Georgia 45, Georgia Southern 14
When: 1:30 PM ET, Saturday, November 17, 2012
Where: Sanford Stadium, Athens, Georgia
Temperature:
57°
Head Official:
Mark Curles
Attendance:
92746
By SportsDirect Inc.
No. 4 Georgia 45, Georgia Southern 14: Aaron Murray passed for 330 yards and four touchdowns, including two to Chris Conley, as the Bulldogs used a strong second half to pull away from the visiting Eagles.
Murray was 18-of-28 and Todd Gurley rushed for 68 yards and a score for the Bulldogs (10-1), who notched their 20th 10-win season and their first back-to-back 10-win campaigns since 2007-08.
The Eagles (8-3) had success running the ball early, and they tied the score at 7-7 on quarterback Jerick McKinnon's 1-yard touchdown run with 11:53 left in the first half. Georgia took a 17-7 lead into halftime, its defense buckled down and Murray threw touchdown passes on four straight possessions bridging the second and third quarters.
Georgia Southern did have reason to celebrate Saturday, though, as The Citadel's win over Furman gave the Eagles the Southern Conference's automatic bid to the FCS playoffs. The Eagles shared the conference title with Wofford and Appalachian State.
The Bulldogs have one more tuneup against an in-state opponent - rival Georgia Tech - before playing in the SEC Championship game.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Georgia has scored 56 touchdowns this season, the most in school history. The previous mark was set in 1942 and tied last season. … Gurley went over 1,000 rushing yards for the season, the first Bulldog to do so since Knowshon Moreno in 2008. … Georgia has won all five meetings between the teams by an average of 24.8 points, and Georgia Southern is 0-20 all-time against FBS opponents.
Top Game Performances
Receiving
| Georgia Southern |
|
Georgia |
|
Tyler Sumner
| Player |
Chris Conley
|
|
1 |
Receptions |
4 |
|
16 |
Yards |
76 |
|
16.0 |
Avg Yards |
19.0 |
|
0 |
Touchdowns |
2 |
|
0 |
Long |
0 |
Team Stats Summary
| |
Yards |
Scoring |
Defense |
| Team |
Tot |
Rus |
Pas |
TD |
FG |
INT |
Sck |
FF |
| Georgia Southern
|
318 |
302 |
16 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2.0 |
1 |
| Georgia
|
474 |
120 |
354 |
6 |
1 |
0 |
0.0 |
1 |