Homecoming Day turned into Todd Gurley Day as Georgia featured its Heisman Trophy candidate tailback in a 44-17 rout of Vanderbilt on Saturday.
On an afternoon in which it was thought the 34-point-favored Bulldogs might rest the 6-foot-1, 226-pound junior from Tarboro, N.C., Gurley instead became the featured act. Not only did he get the majority of offensive touches, but Georgia also deployed him quite often as the de facto quarterback in the direct-snap “Wild Dawg” formation. It was out of that set that Gurley ran for one of his two touchdowns and also threw a 50-yard pass to tight end Jeb Blazevich. He finished with 163 yards on 25 carries and two touchdowns while playing into the fourth quarter.
“Good things happen when you give the ball to Todd,” Georgia coach Mark Richt said with a mischievous grin. “We should probably keep doing it.”
Gurley was No. 2 behind Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota in a lot of Heisman polls last week. He will likely gain some more ground after an other-worldly performance for a second straight week.
Including his 50-yard pass and two receptions, he accounted for 237 yards on 28 touches in the game. Last week that number was 285 on 34.
As a result, Gurley continues to climb into lofty territory in UGA’s record books. With 43 scores, he’s now nine shy of the career touchdown record held by Herschel Walker since 1982. And he became one of only four Bulldogs ever to rush for more than 3,000 yards in a career. He’s now third overall with 3,147 yards, behind Walker (5,259) and Garrison Hearst (3,232) and ahead of Lars Tate (3,017).
It’s all a little heady for the camera-shy back to hear his named mentioned alongside the names Herschel and Heisman.
“It’s definitely hard not to think about it with people bringing it up all the time,” Gurley said records and awards. “But I know myself and I know what I can do, so I’m just going to keep doing me. And that means to stay humble and do it for my teammates and not for myself.”
The win represented yet another homecoming victory for Georgia over Vanderbilt in Sanford Stadium. The Bulldogs (4-1, 2-1 SEC) improve to 28-4 all time against the Commodores on their home field. They’ve won their last three meetings between the hedges by a combined score of 128-13.
Vanderbilt falls to 1-5 and 0-4 in SEC play under first-year coach Derek Mason. The Commodores, under former coach James Franklin, upset the Bulldogs 31-27 last year in Nashville.
Gurley’s outbreak was somewhat unexpected in a contest in which all the focus seemed to be on quarterback Hutson Mason and the return of two of big-play receivers Malcolm Mitchell and Justin Scott-Wesley.
All week, Mason had been the focus of criticism — much of it of his own offing — for the Bulldogs’ inability to generate much of a downfield passing game. The senior from Marietta responded to his coaches’ challenge to “just relax and rip it” when throwing the football. At times that served him well, such as when he threw a season-long touchdown pass of 44 yards to Chris Conley in the second quarter. But he also threw his third interception in the last two games and should have had another picked off.
“Sweet sugar brown, it felt good,” Mason said of his scoring strike to Conley on a deep post. “That’s our saying around here. Those have been few and far between. … Overall, I thought we were much more consistent. But I don’t know if we’re going to be one of those teams that throws a lot.”
Not with No. 3 dotting the I-formation. Or the “Wild Dawg,” as the case may be.
Undoubtedly the play of the game was Gurley’s 50-yard completion to Blazevich. It came on Gurley’s fourth direct-snap of the game. The previous three times, Gurley had faked the jet sweep to flanker Isaiah McKenzie and run it. He faked it again on second-and-seven at the Georgia 23, but this time he reared back with his left arm and let a pass fly down the numbers nearest the home sideline. Blazevich, ridiculously open on the play, had to slow up to catch the wobbling throw, but he hauled it in and rambled down the field for a gain that would set up the Bulldogs to score seven seconds before halftime for a 27-7 lead.
It’s a play Georgia had worked on all week, without nearly the success it had on Saturday.
“That pass was so much better than any pass we saw at practice,” Richt said. “At practice, I was like, ‘I don’t know whether we should call that.’ But we called it, and I was kind of cringing when we did.”
Gurley has longed for the opportunity to display his passing skills in a game. The fluttering aerial he unleashed drew mixed reviews.
“You know, I completed it,” he said. “It’s good to get that little stat up there, 1-for-1 passing. I didn’t want to throw it too far and him not be able to catch it. You know how tight ends are. They’re ain’t that fast.”
The rest of the game was essentially the Gurley show. Included in the highlights was another hurdling run by Gurley. He cleared a would-be Vanderbilt tackler in the midst of a 26-yard run to end a third quarter in which he’d carry the ball seven times for 70 yards.
“It’s one of those things where I have to sit back sometimes during the week and say to myself, ‘I’m playing with a potential Heisman Trophy winner,” senior receiver Chris Conley said. “It’s kind of cool to think I eat with this guy every Thursday. It’s great to see him have that success because I see how hard he works every day. I’m really proud of him.”
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