Georgia Bulldogs

ATHENS, Ga. -- Georgia piled up the yards in a much easier second half to pull away for a 45-14 victory against Georgia Southern.

It was over when: Georgia scored a touchdown on its first two possessions of the second half -- on touchdown passes from Aaron Murray to Chris Conley and Tavarres King -- to push a 17-7 halftime deficit to a comfortable 31-7 advantage.

Game ball goes to: Mike Bobo and Todd Grantham. Georgia’s coordinators helped turn Saturday’s game into a rout after an ugly first half. Bobo recognized that Georgia Southern’s defense had no chance of stopping Murray and the Bulldogs’ passing game, and he turned them loose in a 21-point third quarter. Grantham’s defense adjusted to Georgia Southern’s running game admirably, allowing just 31 rushing yards in the third quarter as the Bulldogs took control.

Stat of the game: 302. Georgia Southern’s flexbone offense gave Georgia’s defense all kinds of early problems, racking up 149 rushing yards on 29 carries in the first half. The Bulldogs tightened up afterward, although the Eagles finished with 302 total rushing yards. Of their 153 second-half rushing yards, 122 came in the fourth quarter after Georgia had already put away the win.

Turning point: Georgia led 10-7 with 1:12 left in the first half when Georgia Southern left guard Trevor McBurnett was flagged for a chop block that canceled out Dominique Swope’srun to the Georgia 5. Alex Hanks was instead forced to attempt a 39-yard field goal -- which he missed -- and Georgia drove 78 yards, scoring on a 24-yard touchdown pass from Murray to Malcolm Mitchell with 4 seconds left, to go up 17-7 at halftime.

What it means: No. 5 Georgia (10-1) bounced back from a slow start and got valuable practice for defending Georgia Tech’s highly similar flexbone rushing attack next Saturday.

NO. 6 (FCS) GEORGIA SOUTHERN AT NO. 5 (FBS) GEORGIA
Saturday, 1:30 p.m.
Sanford Stadium, Athens, Ga.
WSB-TV (Atlanta)/ESPN3

Records: Georgia 9-1 (7-1 SEC), Georgia Southern 8-2 (6-2 SoCon)

Last week: Georgia beat Auburn 38-0, Georgia Southern beat Howard 69-26

What’s the Story?: After clinching the SEC East title last week for the second straight season, Georgia has a pair of out-of-division games against untraditional offensive teams -- Georgia Southern and Georgia Tech, both of which feature run-heavy option attacks -- to complete the regular season. Containing those offenses will be a headache for the Bulldogs, who only recently started to peak on defense after struggling for most of the first half of the season.

Five headlines: Check out our recap of this week’s biggest storylines from Thursday.

Players to watch:
Georgia
1. John Jenkins: The massive defensive lineman and his cohorts up front -- throw in Kwame Geathers, Garrison Smith, Cornelius Washington and Ray Drew -- handle their business against Eagles offensive linemen who are consistently diving at their knees, that will make it much easier for the defensive playmakers to tackle Georgia Southern’s ballcarriers. This will be a game built for a quick and powerful lineman like Jenkins.

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ATHENS, Ga. -- When an option offense is clicking, it has the ability to rack up enormous play totals.

Look no further than Georgia Tech’s whopping 92 plays from its 2010 game against Georgia for evidence.

And for that reason, Georgia’s defensive coaching staff must at least be wary of the possible need to rotate players more liberally than usual in Saturday’s game against Georgia Southern (8-2), as taking on blocks down after down can be a fatiguing process if the defense is struggling to get stops.

“We kind of go by the game, but we traditionally roll our defensive linemen anyway, so we’re going to work to keep those guys fresh and play them that way,” Bulldogs defensive coordinator Todd Grantham said.

“Your rotations happen more often [against the option]," he added. "We kind of have a rotation with our guys to try to keep them fresh. It’s just because of the amount of plays that they can get that it happens a little more often.”

Georgia Southern’s and the highly similar Georgia Tech flexbone offense that the Bulldogs (9-1) will face the following week are content to chip away with short option runs over and over until eventually breaking a big play on the ground.

It doesn’t always produce a huge play total -- at 66.6 plays per game, Georgia Southern is actually averaging fewer plays than Georgia’s 67.4 this season -- but it’s always a distinct possibility. Georgia Tech is averaging 68.75 plays against Georgia -- with its offensive play count ranging between 51 in 2009 and 92 the next season -- in four meetings since Paul Johnson brought his unique rushing attack to the Flats.

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Mark Richt and his No. 5 Georgia team (9-1, 7-1 SEC) have already clinched the SEC East title. But before playing in the conference title game on Dec. 1, they first must contend with back-to-back option rushing attacks from Georgia Southern and Georgia Tech.

The Bulldogs’ coach used his time Wednesday on the SEC’s weekly teleconference to discuss the challenges in preparing for and defending the Eagles’ and Yellow Jackets’ flexbone offenses. He also continued his practice of refusing to discuss the Bulldogs’ BCS championship hopes so as not to appear that he is overlooking upcoming opponents.

1. Practice changes
Richt’s coaching staff has changed its practice routine this week, sending the team out in full pads each day -- instead of the normal practice of Tuesday and Wednesday only -- in order to prepare for the cut blocking it will face from Georgia Southern’s offensive personnel. So far the results have been mixed.

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ATHENS, Ga. -- There is no "Amen Corner" on an SEC football schedule anymore -- certainly not among the teams competing for the conference championship or BCS bowl bids.

Former Auburn coach Pat Dye used to describe the Tigers' annual season-ending games against Florida, Georgia and Alabama as "Amen Corner" because -- like the famed golf holes at Augusta National that have determined many a Masters champion -- championships were often won and lost there.

Nobody closes with such a demanding schedule anymore, however. With many of the conference's heavyweights preparing to face their biggest rivals next weekend, most opted to squeeze in an FCS opponent this Saturday -- the equivalent of inserting a 300-yard par-4 in between Holes 11 and 12 at Augusta.

No. 5 Georgia (9-1) is certainly no different, with Georgia Southern (8-2) visiting Sanford Stadium on Saturday, although Bulldogs coach Mark Richt is not expecting a cakewalk against an Eagles team ranked sixth in the FCS.

"We normally play them about every four years. That's been the routine, and every time they show up, I kind of wish we didn't set it up," Richt joked. "They're just a very good football team, one that causes all kind of problems for us, especially defensively, to try to defend their running game."

In each of the last three meetings between Georgia and its lower-division counterpart from Statesboro, the teams played in the first game of the season. The Bulldogs will take on the Eagles and their unusual flexbone rushing attack on Saturday with a highly similar Georgia Tech offense awaiting the following weekend -- as will be the case when Georgia Southern is next scheduled to visit Athens in November 2016.

Not that the Bulldogs exactly look forward to the challenge.

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