ATHENS, Ga. - Georgia senior kicker Marshall Morgan never had a choice when it came to easing into his college career.
Signed in 2012 to replace Blair Walsh, currently a Minnesota Vikings All-Pro kicker, Morgan arrived from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., without anyone in front of him on the depth chart. He could either produce right away as ESPN's No. 5 kicking prospect in the nation or leave the Bulldogs in a potential mess on special teams.
Having scored 391 career points entering Saturday night's home game against Georgia Southern, he obviously chose the former.
"I'm definitely blessed to have started as a freshman and to come out here for four years and pretty much play in every game," Morgan said this week. "It's been a fun run."
Bulldogs glance
› Georgia (7-3) vs. Georgia Southern (7-2) › Sanford Stadium › Saturday, 7 p.m. › ESPNU and 102.3 FM
It’s up ... it’s good
The top five scorers in SoutheasternConference football history:› 1. Georgia kicker Blair Walsh (2008-11) 412› 2. Georgia kicker Billy Bennett (2000-03) 409› 3. Georgia kicker Marshall Morgan (2012-present) 391› 4. Alabama kicker Leigh Tiffin (2006-09) 385› 5. Tennessee kicker Jeff Hall (1995-98) 371
Morgan scored eight points in last Saturday's 20-13 win at Auburn, going 2-for-2 on both field-goal and extra-point attempts. Should he repeat that performance against the Eagles, next week at Georgia Tech and in Georgia's undetermined bowl, he would become the Southeastern Conference's all-time leading scorer.
Walsh currently holds the mark, having tallied 412 points from 2008 to '11.
"I'm just going to try and make every kick that I have the opportunity to," Morgan said, "and if I get enough of them, that would be great."
Walsh set the record by topping former Bulldogs kicker Billy Bennett, who racked up 409 points from 2000 to '03. Bennett would have scored more had the NCAA allowed bowl-game totals to count before the 2002 season.
"Part of the reason we have the top three in the SEC has a lot to do with the fact they did start as freshmen," Richt said. "We've just cycled it out to where as soon as we knew we had a senior getting ready to leave the program, we were ready with the next guy. We did that with Blair, and we did that with Marshall.
"Those guys have had to come in from the get-go and do it, and they've all been pretty successful. Marshall had a rough time early on and missed some extra points here and there, but then he set an SEC record and has been pretty solid since."
Morgan would have scored more points, too, had he not been arrested for boating under the influence in June 2013, which warranted a two-game suspension. He missed a key kick at South Carolina last season that ultimately proved to be the difference in a 38-35 loss, but those have been the only notable blemishes on an otherwise stout career.
The 6-foot-3, 194-pounder has a 60-for-78 career mark in field-goal attempts and has made 148 of 149 extra-point attempts since the start of his sophomore season.
Morgan made field goals of 52 and 50 yards as a freshman, when Georgia reached the SEC title game. He set a league accuracy record as a sophomore by making 22 of 24 attempts (91.7 percent), and he set another SEC mark early in his junior year by making a 20th consecutive field-goal try.
His senior season has included a 34-yard field goal against Missouri with 1:44 remaining that propelled the Bulldogs to a 9-6 win, but his favorite kick remains the 42-yarder at Tennessee that gave Georgia a 34-31 overtime triumph in 2013.
"That was an away game, and it kind of silenced the fans," Morgan said. "I also had a 56-yarder that game, which was nice."
Morgan is hoping to follow in Walsh's footsteps by finding a home in the NFL. If that doesn't work out, a finance degree doesn't exactly make for a bad backup plan.
That he will compete inside Sanford Stadium for a final time this weekend seems surreal for Morgan, who feels like he just arrived.
"It's crazy, and it's probably not going to hit me until after the game, but I can't really believe it," he said. "It's gone by so fast. I can't even separate the seasons in my head. It feels like one long one."
Odds and ends
Following Georgia's two-hour practice in full pads Wednesday, Richt said right guard Greg Pyke remains hobbled by a knee injury and that Hunter Long would start at center, with Brandon Kublanow shifting to right guard. Tailback Keith Marshall (ankle) remains questionable. Richt on the injury-riddled career of senior receiver Justin Scott-Wesley, who was unable to play this season: "He was a guy who obviously had some injury issues, but when he was healthy and was given the opportunity, I thought he produced extremely well."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.