UPDATED: UGA now one win away from SEC title game with 37-10 victory over Ole Miss
ATHENS — One win away.
That’s how far the Georgia Bulldogs are from returning to the SEC Championship game. They got one step closer to it Saturday with a harder-than-it-looked 37-10 win over Ole Miss on homecoming at Sanford Stadium.
To get all the way to the Georgia Dome — where they lost to LSU in the championship game a year ago — the Bulldogs will have to do what it has often had to do when it was in position to win a conference title. It will have to go through Auburn.
The No. 6 Bulldogs (8-1, 6-1 SEC) will repeat as SEC Eastern Division champions if they can beat their oldest rival next weekend in Jordan-Hare Stadium. The Tigers (2-7, 0-6), who won the national championship just two years ago, are still looking for their first conference win of season.
Because of what’s on the line next week Saturday on “The Plains,” Georgia’s postgame celebration was short-lived.
“I tried to start the minute the game was over,” Georgia coach Mark Richt said. “I told them right away they needed to get their minds right now; get your jaws set. Auburn’s a fierce rival. They don’t like Georgia and they’re going to play their tails off. Hopefully with what’s on the line they’ll respect that.”
Georgia’s players were listening.
“Auburn is all that’s on our minds,” said freshman tailback Todd Gurley, who recorded his sixth 100-yard rushing game of the season (117 on 18 carries). “Now it’s the biggest game. That’s the one we’ve got to have.”
Said senior receiver Tavarres King:“This league is insane; the athletes are all so good,”“Anybody can slip up on anybody any day. We won’t overlook anybody.”
Saturday provided a good lesson to that end as it took the Bulldogs a while to get going against Ole Miss (5-4, 2-3 SEC) Georgia actually trailed for all but the final three seconds of the first half. That’s when the game turned on a scintillating touchdown pass from Aaron Murray to King.
Georgia faced third-and-20 at its 40-yard line after Murray had been sacked on back-to-back plays. They were sack numbers four and five in the first half and it appeared the Bulldogs would be satisfied with trailing by three at the half.
They weren’t. Offensive coordinator Mike Bobo called for deep routes down each sideline. After pump-faking to the left side, which moved the Ole Miss safety, Murray evaded pressure and ran to the right. He found King running free behind Ole Miss cornerback inside the Rebels’ 20 and delivered a strike.
“I just threw my hand up and gave Murray a hooty-hoo and he saw me,” King said. “It was one of those plays where we just saw each other, our eyes connected and he made a great play.”
That and Marshall Morgan’s extra point gave the Bulldogs a 14-10 lead as it left the field for intermission. The Bulldogs did so with the knowledge it would receive the second-half kickoff. They took full advantage, scoring on their next two offensive possessions and that was pretty much that.
“It was good to get 14 points in a row; it was crucial,” Richt said. “I thought Ole Miss out-played us in the first half. We out-scored them but they out-played us.”
Murray also had a 66-yard touchdown pass to Marlon Brown earlier in the second quarter and was pretty much unstoppable from then until the Bulldogs took their foot off the gas in the fourth quarter. By then they led 30-10.
It was another huge day for Aaron Murray, who passed for 384 yards and 4 TDs, almost all of it coming in the second and third quarters. (AJC photo by Brant Sanderlin)
It was a nice rebound for Murray, who had three interceptions in last week’s win over Florida. The junior from Tampa finished the night with 384 yards and four touchdowns on 21-of-28 passing. Already the school record-holder, he now has 80 career TD passes, which is sixth in SEC history.
“I’m a little sore, but nothing that a good ice bath won’t take care of,” said Murray, who was hit several other times in addition to the sacks. “You always feel better after a big win like this.”
Murray didn’t want to waste much time talking about Saturday’s game. He was already focused on next week.
“It’s going to be a tough game,” he said. “It’s at their place. Anytime you play away, it’s always a challenge. It’s going to be a love environment and it’s a big-time rivalry game. We know they’re going to be ready to go and we to be, too.”
The Bulldogs’ defense that was the story of the second half. They limited Ole Miss to just 55 yards after halftime and actually out-scored the Rebels’ 2-0 from the 11:45 mark of the second quarter on. That was thanks to a safety by linebacker Alec Ogletree, who also had an interception, a sack and led Georgia with 11 tackles. Ole Miss had three turnovers and managed just 46 yards on 29 rushes.
“It doesn’t get much better than that,” Ogletree said. “We made adjustments to shut them down. It was great.”
Momentum was either team’s to take in the first half. The two teams combined for four turnovers in five plays midway through the second quarter. The series began with Georgia’s Keith Marshall fumbling on a run around left end. The fumble was caused by Ole Miss linebacker Denzel Nkemdiche, a redshirt freshman from Grayson.
The Rebels took over at the Georgia 31, but gave the ball back on the very next play. It’d probably be more accurate to say the Bulldogs took it. After catching a pass deep in Georgia territory, Ole Miss receiver Vince Sanders was swarmed by Bulldogs. Safety Bacarri Rambo ripped the ball loose and cornerback Damian Swann scooped it up and returned it 53 yards to the Mississippi 30.
But the Bulldogs could only keep possession for one play. On the second, tailback Todd Gurley broke off right tackle for a 13-yard gain. But once again Nkemdiche forced the ball loose and the Rebels recovered at their own 12.
Then Ole Miss gave it right back again. Scrambling right under heavy pressure, the Ole Miss quarterback hurled a long pass high over the middle of the field. Linebacker Alec Ogletree rose high for the leaping interception and Georgia took over on offense again, this time at its own 49.
Ultimately the hot-potato exchange didn’t lead to anything. Georgia eventually went for a first down on fourth-and-two at the Ole Miss 43 and failed to complete a pass to Malcolm Mitchell. Then the Rebels had to punt the ball back on downs after the next possession, setting up the nine-play, 84-yard drive for the Bulldogs to take the lead.
Georgia found itself on its heels in the early going, falling behind 10-0 early in the second quarter on a 13-yard touchdown pass from Wallace to tight end Jamal Mosely.
The Rebels took the opening kickoff and quickly drove down to the Bulldogs’ 11-yard line, mainly on the merits of Wallace’s 51-yard pass to Ferbia Allen. Allen was left wide open running down the sideline after safety Shawn Williams dove for the interception but missed it.
But the Bulldogs’ bowed in the red zone and stopped Ole Miss for a six-yard loss on third down. The Rebels settled for a 34-yard field goal from Bryson Rose and a 3-0 lead less than three minutes into the game.
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192 comments Add your comment
DawgNole
November 4th, 2012
12:50 am
Big Crimson 75
November 4th, 2012
12:34 am
Bradley has the worst filter.
Who did what against who, when, where & by how much means NOTHING.
That is the absolute worst way to predict how a game is going to turn out.
________________________
And he responds to your comment by announcing that “Comments are closed.”
Yeah, Bradley, that’ll show ‘em!
AHDawg
November 4th, 2012
12:52 am
To: The shame of UGA: Your quote, “So the bottom line is that Georgia Tech – win or lose – does so with honor and integrity, while the lowlife punks, woman beaters, drug users, and drunks in Athens continue to embarrass us all.”
Shame, You seem to have forgotten Ga Tech has become a habitual violator of NCAA rules. Two years probation in 2005 for using 17 academically ineligible athletes – these are the smart kids you mention? – in four sports of which 11 of these players were football players. Tech paid a fine, vacated games, and lost scholarships. The NCAA investigating committee, said “Tech’s registrars and academic advisers were inadequately trained in NCAA regulations.” We’re not talking about kids here, we are talking about the GT administration. Then, Tech was caught cheating and was stripped of it’s ACC Championship, fined $100,000.00, put on 4 years probation, reduction of recruiting days, public reprimand, and censure. Problems with UGA’s student/athletics PALE IN COMPARISON to Tech’s multiple violations, especially when the GT THUGS ARE the GA. TECH LEADERS – Athletic Directors (Dave Braine & Dan Radakovich), head coaches, academic advisers, etc. You call this, “honor and integrity”? Maybe you should look up the definition of honor and integrity. By the way, GT had at least 4 players suspended the beginning of the season: Louis Young, Daniel Drummond, Chris Jackson, and Justin Moore.
I agree Mark Richt does make a lot of money ($3,500,000) but we get more bang for the buck with his 8 win 1 loss season, so far, when compared to Paul Johnson’s $2,600,000 but has a pitiful 4 wins 5 loss record. UGA has a winner, GT has a loser and GT would swap coaches with UGA in a heartbeat.
dbc
November 4th, 2012
12:53 am
As far as I’m concerned, UGA can beat either LSU or Bama IF they can somehow put together a complete game — which hasn’t been done in years. That’s a very big IF, I know — but in my mind, LSU beat themselves more than Bama beat them. Take care of Auburn, stay somewhat focused for the other 2, and then get worked into a lather for the Tide. UGA can beat them. But the D from Florida has to be there, as well as the O line — and Murray has to drop his lollipop and actually stare down a superior opponent. Stranger things have happened…
Big Crimson 75
November 4th, 2012
12:53 am
It’s exciting to see a Bama-Ga SCE CG.
First time ever, which is one of those co-wink-e-dinks.
Big Crimson 75
November 4th, 2012
12:55 am
Bama earned that win tonight.
A Win in Death Valley at night aren’t given to ya.
Mobile Dawg
November 4th, 2012
12:56 am
NCDawg, throttle your excitement with a dose of reality. Kool aid helps….
Mobile Dawg
November 4th, 2012
12:58 am
Again Big Crimson, enjoy, our equivilent was the UF win last week, and it truly doesn’t compare to what you guys faced tonight. It was an epic game….
Really?
November 4th, 2012
1:02 am
MB must have been ready to go home and hit the sack. Even the obama kid was being more obnoxious than offensive. Oh well mb had a long day but not sure why he had to shut it down. More hits for good old chip.
Robert Nkemdiche is obviously a talent but it’s not bitter grapes when I say it won’t bother me at all when he signs elsewhere. His hijinks all year long have been bad enough but his brother being bitter and talking smack after CMR went above and beyond to help the kid REALLY rubbed me the wrong way.
Crowell was a good example of a kid that has talent but too much baggage. I wonder if Nkemdiche will end up that same way?
01HAWK
November 4th, 2012
1:03 am
Floriduhs 14-7 win over MIZZOU does not make the win by UGA over FLORIDUH that impressive.
You blew it with the bad loss to USCE, even if you win the SEC Championship game, you will not get in to the BCS game.
BCS will ot take a team that got blown out 35-7…………………..BANK ON IT
Pazian
November 4th, 2012
1:03 am
Big Crimson: Great win tonight. I enjoyed the hell out of your game with LSU. Can’t wait to see you guys in Atlanta
Best sign on College Gameday Today: The huge Mettenberger sign that read “Kiss my Stache”
Mobile Dawg
November 4th, 2012
1:04 am
I think Bradley got a bit sensitive tonight, perhaps he’s an Obama supporter…. I won’t post on his blogs any longer.
Really?
November 4th, 2012
1:04 am
I hate to admit it but that was a dang exciting game tonight. I’m sure all the west coast college football fans would disagree but their opinions don’t matter anyway.
Big Crimson 75
November 4th, 2012
1:08 am
I hate to admit it but that was a dang exciting game tonight. I’m sure all the west coast college football fans would disagree but their opinions don’t matter anyway.
—-
That we can agree on.
Both lines!!
Mobile Dawg
November 4th, 2012
1:09 am
Your right 01 Hawk, does it make you feel better? You’re one of the ones I would have liked to seen have to deal with a loss. You make your fan base look pious, have a little class. You sound like SSI’s little sister.
Big Crimson 75
November 4th, 2012
1:11 am
I enjoy watching Oregon play football.
I’ll believe it’s a championship formula, when they win one.
The weakest Defense from the SEC to win a BCS Title the last 6 years was Auburn’s.
They held the Quacks to 19 points??
Pazian
November 4th, 2012
1:12 am
Oregon reminded me of West Va tonight. Good offense but absolutely no defense at all. I think they;d be easy to beat for an SEC Champ with a stout defense. The same pretty much applies to k-state their defense looked weak against OkSt. As for ND… LOL, I pray if we make the NCG we get to play ND because we’ll have to play the best team in the country just to get there. IF we beat #1 Alabama, a blowout against a cupcake like ND would be fun
kingdaddy
November 4th, 2012
1:14 am
I said Fool’s Gold was Muleshoes girlfriend and Bradley put my comment under moderation or something. They were making fun of Richts religion when I replied about the girlfriend jest. Bradley’s filters are garbage. Make fun of Richts religion, but can’t make fun of two idiots that teamup against Coach Richt. Makes no sense…
Mobile Dawg
November 4th, 2012
1:18 am
kingdaddy, don’t know what “under moderation” means and really don’t care. Bradley was out of line tonight, maybe pms’ing. Like I said, maybe he was offended by the Obama comments. Sux being a liberal journalist. Sic’m Dawgs.
kingdaddy
November 4th, 2012
1:18 am
Congrats 75, hope to see ya in the Dome. Still got to get past the Barn…
Big Crimson 75
November 4th, 2012
1:19 am
Bama will probably be a 10 point favorite against UGA, which means absolutely nothing.
UGA will have an advantage hearing they can’t beat Bama all week leading up to the game.
We can’t hide our weakness, #13 at Corner. He’s awful & he’s been awful all season.
I expect an excellent, clean, hard-fought game.
I’ve heard every Nick Saban Pressers leading up to that weeks game since he’s been at Bama & I can say without a doubt, he has as much, if not more respect for Mark Richt than any Coach in the SEC.
DawgNole
November 4th, 2012
1:20 am
Mobile Dawg
November 4th, 2012
1:04 am
I think Bradley got a bit sensitive tonight, perhaps he’s an Obama supporter…. I won’t post on his blogs any longer.
____________________
Yeah, he was defensive all day. I like it when the bloggers interact with the posters, but he lowered himself a bit with his nya nyas. Biggest problem is his filters, which are inexcusable with the harmless stuff they snag. His response to Big Crimson questioning those filters was to “close comments.” Pretty poor for a big-city newspaper columnist.
Big Crimson 75
November 4th, 2012
1:22 am
king — thanks bro.
I think we got the tougher test with A&M!!
Them Aggies are pretty good.
Aubie is awful, butt they’ll get up for y’all.
DawgNole
November 4th, 2012
1:25 am
kingdaddy
November 4th, 2012
1:14 am
I said Fool’s Gold was Muleshoes girlfriend and Bradley put my comment under moderation or something. They were making fun of Richts religion when I replied about the girlfriend jest. Bradley’s filters are garbage. Make fun of Richts religion, but can’t make fun of two idiots that teamup against Coach Richt. Makes no sense…
____________________
Hell, don’t feel bad. One of my comments that was “under moderation” was “Can’t disagree with you on that one.” Maybe I should’ve said “I disagree with you on that one, dic*head!” That probably would’ve gotten through.
The real shame is that the AJC doesn’t appear to have an IT Dept that can control its filters.
kingdaddy
November 4th, 2012
1:25 am
Mobile
Most of the idiots left the blog by the 3rd quarter. It was a plesant win and a nice night to blog. I must have missed the Obig-ears comments. Too bad…
Mobile Dawg
November 4th, 2012
1:26 am
As far as filters go, Bill Kings blog filters probably 50% of my posts. Never had a problem with Bradley, my comment was under moderation; we make his living, like the Dawgs financials, we pay their way. As far as all day, I wasn’t on the blog during the game.
Big Crimson 75
November 4th, 2012
1:27 am
Pazian — I’m telling ya, ND is the Team to worry about for UGA.
Oregon likely gets one slot, if ND loses, the SEC Champ gets the other slot.
If UGA beats Bama, they jump K-State.
I don’t think UGA can jump ND or Oregon.
DawgNole
November 4th, 2012
1:28 am
Big Crimson 75
November 4th, 2012
1:22 am
king — thanks bro.
I think we got the tougher test with A&M!!
Them Aggies are pretty good.
Aubie is awful, butt they’ll get up for y’all.
______________________
The best hope UGA has against BAMA, assuming we both beat Auburn and y’all beat A&M, is that virtually NOBODY will give us a chance.
Big Crimson 75
November 4th, 2012
1:29 am
Mobile — what exactly does “currently under moderation” mean??
Half my posts end there(surprise surprise).
What’s worse is when your posts are delayed about 5 mins!!
DawgNole
November 4th, 2012
1:30 am
Mobile Dawg
November 4th, 2012
1:26 am
As far as filters go, Bill Kings blog filters probably 50% of my posts. Never had a problem with Bradley, my comment was under moderation; we make his living, like the Dawgs financials, we pay their way. As far as all day, I wasn’t on the blog during the game.
___________________
Yeah, King’s are bad, too, but you can email him and he’ll actually respond–although he acts like there’s nothing he can do about the filters. That’s why I blame the AJC’s incompetent IT department.
kingdaddy
November 4th, 2012
1:32 am
DawgNole
Fantastic, glad it wasn’t just me…you know what I mean…
I helped my girlfriends sister move from around 8:30 -11:30 tonight. She moved from Athens to The Sav…
DawgNole
November 4th, 2012
1:33 am
kingdaddy
November 4th, 2012
1:25 am
Mobile
Most of the idiots left the blog by the 3rd quarter. It was a plesant win and a nice night to blog. I must have missed the Obig-ears comments. Too bad…
_____________________
Most left, true enough, but the worst ones usually hang around until everyone passes out.
Mobile Dawg
November 4th, 2012
1:33 am
Got me shaking in my boots Crimson, hope he reaps what he sews personally. Like I said, I won’t post on his site again. Good luck the rest of the year, hope you win the NC again. SEC all the way !!! Good night, church and a tee time tomorrow….
DawgNole
November 4th, 2012
1:36 am
On the topic of filters, at the opposite end of the spectrum from Bradley is Schultz, who continues to allow sickos like “Matt Choke Ryan” and “Thomas Brown” to post.
Not sure what’s worse. Need a happy medium.
kingdaddy
November 4th, 2012
1:39 am
Bill King’s always drove me nuts. Filter ya for nothin. Carvell actually banned me for a week. Now he doesn’t have much I want to comment on. I’m over Foster & Kim -Chee…
kingdaddy
November 4th, 2012
1:44 am
Mobile
Don’t forget to set your clocks back or you’ll be early for church…
Big Crimson 75
November 4th, 2012
1:54 am
Stay Thirsty gentlemen.
Go Falcons!!
8&0 tomorrow night.
Really?
November 4th, 2012
2:21 am
The worst is either dol or ken the trade school guy. Ken bans you if you insult texties but allows them to be malicious. dol bans you if you point out what a crappy writer he is. Can someone explain how arguably the most successful and popular pro team in Georgia gets stuck with that guy as their beat writer?
RunninWithTheDawgs
November 4th, 2012
6:43 am
It was like a light turned on “click” and the Dawgs offense was the awesome point scoring machine that we saw in the Tennessee game. The defense played great just like in the Fl. game except for a couple of early mistakes. As for all the people who are saying they don’t want to see us in the championship game against Bama ’cause we’ll get killed. YOU JUST WAIT AND SEE ! Go UGA.
RMikel58
November 4th, 2012
8:41 am
My hats off to the Georgia Defense. Took them a minute to get going but they were very solid in most phases of the game. Aaron Murray played alot better this time but im still concerned about the OL.
Next week in Auburn you will play a team that will play their hearts out. They do not want to go down as the team that didnt win 1 SEC Game.
Especially in front of the home crowd. Alot of them are from Georgia and besides that, we’re in the Top 10.
If you looked around yesterday youll see that alot of good teams almost lost to very bad teams in their conferences and thats because they couldnt get up to play.
Find something to get motivated about next week at Auburn because its huge game to them.
Congrads on your win but you have 3 more before you are eligable to go to the BCS bowl game and keep your ranking.
We believe in you Dawgs……………… dont come this far to only lose to a 2-6 team. Stay focused and play one game at a time.
'94 UGA Alumnus
November 4th, 2012
8:45 am
Great win. Dantzler needs to replace Theus. He can’t be any worse.
reality
November 4th, 2012
9:00 am
Big win for Auburn next Saturday….
bobdawg
November 4th, 2012
9:01 am
Shame….u must know those muggers outside your recreation stadium.
Dawg
November 4th, 2012
9:16 am
If any UGA players or fans need any motivation for the au game go watch Fairley spear Murray on utube. Au is getting exactly what they deserve this season for cheating the country out of a NC. Maybe UGA and UA can pummel Au and give them more of what they deserve.
Joey
November 4th, 2012
9:27 am
Actually, Dawg, I believe UGA started the “pummelings” last season in a blowout of AU, who was still ranked at the time.
But we need to do it again.
Go Dawgs!
Dawg
November 4th, 2012
9:43 am
Oh I agree, last years UGA/au game was beautiful, but not enough. I want them to be humiliated the rest of the year.
NCDawg
November 4th, 2012
10:25 am
Graphite… did you see a prediction? No… you assumed it. The Tide is beatable. LSU played not to lose and it cost them the game. They were beating the pants off the Tide and then they laid back on that final drive trying to keep everything in front of them. If Chavis had dialed up some more pressure at the beginning of that drive we’d be talking about whether a 1 defeat SEC team could make it into the BCS championship game.
Lesson for all D coordinators… dance with the one that brung ya… prevent D prevents you from winning.
We will see what happens next week.
NCDawg
November 4th, 2012
10:36 am
If the Dawgs D comes to play next week it is name your score time. Auburn’s defense is terrible… even worse than last year’s. The key is preventing any momentum. Do that and it’s a cruise.
AJ
November 4th, 2012
10:39 am
Bama beat Ole Miss 33 to 14, UGA beat Ole Miss 37 to 10, UGA is better on both sides of the ball.
UGA was favored by 14, but won by 27 points.
Bama will have their first loss soon enough.
And Richt will have his first BCS Championship.
Love this defense. Love this offense.
dawg2000
November 4th, 2012
10:52 am
To the Tech fan who rattled off avg SAT scores for Tech and the like, times have changed and you might need to start finding something else to hang your hat on. This UGA dummy works in corporate finance I have Tech grads working for me. This is becoming more and more the norm. Don’t look now, but UGA is a great school and produces many fine graduates. It is not a football factory, but we do get to enjoy the fact that we have a competitive football program. The main difference in our graduates and Tech’s graduates is that ours don’t stare at people’s shoes when having a conversation. Therefore, they are able to climb higher in the real world. However, Techies make great staff workers. We love hiring them.
01HAWK
November 4th, 2012
11:07 am
TO: AJ
You can not compares scores in games most of the time. If you did, then how about this one.
Floriduh does not look to good when you look at their win against MIZZOU.
They won 14-7,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,It appears that FLORIDUH was over rated. Also, compare the MIZZOU, and Florida Atlantic scores when BAMA and UGA played them both. BAMA played both of the teams better than UGA did.
BAMA – 40………………………FLORIDA ATLANTA – 7
UGA – 56………………………….FL ATLANTA – 20
BAMA – 42,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,MIZZOU – 10
UGA – 41……………………….MIZZOU – 20