Georgia’s Todd Gurley shares SEC freshman of week honor with Bama back
Freshman Todd Gurley high steps into the east end zone at Sanford Stadium after scoring his first of three touchdowns in his college debut. (AJC photo by Brant Sanderlin)
ATHENS – Georgia tailback Todd Gurley was named the Southeastern Conference Freshman Player of the Week following his performance versus Buffalo, which will probably come as no surprise.
What might come somewhat as a surprise is that he had to share the honor.
Alabama tailback T.J. Yeldon split the award with Gurley. Yeldon was fantastic in the No. 2-ranked Crimson Tide’s 41-14 win over No. 8 Michigan. He had 137 yards total yards on 12 touches (111 on 11 carries and one 26-yard reception) and one touchdown.
Gurley, a 6-foot-1, 218-pound freshman from Tarburo, N.C., had 227 yards on 10 touches (100 yards on 8 carries and 127 yards on two kickoff returns) and 3 TDs. Of course, Gurley’s work came against Buffalo, a Mid-American Conference team.
Nevertheless, Gurley is the first Bulldog to earn this honor in his first collegiate game. Gurley scored a touchdown on his second career carry — a 10-yard run off left tackle — then scored five minutes later on a 100-yard kickoff return. His 55-yard touchdown run, a gem in which he broke three tackles and stiff-armed two defenders to the ground, came on his final carry of the day midway through the fourth quarter. That made Gurley the first Bulldog freshman to go over 100 yards rushing in his season-opening debut since Danny Ware had 135 yards and 3 TDs against Georgia Southern in 2004.
Gurley’s 100-yard kickoff return tied the school, SEC and NCAA records. He was named the College Football Performance Awards National Kickoff Returner of the Week.
The question now is whether or not Gurley will get the start against Missouri on Saturday as the Bulldogs open their SEC slate on the road (7:45 p.m., ESPN2). This past Saturday’s starter, sophomore Ken Malcome, injured his left hand against Buffalo and was unable to return to the game. His injury was to be revaluated this week.
Coach Mark Richt was non-commital on Sunday. “Well, he’ll definitely get the ball, that’s for sure,” Richt said.
In the meantime, here were the other Week 1 award recipients in the SEC:
OFFENSIVE PLAYER
- Marcus Lattimore, RB, South Carolina: 110 yards on 23 carries, 2 TDs in 17-13 win over Vanderbilt
DEFENSIVE PLAYER
- Dee Milliner, CB, Alabama: 5 tackles, 4 pass break-ups, 1 interception in Alabama’s 41-14 win over Michigan
SPECIAL TEAMS
- Marcus Murphy, TB/PR, Missouri: Returned two punts for TDs and accumulated 206 all-purpose yards in Missouri’s 62-10 win against SE Louisiana.
OFFENSIVE LINEMAN
- Zach Fulton, G, Tennessee: Starting 16th consecutive game, helped pave way to 524 yards offense in 35-21 win over N.C. State in Atlanta.
Co-DEFENSIVE LINEMAN
- C.J. Johnson, DE Ole Miss: 6 tackles and a sack in Rebels’ 49-27 win over Central Arkansas.
- Chris Smith, DE, Arkansas: 6 tackles, a sack and a QB pressure in 49-24 win against Jacksonville State.
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179 comments Add your comment
Tampa Gator
September 3rd, 2012
9:48 pm
‘94 UGA Alum….
I am shocked that Georgia does not have more depth at strong safety. And if Marshall does not play…..Georgia may have some issues for that game. I hope Georgia wins……I don’t want to read a million FIRE RICHT AND BOBO posts next week. But I am sure I will….no matter what.
Tampa Gator
September 3rd, 2012
9:51 pm
Destin…..
4 wins by the Gators….wow….you are being generous tonight. Where is Muschamp going? I heard he sold his condo in the Destin area. Can’t go there.
Tampa Gator
September 3rd, 2012
9:52 pm
Love the new Tech uniforms. They are playing well…in them….on D. Not so good on O.
Dawg Tired
September 3rd, 2012
9:53 pm
I don’t know why I thought the “daily report” might contain some useful information like the status of Theus and Barnette.
Dawg Tired
September 3rd, 2012
9:54 pm
Burnette
Dawg Tired
September 3rd, 2012
10:03 pm
I agree 94 UGA Alumnus – SImply a different defense without Ogletree and Rambo. WHile I have thought Rambo has been overrated, after seeing # 11 trying to play safety, it seems obvious we are not nearly as good back there. Plus Ogletree is our big hitter on the inside. Just a totally diferent D without them.
On the other hand, it does seem like we ought to have somebody watching the QB to prevent those 15 yard runs untouched. That would seem to be a coaching problem.
ringleader
September 3rd, 2012
10:16 pm
Tampa, he bought one in Boca Grande near Sabans new remodel back in January.
floalsini
September 3rd, 2012
10:25 pm
egreg vdsv
The Bear
September 3rd, 2012
10:40 pm
VT always over rated
Bob669
September 3rd, 2012
10:43 pm
Wow! You guys don’t see a lot of BIG 12 games huh? I’ve been in Houston for 9 years so sadly we see ALL of that crap! Trust me when I say this, Missouri is not SEC caliber. I will be shocked if they finish ahead of Kentucky in the East. They were barely compatible in B12…
And also, why is no one giving Buffalo credit for coming into Athens and playing there hearts out? That was a team that had absolutely nothing to lose and gave it all they had! Most teams like that give up before the game starts, that is why there blowouts. They gave it there all and UGA barely tried, and still won by 20+!
Bob669
September 3rd, 2012
10:48 pm
*Competitive*
bubba4dawgs
September 3rd, 2012
10:52 pm
I’m still trying to remember that guys name who wore # 1 last year! Well, I guess he didn’t stay in games long enough for me to remember! Oh Well!!
bitter glad i dont live on 14th st
September 3rd, 2012
11:34 pm
TECH scores with 44 sec to go and takes the lead—-ur—hold the press
its tech and well—–ur—–yes, thats write—-they could not hold
the lead and allowed va tech to score on a tieing field goal as time ran out
—-su_x to be man boobs—–and a tech fan———by the way
———telvin washington is the worst QB ever—-right–news flash
bitter glad i dont live on 14th st
September 3rd, 2012
11:38 pm
bamma was a machine this week——now im glad we get to play mizzo
—–still the state of alabamma should have a fence built around it to
keep the trailer tramps CAGED UP—–HAHAHAHAHAH—TUSK-UR-LOOSERS
bitter glad i dont live on 14th st
September 3rd, 2012
11:42 pm
MY SORCES HAVE IT THAT james franklin will be the next HEAD COACH at tech
—I bet that 14th st —FRY COOK —aka—A PERSON SO DUMB—is pissed
his beloved yeller jackets tossed that game away like a drunk loosing
——a wiskey bottle on a wiskey boat—–hahahahahah
bitter glad i dont live on 14th st
September 3rd, 2012
11:44 pm
———-Final Note————BEE
——————————————–A
——————GURLY
—————————————-MAN———————–go dawgs
Obomaisajoke
September 4th, 2012
12:43 am
How did Ga. get such an easy schedule?
Fidlin1
September 4th, 2012
12:46 am
I’m sure the Buffalo defense is very aware now that Gurley is no girly man. Way to Go Todd!!
7576DAWG
September 4th, 2012
2:59 am
Obomaisajoke
I’ve been trying to get Georgia to drop Georgia Tech from our schedule for years and replace them with who is not considered a cupcake. But nobody will listen to me.
Larry
September 4th, 2012
6:10 am
________________________
Bob669 wrote: Trust me when I say this, Missouri is not SEC caliber. I will be shocked if they finish ahead of Kentucky in the East. They were barely compatible in B12…
________________________
Actually, being “incompatible” with Oklahoma and Baja Oklahoma is something to be proud of — and I am! Prepare to be shocked, Mr. Guff. (And, no, I don’t trust you.)
Larry
September 4th, 2012
6:18 am
But, getting back to Gurley, he’s clearly a force. Sheldon Richardson is billed as a run-stopper. Maybe it’ll be a case of…resistable force meets moveable object? ;>)
Larry
September 4th, 2012
6:36 am
Speaking of SEC weekly honors:
“Marcus Murphy became the first Mizzou player to win a weekly SEC award when he was honored as special teams player of the week. Murphy returned two punts for touchdowns in the opener and broke the school record with 180 punt return yards. The previous mark was held by Roger Wehrli.”
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/college/mizzou/mu-notebook-ebner-insists-he-ll-play-vs-georgia/article_1631e863-81e9-5b39-a0fd-b37b9ec0ab8b.html
Your Girlfriend
September 4th, 2012
7:39 am
Missouri could win the East, for what it’s worth. The fifth best team in the SEC won it last year. This year doesn’t look any better, so far.
Tampa Gator
September 4th, 2012
7:46 am
slobodan
September 3rd, 2012
6:39 pm
“Tampa Gator: normally I’m too lazy to look things up, but I did in this case:
you are correct; the illegal contact rule (outside the 5 yard zone) is an NFL rule and does not exist in NCAA or HS.”
Wow
September 3rd, 2012
4:27 pm
“I see his Greatness aka Tampa Gator is posting again. Hope you guys do not believe this crap he posts. What a loser!!”
@WOW…..Hey…..
What did you say about me being a “loser” and full of crap? Maybe you need to get out of your bathroom and out from behind that mirror more often. Just saying.
Your Girlfriend
September 4th, 2012
7:52 am
So far, the Tennessee Volunteers appear to be the class of the East in 2012. SCAR barely escaped Vandy. Florida’s offense looks confused. Georgia failed to dominate an inferior opponent. Could the SEC East be even weaker in 2012 than they were in 2011?
UA Grad
September 4th, 2012
8:06 am
It looks like Dee pushed the guy out of bounds around 7 yards off the ball. Refs are going to let you play football when it is that close…………..10-15 yards off the ball is another thing. I think it just looked so dramatic because Dee was so physical with him.
Larry
September 4th, 2012
8:07 am
When they held a contest to name the ex-Oilers NFL team that landed in Nashville, I suggested that, since the “amateurs” at the U. of Tenn. were the “Volunteers”, the pay-per-game NFL boys should logically be called the “Mercenaries”. Somehow, my quite logical suggestion was overlooked.
RxDawg
September 4th, 2012
8:29 am
Good job Gurley. TJ Yeldon looked really good too. I’m not surprised at all to see these two share the award.
bjohnDAWG
September 4th, 2012
8:43 am
Tampa Gator,
Was in Tampa last week, same time as RNC. Great city.
But that bridge over the bay….I thought with the high winds, my car was going to do a NASCAR move and just fly off the road and over the side.
I believe you are right about the ALABAMA DB’s pick. Purely legal.
As for the DAWGS…and I am a DAWG fan….we are going to have to play much better than Saturday’s effort to beat MISSOURI. Liked Gurley. Rest of team needs to getting cracking.
Bama in Atlanta
September 4th, 2012
8:50 am
It looks like both Bama and UGA have found solid, young RBs. I know some people are saying “it’s just Buffalo” but you could still see the running style, speed and power. It will be interesting to see how he does against Mizzou.
chilidawg
September 4th, 2012
9:01 am
It sure looked to me like CMR was not putting much of the playbook on the table against Buffalo, which may translate to a thorough pounding of Mizzou. The risky part of that is this week’s perception that “well, it looks like the dawgs are not as good as we thought.” It wouldn’t surprise me to see the dawgs fall in the polls this week. When will CMR learn that in the subjective system that is the BCS, style points matter?
Tampa Gator is paranoid
September 4th, 2012
9:03 am
Is my imposter around? Why does everyone hate me so much? I post the most intelligent posts on this blog and people still don’t appreciate me and what I have to offer.
gdawginkalamazoo
September 4th, 2012
9:12 am
It just looks like the MAC teams were better prepared to play against UGA and Florida. I would put that on the coaches. Or were they just more focused on the opponents this week? Could be. Regradless Branden Oliver RB from Buffalo is on the Doak Walker, Maxwell and Walter Camp awards list so our D did face a very good RB to start the season.
Basing things on one game?
September 4th, 2012
9:17 am
First game no less. Basically a glorified scrimmage to get everyone’s feet wet, use the first couple of pages of the playbook only, etc. etc.
Give Buffalo credit- they came to play. Experienced offensive line averaging about 320, heady quarterback, good tough running back. Think they will have a decent season.
Judging how Florida, Georgia, Miss State, Missouri and others who played lesser opponents will do is kind of shortsighted in my opinion.
Teams that played major conference opponents you can get a better read on, even there it is way too early to know how good or bad they will be.
Obviously Bama looked in midseason form, Kentucky looks to be really hurting, still we will know lots more after week 3.
gdawginkalamazoo
September 4th, 2012
9:18 am
Does anybody else on here hear Hans & Fran saying “The Gurley Man had a great weekend running the football” ?
Wild Dog`
September 4th, 2012
9:20 am
Tampa Gater, not impressed with your selfevaluation and your pompous attitude.
zbulldawg
September 4th, 2012
9:35 am
LET THE BIG DAWG EAT
DIT
September 4th, 2012
9:37 am
@Tampa Gator
Good luck against A&M. Making Driskell(sp) starting QB ws a good move by CM. Forget some of these posters on here. You make a much more civil post than most of these so-called dawg fans on here.
I feel it’s important for the Dawgs and Gators to make their own statement games this Saturday. Mizzou is coming into the game pretty confident. I hope it back fires on them. Our D has to look a whole lot better though.
zbulldawg
September 4th, 2012
9:44 am
Shoot I would have rather had been playing Ole Miss !! LOL
HUH?????????????
September 4th, 2012
9:51 am
Not sure how a player from UGA who played an easy opponent gets rookie of the week.
HUH?????????????
September 4th, 2012
9:52 am
“Give Buffalo credit- they came to play. Experienced offensive line averaging about 320, heady quarterback, good tough running back. ”
It gets sadder and funnier to see UGA fans coming up with excuses for their easy schedule. Making Buffalo seem like a big time football program is laughable and UGA fans should be ashamed.
HABDAWG
September 4th, 2012
9:52 am
Just the first week. So let’s just relax and enjoy the ride and in three or four weeks it will be much clearer who the contenders are as well as the pretenders. Until then let every team and every fan dream big because that is what makes college football so great.
I for one was very impressed with Gurley and Marshall as well. The defense not so much, but look for different things this Saturday against Mizz. If not it will be a long afternoon for my Dawgs. I am concerned the early misses from Murray to wide open recievers, hopefully he was just to amped up for the first game?????
Go dawgs………………..
HUH?????????????
September 4th, 2012
9:53 am
GO DAWGS!!!! BEAT THOSE UNRANKED TEAMS!!!! WE GONE WIN US DA SEC CHAMPIONSHIP! BAMA AIN’T GONE KNOWED WHAT HIT EM!
HABDAWG
September 4th, 2012
9:54 am
“….with the early misses….”
DawginLex
September 4th, 2012
9:54 am
HUH??
Why are you even commenting?
Auburn was pitiful just like I told you they would be. Pathetic.
Looking at a 1-4 start. Just like I told you.
HABDAWG
September 4th, 2012
9:56 am
@HUH?????????……………………………HUH???????????
You dummy!
D man
September 4th, 2012
9:58 am
I don’t know if the Milliner int was legal or not but as an SEC fan, you gotta love the way Bama beat down the little, BIG 10 Michigan team… That interception was cool and so was all of the hits they put on Michigan. Looked like boys playing against men… SEC, SEC, SEC…
D man
September 4th, 2012
9:59 am
Can’t wait to watch Gurley against Mizzo. That will tell us if he is for real or not. Sure looked good on Saturday…
Alphare
September 4th, 2012
10:20 am
Why cannot Gurley pick on somebody of his own size, like TJ Yeldon did?
UGA Insider
September 4th, 2012
10:22 am
UGA hopefully will get healthy and CMR will not keep Tree and Rambo suspended. Our defense is in trouble Saturday night if we don’t get some pressure.