As if Georgia’s back-to-back losses to Missouri and Vanderbilt didn’t show how much the Bulldogs missed Todd Gurley, the tailback’s return Saturday left no doubt.
Playing for the first time since suffering an ankle injury in the second quarter of a Sept. 28 game against LSU, Gurley averaged 9.35 yards each time he touched the ball in the Bulldogs’ 23-20 victory over Florida.
He finished the game as Georgia’s leader in rushing yards (100) and receiving yards (87). He scored the Bulldogs’ first two touchdowns. And although he had to sit out large expanses of the game because of what was described as exertion-induced nausea, he was on the field at the finish, carrying the ball eight times as the Bulldogs strung together six first downs and kept the ball for the final eight minutes and 17 seconds of the game to seal the victory.
“It was great having him back,” quarterback Aaron Murray said afterward.
Gurley dominated the early part of the game. On Georgia’s first possession, he caught a 14-yard pass and had runs of 25 and 5 yards, the latter for the game’s first score. On the Bulldogs’ second possession, he had a career-long 73-yard catch-and-run with a Murray pass for a touchdown.
“Aaron did a good job of getting him the ball (on the 73-yard play),” coach Mark Richt said, “and we ran routes to get everybody the heck out of the way, so it’s just going to be him and the safety. He was able to make the safety miss.
“That (play) kind of gassed him a little bit, and his stomach got a little upset, and we had to try to calm that down, rest him up and get him back in there. I really was visualizing him carrying it 25 or 30 times, quite frankly, but he just wasn’t around to do it.”
Gurley finished the first half with seven touches for 151 yards, an average of 21.6 yards — four rushes for 64 yards and three receptions for 87. He added 13 carries in the second half, only five of them before Georgia’s final drive.
Gurley was not available for postgame interviews, but his teammates expressed excitement about having him in action for the first time in 3 1/2 games.
“His presence on the field was awesome,” Murray said, “(as was) his personality in the huddle and obviously his playmaking ability.”
“That was huge for us, having him back,” wide receiver Rhett McGowan said.
About the Author
