ATHENS -- Matthew Stafford left Georgia with a $72 million contract as the NFL's No. 1 draft pick, but neither Stafford nor any other quarterback in UGA history threw more touchdown passes in a season than Aaron Murray has thrown this fall.
Murray threw for four touchdowns -- all in the first half -- as Georgia routed Auburn 45-7 Saturday in Sanford Stadium, giving him 27 TD passes for the season to break the previous single-season school record of 25 set by Stafford in 2008.
The record was a belated birthday gift for Murray, who turned 21 two days earlier.
"I asked him on Thursday, when we went out to eat on his birthday, ‘What do you want for your birthday, man?' " wide receiver Tavarres King said. "He said, ‘A touchdown.' I said, ‘All right.' So I got him one."
King caught the first of Murray's four touchdown passes Saturday. Michael Bennett, Bruce Figgins and Malcolm Mitchell caught the next three, in that order.
"They chipped in on his birthday present," King said.
Noting that Murray threw touchdown passes to four different receivers, King added with a laugh: "He might throw one to [center] Ben Jones here in a little bit."
Murray has as many as four games left this season to add to his record -- the final two regular-season games against Kentucky and Georgia Tech, potentially the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta (which Georgia will play in if it beats Kentucky) and then a bowl game.
"It's definitely an honor [to hold the record], but I'm not focused on that," Murray said. "I'm worried about getting wins right now. Today was a huge win to stay in first place in the East and give us a shot to get back to Atlanta."
Murray also made a run at Stafford's record last season, falling just short when he had 24 touchdown passes as a redshirt freshman.
Murray's four touchdown throws Saturday came during a first half in which he completed 13 of 16 passes for 216 yards and the Bulldogs built a 35-7 lead.
"It was a pretty fun half offensively," Murray said with a smile. "We were clicking."
Said offensive coordinator Mike Bobo: "There was some tight coverage, and [Murray] was putting it in places where our guys could make the play. He was on [target] in the first half extremely well."
Murray threw only two passes in the second half, none after Georgia's first drive of the third quarter, as the Bulldogs used a dominant running game to seal the lopsided victory.
Murray passed around the credit for his record-breaking game, noting the offensive line was dominant, the backs blocked well and the receivers made plays. Coach Mark Richt echoed all of that but also was thoroughly impressed with his quarterback.
"Murray, I thought by far, did his best job of giving everybody the opportunity to go make a play," Richt said. "And some of the throws were so good they couldn't help but catch it."
With two seasons of eligibility remaining, Murray is 21 short of David Greene's UGA record of 72 career touchdown passes, set in 2001-04. Murray has 51, tied with Stafford for third place on Georgia's career list behind Greene and Eric Zeier (67).
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