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Stafford, Gamble help Georgia top LSU

Oct 26, 2008 - 1:24 AM BATON ROUGE, Louisiana (Ticker) -- Matthew Stafford tossed two touchdowns and rushed for another Saturday as ninth-ranked Georgia posted its third consecutive victory, an emphatic 52-38 triumph over No. 11 Louisiana State in a Southeastern Conference shootout.

Linebacker Darryl Gamble returned a pair of interceptions for scores while Knowshon Moreno rushed for 168 yards and a TD for the Bulldogs (7-1, 4-1 SEC East), who have remained in the national championship picture despite a loss to Alabama on September 27.

"We've got a good team, and we've got some good SEC opponents," Gamble said. "That gives us a little more leeway because it's always a hard game no matter who we play. I think this win puts us up high again."

Charles Scott rushed for 150 yards and two scores and Jarrett Lee passed for 267 yards and three TDs but was intercepted three times for LSU (5-2, 3-2 West), which has lost two of its last three contests.

"The story is the mistakes," Tigers coach Les Miles said. "When you play a quality opponent, you cannot give them turnovers. You can't uncover people in coverage. You can't let runs that should be tackled go untackled. Our football team has to learn that."

Stafford completed 17-of-26 passes for 248 yards. He fired a 5-yard TD pass to Kenneth Harris in the second quarter and found freshman AJ Green for a 50-yard score in the third.

"Matt is really mature," Georgia coach Mark Richt said. "He is staying in there when everything is flying around him and focusing downfield and throwing strikes. That is what he has got to do."

"We go into every game trying to score every time we get the ball," Stafford added. "That's our thought process and what we work towards, and we were able to move the ball well on them. We got some big plays when we needed them today."

Moreno then broke open the game with a 68-yard TD rush, giving Georgia a 38-17 cushion with 3:55 remaining in the third quarter. The sophomore made a cell phone gesture after his score, similar to the one Florida quarterback Tim Tebow made at Tiger Stadium last season.

"It was nothing, I was just having fun," Moreno said of the celebration. "It was more about celebrating with my teammates more than anything."

Gamble opened the scoring on the first play of scrimmage, returning an interception 40 yards to the end zone.

"We went over that play a lot. We watched it a lot on film," Gamble said of his first interception. "When LSU was coming up in that slant formation, I read it. Coach (Willie) Martinez prepped me for it. I was ready, and I came up big."

The sophomore also ended any chance of a Tigers comeback in the fourth quarter with a 51-yard interception return for a score, tying an NCAA record for interception return TDs by a linebacker in a game.

"Darryl's a guy who always comes to practice and works really hard," Georgia defensive back Asher Allen said. "You saw he ended the game with a big time play. Ending the game like that, you see him do it in practice, and he took it to the big game."

Brandon LaFell made three catches for 72 yards and two touchdowns and running back Keiland Williams added two receptions for 72 yards and a score for LSU, which was outgained by a 467-458 margin.