Green, Gators' Dunlap go way back

By Andy Johnston

For the AJC

ATHENS -- A.J. Green is looking forward to a reunion with Florida defensive end Carlos Dunlap.

Georgia’s star receiver, who played at Summerville (S.C.) High, said he has known Dunlap since they were in junior high. Dunlap played at rival Fort Dorchester High in nearby North Charleston.

“We talk all the time. I talked to him a couple of weeks ago,” Green said. “In the state of South Carolina, a lot of people -- a lot of little kids -- look up to us.”

Green, who is a lanky 6-foot-4, said he sometimes would guard Dunlap, who is 6-6 and 290 pounds, in basketball games, and remembers one football game where Dunlap tried to cover him.

“He came over there and tried to jam me one time,” Green said. “I’m glad he didn’t get his hands on me. He probably would have knocked me down or something. If he had gotten his hands on me, it would’ve been over.”

Dunlap, a junior who also wears No. 8, is coming off one his best games with three sacks, a career high, five tackles and a pass deflection that resulted in an interception in Florida’s victory over Mississippi State.

Green, a sophomore, leads the SEC with 41 catches for 682 yards and six touchdown receptions.

Special special teams

Florida’s punt coverage and the punting of Chas Henry have been strong this season.

Henry’s high kicks have allowed opponents to return only two of his 18 punts for a total of no yards. Seven have been inside the 20, resulting in five fair catches and two touchbacks.

“Chas Henry is fantastic,” Georgia coach Mark Richt said. “He can boom it with distance, but with great height. He can easily get a five-second hang time. When you get that kind of hang time, you’re not going to return it. You’ve just got to fair-catch it. That’s been a big part of it. A lot of times, when they’ve had to punt, they have moved the ball far enough down the field where they’re kicking somewhere around midfield. There’s a guy either fair-catching it or it’s rolling into the end zone.”

The Gators have allowed only 231 punt-return yards since 2005, tops in the nation, and lead second-place Ohio State by 122 yards.

Georgia, which averaged 17.2 yards on punt returns last season, had struggled this season until Prince Miller's returns of 55 and 40 yards in the 34-10 victory over Vanderbilt on Oct. 17.

The Bulldogs were averaging 6.7 yards on 11 punt returns before Miller broke loose against the Commodores.

“That’s another thing. We’ve had a lot of times where people have been punting in, and we’re sitting there doing the same thing with Logan Gray,” Richt said. “Fair catch or let the ball bounce. In [the Vanderbilt] game, we had stopped them deep in their territory and forced them to punt it where there was a possibility of a return and not have to be in a punt-safe situation. We blocked well, and [Miller] ran the ball well.”

Georgia’s Drew Butler leads Division I-A with a 49.4 average on 34 punts.

Late to the party

Freshman running back Washaun Ealey said Florida’s coaches were late in recruiting him.

“I had committed the day before they came [to Emanuel County Institute]. My coach [told them], ‘[Washaun’s] a Georgia Dog.’ So he sent them home.”