Freshman steps up in Bulldogs win

True freshman A.J. Green overwhelmed the Sun Devils with eight catches for 159 yards. Courtesy of Bruce Yeung

TEMPE, Ariz. -- A.J. Green, Georgia's breakout freshman receiver, isn't much of a talker, so we'll leave it to Mark Richt to describe Green's impact on the third-ranked Dawgs' 27-10 rout of Arizona State here Saturday.

"He changed the game for us," said Georgia's eight-year head coach.

Georgia started the season No. 1 in the polls due to the presence of 17 returning starters from last year's Sugar Bowl team, but its most striking player Saturday night was not one of them. The Dawgs' two biggest stars -- quarterback Matthew Stafford (who threw for a career-high 285 yards) and running back Knowshon Moreono (23 carries, 149 yards) -- both had banner nights against the Sun Devils, yet neither was the most impressive athlete on the field.

That designation goes to the 6-foot-4, 200-pound freak of nature who, in just his second career start, torched ASU's defense for 159 yards on eight catches -- nearly all of it in the first half, when Georgia raced to a 21-3 lead. Time and again, the Parade All-American leapt high into the Desert sky to bring down one of Stafford's well-placed passes.

"He just goes up and snatches the ball," marveled offensive coordinator Mike Bobo.

All parties involved tried to downplay the freshman's performance ("Maybe the fans and media will make a big deal out of it, but we know how good he is," said Richt), but Green's timing could not have been better. In the Dawgs' first primetime showcase of the season, the Summerville, S.C., native showed the nation that Georgia now has the one thing it's been missing the past several seasons: A legitimate, game-breaking receiver.

While senior Mohammed Massaquoi has long been tagged with elite potential, he hasn't posted a 100-yard game since 2005. In fact, prior to Saturday night, no Dawgs player had reached the century mark in 21 games.

Green notched 150 yards on seven catches -- by halftime. It was the most by a Bulldogs receiver in a game since Fred Gibson's 169-yard day against Arkansas four years ago -- and more than Green had compiled in his first three games combined (141).

"We didn't do a good enough job getting him touches [in the previous games]," said Richt. "Tonight we did."

Much of Green's damage came on a five-play Georgia touchdown drive just before the half. Green beat cornerback Omar Bolden for a 23-yard gain, grabbed a ball above his head for a 31-yard gain and capped things off by out-leaping All-Pac-10 safety Troy Nolan in the corner of the end zone for a 14-yard touchdown.

With their defense firmly in control -- Georgia held the Sun Devils to 212 total yards, including their lowest rushing total (4 yards on 19 attempts) since 2002, and sacked ASU quarterback Rudy Carpenter (23-of-36 for 208 yards) four times -- the Dawgs went primarily to the run in the second half. Moreno amassed 107 yards. In doing so, Richt's team demonstrated exactly why it's on the short list of national-title contenders: It's tough to stop such a balanced offense.

Both Richt and Bobo said Green benefited in the first half from ASU's soft coverage in the secondary. The Sun Devils often rolled up a safety to stop the run, leaving Green in one-on-one coverage on the wide side of the field. When Dennis Erickson's team adjusted in the second half, holding Green to one catch for 9 yards, Georgia simply went to its truck in the backfield, Moreno.

"With him and No. 1 [Massaquoi] on the other side, we really won't be one-dimensional. We have threats on both sides," said Bobo. "And then Knowshon is always a threat running the ball."

Green was the crown jewel of Georgia's 2008 recruiting class. Ranked behind only Alabama's Julio Jones among the nation's receiver prospects, he committed to the Dawgs nearly two years prior to his arrival, leaving UGA fans to wait and drool over grainy highlights like these. Saturday night, he lived up to their loftiest expectations

Mobbed by reporters afterward, Green could not have been more nonchalant about his performance, tough he admitted it was a long time coming.

"I've pictured myself making big plays every day since I was little," said the soft-spoken receiver. "It's happening now."

Green isn't the only freshman the Dawgs will be counting on in their quest for SEC and/or national crowns. Injuries have caused Georgia to continually shuffle its already inexperienced offensive line, with all five of last week's starters switching spots against ASU. The lineup included both a true freshman (center Ben Jones) and a redshirt freshman (tackle Justin Anderson). Another true freshman, guard Cordy Glenn, saw action as well.

After struggling last week against South Carolina, the line seemed to hold up well against an admittedly inferior Sun Devils defense -- Stafford was sacked just once while completing 16 of 28 passes -- but it remains Georgia's biggest concern heading into the heart of conference season.

"I thought the line improved," said Richt, "but I still didn't see as pretty a pocket sometimes as I'd like to see."

Saturday night's victory was not without its blemishes. While Stafford was productive, he had quite a few puzzling incompletions early, as Georgia failed to score on its first two drives. The Dawgs also committed 12 penalties, including a personal foul on an ASU field-goal attempt that gave the Sun Devils new life and an illegal shift on a punt formation that drew particular ire from Richt.

After starting the season ranked No. 1 in both the AP and coaches polls, Georgia dropped twice in the season's first three weeks without losing a game. Part of that had to do with the other teams (USC's routs of Virginia and Ohio State vaulted the Trojans to No. 1) and part of it had to do with the close score (14-7) of the Dawgs' game against South Carolina last week.

Saturday night's game was supposed to their opportunity to make a "statement," a la USC's against Ohio State, but Arizona State's credibility-damaging loss to UNLV last week coupled with a scintillating LSU-Auburn game on TV at the same time likely prevented that. They'll get another chance soon enough, however: the 4-0 Dawgs host No. 9 Alabama, also 4-0, next weekend.

The game will pit the nation's two most touted freshman receivers, Georgia's Green and Alabama's Jones, both of whom wear No. 8. Not surprisingly, Green, who met his adversary at an all-star game last winter, did not have much to say about the matchup.

"He's cool," said Green.

More significantly, next week's game will give Georgia a chance to assert itself against a fellow top-10 foe and, if it wins, to recoup some of the buzz that's swung to No. 1 USC and No. 2 Oklahoma in the wake of their dominant season-opening performances.

"I'm happy with where we're at right now -- as long as we know we need to keep improving," said Richt. "It's nice to be 4-0 and not [yet] played what you'd envision to be your best game."

The Dawgs are getting closer to fulfilling that vision. If nothing else, they can knock "find go-to receiver" off their preseason to-do list.