Saturday, November 12, 2011

Dawgs Blast Auburn 45-7

FOOTBALL

Georgia (8-2, 6-1 SEC) won its eighth straight contest, the first time the Dawgs have had an eight-game winning streak since the 2002 season when it began 8-0. Today’s 38-point margin of victory over Auburn (6-4, 4-3 SEC) was the largest in the series since a record 41-0 win in 1946.

Georgia plays host to Kentucky (4-6, 1-5 SEC) next Saturday and can clinch the SEC Eastern Division with a win. Vanderbilt beat the Wildcats 38-8 today. Georgia has won six SEC games in a row for the first time since 1982. In the Vince Dooley era, Georgia had a stretch of 23 consecutive SEC victories from 1980-83. For the first time since 1981, Georgia has beaten, Tennessee, Florida and Auburn in the same season.

Coach Mark Richt:

"We just played great. I'm trying to think of another game where we played this well in a situation that was so important to us. We knew South Carolina won its game, so we had to win. We played a top-25 team, a very good football team, and we played solid. I am as proud as I can be of our coaches and players. It's a great night to be a
Dawg. ... We had tremendous execution. I know we haven't done that for an entire game like we did tonight."

"We finished well. We had a lot of first downs when we decided to run the ball and chew up the clock. First downs like that are a tribute to the offensive line, but it also takes the fullbacks and the tight ends, everybody. To have two guys go over 100 yards is a tribute to everyone."

"I thought the most impressive play of the game was when Quintavious Harrow had that knock-'em-back, get everybody-in-the-stadium-excited tackle. That ignited our football team."

"Our fans had a lot to do with our success definitely. They created so much noise. When you see a quarterback walk to every player on the team, you know it's loud. It slows them down and it creates a little confusion for them."

"After the 0-2 start, I was really hoping we'd continue to improve as the season rolled along. The guys are gaining more confidence and they're playing hard and they're playing smart. ... After each snap, we want our guys to play hard and play physical. We want each guy to win his 1-on-1 battle. We challenged each guy to win down after down."

Junior TB Carlton Thomas came off the bench to record his first 100-yard rushing game of his career after carrying the ball for 127 yards on 15 carries. His performance included a career-long 27 yarder. Starting TB Isaiah Crowell finished with 132 yards on 24 rushes with one TD. This is the fourth 100-yard rushing game of his career. This tandem both going over 100 yards in the same game is the first for the Dawgs since Washaun Ealey (183) and Caleb King (166) accomplished the feat versus Georgia Tech in 2009. This is the first time the Dawgs have done it in an SEC game since 2004 (Danny Ware-127, Thomas Brown-122) against Vanderbilt. Today, Georgia had 304 rushing yards.

Quarterback Aaron Murray (14-of-18, 224 yards, 4 TD) set the school record with 27 touchdown passes in a season with four scoring passes in the first half. Matthew Stafford had the old mark with 25 TD passes in 2008. Murray also tied Stafford for career TD passes with 51. Murray started the scoring spurt with an 8-yard strike to Tavarres King. King now has the team lead with six scoring catches. Murray’s second TD was a diving 27-yard catch by Michael Bennett. This was a career-long grab for Bennett. FB Bruce Figgins hauled in the third TD catch of the day, which was the first of the year for him. Murray’s fourth scoring pass went to Malcolm Mitchell. Mitchell’s 25-yard score was his fourth of the season after sitting out the last three games with a hamstring injury. He finished with three catches for 85 yards.

Georgia was 12-for-15 on third down conversions, including two that went for touchdowns. The Dawgs were 7-for-8 in the opening half on third down.

Quarterback Aaron Murray:

"It’s a great win for us. We got off to an 0-2 start and sometimes the offense was playing great and sometimes the defense was playing great. It seems like it all kind of just clicked for everyone today."

"All three facets of the game played great. The defense was making it impossible for them, special teams played great and the offense was clicking. It all starts with the offensive line giving me time and opening up huge holes."

Tailback Carlton Thomas:

"We’ve been working hard. All the coaches and players have been behind each other, and it's an awesome feeling to come out and do what we did. Everyone was playing tough."

"Obviously, I got a lot of carries and I was just trying to make them the best carries of my life and make the best of the opportunity."

"We’ve got great depth and it's all starting to show late in the season. We’ve just got to keep working. I’m really excited to see where we’ll end up in January."

Georgia’s 35 points in the first half was the most points in the first half of an SEC game since 2003 when the Dawgs built a 37-10 lead over Alabama here. Georgia went on to win 37-23.

Georgia’s first scoring drive in the first quarter lasted 6:03. This was the longest touchdown drive for the Dawgs this season until the fourth quarter when Georgia had one for 7:23. In the first quarter, it was 12 plays in the drive which also matches the most plays in a scoring drive this year. Murray capped the scoring drive with a 7-yard touchdown pass to King. In the fourth, it was an 11-play, 71-yard drive capped by Isaiah Crowell from nine yards out.

The Dawgs recorded 5 sacks to help hold the Tigers to 51yards rushing on 25 carries. For the game, Auburn had 195 total yards on offense. They came in ranked 2nd in the SEC in rushing offense at 191.1 ypg. Alec Ogletree led the team with six tackles while Jarvis Jones had five stops and two sacks. Jones leads the SEC with 10 sacks, which ranks in the top 10 nationally.

Safety Bacarri Rambo:

On his interception return for a touchdown…

"I saw Abry (Jones) waving for me to come that way, so I did, and those guys just helped me into the end zone. We played great today. It’s a great day to be a Dawg."

Linebacker Alec Ogletree:

"Offense, defense, special teams, everyone played great today and it showed. We wanted to come out and play a full game together and that’s what we did. We just worked hard all week and it paid off today in the game."

Senior Brandon Bogotay connected on his first career field goal for the Dawgs on a 26 yarder in the third quarter. Bogotay missed a 35 yarder against Idaho State last season.

Freshman Isaiah Crowell fumbled the ball in the second quarter. One play later, Auburn gave the ball right back on a fumble of its own. N Kwame Geathers jumped on the loose ball for the Dawgs in his first snap of the game. Crowell had his second lost fumble of the game at the beginning of the fourth period. Auburn punted in the next series. Opponents have scored 35 points off 14 Dawg miscues. Following Geathers’ recovery, Murray connected with Figgins for a 15-yard touchdown, which was his first TD grab since the 2010 Georgia Tech game and the fourth of his career. Later in the second period, Rambo made an interception and returned it 24 yards for a touchdown. The Tigers coughed up their second fumble of the game in the third quarter as ILB Alec Ogletree got credit for the forced fumble and fellow ILB Mike Gilliard recovered it. Georgia has forced 23 turnovers and converted them into 83 points.

Sophomore N Kwame Geathers left in the second quarter with an ankle injury and did not return.

AUBURN POST-GAME QUOTES

Auburn Head Coach Gene Chizik:

On the game…

“There isn’t a whole lot I can tell you that you didn’t see. It was a disappointing loss for us. We got beat at every phase of the game tonight. We didn’t cover many people all night, couldn’t stop the run and turned the ball over. That’s why we got beat 45-7.”

On how Georgia stopped the offense…

“Georgia made some good plays and is a very talented team. With the exception of the first drive, they flat out stopped our offense. We couldn’t get some of the perimeter pass game under control. It was pretty evident what we couldn’t do.”

On Georgia…

“Hopefully we can fix some of the things that happened. Week in and week out, we look at what the defense gives us and design our game from there. Georgia is tough to defend. Murray threw tonight with great accuracy, which he as been doing all year. We just didn’t do a good job defending the perimeter pass.”

On any personnel changes…

“We’re playing with guys who have the most experience for the last 10 weeks. Tonight, the outward appearance was that we got physically dominated on both sides of the ball. Maybe when we watch film, we will find something different.”

Quarterback Clint Moseley:

On the loss…

"I really can't put a finger on it. I messed up too much and this was a big team loss. They got too many yards, and we didn't get any. It was bad."

Comparing LSU & UGA…

"Both teams know how to play defense. I don't want to cause anything by making a prediction but it will be a great game."

On Auburn's preparation for today's game…

"I really thought this was the best week of practice that we've had all season. We are a young team but that doesn't make it any better."

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