Gurley leads Dogs past Vandy

By Jeff Hart Sports Reporter

Posted 7:00AM on Sunday, October 5, 2014

ATHENS -- Malcolm Mitchell was back, if only for a few plays. Brice Ramsey gave Georgia fans a brief glimpse of the future at quarterback, and, oh yea, Todd Gurley was, well, Todd Gurley. The junior Heisman Trophy candidate danced, hurdled, and bullied his way through the Vanderbilt defense for 163 yards and two touchdowns in just over three quarters to lead the Dogs to a relatively easy 44-17 win at Sanford Stadium. And for good measure, Gurley also threw a 50-yard pass out of the Wildcat formation, the longest pass play for Georgia this season. He also owns the longest run (51-yards), and the longest kickoff return (100-yards) of the season for Georgia to this point. It was hard for Georgia coach Mark Richt to contain what he thinks of his star running back. "He's a big, physical guy," Richt said. "As the game wears on, he's in good enough condition where tired tacklers struggle to get him on the ground. He's a special player that can do a lot of things." It was the kind of performance Georgia (4-1, 2-1 SEC East) needed to keep pace for another run at the SEC Championship game. The Dogs hold their fate in their hands but also embark on a month-long road trip starting with Missouri next week, followed by trips to Arkansas, Florida (in Jacksonville), and then Kentucky. They don't return to Sanford Stadium until Nov. 15 against No. 5 Auburn. Richt and the Dogs know next week against the Tigers will be the biggest test of the season so far. He also knows the Tigers will be ready. "Missouri won the East last year, they've had this week off and and an extra week to prepare for us, and they're at home. I'm not sure what else they could be looking for right now," Richt said. Whether wanting to make a statement in the SEC East or just to buck the trend of slow starts, Georgia came out strong and owned the first quarter. The Dogs piled up 182 total yards of offense, with Gurley leading the way with 66 yards rushing and another 15 on one reception. The defense forced four Vanderbilt punts and held the Commodores to just 56 yards of offense in the first 15 minutes. "(Defensively) we're improving in a lot of areas," Richt said. "We're getting closer to communicating the things we need to do and we're executing better." After the Georgia defense forced the Commodores (1-5, 0-4 SEC East) to punt on their first possession, Gurley and the offense went to work. Hutson Mason completed two passes and Gurley rushed for 22 yards, including a 5-yard TD run to cap the 7-play, 62-yard drive. Georgia would extend its lead to 14-0 two possessions later with Gurley again doing most of the heavy lifting. He had three runs of 13-or more yards, including a 14-yard blast up the middle for his second touchdown of the quarter, and accounted for 43 yards of the 74-yard drive. Ramsey made his first appearance of the game and completed two passes for 31 yards on the drive. "Hutson practiced well this week and other than the pick he played extremely well," Richt said. "As for Brice, there's nothing like a game. You can't simulate that feeling. We made a decision to get him in early and everyone knew that." For Mason, it was a long week of reflection after hearing criticism all week after a shaky performance in last week's narrow win over Tennessee. "I had to kind of sit down and gut check myself this week and see what I had to fix," Mason said. "It was something as simple as changing my mentality. I just needed to stop trying to be somebody that I'm really not. "I'm one of those guys that performs better by trying to keep it simple and that's what I tried to do. I wanted to come out and make it as simple as possible." The Dogs took advantage of a short Vandy punt on their next possession as Mason connected with Chris Conley on a 44-yard bomb to make it 21-0 with 1:25 left in the first quarter. The second quarter was a battle of the punters with the Commodores eventually cutting the lead to 21-7 with 6:49 left in the half on a 1-yard touchdown run by Ralph Webb. Gurley would spark Georgia's final scoring drive of the half. After a 3-yard run, Gurley, out of the Wildcat formation, connected with Jeb Blazevich for 50- yards and Mason and Conley hooked up for a second time on a 5-yard TD pass with 7 seconds left in the half for a 27-7 lead. The second half held little drama as the Dogs held the Commodores to a field goal on their first possession and then Devin Bowman, on a 4th-and-2 for Vandy at the Dogs 29, stepped in front of a Stephen Rivers pass for a 63-yard interception return for a touchdown to essentially put the game away. "Devin played big for us today," fellow Georgia defensive back Damian Swann said about Bowman. "That pick-six was a huge play and it changed the momentum for us. I think Devin has really developed into someone that we can depend on a lot down the road." Marshall Morgan would add a 23-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter to push Georgia's lead to 37-10 but Vanderbilt capped a 75-yard drive with a 6-yard scoring run from Dallas Rivers to cut the lead to 37-17 with 6:16 left. Nick Chubb would do a good Gurley impersonation with 28 seconds left on a 33-yard run around the left side with two good stiff-arms for good measure for the final score. Despite defensive secondary issues, Georgia was able to handle the Commodores passing attack, holding them to 188 yards on 16-of-31 combined from Rivers and starter Wade Freebeck. Mason finished 11-of-17 for 121 yards and two touchdowns. Mason, Ramsey, and Gurley combined for 202 yards passing to seven different receivers. Blazevich led the way with 86 yards on three catches. Isaiah McKenzie had three catches, and Conley, Gurley, and Chubb each had two receptions. Mitchell had one catch for 11 yards in his first action in over a year. SCORING SUMMARY Vandy.........0.....7....3....7 -- 17 Georgia.....21....6....7...10 -- 44 First Quarter UGA -- Gurley 5 run (Morgan kick) 7-0, 11:11 UGA -- Gurley 14 run (Morgan kick) 14-0, 2:51 UGA -- Conley 44 pass from Mason (Morgan kick) 21-0, 1:25 Second Quarter VAN -- Webb 1 run (Openshaw kick) 21-7, 6:49 UGA -- Conley 9 pass from Mason (kick blocked) 27-7, 0:07 Third Quarter VAN -- Openshaw 35 FG 27-10, 11:01 UGA -- Bowman 63 INT return (Morgan kick) 34-10, 5:45 Fourth Quarter UGA -- Morgan 23 FG 37-10, 12:02 VAN -- D. Rivers 6 run (Openshaw kick) 37-17, 6:16 UGA -- Chubb 33 run (Morgan kick) 44-17, 0:28

Jeff Hart Sports Reporter