FOOTBALL
With a 42-10 victory today, No. 3 Georgia (11-1) now has set a school record for points in a season with 456. The old mark was 450 by the 2002 team in 14 games. Also, the 2012 squad becomes the ninth in school history to win at least 11 games in a season. This is Georgia’s first 11-win season since 2007. Up next, Georgia will play in the SEC Championship game, December 1st in Atlanta at 4 p.m. (CBS).
Coach Mark Richt
Opening Statement…
“This was a game that everybody was worried about us looking ahead. You don't do that when you're playing Georgia Tech. This game means a lot for us. Our coaches prepared hard, they were diligent, and the players took to the coaching, I thought we played a superb game. I'm so proud of everybody. I could not have asked for a better day than today."
"Our goal was to win every phase of the game, for every unit to win. I think we may have done that. That's more than a coach can ask for really."
"Turnovers are huge when you play this team. The time of possession was 40-20 in their favor and they look to control the clock and move the ball down the field methodically. When they hold it, it reduces your number of possessions. To end a possession for them with a turnover was huge. Then to score, that was huge, too. Offensively, early on, we did whatever we wanted to do. It was a great job by everybody staying focused. They did about as well as you can do."
"When you go to practice and the scouts are in full pads and slashing you on every down, you'd better be focused or you're going to get hurt. Our scouts are awesome. They play for the love of the game and for their love of Georgia. I can't tell you how much I appreciate them. If you're looking to make a hire, hire a walk-on. Those cats are serious about team and hard work."
"Rambo had a big day. It was great to see him tie that record. He's a fantastic player."
"We'll be grinding and working hard and coming up with the best plan possible as quickly as we can. We know it's going to be a battle. We're looking forward to the opportunity to get back to that game, and it's another chance for us to play well. That's the goal."
Defense: Tech was held to a season-low 10 points on 426 yards of total offense. In the first half, Tech was limited to 3 points which was its lowest this year. Tech’s lone touchdown came with 7:25 left in the contest as Georgia was up 42-3. Tech’s first drive was halted at the Dawg 1 by a turnover caused by senior Bacarri Rambo, and it led to a touchdown. Junior inside linebacker Alec Ogletree posted a career-high 15 tackles which was a team-best this season while senior inside linebacker Christian Robinson had a career-high 13. Senior nose John Jenkins had a career-high 11 stops.
Linebacker Christian Robinson
On playing his final home game...
"It was emotional. I got down there and saw my family, and it's the first game that everyone has been here, and it was emotional. It was a great day, a great win and a great way to go out.
On moving forward...
"It's an opportunity and we have to take advantage. We have to see next week as just another game. Sure, where we're ranked might mean certain things, but bottom line is that it's just another week. We're still in it and this is everything that we've worked for all year.
Rambo Tied Interception Mark: Senior safety Bacarri Rambo tied a school record with his 16th career interception, matching College Football Hall of Famer Jake Scott. He returned it 27 yards to give him 293 career return yards, which ranks third in school history. Earlier in the game, Rambo had a forced/recovered fumble. Rambo finished with eight tackles.
Murray With 3,021 Passing Yards: In the opening touchdown drive, junior quarterback Aaron Murray eclipsed the 3,000-yard mark for a season becoming the first quarterback in SEC history to have 3,000 passing yards in three straight seasons. For the half, he finished 7-for-9 for 126 yards including a 57-yarder to Malcolm Mitchell and a 11-yard touchdown pass to junior split end Rhett McGowan. In the second half, he connected with tight end Jay Rome for a 24-yard touchdown strike. Murray finished 14-of-17 with 215 yards, and 2 TDs in three quarters as sophomore Parker Welch took over in the fourth quarter.
Highlights By The Offense: Georgia took a 7-0 lead on a 4-play, 44-yard drive in just 1:03. It was set up by a 47-yard kickoff return by sophomore Malcolm Mitchell and capped by a three-yard rush by freshman Todd Gurley. Gurley added his 2nd rushing touchdown of the day and 14th of the year for a 14-0 edge with 6:14 left in the first quarter to close out an 8-play 50-yard drive in 2:42 following a Tech turnover. Freshman Keith Marshall’s 15-yard touchdown scamper capped a 3-play, 85-yard drive in 29 seconds for a 21-3 edge. Gurley finished with 97 yards on 12 carries with 2 touchdowns while Marshall had 66 yards on seven carries with two touchdowns. In the second half, redshirt freshman tight end Jay Rome notched his first career touchdown catch, a career-long 24-yarder to make it 35-3. Marshall added a 17-yard touchdown run for a 42-3 lead.
Tailback Todd Gurley
On moving forward...
"We have to be ready. This is the biggest game of the year so far, so we have to come out this week and be prepared."
On his play today...
"The offensive line was playing great and I was just running behind them. We were just going from the beginning"
On today's game-plan...
"We wanted to start the game with tempo and we did and then kept it up the entire game. We just rode the momentum the whole game."
Tight end Jay Rome
On moving forward...
"We going to go into this week like it's any other. This was the situation that we wanted to be in and now we're here. We're going to game-plan, practice hard and then when its time for the game we'll be ready to go."
On scoring his first career touchdown...
"It was a great feeling. I've been waiting a while for it so I'm happy to have finally gotten it. Coach has been telling me to just keep grinding and eventually a touchdown will come. Let's hope the first one was the hardest."
Wide Receiver Rhett McGowan
On today's game...
"We put our foot on the pedal from the start and didn't let up the entire game. I think that we executed in all three phases of the game--offense, defense
and special teams--and it showed out there today."
Points off Turnovers: Georgia got 14 points off one Tech fumble and one Tech interception. On Tech’s first possession, senior safety Bacarri Rambo caused a fumble and recovered it, returning it 49 yards to the 50. It led to a touchdown. Later in the 2nd quarter, Rambo notched his 3rd interception of the year and 16th for his career. It led to a touchdown. For the year, Georgia is now +8 in turnover margin and scored 65 points off 25 turnovers.
Series With Tech: With a 42-10 win, Georgia now leads the series 63-37-5 including 11-1 under Mark Richt. Georgia retains the Governor’s Cup Trophy. The Dawgs are 48-8 against teams from outside the SEC under Richt.
Georgia Tech Head Coach Paul Johnson
Opening Statement…
“If you watched the same game that I did, it was a pretty good thumping. We could not slow them down and we could not finish drives offensively. It was almost like de ja vu. The same kid made a play against us two years ago when he took the ball out of our guy’s hands. You have to give him some credit because that play was a killer. We couldn’t match Georgia score for score, which is what we have been doing all season.
On the offensive struggles in the red zone…
“We had some penalties and couldn’t convert a couple of fourth downs. You can’t do things like that against a good football team and they have a pretty good football team. When you do that against a good team, you don’t give yourself a chance. What we couldn’t do is turn the ball over and we did. We knew we had to maximize the possession. I think in the first half we had the ball four or five times, we get down there and miss two field goals. They get the ball out of our hands on the 12-yard line. In the other games we have played this year, we have managed to score touchdowns when we get to the other end of the field and we were still in the game. This one we couldn’t.”
On the turnovers…
“Any time you turn the ball over it isn’t a good thing, but I think it hurt the flow of the game. They got off to a great start, scored, and we got the ball back and went right down the field and looked like we were going to go in for a score and turn it over. Instead of us having a first down inside the 10, they had it at midfield and went back and scored in about four or five plays.”
Georgia Tech Quarterback Tevin Washington
On today's game...
"Today was very frustrating. We've been preaching all week to take care of the football, and we did just the opposite. We just went out there and laid an egg. We didn't play good as a team today. It was just a bad overall effort. We shot ourselves in the foot a lot, but we've still got a shot at an ACC Championship and a BCS bowl game, so we've still got a lot to play for."
Georgia Tech A-Back Robert Godhigh
On Georgia Tech's offensive performance...
"We moved the ball on them pretty much the whole game, but we lacked the focus to finish out our drives. We also didn't take care of the football. Georgia's fast, and they play with a lot of effort. They're always flying to the ball."
For Starters: Junior right guard Chris Burnette returned to the starting lineup after missing the past two games with a shoulder injury. Senior Christian Robinson made his second straight start at one of the inside linebacker spots.
Captains: Seniors Tavarres King (flanker), Sanders Commings (cornerback), Shawn Williams (strong safety) and Ty Frix (long snapper) served as the game captains.
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