2006 Georgia Bulldogs football team The 2006 Georgia Bulldogs football team completed the season with a 9 – 4 record . The Bulldogs had an SEC record of 4 – 4 . Despite losses to unranked Kentucky and Vanderbilt , Georgia salvaged its season by beating two ranked teams in the last two games of the season : # 5 Auburn and # 15 Georgia Tech . A victory over # 14 Virginia Tech in the 2006 Chick - fil - A Bowl gave the Georgia Bulldogs three consecutive victories over top 25 teams . This was the team ' s sixth season under the guidance of head coach Mark Richt . Preseason . Following a 2005 campaign in which the Bulldogs finished the year ranked # 10 , the team was given a preseason # 14 in the Coaches Poll . Ten players were named to the 2006 SEC Media Days Pre - Season All - Conference Football Team . TE Martrez Milner , OT Daniel Inman , C Nick Jones , DE Quentin Moses and PK Brandon Coutu were selected as first - team members . LB Jarvis Jackson , DB Tra Battle and P Gordon Ely - Kelso were named to the second team and RB Thomas Brown and LB Tony Taylor to the third team . Schedule . Game notes . The prevalent theme throughout the 2006 season was the search for a starting quarterback for the Bulldogs . Senior Joe Tereshinski III , redshirt freshman Joe Cox and true freshman Matt Stafford all saw significant playing time during the season . WKU . No line was established for this game . Joe Tereshinski III started the game at quarterback for Georgia and completed 7 of 17 passes for 90 yards and a touchdown . True freshman Matt Stafford ( 3 of 5 passing ; 40 yards and a touchdown ) and redshirt freshman Joe Cox ( 2 of 3 passing ; 29 yards and an interception ) both saw playing time at quarterback . SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week : Defensive end Quentin Moses for his performance against WKU which included 2 . 5 tackles for losses , one sack and three quarterback hurries . South Carolina . The pre - game line established for this game was Georgia - 1 . 5 . Joe Tereshinski started the game at quarterback and completed 2 of 3 passes for 18 yards . However , he was injured on the opening drive of the game and was replaced by Matt Stafford . Stafford completed 8 of 19 passes for 171 yards and 3 interceptions , but South Carolina also had 3 costly fumbles of their own as well as a safety . SEC Defensive Player of the Week : Defensive end Charles Johnson for his performance against South Carolina which included five tackles ( four for losses ) , one sack , one safety , two quarterback pressures and one pass deflection . UAB . The pre - game line established for this game was Georgia - 10 . Matt Stafford got his first career start at quarterback and completed 10 of 17 passes for 107 yards with no touchdowns or interception . Joe Cox also saw brief action at quarterback late in the game . SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week : Offensive guard Fernando Velasco for his performance against UAB which included a 90 % grading and had two dominator blocks . Colorado . The pre - game line established for this game was Georgia - 16 . Getting his second start , Matt Stafford and the offense struggled , completing 8 of 16 passes for 76 yards , with no touchdowns or interceptions , as Colorado jumped Georgia on their way to a 13 – 0 lead . Stafford was replaced by Joe Cox , who rallied the team to victory in the fourth quarter , completing 10 of 13 passes for 154 yards and 2 touchdowns . Cox found tight end Martrez Milner for a 20 yard touchdown with : 46 left in the game , and Colorado QB Bernard Jackson was sacked on Colorado ' s last - ditch effort to win the game . SEC Freshman of the Week / Sporting News College Football Player of the Week : Redshirt freshman quarterback Joe Cox for his performance against Colorado in which he led the Bulldogs to a come - from - behind victory that was capped by a 20 - yard touchdown pass with : 46 on the clock . Ole Miss . No line was established for this game . Starting quarterback Joe Cox struggled ( 4 of 10 for 24 yards , no touchdowns or interceptions ) and backup Matt Stafford did not fare much better ( 7 for 18 for 91 yards , no touchdowns or interceptions ) . Georgia ' s second half scores came on a pair of one yard runs by fullback Brannan Southerland . SEC Defensive Lineman Of The Week : Defensive end Charles Johnson for his performance against Ole Miss which included two sacks , one pass breakup and two third - down stops . As of this week , Johnson was the conference leader with nine tackles for loss . Tennessee . The pre - game line established for this game was Tennessee - 2 . 5 . Georgia took advantage of Special teams play to jump out to a 24 – 7 lead in the 2nd quarter . However , Tennessee stiffened its defense and scored on every possession but one in the second half to record a 51 - 33 victory over the ninth ranked Georgia Bulldogs . Georgia entered the game with the # 1 ranked scoring defense in the nation , but the Vols dropped them to # 17 . Erik Ainge was 25 - of - 38 with 2 TD ' s and no interceptions . Georgia scored twice on Special Teams , with an 85 - yard punt return by Mikey Henderson in the first half and a 99 - yard , school record tying kickoff return by Thomas Brown in the second half . Tennessee DB Antonio Wardlow blocked and punt and recovered the ball in the endzone to post a TD for the Vols in the 2nd half . Robert Meachem had 7 receptions for 98 yards and moved into first place nationally for receiving yards per game . A photo of Wardlow ' s punt block and recovery made the cover of Sports Illustrated for October 16 , 2006 . Kregg Lumpkin led the Bulldogs with 88 yards on 13 carries . Joe Tereshinski was 12 - of - 20 for 164 yards and 1 touchdown , while throwing 2 interceptions and losing a fumble . Georgia was playing without starting kicker , Brandon Coutu , who injured his kicking on the Thursday before the game and was declared " out for the season . " Vanderbilt . The pre - game line established for this game was Georgia - 14 . 5 . Both Joe Tereshinski and Matt Stafford played at quarterback , but neither was able to guide the offense to a victory . Tony Taylor ' s interception return for a touchdown gave Georgia a 22 – 21 lead late in the fourth quarter , but Vanderbilt got a short field goal from Bryant Hantfeldt as time expired for the 24 – 22 stunning upset . Mississippi State . The pre - game line established for this game was Georgia - 17 . 5 . Starting quarterback put together a nice game with his best offensive production of the year . Still , Georgia had to stave off a late rally by Mississippi State to get the win . SEC Freshman of the Week : Freshman quarterback Matt Stafford for his performance against Mississippi State in which he completed 20 - of - 32 passes for 267 yards and two touchdowns . Florida . The pre - game line established for this game was Georgia - 13 . The 2006 edition of the Florida – Georgia football rivalry was won by Florida . Matt Stafford and the Georgia offense were ineffective in the first half and Florida lead 14 – 0 at halftime . On the first play of the half , Georgia tailback Kregg Lumpkin fumbled the ball and Florida returned the fumble for a touchdown . Stafford could not guide the Georgia offense to victory and he finished the day completing just 13 of 33 passing attempts for 151 yards , no touchdowns and 2 interceptions . However , he did score on a 13 yard touchdown run in the third quarter . After Kregg Lumpkin ' s 8 yard scoring run early in the fourth quarter , Georgia amazingly had a chance to send this game to overtime . The eventual national champion Gators stiffened , however , and sent the Dawgs home with yet another loss in this series . Georgia ' s loss caused the team to drop out of the top 25 for the first time since 2001 . Kentucky . The pre - game line established for this game was Georgia - 7 . Hoping to rebound from its loss to Florida , Georgia went into the half leading 14 – 10 . The score did not change in the third quarter , but Kentucky outscored Georgia 14 – 6 in the fourth quarter to seal its victory . Matt Stafford ' s struggles continued as he completed 16 of 28 pass attempts for 230 yards with only one touchdown and 3 interceptions , including one in the final 2 minutes to seal the Wildcat victory . Auburn . The pre - game line established for this game was Auburn - 11 . 25 . Coming into the game with Auburn , Georgia ' s program seemed to be in shambles . It had lost four of its last five games , including rare losses to Vanderbilt and Kentucky . Georgia set the tone on their opening drive when Matthew Stafford found A . J . Bryant for a 53 yard gain down to the Auburn 8 yard line . Kregg Lumpkin took it in from there , and Georgia never looked back . Georgia seemed to reverse all of its ill fortunes in an explosive second quarter that saw them score 23 points and take a 30 – 7 lead into the lockers at halftime . The second quarter featured contributions from both the offense and the defense : a 30 yard interception return for a touchdown by Tra Battle , a one yard touchdown run by Brannan Southerland , a 14 yard touchdown pass from Matt Stafford to Kregg Lumpkin and a 34 - yard field goal by Gordon Ely - Kelso . Week 11 Cingular All - America Player of the Week Nominee / SEC Defensive Player of the Week / National Defensive Player Of The Week : Defensive back Tra Battle for his performance against Auburn which included three interceptions , one of which was returned by Battle for a touchdown . SEC Freshman of the Week : Freshman quarterback Matt Stafford for his performance against Auburn in which he completed 14 of 20 passes for 219 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 83 yards on seven attempts with a touchdown . Georgia Tech . The pre - game line established for this game was Georgia - 3 . Facing its second top 25 team in as many outings , Georgia got off to a slow start , trailing at the half by 3 – 0 . Georgia opened up the scoring in the second half with a 29 yard fumble return by linebacker Tony Taylor . The game wound up being a defensive struggle and Matt Stafford put up modest numbers ( 16 of 29 for 171 yards , 1 touchdown and zero interceptions ) and the Bulldogs were held to 84 yards rushing . Georgia ' s defense shut down the Tech passing attack , limiting Tech quarterback Reggie Ball to 6 of 22 for 42 yards , no tocuhdowns and 2 interceptions . SEC Defensive Player of the Week : Defensive back Paul Oliver for his performance against Georgia Tech in which he held All - American wide receiver Calvin Johnson to two receptions and 13 yards , while also breaking up three passes and intercepting a pass . Chick - fil - A Bowl . When Neil Callaway , Georgia ' s offensive coordinator from 2001 to 2006 , left at the end of 2006 to become the head coach at University of Alabama at Birmingham , Richt named Mike Bobo as the new offensive coordinator ; Bobo had already taken over the play - calling duties from Richt starting with the Georgia Tech game . He debuted as coordinator for the 2006 Chick - fil - A Bowl against Virginia Tech . In the bowl game , Virginia Tech jumped out to a 21 – 3 halftime lead , scoring on two one - yard touchdowns from tailback Brandon Ore and a 53 - yard pass from flanker Eddie Royal to tight end Sam Wheeler . In the second half , Georgia scored 28 unanswered points and held off a late Tech rally to win 31 – 24 . Postseason . Final ranking . Georgia ' s victories over ranked opponents its final three games of the 2006 season allowed the Bulldogs to regain a spot in the final AP Poll . The Georgia Bulldogs completed 2006 ranked number 23 in the final AP poll . Georgia has finished in the top 25 in each of Richt ' s six seasons as head coach . Post - season all - star games . Mark Richt and ten Georgia players were invited to post - season all - star games .