ATHENS – Five weeks after the University of Georgia Athletic Association board of directors voted to keep the Georgia-Florida football game in Jacksonville through 2016, a new contract with the city is being finalized.
"It's moving along rapidly, coming down to legalese," UGA executive associate athletics director Frank Crumley said. "The principal points are agreed on."
The key provision of the deal is the same as in the current contract: Georgia and Florida will get about 41,000 tickets apiece each year to sell to their fans. Agreement also has been reached on several changes -- all outlined to the athletic board before its vote last month -- that will make the new deal more lucrative for Georgia and Florida.
Jacksonville will pay for three private 50-seat planes to fly the Bulldogs directly from Athens and back, starting with next year's game. Each school also will receive $50,000 from Jacksonville to offset the cost of hotel rooms and meals, will be allotted 1,500 parking spots on game days (up from 1,000) and will get a larger share of the money from potential marketing deals related to the game.
The current contract with Jacksonville runs through the 2010 game. The new deal will cover an additional six years.
Bobo stays downstairs
Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo, who moved from the press box to field level for the Vanderbilt game, won't be going back upstairs anytime soon.
Bobo said he'll call plays from the sideline against Florida on Saturday and for the remainder of this season.
"With this team right now . . . we've got a lot of young guys that I just want to look in the eye and see if they're ready to go and if not give them confidence that ‘Hey, we can get it done,'" Bobo said Tuesday.
Until the Oct. 17 win over Vanderbilt, Bobo had called plays from the press box since becoming Georgia's offensive coordinator in 2007.
Dogs hope to deny Tebow
Several of Georgia's defensive players bemoaned the thought of Florida quarterback Tim Tebow possibly breaking Herschel Walker's SEC career record for rushing touchdowns against Walker's old team.
"Hey, we got to get after him," defensive tackle Jeff Owens said of Tebow. "We want to keep him out of the end zone. He's a tough player, always trying to get that extra yard, so we just got to scratch and claw and try to stop him."
Said linebacker Rennie Curran: "Just knowing the type of player Herschel was and the type of guy he is now, we want to represent the guys who played before us. . . . We know [the Gators] like to put the ball in [Tebow's] hands on the goal line, so stopping him is going to be our main goal – not just because it is going to be a record but because as a defense we want to play our best game."
Tebow last week tied Walker's SEC career record of 49 rushing touchdowns.
Etc.
David Shipley, a Georgia law professor and former dean of the law school, will succeed Jere Morehead as faculty athletics representative, effective next July, UGA president Michael Adams announced Tuesday. Adams last month named Morehead UGA's senior vice president for academic affairs and provost, effective Jan. 1. . . . Fullback Shaun Chapas, who missed the Vanderbilt game with a shoulder injury, said he's 100 percent for the Florida game. . . . Rain forced the Bulldogs indoors for practice Tuesday. The offense held a walk-through session on the women's basketball team's practice court and the defense on the men's court.
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