Murray leads No. 18 UGa to 63-16 victory vs NMST and Destiny

Even without his top three tailbacks, Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray still had plenty of weapons to help the Bulldogs score. “We’ve been doing that all year,” he said. “Our coaches are doing a great job of spreading the ball around and making sure defenses stay fair and conscious that anybody can catch the ball at any given time.” Murray threw five second-quarter touchdown passes, former walk-on receiver Brandon Harton ran for 98 yards and No. 18 Georgia won its seventh straight game by cruising past New Mexico State 63-16 on Saturday.

The Bulldogs (7-2) turned to Harton this week after Isaiah Crowell and Carlton Thomas were suspended one game for failing a drug test. Georgia was also without top reserve tailback Richard Samuel, who will miss the next month after undergoing ankle surgery. But with Murray running the offense, Georgia had little reason for concern against New Mexico State (3-6). Murray, who played only the first half, completed 18 of 23 passes for 238 yards, five TDs and no interceptions.

The Bulldogs hadn’t scored 63 points since beating Northeast Louisiana in 1994, seven seasons before Mark Richt’s first year as head coach. Georgia’s 627 yards of total offense was its most since the ’93 game against Southern Mississippi. Nine Bulldogs scored a touchdown.

“It’s gratifying to see that many guys who don’t normally have an opportunity to get in the game,” Richt said. “We got to spread it around, so some of them scored for the first time in their career, and that had to be a lot of fun for them.”

Coming off a 24-20 win over Florida, the Bulldogs used the game as a tuneup for next week’s home matchup with Southeastern Conference rival Auburn. After facing the Tigers next Saturday, Georgia will close the regular season by hosting Kentucky on Nov. 19 and visiting Georgia Tech on Nov. 26.

Victories over Auburn and Kentucky, combined with a conference loss by South Carolina, would give Georgia the SEC East title. The 10th-ranked Gamecocks visited No. 8 Arkansas Saturday night and lost.

“They did what I asked them to do, what our coaches asked them to do,” Richt said. “And now we get an opportunity to relax a little bit, enjoy the rest of the day and watch the big ballgame tonight and hope Arkansas wins.”

by G. Henry