Tempe, AZ (Best E Casino) - Matthew Stafford completed 16-of-28 passes for a career-high 285 yards and one touchdown, as the third-ranked Georgia Bulldogs defeated the Arizona State Sun Devils, 27-10.
Knowshon Moreno carried the ball for 149 yards and two scores for the Bulldogs (4-0). Freshman wide receiver A.J. Green had eight receptions for 159 yards, including a 14-yard touchdown.
"I'm very thankful for the victory," said Georgia head coach Mark Richt. "I'm proud of our team and proud of our coaches. I thought they did a fantastic job tonight. Arizona State is an outstanding football team that is very well- coached."
Rudy Carpenter completed 23-of-36 passes for 208 yards and threw a touchdown for the Sun Devils (2-2), who amassed a meager four yards on the ground. Michael Jones caught seven passes for 70 yards and Kerry Taylor added four for 67.
"We had some opportunities in that football game early, but when you get a punt blocked and you have two fumbles there early, you can't just beat a team like that," said ASU head coach Dennis Erickson. "I thought we played hard and stayed in that football game the first half, even though those things happened. Then we went down and scored there at the beginning of the second half and had some opportunities but they are so explosive offensively."
After a series of punts, Georgia began its third drive of the game deep in its own territory with 4:36 to go in the opening quarter. Facing a 3rd-and-10 from the nine, Stafford threw a 30-yard completion to Green. The Bulldogs then jumped out ahead as Moreno took a toss, broke to the outside and went airborne in the right corner of the end zone on the first play of the second quarter for a nine-yard touchdown.
Later in the stanza, Georgia took advantage of a Dimitri Nance fumble and went 46 yards in five plays. Stafford completed a nine-yard pass to Mohamed Massaquoi and found Green for 29 yards on a key third-down conversion before Moreno capped the drive two plays later with a three-yard score.
Thomas Weber drilled a 25-yard field goal to put the Sun Devils on the board with 2:38 to play, but a 14-yard strike from Stafford to Green gave the Bulldogs a 21-3 lead at the break.
ASU embarked on a nine-play, 71-yard drive to begin the second half, and Carpenter's six-yard TD pass to Andrew Pettes cut the deficit to 21-10. Blair Walsh, who missed from 54 yards earlier in the second quarter, knocked through a 29-yarder to give the Bulldogs a 24-10 advantage with 2:54 remaining in the third stanza.
Walsh's 22-yarder made it a three-possession game with 5:49 to go in the final quarter.
Game Notes
The contest marked the first meeting between these two programs...Georgia improved to 9-4-1 against schools from the PAC-10...The Bulldogs faced a team from the PAC-10 for the first time since 1987...Georgia has outscored its opponents 79-17 in the first half this season.
