Murray throws 4 TD passes in rout

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Eddie Senkbeil/sgasports.net Keith Marshall (4) takes a handoff from Aaron Murray against Georgia Southern. Eddie Senkbeil

November 17, 2012

Murray throws 4 TD passes in rout

Anonymous Associated Press Sat Nov 17, 2012, 07:34 PM EST

ATHENS — Georgia Southern clinched a spot in the playoffs.

The Eagles were in no mood to celebrate.

Jerick McKinnon scored two touchdowns and Georgia Southern was in position for a shocking halftime lead on No. 5 Georgia. But the Bulldogs turned the momentum and took control from there, romping to a 45-14 victory on Saturday.

"We came here to win," said Georgia Southern coach Jeff Monken, whose team had already claimed a share of the Southern Conference championship. "We had some chances."

While things didn't work out between the hedges, the Eagles (8-3) got some good news on the out-of-town scoreboard. The Citadel defeated Furman 42-20, handing Georgia Southern their league's automatic berth into the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.

The Eagles hope to benefit from playing a major-college powerhouse right before the postseason.

"We're disappointed to lose, but we played a great team," running back Dominique Swope said. "We will take this as a lesson leading into the playoffs."

Aaron Murray threw four touchdown passes for the Bulldogs (10-1), and Todd Gurley became only the second true freshman in school history to rush for 1,000 yards.

Georgia Southern squandered a chance to be ahead at the half when a potential first-and-goal was ruined by a penalty. That was all the edge Murray needed as Georgia reached 10 wins for the eighth time in Mark Richt's dozen seasons as coach.

Murray completed a 24-yard touchdown pass to Malcolm Mitchell with just 4 seconds left in the first half, sending Georgia to the locker room with a 17-7 lead. In the third quarter, Murray hooked up with Chris Conley on a pair of scoring passes, sandwiched around a 43-yarder to Tavarres King.

"We had some good matchups. We had some coverages we didn't exploit," Murray said. "We were finally able to do that and make some big plays."

Georgia's defense got a chance to work against the run-oriented option, the same scheme they'll see next week in the regular-season finale against Georgia Tech. Then it's on to the Southeastern Conference championship game for a likely meeting with No. 4 Alabama, and a possible shot at sneaking into the national championship race if the Bulldogs can win out.

"We obviously have goals and aspirations," Murray said. "Let's just see what happens. We need some help and we need to win, but we can't worry about who else is playing and who else needs to lose. We've got to do our thing and make sure we win our games."

Georgia Southern dropped to 0-20 against Football Bowl Subdivision teams, with five of those losses to Georgia. Still, the Eagles picked up a nice paycheck ($475,000) for making a quick bus ride from Statesboro.

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