Dawgs stumble early but roar back to finish off Rebels with style

Aaron Murray was sacked five times in the first half but came back to have a big day throwing the ball. (Brant Sanderlin / AJC)

After playing another mostly dismal first half that saw Georgia trailing 10-0 at one point, their quarterback sacked five times, and the two teams committing four turnovers in a five-play sequence, the Dawgs finally got on track and pulled away from Ole Miss for a convincing SEC win.

Successful adjustments by both Mike Bobo and Todd Grantham were a key. In the second half, Ole Miss never again got to quarterback Aaron Murray, allowing the Bulldogs to rack up 533 yards of offense. And after having trouble early on with the Rebs’ short passing game, the Dawgs defense shut down Mississippi in the final 42 minutes of the game.

Once he was able to stay on his feet, Murray went on a tear, completing of 14 of his next 16 passes. For the day, he was 21 of 28 for 384 yards and four touchdowns. One of those scores came on a nearly perfect execution of the old Rooskie play from David Greene’s playbook, with Murray making a great play fake, hiding the ball on his hip, and then throwing a 66-yard TD pass to a wide-open Marlon Brown.

Eleven different Bulldogs caught passes from Murray Saturday, led by Brown, who snagged three for 113 yards.

It also was a big day for the Ogletree brothers, with Alec Ogletree having 11 tackles and scoring a safety and Zander Ogletree catching a couple of passes and scoring on a big 8-yard run in the third quarter.

To top it off, Todd Gurley had another productive day, carrying the ball 18 times for 117 yards.

Considering this one had “trap game” written all over it and Ole Miss came out believing they could play with the Dawgs, Georgia handled its comeback with poise and confidence.

Sure, UGA fans would have loved to have seen their team come out taking care of business from the opening whistle, but having to overcome adversity again hopefully will have taught the Georgia coaches and players something about this team that may pay off down the road.

That said, I wouldn’t mind at all if next week’s trip to Auburn has a lot less drama.

Feel free to share your views on the Dawgs’ win over Ole Miss.

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— Bill King, Junkyard Blawg