Colorado Week: Monday News and Notes

ATHENS - Josh Kendall's news and notes from Georgia's fall pracitces.

LATE START: The Sept. 30 Ole Miss game in Oxford, Miss., will be televised by ESPN2 at 9 p.m. This will be Georgia’s first appearance on ESPN2 this season. The Bulldogs are 12-2 all-time on the network.

SCARY STARE: Georgia linebacker Danny Verdun Wheeler is looking downright menacing on the football field this year, and it’s only partially to do with his 244 sculpted pounds.

Verdun Wheeler, a senior from Thomson, is the first Bulldog to try out Nike’s new shaded contacts, which are bright orange and make him look like he either has glowing eyes or a burst blood vessel.

“It blocks out sun and makes me see the ball even more,” he said. “It’s like wearing shades in the football helmet. It kind of freaks some people out.”

The lenses are more than aesthetic, though; they are prescription.

“I’m blind without them,” Verdun Wheeler said. “I love them. I know some more guys are getting some.”

ANOTHER SEC HONOR: For the third time in as many weeks, Georgia had a player honored by the SEC. This time it was guard Fernando Velasco, who was named the conference’s offensive lineman of the week for his performance against UAB.

Velasco, a junior who redshirted in the middle of his career last season, graded out at 90 percent and had two “dominator” blocks in the Bulldogs’ 34-0 win.

THIS AND THAT: Georgia leads the SEC in scoring offense (33.3 points per game) and scoring defense (four points per game allowed). Kentucky shares that lead in scoring offense. … An ABC Sports feature profiling Richt will air Saturday at 2 p.m. on the network. ABC’s is running a three-week series that also will or has featured Southern Cal’s Pete Carroll, Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops, Notre Dame’s Charlie Weis, Texas’ Mack Brown and Ohio State’s Jim Tressel. … Georgia is 22-2 under Richt against teams from outside the SEC. Both of those losses have come to Big East schools.