And why would Herschel want to be around???
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. --- Herschel Walker apparently wasn't at Saturday's game to watch Florida quarterback Tim Tebow break his Southeastern Conference scoring record.
The former Georgia running back, considered by many to be the greatest in college history, usually gets passes from the Bulldogs sports information office. There was no request this year.
Walker scored 49 touchdowns in three years for Georgia. Counting a pair of touchdown runs on Saturday, Tebow now has 51 in his four-year career.
Vince Dooley , who coached Walker and the Bulldogs to a national championship in 1980, wasn't upset that Tebow broke the record, but he continues to believe Walker was the better player.
"You knew it was going to happen; it was just a matter of when," Dooley said. "I'm prejudiced, of course, because Herschel did his in three years.
"But if anyone was going to break that record, I'm glad it's Tim. It's because of the person he is, the way he carries himself. He's a great young man."
WHITE WARNED: After catching a 26-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter, Aron White drew a talking-to from a referee about his reaction.
"He just told me to make sure I keep the celebrations with my teammates," White said. "I don't think I did anything excessive and I don't think he thought I did anything excessive. But he felt that he wanted to remind me because I was getting border line."
White caught the touchdown in the middle of the end zone. He raised his hands toward the mixed crowd of Georgia and Florida supporters before his teammates mobbed him.
"I put up my hands and then I turned around and he was there," White said. "But I liked the way he handled it. He just told me to watch out before I crossed the line."
PENALTY BUG RETURNS: Georgia's affinity for yellow flags came back as the Bulldogs picked up nine penalties for 87 yards and gave away two free first downs.
"I thought we had some good fight, but it's difficult to overcome those kinds of penalties against the No. 1 defense in the country," Georgia coach Mark Richt said.
"We ran the ball well and we protected well, especially early on, and we made some nice plays. But penalties kept us from continuing drives."
One of the most damaging was a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on offensive lineman Josh Davis who pulled the helmet off of a Florida defender on the Bulldogs' first possession.
The penalty effectively stalled Georgia's first drive after the Gators had taken a 7-0 lead on their first possession. Florida scored a second touchdown on its second possession and Georgia never threatened for the lead.
"There were just too many errors," White said. "There were too many penalties. Emotions got too high. I'm glad that it didn't get out of hand but that's the intensity that comes with this rivalry."
DROUGHT ENDS: A four-yard scoring pass from Joe Cox to Michael Moore was Moore's first touchdown in five games.
"It was a great throw by Joe and great protection by the line," Moore said.
"It was great for us because it put us in a lot better position in the game. We needed something to pull us back and it was a great throw."
Moore did not have a catch in Georgia's last game, a 34-10 win against Vanderbilt.
Saturday's touchdown catch brought the Bulldogs within 31-17 with 6:17 left in the third quarter and culminated a 14-play touchdown drive.
"It felt good to finally get a touchdown," Moore said. "But the main thing was it got us back into good position in the game."
HOBBLED: Receiver A.J. Green and offensive lineman Clint Boling were injured in the game and Richt did not know the extent of those injuries on Saturday.
Green hurt his ribs in the fourth quarter when he took a shot to the midsection from Major Wright while trying to make a leaping catch.
Richt said that at the very least he had the wind knocked out of him.
Boling has a tweaked knee and it was not known immediately after the game whether he would miss any time.
"We know it's hurt but we don't think It's something that's going to need surgery," Richt said. "We'll know more later but hopefully we'll get him back soon."
Boling has been Georgia's most versatile lineman. He has started at right tackle and right guard and on Saturday started at left tackle.
WATCHING: The Chick-fil-A Bowl sent a representative to the game to look at the Bulldogs. The bowl also had representatives at North Carolina State-Florida State, Auburn-Ole Miss, Miami-Wake Forest, Mississippi State-Kentucky, Georgia Tech-Vanderbilt, South Carolina-Tennessee and at Thursday's game between Virginia Tech and North Carolina.
THIS AND THAT: Strongside linebacker Nick Williams made the first start of his career. Williams later went out of the game with a lower back strain. ... Georgia started its fifth different offensive line of the season with Boling (left tackle), Cordy Glenn, ( left guard), Ben Jones (center), Chris Davis (right guard) and Josh Davis (right tackle).
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