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Rebels Drop SEC Home Opener To Georgia
Nickolas Brassell With 81-Yard Punt Return For TD
OXFORD, Miss. (AP)— The
Georgia Bulldogs held the Ole Miss Rebels to just 183 total yards and a
single offensive touchdown in a 27-13 victory on Saturday at
Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
"I thought our defense came out in the
second half and played a dominant game," Georgia coach Mark Richt said.
"The defense finished this game extremely well. One play could have
made it ugly and nasty for us, but our defense just didn't (allow)
that."
While Georgia's defense was thriving, the offense proved
capable as well. Aaron Murray completed 17 of 26 passes for 268 yards
and two touchdowns. Freshman Isaiah Crowell rushed for 147 yards on 30
carries, helping the Bulldogs (2-2, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) grind
to the road victory. Malcolm Mitchell caught three passes for 93 yards
as the Bulldogs gained 475 total yards.
The Bulldogs jumped out
to a 17-0 lead by midway through the second quarter and took a 24-13
lead into halftime. Bulldogs' kicker Blair Walsh missed three field
goals in the second half, but the Ole Miss offense could never
capitalize.
Georgia has won eight straight games in the series,
dating back to 1997. Ole Miss (1-3, 0-2) has lost 10 of their past 11
SEC games.
Georgia dominated early, with the 5-foot-11,
215-pound Crowell gashing the Ole Miss defense on the ground for
several big gains. Murray's 2-yard touchdown pass to Orson Charles gave
the Bulldogs a 17-0 lead with 6:01 in the second quarter.
"The
first half was great offensively," Murray said. "We didn't make
mistakes and we were efficient ... You could tell today that we've made
some big strides since week one."
But the Rebels responded with
a flurry. After a reverse handoff, Randall Mackey hit a wide-open Donte
Moncrief for a 38-yard touchdown to pull within 17-7. Then Ole Miss
immediately recovered an onside kick and the Vaught-Hemingway Stadium
crowd of 58,042 had something to cheer about.
The momentum was short lived. Mackey threw an interception three plays later.
"Obviously
183 yards of offense isn't enough to win in this conference or any
conference," Ole Miss offensive coordinator David Lee said. "We've got
to improve on that. But I did think there was improvement. I thought
our guys fought."
Ole Miss couldn't do much on offense unless it
was in the form of a trick play. Both of the Rebels' touchdowns came
after a reverse. Randall Mackey threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to Donte
Moncrief after taking a handoff from running back Jeff Scott. Nick
Brassell scored on an 81-yard punt return after Scott caught the punt,
ran across the field and handed off to Brassell.
The Rebels
rotated Zack Stoudt and Mackey throughout the game. Stoudt completed
just 7 of 23 passes for 71 yards and an interception. Mackey completed
3 of 7 passes for 78 yards, a touchdown and an interception.
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