Sports

OXFORD, Miss. — After dropping the first two games of the 2011 season, the Georgia Bulldogs improved to 2-2 (1-1 SEC) with a 27-13 win over Ole Miss. This is the Bulldogs ninth straight victory over the Rebels in the series.

“That was an outstanding victory for Georgia football,” said head coach Mark Richt. “We did really big things on both sides of the ball.”

Everything but the scoreboard showed that the Bulldogs dominated this game.

Defensively, Todd Grantham’s unit dominated the Rebels offense. The defense gave up a total of eight first downs and 183 yards on 56 plays. Junior ILB Mike Gilliard led the Bulldog defense with seven tackles while freshman ILB Amarlo Herrera added six.

Overall, this was one of the best defensive games that Georgia has ever had under defensive coordinator Todd Grantham. Coming into today the Bulldogs have only had one sack, but finished with four today.

The Rebels scored 13 points, but 6 of them came on a punt return. The lone touchdown the defense scored came in the second quarter as Ole Miss cut the Georgia lead to 17-7.

Junior FS Bacarri Rambo recorded his team-leading third interception late in the second quarter.

Just like the Georgia defense, the Bulldog offense dominated the game as well, but only managed 27 points.

Aaron Murray and the Bulldog offense held the ball for 38 and a half minutes, and finished with a total of 475 yards on 82 plays.

Freshman RB Isaiah Crowell has a career day as he rushed for 147 yards on 30 carries, both career highs.

Murray finished the day 17-for-26 for 268 yards and two touchdowns and one interception.  Following his first touchdown pass to Charles, Murray connected with senior TE Aron White for a 35-yard touchdown pass at the 2:38 mark in the second quarter.

Even though the Bulldogs only scored three points in the second half, Murray was pleased with the performance of the offense.

“I think it was a great second half,” said Murray. We moved the ball pretty much every possession, going up and down the field. I think we looked great, both first and second half.”

Murray connected with former high school teammate Charles five times today for 59 yards and a touchdown.

“It always feels good to get a win, but we still have a lot of things to correct,” said Charles. “We’re going to celebrate the win, and then at 12:01 a.m., we’re going to start getting ready for Mississippi State.”

One area of struggle was the play of PK Walsh. The senior connected on his first and last field goals of the day, but missed three straight from 46, 48 and 35 yards. Walsh is now 5-10 this season.

Georgia finished the game going 8-for-18 on third down conversions while holding Ole Miss to

Other notes:

The attendance of today’s game was 58,042, the largest crowd of the year so far at Vaught-Hemmingway Stadium.

Captains: Georgia’s captains on Saturday were junior TE Orson Charles, redshirt sophomore QB Aaron Murray, senior DE Abry Jones and junior SS Shawn Williams.

Up Next: The Bulldogs (2-2, 1-1 SEC) return home to host Mississippi State (1-2, 0-2 SEC) in Sanford Stadium.  FOX Sports South will televise it at 12 p.m.

OXFORD, Miss. — It’s Saturday in Oxford and I am live from the “Hot Seat” Bowl bringing you live analysis from today’s game between the Georgia Bulldogs and Ole Miss Rebels.

Here is the Georgia depth chart for this game.

For live analysis, follow me on Twitter @Mike_Reiter

1st Quarter Stats and Notes: Georgia 10, Ole Miss 0

-Georgia’s defense has took the field for three possessions. On the first one, Ole Miss drove down the field into Bulldog territory, but haven’t gained a first down since that drive

-On the offensive side of the ball, Crowell has found lots of room to run and has 56 yards on eight carries.

-Murray only has one completion in the game so far, which was a 14 yard throw to Orson Charles.

-Time of possession is about equal. Georgia has held the ball for 7:26, while Ole Miss has held the ball for 7:34.

-Georgia has 8 first downs to the 3 Ole Miss has.

-The Bulldogs have outgained the Rebels, 100-33

2nd Quarter Stats and Notes: Georgia 24, Ole Miss 13

-Even though the scoreboard might not show it. The Georgia Bulldogs are completely dominating this game.

-Aron White caught his first touchdown of the season in the second quarter on a 35 yard strike from Murray. White spun off Ole Miss defenders at around the 10 yardline en route to the endzone.

-Isaiah Crowell has 92 yards on 14 carries in the first half. In the second quarter, Crowell rushed six times for 36 yards.

-Murray is 7-14, 158 yards and 2 touchdowns. The one interception bounced off Orson Charles before being picked.

-Four different receivers have caught passes from Murray. The 2 tight ends (Charles and White) have combined for five receptions, 80 yards and two touchdowns.

-Michael Gilliard leads the defense with 6 tackles. Amarlo Herrera is right behind him with four tackles.

-Zack Stoudt and Randall Mackey have combined to play quarterback for the Rebels. Stoudt is 3-8 for 38 yards. Mackey is 3-6 for 78 yards along with a touchdown and an interception.

-Georgia has outgained Ole Miss 289-134. The Rebels only have 18 net rushing yards, while UGA RB Crowell has 92 yards.

-Georgia has scored all three times it has entered the red zone. Ole Miss has yet to have a red zone opportunity.

-The UGA defensive line has been able to put pressure on the Ole Miss quarterbacks with three sacks in the first half.

-Each team has one turnover, both interceptions.

Georgia will receive the ball following halftime

3rd Quarter Stats and Notes: Georgia 24, Ole Miss 13

-This is the kind of game Georgia needs to put away, or else you are letting a team have a chance at winning a game they shouldn’t

-There was no scoring in the third quarter for either team

-Isaiah Crowell now has 22 carries and 117 yards through three quarters. Crowell has 118 yards on 16 carries against South Carolina.

-Murray is 13-21 for 222 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.

-The attendance was announced at 58,042 here at Vaught-Hemmingway Stadium. The full capacity is listed at 60,580.

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