Georgia Postgame Notes: Sept. 4 vs. Louisiana
September 04, 2010 | Football
Sept. 4, 2010
Recap | Final Stats | Quotes | Photo Gallery 
Openers: With today's 55-7 victory, Georgia has won 13 of its last 14 season openers, including a 9-1 mark under Mark Richt. The Bulldogs all-time record for season openers is 89-25-3.
Points to Ponder: Georgia's 55-point outburst was the most points for the Bulldogs in a season opener since beating Kent State 56-3 in 1998. The most points Georgia has scored in the Richt era was in a 62-17 whipping of Kentucky in 2004.
Non-Conference Success: Also under Coach Richt, Georgia owns a 39-4 record against teams from outside the SEC, and the Bulldogs improved to 26-1 against non-conference foes in Athens.
Murray's Debut: Redshirt freshman Aaron Murray made his debut (17-for-26, 160 yards, 3 TDs, 1 TD rushing, 1 INT). His rushing TD came in the final play of the first half as he managed to scamper in from 16 yards out. Freshman Hutson Mason came on for Murray with 2:42 left in the third quarter. As far as QB debuts go, Murray's numbers ranked second in the Richt era. D.J. Shockley had a school record five TD passes (and 1 rushing) and 289 yards in his debut during the 2005 season opener against Boise St.
First Career Pass a TD: On his first down as a Bulldog, Hutson Mason connected with Logan Gray for a 26-yard touchdown. Prior to this season, there have only been seven QBs in NCAA FBS Subdivision history who have thrown a TD on their first career passing attempt. In other firsts, it was also Gray's first TD catch of his career. Senior FB Fred Munzenmaier also had his first TD catch of his career today.
Durham Returns With A Bang: Senior SE Kris Durham started at FLK for the Bulldogs after redshirting the 2009 season with a shoulder injury. Durham finished with five catches for 83 yards (both career highs) and a touchdown. His TD reception was the second of his career after having his first in 2008. Durham's TD also marked redshirt freshman QB Aaron Murray's first career TD pass. Durham wore #31, rather than his regular #16, in honor of senior safety Quintin Banks. Banks was forced to retire this preseason because of re-occurring knee injuries. He is still working with the Bulldog program as a student coach. A different Bulldog will wear #31 each game this season.
Walsh Blasts Another 50 Yarder: Junior PK Blair Walsh drilled a 52-yard field goal in the second quarter to give Georgia a 17-0 edge. Walsh is now 7-for-11 from 50+ yards in his career. His career long of 53 came in last year's season opener at #9 Oklahoma State. He connected for his second FG of the game, a 48 yarder, early in the second quarter. Walsh is now 11-of-12 in his career from 40-49 yards.
Leading Tacklers: Senior ILB Akeem Dent and redshirt sophomore SS Bacarri Rambo led the way with six stops. Dent had a sack, and both had one tackle for a loss. Georgia limited UL to 128 yards on 53 plays. The defense did not have a penalty. Georgia had five total for 30 yards (4 on offense and one on special teams).
Points Off Turnovers: Georgia scored 14 points off of three interceptions while UL scored seven points off of one interception. Junior FS Jakar Hamilton returned the second INT for the Bulldogs 17 yards for a TD. Georgia's last three-INT game came in the win at #11 LSU in 2008. Junior CB Brandon Boykin recorded the first interception of the season for the Bulldogs late in the opening quarter. This was Boykin's fourth career INT.
First-Time Starters: Georgia had eight first-time starters. Sophomore CB Branden Smith, Murray, junior N DeAngelo Tyson, senior DE Brandon Wood, redshirt sophomore ILB Christian Robinson, redshirt sophomore OLB Cornelius Washington, Hamilton and Rambo.
Smith got his first start on defense after starting one game on offense in 2009. He also started on offense and returned the Bulldogs' first punt, marking the first time a Georgia player has started on offense, defense and special teams in the same game since All-American Champ Bailey (CB/TB/PR) in 1998. Bailey accomplished the feat five times that season.
Overall today, Georgia had 13 freshmen or redshirt freshmen see action. The true freshmen were Hutson Mason, Derek Owens, T.J. Stripling and Alexander Ogletree.
Bulldog Captains: Senior CB Vance Cuff, Munzenmaier and senior FB Shaun Chapas and senior DE DeMarcus Dobbs were the captains versus the Ragin' Cajuns.
Green Sits Out: Junior FLK A.J. Green is sitting out today's game pursuant to UGA Athletic Association policy and pending a rule from the NCAA clarifying his status.
Next Week's Opponent: Georgia (1-0, 0-0 SEC) travels to Columbia, S.C., to face South Carolina (1-0, 0-0) on Saturday, Sept. 11 at noon on ESPN. The Gamecocks downed Southern Mississippi 41-13 in Columbia on Thursday night. Georgia leads the all-time series 46-14-2 and has won seven of the last nine games.
