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Stafford, Georgia power past Oklahoma State

Sep 2, 2007 - 4:32 AM ATHENS, Georgia (Ticker) -- Matthew Stafford had few problems behind his young offensive line.

Stafford passed for 235 yards and two touchdowns as 13th-ranked Georgia overpowered Oklahoma State for a 35-14 victory Saturday night.

A true sophomore, the talented Stafford will be protected by a relatively young offensive line this season - something that does not bode well when Georgia enters Southeastern Conference play.

The Bulldogs (1-0) started true freshman Trinton Sturdivant at left tackle and redshirt freshman Chris Davis at left guard, while junior-college transfer Scott Havercamp got the nod at right guard.

But the inexperienced front five gelled quickly, paving the way for Georgia's 142 rushing yards while limiting the Cowboys (0-1) to just two sacks.

"I'm excited about way we started," Stafford said. "OSU is a good team and this was a good test for us. This was a big win. We are young in spots and we needed to have good performance."

"Our offensive line did a pretty good job tonight," Georgia coach Mark Richt added. "We did get sacked a few time, but it was a solid effort overall. They're a very young line, and I think they had some first-game jitters. Hopefully they'll be more solid when it's time for SEC play."

One of the most heralded quarterback recruits coming out of high school as a freshman last season, Stafford played with the cool of a savvy veteran Saturday, completing 18-of-24 passes while orchestrating an offense which controlled the ball for 31:47.

Thomas Brown rushed for a pair of touchdowns while Knowshon Moreno added 70 yards on 20 carries for the Bulldogs, who improved to 3-0 all-time vs. the Cowboys.

While the offense was efficient, the defense - which returned just three starters from last season - shut down OSU and star wide receiver Adarius Bowman.

The Cowboys managed just 67 yards on the ground and Bowman - one of the top wideouts in the country - finished with just 65 yards on four receptions.

"I give Georgia credit," he said. "I thought we got outcoached and outplayed, and that's that. It hurts; all around, they beat us up and down."

"There were a lot of things we did well and a lot of things we have to learn from," Richt added. "The defense played solid, the offense did well and we made some great adjustments at halftime."

Oklahoma State quarterback Bobby Reid struggled through a rocky performance, completing 16-of-30 attempts for 192 yards and one TD - a 20-yard strike to Bowman. The junior was intercepted once and sacked six times.

"Georgia played a great game and was better than us," Reid said. "They were tougher than us and beat us into submission. The game got away from our entire team."

Brown opened the scoring with a 14-yard TD run just 59 seconds into the contest and gave Georgia a 21-7 advantage with his second score of the game - a three-yard plunge with 9:43 left in the first half.

The Cowboys clawed within 21-14 on Dantrell Savage's five-yard TD-run late in the first half, but the Bulldogs pulled away on a pair of TD passes by Savage after the break.

"We have great coaching, we have guys who are ready to go and who will prepare themselves, and it is easy to play in front of this crowd," Stafford said. "When you put all of those together, it gives us a good chance to win."