2012 Georgia Bulldogs football team

The 2012 Georgia Bulldogs football team represented the University of Georgia in the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Bulldogs were led by 12th-year head coach Mark Richt and played their home games at Sanford Stadium. They were a member of the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They finished the season 12–2 overall and 7–1 in SEC play, claiming the East Division championship. They represented the division in the SEC Championship Game, where they lost to Alabama. They were invited to the Capital One Bowl, where they defeated Nebraska. The season included a sweep of three of Georgia's biggest SEC rivals (Florida, Auburn, and Tennessee) for just the fourth time (1980, 1981 and 2011).

2012 Georgia Bulldogs football
SEC Eastern Division co-champion Capital One Bowl champion
SEC Championship Game, L 28–32 vs. Alabama
Capital One Bowl, W 45–31 vs. Nebraska
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Division	Eastern Division
Ranking
Coaches	No. 4
AP	No. 5
Record	12–2 (7–1 SEC)
Head coach	Mark Richt (12th season)
Offensive coordinator	Mike Bobo (6th season)
Offensive scheme	Pro-style
Defensive coordinator	Todd Grantham (3rd season)
Base defense	3–4
Home stadium	Sanford Stadium

2012 Southeastern Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
Eastern Division
No. T–5 Georgia xy		7	–	1					12	–	2
No. 9 Florida x%		7	–	1					11	–	2
No. 8 South Carolina		6	–	2					11	–	2
No. 23 Vanderbilt		5	–	3					9	–	4
Missouri		2	–	6					5	–	7
Tennessee		1	–	7					5	–	7
Kentucky		0	–	8					2	–	10
Western Division
No. 1 Alabama x$#		7	–	1					13	–	1
No. 14 LSU *		6	–	2					10	–	3
No. T–5 Texas A&M		6	–	2					11	–	2
Mississippi State		4	–	4					8	–	5
Ole Miss *		3	–	5					7	–	6
Arkansas		2	–	6					4	–	8
Auburn		0	–	8					3	–	9
Championship: Alabama 32, Georgia 28
# – BCS National Champion $ – BCS representative as conference champion % – BCS at-large representative x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant * Ole Miss and LSU vacated all wins due to NCAA violations. Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1	12:20 p.m.	Buffalo*	No. 6	Sanford Stadium Athens, GA	SECN	W 45–23	92,446
September 8	7:45 p.m.	at Missouri	No. 7	Faurot Field Columbia, MO	ESPN2	W 41–20	71,004
September 15	7:30 p.m.	Florida Atlantic*	No. 7	Sanford Stadium Athens, GA	CSS	W 56–20	92,746
September 22	7:45 p.m.	Vanderbilt	No. 5	Sanford Stadium Athens, GA (rivalry)	ESPN2	W 48–3	92,746
September 29	3:30 p.m.	Tennessee	No. 5	Sanford Stadium Athens, GA (rivalry)	CBS	W 51–44	92,746
October 6	7:00 p.m.	at No. 6 South Carolina	No. 5	Williams–Brice Stadium Columbia, SC (rivalry, College GameDay)	ESPN	L 7–35	85,199
October 20	7:00 p.m.	at Kentucky	No. 13	Commonwealth Stadium Lexington, KY	SECRN	W 29–24	66,293
October 27	3:30 p.m.	vs. No. 3 Florida	No. 12	EverBank Field Jacksonville, FL (rivalry)	CBS	W 17–9	84,681
November 3	3:30 p.m.	Ole Miss	No. 7	Sanford Stadium Athens, GA	CBS	W 37–10	92,746
November 10	7:00 p.m.	at Auburn	No. 6	Jordan–Hare Stadium Auburn, AL (Deep South's Oldest Rivalry)	ESPN2	W 38–0	86,764
November 17	3:30 p.m.	Georgia Southern*	No. 5	Sanford Stadium Athens, GA	FSN	W 45–14	92,746
November 24	12:00 p.m.	Georgia Tech*	No. 3	Sanford Stadium Athens, GA (Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate)	ESPN	W 42–10	92,746
December 1	4:00 p.m.	vs. No. 2 Alabama	No. 3	Georgia Dome Atlanta, GA (SEC Championship Game, rivalry, College GameDay)	CBS	L 28–32	75,824
January 1, 2013	1:00 p.m.	vs. No. 23 Nebraska*	No. 6	Florida Citrus Bowl Orlando, FL (Capital One Bowl)	ABC	W 45–31	59,712
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Game summaries

Buffalo

See also: 2012 Buffalo Bulls football team

1 2 3 4 Total Buffalo 6 10 0 7 23 • #6 Georgia 14 10 7 14 45 Location: Athens, Georgia Game start: 12:21 p.m. Elapsed time: 3:26 Game attendance: 92,446 Game weather: 86, Fair Referee: Penn Wagers TV announcers (SEC Network): Dave Neal (play-by-play), Andre Ware (color), Cara Capuano (sideline)

Missouri

See also: 2012 Missouri Tigers football team

1 2 3 4 Total • #7 Georgia 0 9 15 17 41 Missouri 0 10 10 0 20 Location: Columbia, Missouri Game start: 6:50 p.m. Elapsed time: 3:48 Game attendance: 71,004 Game weather: 74, Sunny and Clear Referee: Tom Ritter TV announcers (ESPN2): Joe Tessitore (play-by-play), Matt Millen (color), Quint Kessenich (sideline)

Florida Atlantic

See also: 2012 Florida Atlantic Owls football team

1 2 3 4 Total Florida Atlantic 7 7 0 6 20 • #7 Georgia 14 14 21 7 56 Location: Athens, Georgia Game start: 7:35 p.m. Elapsed time: 3:15 Game attendance: 92,746 Game weather: 79, Partly Cloudy Referee: David Smith Television network: CSS

Vanderbilt

See also: 2012 Vanderbilt Commodores football team

1 2 3 4 Total Vanderbilt 0 3 0 0 3 • #5 Georgia 13 14 21 0 48 Location: Athens, Georgia Game start: 7:50 p.m. Elapsed time: 3:15 Game attendance: 92,746 Game weather: 82, Partly Cloudy Referee: Hubert Owens TV announcers (ESPN2): Mark Jones (play-by-play), Brock Huard (color), Shelley Smith (sideline)

Tennessee

See also: 2012 Tennessee Volunteers football team

1 2 3 4 Total Tennessee 10 20 7 7 44 • #5 Georgia 21 9 21 0 51 Location: Athens, Georgia Game start: 3:39 p.m. Elapsed time: 3:51 Game attendance: 92,746 Game weather: 74, Mostly Cloudy Referee: Tom Moore TV announcers (CBS): Verne Lundquist (play by play), Gary Danielson (color), Tracy Wolfson (sideline)

South Carolina

See also: 2012 South Carolina Gamecocks football team

1 2 3 4 Total #5 Georgia 0 0 0 7 7 • #6 South Carolina 21 0 7 7 35 Location: Columbia, South Carolina Game start: 7:10 p.m. Elapsed time: 3:13 Game attendance: 85,199 Game weather: 78, Clear Referee: Matt Austin TV announcers (ESPN): Brent Musburger (play-by-play), Kirk Herbstreit (color), Heather Cox (sideline)

Kentucky

See also: 2012 Kentucky Wildcats football team

1 2 3 4 Total • #13 Georgia 7 9 6 7 29 Kentucky 7 7 3 7 24 Location: Lexington, Kentucky Game start: 7:08 p.m. Elapsed time: 3:20 Game attendance: 54,553 Game weather: 52, Cloudy Referee: Hubert Owens Television network: FSN

Florida

See also: 2012 Florida Gators football team

Florida-Georgia Football Rivalry

1 2 3 4 Total #3 Florida 0 6 0 3 9 • #10 Georgia 7 0 3 7 17 Location: Jacksonville, Florida Game start: 3:40 p.m. Elapsed time: 3:43 Game attendance: 84,644 Game weather: 72, Cloudy w/ gusts Referee: Matt Moore TV announcers (CBS): Verne Lundquist (play-by-play), Gary Danielson (color), Tracy Wolfson (sideline)

Scoring summary 1 12:02 Georgia Todd Gurley 10 yard run (Marshall Morgan kick) Georgia 7–0 2 7:05 Florida Caleb Sturgis 38 yard field goal Georgia 7–3 2 2:43 Florida Caleb Sturgis 22 yard field goal Georgia 7–6 3 8:34 Georgia Marshall Morgan 29 yard field goal Georgia 10–6 4 9:41 Florida Caleb Sturgis 50 yard field goal Georgia 10–9 4 7:11 Georgia Malcolm Mitchell 45 yard pass from Aaron Murray (Marshall Morgan kick) Georgia 17–9

Ole Miss

See also: 2012 Ole Miss Rebels football team

1 2 3 4 Total Ole Miss 3 7 0 0 10 • #6 Georgia 0 14 16 7 37 Location: Athens, Georgia Game start: 3:39 p.m. Elapsed time: 3:19 Game attendance: 92,746 Game weather: 78, Sunny Referee: Ken Williamson TV announcers (CBS): Tim Brando (play-by-play), Steve Beuerlein (color)

Auburn

See also: 2012 Auburn Tigers football team

Deep South's Oldest Rivalry

1 2 3 4 Total • #5 Georgia 14 14 10 0 38 Auburn 0 0 0 0 0 Location: Auburn, Alabama Game start: 6:06 p.m. Elapsed time: 2:59 Game attendance: 86,146 Game weather: 62, Clear Referee: Matt Austin TV announcers (ESPN2): Mark Jones (play-by-play), Brock Huard (color), Shelley Smith (sideline)

Scoring summary 1 10:51 UGA Chris Conley 6 yard pass from Aaron Murray (Marshall Morgan kick) Georgia 7–0 1 1:19 UGA Malcolm Mitchell 5 yard pass from Aaron Murray (Marshall Morgan kick) Georgia 14–0 2 10:27 UGA Tavarres King 17 yard pass from Aaron Murray (Marshall Morgan kick) Georgia 21–0 2 5:09 UGA Todd Gurley 6 yard run (Marshall Morgan kick) Georgia 28–0 3 8:18 UGA Marshall Morgan 20 yard field goal Georgia 31–0 3 4:34 UGA Keith Marshall 62 yard run (Marshall Morgan kick) Georgia 38–0

Georgia Southern

See also: 2012 Georgia Southern Eagles football team

1 2 3 4 Total Georgia Southern 0 7 0 7 14 • #5 Georgia 7 10 21 7 45 Location: Athens, Georgia Game start: 1:35 p.m. Elapsed time: 3:12 Game attendance: 92,746 Game weather: 57, Sunny Referee: Marc Curles Television network: PPV, WSB-TV

Georgia Tech

See also: 2012 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team

Clean, Old Fashioned Hate

1 2 3 4 Total Georgia Tech 3 0 0 7 10 • #3 Georgia 14 14 14 0 42 Location: Athens, Georgia Game start: 12:01 p.m. Elapsed time: 3:12 Game attendance: 92,746 Game weather: 52, Clear Referee: Tom Zimorski Television network: ESPN

Alabama

See also: 2012 Alabama Crimson Tide football team and 2012 SEC Championship Game

SEC Championship Game

1 2 3 4 Total • #2 Alabama 0 10 8 14 32 #3 Georgia 0 7 14 7 28 Location: Atlanta, Georgia Game start: 4:11 p.m. Elapsed time: 3:42 Game attendance: 75,624 Game weather: Indoors Referee: Tom Ritter TV announcers (CBS/CTSN): Verne Lundquist (play-by-play), Gary Danielson (color), Tracy Wolfson (sideline reporter) Eli Gold (play-by-play), Phil Savage (color), Chris Stewart (sideline reporter)

Nebraska

See also: 2012 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team and 2013 Capital One Bowl

Capital One Bowl

1 2 3 4 Total • #6 Georgia 16 7 8 14 45 #23 Nebraska 14 10 7 0 31 Location: Orlando, Florida Game start: 1:08 p.m. Elapsed time: 3:33 Game attendance: 59,712 Game weather: 75, Partly Cloudy Referee: Mike Defee TV announcers (ABC): Rece Davis (play-by-play), David Pollack and Jesse Palmer (color), Samantha Ponder (sideline)

Rankings

See also: 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
т = Tied with team above or below ( ) = First-place votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	6	7	7	5	5	5	14	13	12	7	5т	5	3	3	5	5т
Coaches	6	7	7	6	5	5	12	12	11	6	5	4	3 (1)	3 (1)	6	4
Harris	Not released						11	12	11	6	5	5	3	3	6	Not released
BCS	Not released							11	10	6	5	5	3	3	7	Not released