Georgia quarterback Hutson Mason looks to pass against Louisville during the first half of the Belk Bowl NCAA college football game in Charlotte, N.C., Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2014. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton) CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The Georgia Bulldogs knew they had to play Tuesday night's Belk Bowl without their offensive coordinator.
They didn't know they would be without their top quarterback.
Hutson Mason was forced out of the game late in the second quarter due to concussion-like symptoms and was replaced by redshirt freshman Brice Ramsey. Yet Ramsey was able to hand the ball off to Nick Chubb, who made a tremendous impact like so many times before.
Chubb rushed 33 times for 266 times and two touchdowns against the nation's third-ranked rushing defense as No. 13 Georgia demolished No. 20 Louisville 37-14 before an announced crowd of 45,671 at Bank of America Stadium.
"I'm very excited, but that couldn't be done without the rest of the team and the blocking and everybody doing their job," Chubb said. "I've done that before in high school, but this is a whole different animal up here."
The 5-foot-10, 228-pound freshman from Cedartown set a Georgia bowl record for rushing yardage, and his total ranks second in program history behind Herschel Walker. The 1982 Heisman Trophy winner had 283 yards as a freshman against Vanderbilt in 1980.
"It's a blessing just to be in the same sentence with him," Chubb said, smiling.
Chubb spearheaded the offense to 505 yards, with 305 of those coming on the ground against a Cardinals defense yielding 93.7 rushing yards a game. Louisville's defense is headed by Todd Grantham, who was Georgia's defensive coordinator during the 2010-13 seasons.
"You have to block well and you have to run well and you have to scheme well," Georgia coach Mark Richt said. "You have to be patient, too, because I don't know how many times early on we had 1- or 2-yard gains. It wasn't like we were just plowing through them. It took some patience."
Louisville's James Quick (17) is upended by Georgia's Kyle Vagher (28) during the first half of the Belk Bowl NCAA college football game in Charlotte, N.C., Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2014. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond) Calling Georgia's plays Tuesday night was tight ends coach John Lilly, who replaced Mike Bobo, the new head coach at Colorado State. The Bulldogs also played for the final time with Will Friend as the offensive line coach.
Georgia finished with a 10-3 record, the ninth 10-win season in Richt's 14 years at the helm. Georgia's seniors won 40 games, and the offense set single-season program records with 537 total points and 41.3 points per game.
"It was a year in which we had to overcome a lot," Richt said, "and this game was similar to the type of season that we had."
Chubb had 36 yards in the first quarter and 78 yards at halftime, when the Bulldogs grabbed a 20-7 lead. Midway through the third quarter, Chubb broke free up the middle and then raced down the right sideline for an 82-yard gain.
Sony Michel scored two plays later to extend Georgia's advantage to 27-7.
"I thought I was going to score, but their player had a good angle on me, and he didn't give up," Chubb said.
Mason left the game after completing 10 of 15 passes for 149 yards and a touchdown. He did set Georgia's single-season accuracy record, completing 67.87 percent of his passes.
Bobo held the previous mark of 65.03, setting that in 1997.
"I've never been concussed before in my life," Mason said. "I came over to the sideline, and I knew something was off. I was just super dizzy and didn't want to force anything, so I went to the locker room. I sat there for 30 minutes and a lot of it went away, and if it would have been a leg or arm, I would have been back out there.
"With the head, my awareness was not back up to 100 percent."
Ramsey threw an interception on his first attempt and finished 4-for-9 for 51 yards.
"There is so much to be proud of," Mason said. "I think you're looking at a top-10 team when it's all said and done, and that was a top-five defense we just hung 37 on. I think you just watched the best offense in UGA history."
Georgia opens its 2015 schedule at home against Louisiana-Monroe.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.