ATHENS, Ga. – Aaron Murray didn’t play in last year’s humiliating loss at Neyland Stadium, when Georgia’s offense never crossed Tennessee’s 30-yard line.
On a spotless Saturday afternoon at Sanford Stadium, Murray continually thrived in Volunteers territory. The redshirt freshman quarterback threw touchdown passes to A.J. Green and Rantavious Wooten and also ran for two scores in leading the Bulldogs to a 41-14 thumping of the Vols.
“This was his best game,” Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo said. “He’s played well all year, and he’s made plays with his legs, but this was his best game as far as getting to the number two receiver and the number three receiver, and when they were covered, he’d run it. He didn’t waste a lot of time in the pocket. It was bang, bang, and then he was going.”
Murray completed 17 of 25 passes for 266 yards, and his touchdown runs covered 35 and 5 yards.
Georgia avoided its first five-game losing streak since 1953 with the victory and improved to 2-4 overall and 1-3 within the Southeastern Conference. The outcome marked a 53-point swing from Tennessee’s 45-19 romp in Knoxville last October and was the sixth consecutive double-digit decision in the rivalry series.
“We knew that we were capable of this kind of game and that we felt like we could play this kind of game all year long,” Murray said. “We had kept shooting ourselves in the foot with penalties and turnovers, but today we showed that we can hold teams to 14 points and put up some big numbers offensively.”
The Bulldogs attained their biggest margin of victory over the Vols inside Sanford since the 44-0 thrashing of 1981, which remains Tennessee’s worst loss in its 78 seasons in the SEC. That Georgia team was coached by Vince Dooley, who watched Saturday’s game from his residence about three miles away with his son Derek now directing the Vols.
Barbara Dooley, Derek’s mother, was in attendance wearing an orange sweater and red pants.
“Our growing pains reared their ugly head out there,” Derek Dooley said of the Vols (2-4, 0-3). “It’s probably what everybody expected at LSU, but it happened here.”
Murray got the Bulldogs on the board at the 8:18 mark of the first quarter with his 35-yard run. He had a 9-yard scramble across midfield two plays earlier and didn’t have any contact downfield on his scoring run until he was inside Tennessee’s 5-yard line.
“I was running for the sideline thinking I was going to run out of bounds,” Murray said. “I thought the guy covering Tavarres King was going to come off of him, but I guess he didn’t see me.”
Murray’s favorite target for a second straight week was Green, who was suspended for the first four games for violating NCAA rules. Green had seven receptions for 119 yards in last week’s loss at Colorado and had six catches for 96 yards against the Vols.
Georgia led 10-0 when Green had his longest gain of the day, catching a 33-yarder to the Tennessee 8-yard line. Green was leveled by Vols safety Janzen Jackson on the play but held on, which set up Murray’s 9-yard touchdown toss to Wooten two plays later.
“The safeties were always cheating to my side, but Aaron gave me a chance to go up and get it,” Green said. “I made a play, but I got a good lick. I had to lay there, but the catch made me feel better.”
Said Georgia coach Mark Richt: “He is a special player, and you must get a plan for him. Just playing him one-on-one is not really a good plan.”
Tennessee is off this coming weekend before hosting Alabama on Sept. 23, while Georgia will continue its run this Saturday as the unofficial team of the SEC Network when the Bulldogs host Vanderbilt at 12:21 p.m.