The Red and Black

Issue date: 10/1/07 Section: Sports

Media Credit: LINDY DUGGER Georgia tailback Thomas Brown scores Georgia's only third-quarter touchdown in Saturday's 45-17 win over Ole Miss. [Click to enlarge]

On paper, a 45-17 score invokes images of Georgia rolling over Ole Miss en route to a bigger and more important game at Tennessee this week. So do 328 rushing yards and four touchdowns from the ground game.

But for two-thirds of the game, the end result was anything but certain. Bulldog coaches and players alike know the contest was, in truth, far from a blowout.

"The score absolutely does not show what happened, I think we all know that that watched the game," head coach Mark Richt said. "Because it wasn't on TV, I'm sure people look at it and say we just whooped Ole Miss, but that's not the case at all."

After a fumble on the one-yard line ruined what could have been a 14-0 Rebel lead, and a roughing the passer penalty lead to a Georgia touchdown, Ole Miss came roaring out of halftime. An 18-play, nine-plus minute drive left the game tied at 17 and kept the Bulldogs fighting into the end of the third quarter.

"They're for real," sophomore cornerback Asher Allen said of the same team that came close to beating Florida two weekends ago. "They have all the intangibles needed to win a game. You saw it out there, they can run and pass. It's amazing what they can do."

While sophomore quarterback Matthew Stafford has a solid day behind center, the biggest story from the backfield was senior running back Thomas Brown, who ran for 184 yards and three scores.

"It was awesome just seeing (Brown) out there and having fun," freshman tailback Knowshon Moreno, who had 93 yards and a touchdown himself, said.

"I was still pushing him just saying 'you can't get another one.'"

Brown suffered what he called a "slightly separated shoulder" after landing awkwardly at the end of his first touchdown run. During that drive, Brown accounted for 80 of the Bulldogs' 96 yards.

"Anytime a running back has a big game like that, unless they're Barry Sanders, you've got to thank your offensive line," he said.

The career-high for Brown came amidst many fans calling for Moreno to become the starter. Brown's performance Saturday looks to end that discussion - at least for now.

"(Moreno's) not ready (to start) yet," Richt said. "If a guy is up-and-coming, you give him some totes, but you don't change the chemistry of the football team by putting a true freshman ahead of a guy like him."

With another lax run defense next on the schedule (ninth in the conference), the Bulldogs already are focusing on the Volunteers.

"It's hard to say how this thing will go, but I think our guys will be prepared and excited to play (Tennessee)," Richt said in his teleconference Sunday. "I don't think whoever loses this game will feel out of it It would be a definite blow, though."

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