes _ the primary emphasis after he tossed three interceptions in relief of Tereshinski against South Carolina.</p><p>The Bulldogs went straight down the field on their first possession, taking advantage of a 26-yard punt return by Thomas Flowers to the UAB 44. Stafford completed three straight passes, UAB was penalized for a personal foul, and Kregg Lumpkin finished it off with an 8-yard run around right end.</p><p>Flowers, who was coming back from a two-game suspension, hurt a ligament in his foot later in the game and may need season-ending surgery.</p><p>On their second possession, the Bulldogs passed up a chance for a short field goal after a penalty, then failed to convert on fourth-and-1. But Coutu got another chance from long range and barely cleared the crossbar on his 55-yarder, the third-longest kick in school history without benefit of a tee. He also holds the first two spots on that list, connecting last season from 58 and 56 yards.</p><p>Coutu made a 38-yarder early in the third quarter, then it was time for the kick-blocking team to step up. Prince Miller broke through to smother a punt by Parker Mullins, Byrd scooped it up on one hop and sped to the end zone.</p><p>It was the 23rd block and 10th special-teams touchdown for the Bulldogs since Mark Richt took over as coach in 2001.</p><p>Appropriately, Jeremy Lomax sacked UAB's Chris Williams on the final play of the game.</p><p>Neither member of the Blazers' two-quarterback rotation did much. Sam Hunt, getting the start because he's a Georgia native, completed 6 of 10 for 49 yards. Williams was 5 of 10 for 46 yards.</p><p>"They took it to us today," running back Dan Burks said. "They beat us up and down the field."</p>

http://accesswdun.com/article/2006/9/116823