Florida executive associate athletic director Greg McGarity, an Athens native and University of Georgia graduate, is interested in becoming the next athletic director at his alma mater.

McGarity told the Athens Banner-Herald on Thursday night that he has applied for the opening created by the resignation of Damon Evans early last month following his DUI arrest.

“There’s nothing to say. I’m just letting the process run it’s course,” McGarity said. “I’d rather not make a comment …I have submitted my information and we’ll just see what happens.”

McGarity received his undergraduate degree from UGA in 1976. Vince Dooley named him assistant athletic director for facilities and event management in 1988 and he stayed at UGA until leaving for Florida in 1992 as one of the first hires by Gators athletic director Jeremy Foley.

Few things in life for Georgia fans probably could match its football team beating Florida in Jacksonville, but beating the Gators in basketball and damaging their NCAA Tournament hopes certainly would rank as a good Saturday.

Georgia held off the Gators 78-76 in Stegeman Coliseum, winning for the fifth straight Saturday home game under first-year coach Mark Fox.

The Bulldogs won for just the third time in nine SEC games in which they led at the half, but they had to hold on tight down the stretch to do it.
Albert Jackson swatted away a Dan Werner pass with 0.1 seconds left to preserve the victory.

From the Associated Press:

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Florida coach Urban Meyer, who was admitted to a hospital because of chest pains following the Southeastern Conference championship game, is stepping down because of health concerns.

Meyer resigned Saturday, calling it quits after five seasons in Gainesville and two national titles. He leaves Florida with a 56-10 record that includes a 32-8 mark in league play and a school-record 22-game winning streak snapped early this month against Alabama.

Meyer says he consulted with his family, his doctors, school president Bernie Machen and athletic director Jeremy Foley before deciding it is in his best interest to focus on his health and family.

Meyer will hold a news conference in New Orleans on Sunday afternoon and will coach his final game in the Sugar Bowl against Cincinnati on New Year's Day.

Florida is extending the suspension of linebacker Brandon Spikes to a full game against Vanderbilt for trying to gouge the eyes of Georgia running back Washaun Ealey.

Here's the report from Mike DiRocco of the Florida Times-Union, which is in the Morris newspaper chain along with the Athens Banner-Herald.

Here's the report:

Florida linebacker Brandon Spikes will now sit out the entire Vanderbilt game on Saturday after he met with the coaching staff amid concerns that negative reaction to his suspension for the first half for trying to gouge a Georgia player’s eyes was causing a distraction.

Spikes met with UF coach Urban Meyer and defensive coordinator Charlie Strong on Tuesday night and the three came to the decision.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla.—Greetings from the press box in Jacksonville Municipal Stadium. It’s the last day of October, but looks to be the hottest day for a Georgia game this year.

It’s sunny and already 81 degrees three hours before kickoff. The forecast calls for temperatures in the mid-80s.

Somehow traffic to the stadium was manageable this year. It helps that we stayed at a hotel a couple of miles away.

It will be interesting to see what kind of mindset Georgia has going up against the No. 1 ranked team in the country and one that flattened the Bulldogs last year, 49-10.

Remember that big tackle that Brandon Spikes landed on the second play last year on Knowhson Moreno?

He lingered, taking his time to get up and talking smack, no doubt, along the way.

Georgia linebacker Rennie Curran said the Bulldogs need to have similar confidence today.

Week after week when coaches are asked about keys to winning an upcoming game, the default answer invariably is to limit turnovers or win the turnover battle.

No surprise then that Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo mentioned minimizing giveaways against Florida as especially important.

He’s talking from recent experience against the Gators.

The Bulldogs had four turnovers last year in its 49-10 loss to Florida.

Things began to unravel when cornerback Joe Haden picked off a pass intended for A.J. Green and returned it 88 yards. Tim Tebow scored on the next play on a 1-yard run.

“It’s 14-3 there in the third quarter and we throw that pick that basically was a pick six,” Bobo said. “We turned it over four times offensively and it just got out of hand. You can’t turn the ball over. When you turn the ball over, they suffocate you and they start blitzing and playing Cover 2 and just pinning their ears back. That’s when it gets out of hand.”

Blair Walsh gave his best friend a ticket to the Georgia-Florida game last year under one condition.

“I made him cheer for me,” said Walsh, the Bulldogs' sophomore kicker.

Fred Benzenhafer, who like Walsh is from Boca Raton, Fla., goes to school at Florida.

“I gave him and one of my other friend tickets, and they wore UGA stuff and they sat with my parents and I made them cheer for UGA, which didn’t turn out too good,” Walsh said. “I didn’t do that this year.”

Walsh’s first game against Florida was a rough one in a 49-10 Florida wipeout of Georgia.

Walsh was 1 of 3 on field goals, converting from 34 yards, but missing wide left from 37 and hitting a 27-yard attempt off the left upright. Walsh also had a second-quarter onsides kick recovered by Florida.

Georgia will get its shot at defending national champion Florida a week from Saturday, but the Gators are no longer No. 1 in both major polls.

Alabama jumped Florida in the Associated Press media poll on Sunday, while the Gators held on to the top spot in the USA Today coaches’ poll.

The Gators are No. 1 in the first BCS Standings that came out this afternoon. Alabama is No. 2. The top two teams in the final standings on Dec. 6 meet in the BCS title game on Jan. 7.

Florida (6-0) got a late field goal to beat Arkansas 23-20 at home Saturday. Alabama turned back South Carolina 20-6 Saturday night.

Georgia (4-3) is again receiving votes in the coaches’ poll. Georgia got 12 points.

The Bulldogs haven’t played a team ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press poll since a 47-7 loss to Florida on Nov. 2, 1996.

Georgia, coming off a 34-10 win at Vanderbilt, has an open date this week.

Florida plays at Mississippi State Saturday at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN.

There’s not a lot of love for Florida and quarterback Tim Tebow in Athens.

Even so, Georgia quarterback Joe Cox couldn’t help but want to close his eyes when he saw Tebow go down hard on a tackle in Florida’s rout of Kentucky Saturday.

“I saw it last night when I got back to the locker room, and I just cringed," Cox said Sunday. "I was like `Man, he’s a 240-pound guy and got hit like that.' If someone hit me like that, I’d be broken in half."

Tebow sustained a concussion and was released from a Lexington, Ky., hospital this morning, according to an Associated Press story. Florida coach Urban Meyer spent the night in the hospital with Tebow. His status for Florida's next game on Oct. 10 against LSU is unclear.

From ABH sports reporter Roger Clarkson:

The Georgia-Florida game will remain in Jacksonville, Fla., until at least 2016.

The Georgia Athletic Association voted unanimously this afternoon to extend the contract to keep the Georgia-Florida football game in Jacksonville for six more years until 2016.

“When I looked at it, I went back to what this game has meant for so many years,” Georgia athletic director Damon Evans said. “When you see people talk about this game year-in and year-out, it’s special and some of the reason it’s special is because it’s in Jacksonville.”

Evans recommended keeping the game in Jacksonville this afternoon during his report to the Athletic Association’s board. Georgia president Michael Adams endorsed that recommendation and the vote was unanimous.