Georgia Postgame Notes - Georgia vs. Vanderbilt
October 04, 2014 | Football
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Homecoming Victory: Georgia cruised to a 44-17 Homecoming victory over Vanderbilt. The Bulldogs came in ranked second in the SEC and eighth nationally in scoring at 45.2 points a game. The offense tallied 445 yards today. The Bulldogs are now 74-17-2 on Homecoming including winning their last eight on Homecoming. In the series with VU, Georgia now leads 54-19-2.
Gurley Gets Going: Junior TB Todd Gurley finished with 25 carries for 163 yards (17th career 100-yard game) and two touchdowns and completed his first pass attempt. His first score came on a 5 yarder at the 11:11 mark in the first quarter. Gurley tallied his second touchdown of the game on a 14 yarder to put Georgia up 14-0 at the 2:51 mark in the first quarter. This marks Gurley's 43rd overall touchdown of his career and his 35th rushing touchdown. Gurley is now one of only four Bulldogs to have 3,000+ yards rushing in his career with 3,147, joining Herschel Walker-5,259, Garrison Hearst-3,232 and Lars Tate-3,017).
Gurley also recorded his first career pass completion (longest of the year for the Bulldogs) with a 50-yard pass to freshman TE Jeb Blazevich. The completion led to Georgia's final touchdown of the half, which was a 5-yard score to senior receiver Chris Conley. Conley finished with two catches for 49 yards and two TDs. Conley is now in the school's all-time top-10 list with 14 career touchdown receptions. However, junior PK Marshall Morgan had his PAT blocked after the score. Gurley has the longest kickoff return (100) and longest completion (50) for the Bulldogs this year.
INT To The House: Junior CB Devin Bowman returned an interception 63 yards for a touchdown to put Georgia up 34-10 in the third quarter. This was the first pick of his career and the first INT returned for a touchdown for the Bulldogs since Shaq Wiggins ran one back versus the Commodores last year. This is also the second straight week Georgia's defense has scored a touchdown after DE Josh Dawson recovered a fumble in the end zone last week versus Tennessee.
Bowman started and wore No. 19 rather than his regular No. 37 in honor of freshman CB Rico Johnson. Johnson was medically disqualified this week after experiencing some neurological symptoms. Senior Amarlo Herrera led the Bulldogs in tackles with nine stops.
Quick Strike: On one play, senior QB Hutson Mason connected with Conley for a 44-yard touchdown strike to go up 21-0. This was the Bulldogs' third one-play touchdown drive of the year and the quickest at nine seconds. It was also Conley's first touchdown grab of the year and Mason's sixth of the season. Mason went 11-for-17 for 121 yards and two touchdowns and an interception.
Points Off Turnovers: Georgia now holds a +4 turnover margin on the year and has converted its eight recovered turnovers into 24 points. Opponents have scored three points off four Bulldog miscues. Mason threw his third pick of the year in the third quarter in Georgia territory. The Commodores kicked a 34-yard field goal after running six plays for seven yards. Georgia junior Devin Bowman returned an interception 63 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter.
Starters: Josh Dawson started his first game of the season and second of his career. Senior C David Andrews made his team-leading 32nd consecutive start. Junior receiver Malcolm Mitchell played for the first time this season after returning from a preseason knee injury. Mitchell had an 11-yard catch. Sophomore Brendan Langley, who started four games at CB last year, played in the fourth quarter as a defensive back. Langley switched to receiver in the offseason, however the Bulldogs have several players in the secondary sidelined due to injury.
Captains: The captains were David Andrews, Todd Gurley, Jordan Jenkins and Damian Swann.
Homecoming King, Queen Crowned: Georgia's 2014 Homecoming King and Queen were senior Colton Fowlkes from Cumming, Ga., and senior Megan Ernst from Atlanta, Ga.
On Deck: The #12 Bulldogs (4-1, 2-1 SEC) hit the road to Columbia, Mo., next weekend to face #24 Missouri (4-1, 1-0). The Tigers were off this weekend.
