Quincy Carter celebrates a touchdown with tackle Jonas Jenkins.(AP)

With Quincy Carter passing for two touchdowns and running for another, Georgia began a season of high expectations by sloshing to a 29-7 victory over defending I-AA champion Georgia Southern on Saturday night.

The Georgia defense, now being run by former Oklahoma head coach Gary Gibbs, stymied a team that averaged nearly 50 points per game last year in winning the national title. The Eagles avoided a shutout with about three minutes remaining after recovering a fumbled punt.

The performance was a vast improvement over last year, when the Bulldogs gave up nearly 26 points a game. And they didn't even have starters Charles Grant, Richard Seymour and Kendrell Bell, each serving a one-game suspension for unauthorized use of a university phone card.

Also, linebacker Boss Bailey's season ended midway through the first quarter when he torn the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee while defending a kickoff return.

"I thought we did a good job of handling the adversity, especially the way everyone blasted our defense," said coach Jim Donnan, who fired coordinator Kevin Ramsey and hired Gibbs to shore up the unit. "They have an explosive offense. For us to shut them down after losing the players we did is very impressive."

Peterson, last year's Payton Award winner as the top player in I-AA, did manage to extend his streak of 100-yard running games to 31 in a row -- encompassing his entire college career. He gained 152 yards on 27 carries to become the school's leading career rusher with 3,891 yards, breaking Joe Ross' mark of 3,876.

"I'm not happy because we didn't win," Peterson said.

Carter, who returned for his junior season because he wanted to lead Georgia to its first Southeastern Conference title since 1982, completed 16 of 27 passes for 203 yards, with one interception.

"I don't know what else you could ask him to do," Donnan said. "He had one bad throw when the ball slipped out of his hands. But he made a lot of good decisions, a lot of good checks at the line. I think this is really going to be a special year for him."

Georgia hardly looked overpowering, which might have had something to do with the conditions. The game was played in a driving rainstorm through much of the first half, making it difficult for either team to click offensively.

"We didn't want to show the full package against a non-SEC team," offensive tackle Jonas Jennings said. "Coach Donnan did a good job of calling a basic game and still winning."

Besides, the defense had things under control. Southern managed only 19 first downs and 235 yards with its option offense.

"We were coming in here to make a statement," linebacker Will Witherspoon said. "We have a new coordinator. He's a very smart guy and knows what he's doing. It was our turn to show he's taught us well."

The Bulldogs' best drive was their first, when they took the opening kickoff and went 84 yards in 17 plays for a touchdown. On third-and-9 at the Southern 12, Carter hooked up with sophomore Durell Robinson over the middle for a touchdown that capped the 6-minute, 29-second possession.

Georgia took advantage of Southern mistakes for its next 16 points. Late in the first half, with the Eagles less than a minute from going to the locker room trailing only 7-0, Peterson fumbled at his own 46 and Tony Gilbert recovered.

"I think my fumble really hurt us, because they were able to go down and score," Peterson said.

After a defensive holding penalty, Carter hit Reggie Brown with a couple of passes totaling 24 yards to put the ball on the Southern 12. From there, the quarterback took off on a draw, spinning away from one tackler and sprinting in for the TD with just 27 seconds left in the half.

Southern failed to move on the first possession of the second half and surrendered two more points when the ball was snapped over the head of punter Scott Shelton, who was forced to cover it in the end zone for a safety.

Late in the period, Eagles quarterback J.R. Revere was blindsided by Josh Mallard, knocking the ball loose. Marcus Stroud fell on it at the Southern 18, setting up Carter's 7-yard touchdown pass to LaBrone Mitchell with 14:49 left in the game.

With Southern worn down, freshman Musa Smith scored Georgia's final TD on a 2-yard run with 7:04 to go.

The Eagles missed two field goals but finally scored with 2:55 remaining on Mark Myers' 9-yard run.

Two other Georgia players sat out because of the phone scandal, leaving Gilbert and Robert Brannon to serve their penalties next weekend at South Carolina.

Southern will have it easier next week, meeting Division II Johnson C. Smith after dropping to 0-13 against Division I-A opponents.

"This was just another football game," defensive lineman Willie Johnson. "We did not want to make it too big."

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