2009 Game Summaries
TEXAS A&M
Dec. 28, 2009 • Independence Bowl • Shreveport, La. The Georgia Bulldogs closed out the 2009 football season in dominant fashion on Monday, December 28th, as they defeated the Texas A&M Aggies 44-20 in the AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl in front of 49,653 fans at Independence Stadium in Shreveport, Louisiana. The win capped Georgia’s season on a positive note and elevated their record to 8-5 (4-4 Southeastern Conference) while dropping the Aggies to 6-7 (3-5 Big 12). After the Aggies tied the game at 14-14 early in the third quarter, Georgia scored 30 unanswered points en route to posting its national-leading 13thstraight eight-win season. Leading the way for the Dogs was freshman tailback Washaun Ealey and sophomore tailback Caleb King, who each posted solid ground efforts with 78 and 60 yards on 13 and 16 carries, respectively. King added two scores on the ground while junior fullback Shaun Chapas scored his first career rushing touchdown with 4:29 remaining in the game. The game, which was scoreless in the for nearly the entire first half, had a furious finish to the second quarter as three touchdowns were scored in the final 2:33. A&M receiver Jamie McCoy caught a 15-yard score with 2:33 remaining in the half, but Georgia sophomore cornerback Brandon Boykin returned his third kickoff this season for an 81-yard touchdown to even the score. A Bacarri Rambo blocked punt was recovered by Vance Cuff at Texas A&M’s two yard line, which allowed King to punch in a quick score to make it 14-7 going into half. Redshirt sophomore tight end Aron White caught two Joe Cox touchdown passes in the second half as the Dogs controlled the flow of the game en route to their 30 unanswered points and dominating victory. Joe Cox led the Bulldogs in passing in his final collegiate appearance as he was 15 for 28 for 158 with two touchdown passes to White and one interception. While Ealey, King, and Chapas paced the way on the ground for Georgia, sophomore receiver A.J. Green returned after missing the previous two games with a shoulder injury and caught six passes for 57 yards. Georgia’s defense, coached by defensive line coach Rodney Garner and graduate assistants Mitch Doolittle and Todd Hartley, was led by sophomore linebacker Marcus Dowtin, who had nine tackles. Junior linebacker Rennie Curran had eight, and junior safety Reshad Jones had five tackles and an interception.
Coach Mark Richt said…
“I’m very, very proud of our team. I’m very proud of our seniors. I’m very thankful for the job that they did. I’m so glad that we were able to send our seniors off with some true style. Also, I think we probably need to start out by saying what a fantastic job our defensive coaches did. Coach (Rodney) Garner leading the way with our young graduate assistant coaches Mitch Doolittle and Todd Hartley. Really, everybody on that side of the ball kind of moved up to the next level of coaching responsibility.”
64
2010 Spring Media Guide
Texas A&M Georgia
0 0
7 14
7 10
6 20
= =
20 44
TAMU-Jamie McCoy 15 yd pass from Jerrod Johnson (Randy Bullock kick), 2:33 2Q GA-Brandon Boykin 81 yd kickoff return (Blair Walsh kick), 2:22 2Q GA-Caleb King 2 yd run (B. Walsh kick), 1:22 2Q TAMU-Christine Michael 14 yd run (R. Bullock kick), 12:36 3Q GA-B. Walsh 49 yd field goal, 9:25 3Q GA-Aron White 24 yd pass from Joe Cox (B. Walsh kick), 7:49 3Q GA-A. White 2 yd pass from J. Cox (B. Walsh kick), 13:19 4Q GA-C. King 1 yd run (B. Walsh kick), 9:47 4Q GA-Shaun Chapas 5 yd run (Andrew Jensen kick failed), 4:29 4Q TAMU-Howard Morrow 5 yd pass from J. Johnson (J. Johnson pass failed), 1:13 4Q Game Statistics TAMU First Downs 26 Rushing: Att.-Yards 33-109 Passing: Comp.-Att.-Yds.-Int 29-59-362-2 Total Plays-Total Net Yards 92-471 Fumbles: Number-Lost 3-0 Penalties: Number-Yards 7-65 Punts: Number-Yards (Avg.) 7-206 (29.4) Kickoff Returns: Number-Yards 8-157 Time of Possession 27:59 Third Down Conversions 10-of-20 Fourth Down Conversions 0-of-2 Sacks By: Number-Yards 0-0 Rushing TAMU-Michael UGA-Ealey
STATISTICAL LEADERS Att. Yds. TD 15 77 1 13 78 0
UGA 17 40-208 15-28-158-1 68-366 0-0 6-39 6-249 (41.5) 2-107 32:01 7-of-15 0-of-0 2-12 Long 14 27
Passing TAMU-Johnson UGA-Cox
Att. 58 28
Comp. 29 15
Yds. 362 158
TD 2 2
Receiving TAMU-Fuller UGA-Green Punting TAMU-Epperson UGA-Butler
Rec. 7 6
Yds. 102 57
TD 0 0
Long 25 16
No. 5 6
Yds. 182 249
Avg. 36.4 41.5
Long 41 45
Tackles TAMU-Hodges UGA-Dowtin
UT 5 5
AT 4 4
Tot. 9 9
Worth Noting…
• Game captains were Joe Cox, Jeff Owens, Rennie Curran, Michael Moore and Prince Miller. • With today’s 44-20 win, Georgia (8-5) now owns a bowl mark of 26-16-3. The 44 points was a bowl record, eclipsing the previous high of 41 in the win over Hawaii in the 2008 Sugar Bowl. They tied the bowl record with six TDs, matching the 1942 Orange Bowl champion Bulldogs, a 40-26 win over TCU. • Georgia tight end Aron White (offense) and defensive tackle Geno Atkins (defense) earned Bowl MVP honors on offense and defense. White tied a bowl record with 2 TD catches while Atkins blocked a field goal and finished with three tackles and one sack. • Georgia sophomore Brandon Boykin set a school record and tied the SEC record with three kickoff returns for a TD in a season. Boykin now shares the SEC record with Willie Gault (Tennessee, 1980).