ATLANTA — The Georgia Bulldogs collected a trophy at midfield for another victory over their state rival, then got some encouragement from the governor in their quest for a bigger reward.
Aaron Murray threw two touchdown passes, Todd Gurley and Keith Marshall each ran for two touchdowns, and third-ranked Georgia stayed right in the thick of the national championship race with a 42-10 rout of Georgia Tech on Saturday.
Gov. Nathan Deal presented the “Governor’s Cup” to the Bulldogs (11-1) after they beat the Yellow Jackets for the 11th time in 12 years. He congratulated both teams, calling the blowout a “great game,” before turning toward the jubilant Georgia players.
“Keep up the good work,” Deal said. “We’re looking for a national championship.”
Georgia is two victories away.
The Bulldogs will face No. 2 Alabama for the SEC championship in Atlanta next Saturday. The winner of that contest will likely advance to play in the BCS title game Jan. 7.
“All that matters is this game,” Georgia linebacker Christian Robinson said, looking ahead to facing the defending national champion Crimson Tide. “This is everything. This is what you play for.”
Georgia Tech (6-6) didn’t put up much of a fight. The home team scored just over a minute into the game, built a 28-3 halftime lead and was up 42-3 before the Yellow Jackets scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter.
“It was a pretty good thumping,” Georgia Tech Coach Paul Johnson said. “We could not slow them down at all, which has been a recurring theme the last few times we’ve played them, and we couldn’t finish drives offensively.”
Murray completed 14 of 17 for 215 yards, becoming the first quarterback in SEC history to pass from more than 3,000 yards in three consecutive seasons.
Gurley finished with 97 yards on 12 carries and has 14 touchdowns on the season, one shy of Herschel Walker’s school freshman record set in 1980. Marshall, also a freshman, piled up 66 yards on just seven carries.
The Bulldogs certainly didn’t look like a team that was looking ahead to Alabama.
“You don’t do that when you’re playing Georgia Tech,” Coach Mark Richt said. “This game means a lot for us. Our coaches prepared hard, they were diligent, and the players took to the coaching. I thought we played a superb game. I’m so proud of everybody. I could not have asked for a better today.”
Bacarri Rambo and Alec Ogletree came up big for the Georgia defense. Rambo stripped the ball away at the Georgia 1 to stop the Yellow Jackets’ first possession. He also grabbed his 16th career interception to tie Jake Scott’s school record. Ogletree had 15 tackles, the highest total by a Georgia defender this season.
For good measure, the Bulldogs ran their season total to 456 points, breaking the school scoring mark set by the 2002 SEC championship team.
“We put our foot on the pedal from the start didn’t let up the entire game,” said receiver Rhett McGowan, who hauled in one of Murray’s touchdown passes.
Sports, Pages 33 on 11/25/2012