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No. 7 Bulldogs defeat Florida Atlantic easily

Sep 16, 2012 - 6:56 AM Athens, GA (Sports Network) - Aaron Murray threw for a career-high 342 yards and a pair of touchdowns on Saturday and No. 7 Georgia routed Florida Atlantic, 56-20, at Sanford Stadium.

Murray completed 14-of-19 passes with an interception and added two rushing touchdowns as the Bulldogs (3-0) stretched their regular-season win streak to 13 games.

Todd Gurley ran for 111 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries in the victory while Keith Marshall had 104 yards and a score on 10 rushes for Georgia, which outscored Florida Atlantic 28-6 in the second half.

Michael Bennett contributed to the blowout with 110 receiving yards and a touchdown on four catches and Arthur Lynch added three catches for 73 yards and a score.

"The offense really did a good job -- running the ball, passing the ball, pass protecting," said Georgia head coach Mark Richt. "Other than the turnovers that were alarming, it was a good output by the offense. When you get that type of output, you're executing and doing some very good things. If we can keep from shooting ourselves in the foot with turnovers and penalties, we've got a chance to be good on offense."

Graham Wilbert completed 18-of-33 passes for 183 yards with a touchdown and an interception for the Owls (1-2), who were coming off a setback to Middle Tennessee.

"I think we can execute at a high level every week, but you have to remember where we are," said Florida Atlantic head coach Carl Pelini. "We only have so many bullets in the gun. We were still executing and blocking late in the game, and I think we can use this to improve. Two or three years down the road we will have more offense to go to, so I'm not worried about that."

Damian Fortner had 14 carries for 81 yards and a touchdown in Saturday's loss, while William Dukes caught five passes for 98 yards.

The Bulldogs opened the third quarter with a pair of quick scores and rode the momentum to an emphatic victory.

Lynch began the second-half onslaught when he caught a pass from Murray near the sideline and stiff-armed a defender before reaching the ball past the pylon for a 36-yard touchdown.

Following a Florida Atlantic three-and-out, Gurley burst through the line of scrimmage and cruised past the secondary en route to a 38-yard score and a 42-14 lead.

Murray brought the Bulldogs deep into Florida Atlantic territory on their next touch, but he was intercepted by Jeremy McKnight in the end zone.

Wilbert, though, gave the ball back on the ensuing play from scrimmage when he was intercepted by Amarlo Herrera, who returned the pick 35 yards for a score.

Christian LeMay replaced Murray at the start of the fourth quarter and led Georgia on a 65-yard scoring drive. The redshirt freshman completed a 43-yard pass to Justin Scott-Wesley on the march and Ken Malcome rushed for 26 total yards on three straight carries before LeMay punched the ball in from a yard away.

LeMay made a mistake on the Bulldogs' next series when he was intercepted by Adarius Glanton, who brought the pick back 42 yards for a score. The ensuing extra point was blocked, sealing the final result.

Daniel McKinney fumbled on the game's opening possession and Georgia capitalized with a 71-yard scoring drive, which was highlighted by Gurley's 21-yard scamper and capped by Murray's short touchdown plunge.

Later in the first quarter, Florida Atlantic was the recipient of a Lynch fumble and Fortner found the end zone four plays later with a 43-yard, game- tying run.

Marshall opened the Bulldogs' next drive with a 20-yard run and Murray followed with three straight lengthy completions -- to Marlon Brown, Bennett and Tavarres King -- before the true freshman tailback Marshall broke the plane from two yards out for a 14-7 lead.

Starting from its own 3-yard line, Florida Atlantic again responded, courtesy of a pair of long completions. First, Wilbert hit Dukes for a 32-yard connection to give the Owls breathing room. Then, facing a 3rd-and-6, Gilbert threw a 48-yard strike to Dukes, who was brought down at the 1-yard line. Nexon Dorvilus hauled in a short touchdown pass two plays later to knot the score early in the second quarter.

After the teams traded punts, Georgia used eight straight rushes to regain the lead. Marshall had runs of 28 and 17 yards on the trek before Murray's sneak made it 21-14.

Shortly before the half, the Bulldogs extended their advantage when Murray found Bennett for a 67-yard scoring strike.

Game Notes

The Bulldogs racked up a school-record 713 yards of total offense ... For the first time in school history, Georgia has scored at least 40 points in each of its first three games of the season ... This was the first-ever meeting between the schools on the football field.