ATHENS, Ga. -- No. 16 Georgia had a little trouble getting fired up Saturday.

Verron Haynes shreds a tackle on his way to another 100-yard game.(AP)

Just a week after beating their biggest rival, the Bulldogs had to play a makeup game against a winless team before thousands of empty seats at Sanford Stadium.

Even so, Georgia wasn't about to let an opponent such as Houston ruin the season.

David Greene threw three touchdown passes, Verron Haynes rushed for 122 yards and the Bulldogs overcame a sloppy start to beat the Cougars 35-7.

"It took us a little while to get going," said center Curt McGill, one of the seniors playing his final home game. "Once we started to run things, I knew we wouldn't have a problem."

Georgia (8-3) wrapped up its fifth consecutive eight-win season -- a first for the Bulldogs. They'll have to wait another week to learn the destination for their fifth consecutive bowl appearance.

Houston (0-11) is saddled with the first winless season in school history. The Cougars have lost 15 in a row overall, their last victory coming Oct. 21, 2000, when they beat Memphis 33-30 in overtime.

The Bulldogs, still relishing an emotional 31-17 victory over Georgia Tech the previous week, led only 14-0 at halftime in a game that was supposed to be played 2½ months ago.

The Sept. 11 attacks pushed it back to the end of the regular season, meaning Georgia closed with a team other than Georgia Tech for the first time since 1952.

The makeup game drew the smallest crowd of the season in Athens, where there appeared to be at least 20,000 no-shows despite a sunny 66-degree day.

Those who showed up didn't have much to cheer about in the first half.

Tim Wansley's 66-yard punt return for a touchdown was wiped out by a penalty, Greene threw an interception from the Houston 21 and Terrence Edwards fumbled at the 1, the ball rolling through the Cougars' end zone for a touchback.

"Coming off an emotional win against your archrival, it's kind of hard to get up for a team like Houston," Haynes said. "But there's no excuses. I was disgusted when it was 0-0 at the end of the first quarter."

The game was scoreless until Haynes scored on a 2-yard run with 6:30 left in the first half. Green added a 12-yard touchdown pass to Fred Gibson with just over a minute remaining.

Georgia really got rolling in the third quarter, scoring three touchdowns to blow it open.

Edwards caught a 49-yard TD pass, tying Brice Hunter's school record with the 19th scoring reception of his career. Backup tight end Ben Watson scored on another 49-yard pass, though he did most of the work after hauling in a short screen.

Watson's catch was the final play for Greene, who spent the rest of the day on the sideline. Cory Phillips and Brent Rickman finished up, with Phillips throwing a 10-yard touchdown pass to Jarrett Berry.

The only bad news for Georgia: Wansley, the team's best cornerback, broke a bone just above his left ankle at the end of a 52-yard punt return in the first quarter.

The Bulldogs don't know if Wansley will be able to play in the bowl, but the injury shouldn't affect his NFL prospects.

Mark Richt, who became the winningest first-year coach at Georgia since 1920, emptied the bench when the lead grew to 28-0. Berry, a sophomore who's not even listed in the school's media guide, made the first catch of his career a touchdown.

Houston broke through for a meaningless TD against the Georgia reserves. Nick Eddy threw a 16-yard pass to Orlando Iglesias with three seconds left in the third quarter.

"Our seniors addressed the younger players leading up to this game and let them know they can learn from this experience," Cougars coach Dana Dimel said, "and for them to carry that experience into next season and build on it."

Haynes, making his third straight start at tailback, had another 100-yard performance even though he didn't play the final 1½ quarters.

Haynes has rushed for 521 yards in the past three games. He spent most of his career as a blocking fullback, gaining 216 yards in 30 regular-season games before the position change.

"Verron is not a fluke," Richt said. "His greatest attribute is the courage and fight inside of him. He refuses to go down easy."

Greene was 9-of-17 for 210 yards, giving him 2,789 for the season. He already set a school record for passing yards by a freshman.

"Overall, I had a pretty good year from what I was thinking in June," Greene said. "I still have a long ways to go."

Representatives of the Citrus, Outback and Peach bowls scouted the Bulldogs. If the Southeastern Conference lands two teams in the Bowl Championship Series, Georgia could make its third trip to the Outback Bowl in the last five years.