Georgia Football: Top-Five Rushing Seasons for RBU

#4: Todd Gurley’s 2012 Season

In 2012 Todd Gurley had 222 carries for 1,385 yards and 17 touchdowns. The Dawgs rode this to their second straight SEC East title.

Gurley started the season off quickly, as he scored his first touchdown less than five minutes into the season on a ten-yard run. He scored a second time in the same game on a 55-yard run. Gurley ended up with over 100 yards on eight carries.

The second week of the season would see Georgia’s inaugural matchup with newly added SEC East rival Missouri.

Georgia would rudely welcome them to the conference with a 41-20 beat down. Gurley didn’t play a massive role in this win, totaling just ten carries for 65 yards. He did score one touchdown though.

Gurley would get back over the triple-digit mark in the next game against Florida Atlantic. Again only getting ten carries, Gurley turned them into 111 yards which included a 38-yard touchdown run.

This game would kick off three straight weeks of Gurley getting over 100 yards and leading to him taking over the lead back role and not relinquishing it again at Georgia while healthy.

The next two weeks, Georgia would face both their rivals to the north in Tennessee and Vanderbilt.

Against Vanderbilt Gurley ran for 130 yards and two touchdowns, leading Georgia to a 48-3 win. Against Tennessee Gurley would have his first game with more than twenty carries.

Georgia would ride him for 130 yards and three touchdowns on their way to a 51-44 win.

Then came the game between two undefeated teams, Georgia and South Carolina.

The running game struggled as Gurley would only total 39 yards on 13 carries.

Georgia would fall to South Carolina 35-7. This game put Georgia’s chances of repeating a trip to Atlanta in danger especially since this was an SEC East loss.

The Dawgs would then reel off six straight wins to set up a meeting with Alabama for the SEC Championship.

Gurley had a monster game against the Crimson Tide. He ran for 122 yards and two touchdowns. However, it would not be enough as Georgia would fall to Alabama 32-28, giving the Dawgs back to back SEC Championship losses.

Georgia accepted an invite to play in the Capitol One Bowl and faced off against Nebraska. Gurley once again went over the 100-yard mark as he ran for 125 yards and a touchdown. Georgia would ride this performance to a 45-31 win.

Without Gurley’s big runs in big moments, Georgia would not have won back to back SEC East titles. It was Gurley’s running that allowed Georgia to win their division and ultimately win the team’s bowl game.