The University of Georgia could be without one of its projected defensive starters when the season begins.

Senior linebacker Akeem Dent underwent surgery on an injured toe earlier this week, and likely will miss the next four to six weeks.

The injury, suffered in an off-the-field accident, will force Dent to miss the vast majority of preseason practice. If that happens, it’s possible Dent won’t be ready in time for the Dogs’ season opener, Sept. 4 against Louisiana-Lafayette.

Dent is listed at the top of the depth chart at strong-side inside linebacker. Junior Marcus Dowtin possibly would slide over from his backup spot at the other inside linebacker slot and fill in for Dent in the season opener.

More important for Georgia is having Dent ready for the Southeastern Conference opener, Sept. 11 at South Carolina.

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Four members of the Georgia Bulldogs have been named to the All-Southeastern Conference Coaches’ Team.

Junior wide receiver A.J. Green, senior offensive lineman Clint Boling, junior place-kicker Blair Walsh and junior punter Drew Butler drew first-team honors from the conference’s coaches.

Two more Bulldogs garnered second-team honors: junior offensive lineman Cordy Glenn and junior return specialist Brandon Boykin

Green and Butler earned first-team selection for the second consecutive season.

Georgia had the second-most first-team selections, behind defending national champion Alabama (six). Florida had the most players selected for both teams, 10 in all (three first-team, seven second-team).

The team is announced the day before SEC Media Days begin. This year’s SEC Media Days run Wednesday-Friday in Hoover, Ala.

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The times are changing, and one more sign of that evolution comes later this summer at the University of Georgia.

Following the lead of many college programs around the country, the Dogs will ditch two-a-day workouts from the schedule for the first time.

Yes, the dreaded two-a-days, the traditional grind of getting through multiple workouts under the blazing summer sun. Purists scream how two-a-days toughened up players and bonded teams during yesteryear.

But the truth is teams have been moving away from two-a-days in recent years. Georgia only practiced twice in one day on three occasions last season.

With the NCAA mandating teams can have 29 practices – and no more – leading up to opening day, Georgia’s coaching staff determined it made sense to schedule one practice a day. That leaves more time for review of video and walk-throughs.

Georgia opens its season Sept. 4 at home against Louisiana-Lafayette, then begins Southeastern Conference play Sept. 11 at South Carolina.

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In the span of one week, Dontavius Jackson went from trying to inch his way up the depth chart at the University of Georgia to looking for a new school and a second chance.

Stemming from his arrest for DUI and a host of other charges early Saturday morning, Jackson was suspended by UGA head coach Mark Richt for the first six games of the 2010 season. Wednesday, the school announced the redshirt sophomore tailback will transfer.

Jackson rushed for 38 yards on four carries. He had some work to do in order to get more carries in 2010, but now he will instead look for a new school to try and restart his career.

Georgia fans definitely have to be ready for football practice to start and the kickoff to a new season Sept. 4 against Louisiana-Lafayette. Jackson’s arrest came a few days after athletic director Damon Evans was pulled over and charged for DUI in an Atlanta suburb.

Evans resigned July 5, five days before Jackson and fellow UGA player Tavarres King were pulled over after Jackson allegedly left the scene of an accident.

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For anybody who wonders if there was any way for Damon Evans to keep his job as athletic director at the University of Georgia, the Saturday morning arrest of two football players should quiet those lingering thoughts once and for all.

Dontavius Jackson and Tavarres King did what college kids are prone to do: make a mistake. In this case, it allegedly involves Jackson leaving the scene of an accident, driving drunk and a few other violations, enough to land the backup tailback a six-game suspension. King, cited for underage possession of alcohol, will sit out one game.

Sadly, we almost expect to see that from young kids living on their own for the first time. Fortunately, Jackson didn’t hurt anybody in the accident and he’ll pay the price by sitting for half the season.

In Evans’ case, however, we expect far better judgment. The 40-year-old embarrassed the university to no measure by getting arrested for DUI (remember, it’s Evans who appeared in those video messages at Sanford Stadium, telling the masses not to drink and drive). Add in a sleezy-looking woman, a pair of her underwear in Evans’ lap (Evans is married with two kids), and you get a situation where the only choice the university had was to turn the page.

Evans resigned, but had he not, he certainly would’ve been fired. And that’s a shame. He grew up in nearby Gainesville. He played for the red and black. But his lapse was so egregious, there was no forgiving it.

For if Evans still kept his job, there would be a serious credibility and leadership issue at the school, in particular when the arrest report came in Saturday morning for two college kids who did something dumb. We almost expect it from them, but not from the adults charged with leading.

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Less than two weeks following the DUI arrest and subsequent resignation of the school’s athletic director, alcohol problems once again have hit the University of Georgia.

Two members of the UGA football team – redshirt sophomore tailback Deshawn Jackson and redshirt junior split end Tavarres King – were arrested early Saturday morning in Athens.

Both players have been suspended by UGA head coach Mark Richt. Jackson will miss the first six games of the season, while King will sit out the season opener Sept. 4 against Louisiana-Lafayette. Richt said in a statement he could extend the penalties if needed.

According to published reports, Jackson was driving King’s vehicle and was booked on several charges, including DUI and leaving the scene of an accident. King was cited for underage possession of alcohol.

Seven UGA players have been arrested this offseason. It’s even more of a black eye on the school coming on the heels of former AD Damon Evans’ DUI arrest on June 30 in Atlanta. Evans resigned last week.

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The Damon Evans era officially ended Monday, as the University of Georgia athletic director resigned following his arrest for DUI last week.

Tuesday, Georgia president Michael Adams turned the reins over to Frank Crumley, but only temporarily. Crumley, the executive AD for finance and administration, inherits the title on an interim basis, as Adams stated he would look outside the university family for the next full-time AD.

With the start of football practice just three weeks away, the Evans saga hit Bulldog Nation like a blitzing Florida linebacker from the blindside. In Crumley, who could be on the job for up to a year, Adams hopes to find some stability after Evans’ arrest and subsequent resignation rocked the university and its fan base.

Crumley has worked with the UGA athletic administration since 1991. While he minds the store, Adams and a newly appointed search committee will begin the task of bringing in somebody to continue the successful programs Evans oversaw during six successful years in the AD’s chair.

A run that ended with a traffic stop in an Atlanta suburb last Wednesday night. Now that Evans is gone, Crumley and Adams and the rest of Bulldog Nation will try to move forward the best they can.

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Jeremy Price came off of the bench to provide a spark with 19 points and Trey Thompkins added 12.

The Bulldogs saw a four-point halftime deficit get away from them, and the final score is not indicative of the rout that took place in the second half.

It’s a disappointing loss for Georgia, but they will go into the SEC tournament as one of the most dangerous teams.

They have played well in spurts down the stretch but have just struggled to close out potential victories.

Nine times, the Georgia Bulldogs have hit the road this season looking for a victory. Nine times, the Dogs have been denied.

Perhaps their luck away from Stegeman Coliseum will change on Thursday, when Georgia travels to face a team it’s already beaten this month.

Georgia heads to Nashville to face No. 20-ranked Vanderbilt, in a game that on the surface looks like it heavily favors the Commodores. Vandy is 20-6 overall on the season, 9-3 in the SEC and in second place in the SEC East, two games behind Kentucky.

But the Dogs, who at 4-8 in conference play are last in the East, weren’t deterred by Vandy’s standing on Feb. 6 in Athens, when Georgia handed the Commodores a 72-58 defeat.

Any chance Georgia has of snagging its first road win of the season rest with the two-pronged attack of Trey Thompkins and Travis Leslie. Thompkins leads the Dogs in scoring at 17.6 points and rebounding at 8.2 boards per contest. Leslie is averaging 14.2 points and 6.8 rebounds per game.

After the trip to Nashville, Georgia closes the regular season with home games Saturday against Florida and next Wednesday against Kentucky, and a road contest March 6 against an LSU team that’s winless in the SEC this season.

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Typically this season, the Georgia Bulldogs have been the one blowing a lead in the second half. But on Saturday at Stegeman Coliseum, it was the Dogs storming back up the hill in the second half.

Trey Thompkins and his teammates went off in the final 12 minutes, the Dogs rallying from a 52-39 deficit to take a 76-70 victory.

Thompkins led the way with 21 points and 17 rebounds, 14 of his points coming in the final nine minutes as Georgia improved to 11-3 at home this season.

Georgia (12-13, 4-8 Southeastern Conference) earlier blew leads in the second half against Kentucky, Ole Miss, Mississippi State and South Carolina. But not this time. Shooting 54 percent from the floor, the Dogs pulled away down the stretch.

The Dogs finish the regular season with two road games, at Vanderbilt Thursday and at LSU on March 6, and a pair of home games, against Florida on Saturday and against Kentucky on March 3.

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