Georgia head coach Mark Richt:
On beating Georgia Southern
“We got the victory, and that’s a great thing for Georgia. If you had told me before the game what the outcome would be regardless of what the score would be, I would have taken it. I was pleased with the victory. I am happy to win, even though we made some mistakes. But there were a lot of good things that happened, too. As coaches, when things don’t go the way we want, we get bent out of shape, but the victory is good. We’ll correct the mistakes and hopefully do a better job next week.”

On the offensive line
“I thought the offensive line did pretty well. They weren’t knocking them off the ball and dominating, but most of the game they protected well and at times created some nice seams.”

Can Georgia be a big-play offense?
“We might could be. We have some of the elements that we need. To be a big-play offense, we need to make plays when they present themselves. We’ve got to take advantage of those situations. I was pleased with us being 4-for-4 in the red zone and they were all touchdowns. When you’re in the red zone, you need to score.”

On next week’s game
“Central Michigan spreads the field, too. They have a talented quarterback who is a veteran. We have our work cut out for us. Our down linemen need to put pressure on him.”

On the quarterbacks all getting in
“It was great that all the quarterbacks got to play. It’s wonderful to get them all in. Joe (Cox) has gotten to the point where he deserves to play and he’s capable of getting us in the end zone.”

Junior quarterback Matthew Stafford:
On Georgia’s running game
“All three guys ran the ball well. It’s a testament to our offensive line. A lot of time we got to the second level without being touched. This is what we were looking for, and it’s what we got today.”

On the offensive line
“They played well. We only gave up two sacks and that was when our guys were covered downfield. We were able to run the ball well today, and that says a lot about the offensive line.”

On the game
“I thought we played pretty well, but we had penalties and turned the ball over. We weren’t perfect with our execution, and I missed a couple of reads. Other than that, I thought we played well. It was good to finally get out here and play in front of our fans. It got loud when they called out that we were No. 1.”

Senior linebacker Dannell Elllerbe:
On wearing #44
“I planned on wearing it as soon as Marcus (Washington) got hurt. The day they told him his shoulder was hurt he knew I wanted to wear it.”

On his interception
“They had a pretty good drive going. The play before they had a quarterback sneak and we did a good job of stopping them. They had a penalty and I knew they had to pass the ball. I dropped back into the middle of the field, read the quarterback’s eye and it looked like he threw it right to me.”

On the defensive play in today’s game
“We came out and started well, but we’ve got to keep it going throughout the game. It doesn’t matter who was in there, one’s or two’s, we have a long way to go as far as being consistent. We made too many mistakes and had too many penalties, but we’ll take the win.”

Senior defensive tackle Corvey Irvin:
On the game
“They came after us hard today. Being No. 1 we knew we’d get their best shot. It was a good start, but it could have been better. It’s time to put this behind us and get ready for Central Michigan.”

Sophomore tailback Knowshon Moreno
On the game
“It was fun to finally get out there and make some plays. We have to go back and look at the tape and learn from our mistakes. Mainly, it felt good to be back on the field. We ran the ball hard and made some plays. We have confidence knowing that we have three people who can run the ball and make plays.”

Georgia Southern coach Chris Hatcher:
“I’ll tell you what. You hate to get beat 45-21. Their team speed is phenomenal. Their receivers are bigger than some of our linemen. We had a lot of questions at the beginning of the season. You could tell that our nerves got to us in the red zone. Our offensive line did well; we ran the ball exceptionally well today. We fought 60 game minutes and played very hard. We had a bunch of guys who will come out and fight. As the game went along the nerves went away. We found some things we are good at and found some things we have to work on. Our two quarterbacks played well and they both made good and bad decisions today. We brought up 72 players and rotated them in an out to keep them fresh. The freshmen played well today. Our goal coming into each series was to improve. They have two legitimate Heisman candidates and very big receivers.

Georgia Southern freshman quarterback Lee Chapple
“On my first series I felt comfortable. There was nothing special being thrown at us. We scored two touchdowns on two straight drives, which gives us confidence. Our offense moved the ball well. Once in the red zone, we have to put the ball into the end zone for touchdowns. We were happy how we played against the No. 1 team, but a loss is a loss. It was a thrill to score a touchdown. Growing up in Georgia, it was a dream of mine to score a touchdown in this stadium.”

Georgia Southern Senior Rover Chris Covington
“It was exciting to be involved for two reasons: 1) playing against Georgia and 2) playing on this stage. When we have a turnover, our job is to go out and stop the other team. They have a great team with big guys, and they play hard. All we could do was try to match up in intensity. Georgia has great fans, and the main thing to focus on is that our young guys played hard. Our offense was trying to do its job. We can point fingers because we gave up some big plays to Georgia.”

Georgia Post-Game Notes
Wins In The Season Opener: With today’s 45-21 victory, Georgia has now won its last 12 season openers. Under Mark Richt, the Bulldogs are 8-0 in season and home openers. The Bulldogs are 4-0 versus GSU. Also under Richt, the Bulldogs improve to 31-2 against non-conference foes including 21-0 in Sanford Stadium.

Offensive Line: Georgia had four first-time starters on the line and the lone exception was sophomore Chris Davis, and it was his first career start at center. Davis started all 13 games last year at left guard. Georgia tallied 535 yards of total offense on just 59 plays. It was the first time Georgia had more than 500 yards of total offense since the 2006 Sugar Bowl (501 vs. West Virginia).

Offensive Highlights: Junior split end Kris Durham (3 rec., 74 yards, 1 TD) caught a career-long 61-yard touchdown from quarterback and roommate Matthew Stafford with 12:38 remaining in the second quarter. Stafford (13-of-21, 275 yards, 2 TD) tallied a career-high 275 yards passing. Sophomore Knowshon Moreno tied his career high with 3 rushing TDs (also vs. Florida and Troy), and he had only eight carries on the day for 59 yards. Redshirt frosh Caleb King was the top rusher with 95 yards (12 att.)

Putting It Through The Uprights: Freshman Blair Walsh’s 52-yard field goal with 8:25 left in the first quarter was the longest field goal for the Bulldogs since Brandon Coutu connected on a 52-yarder against Hawai’i in the 2008 Sugar Bowl. Walsh’s field goal was the longest first field goal for any Georgia freshman kicker since 54 yarders by Hap Hines (1996 vs. Kentucky) and Allan Leavitt (1973 vs. Alabama), although those were not in the season opener.

Defense: The last time the Bulldogs held an opponent scoreless in the opening half was during Georgia’s 34-0 win over UAB in 2006. In the first half, Georgia built a 24-0 lead and had held the Eagles to 88 yards of total offense on 36 plays. Overall, GSU ran 71 plays for 290 yards. Georgia scored 7 points off of one turnover. GSU has no points off of one turnover. Senior MLB Dannell Ellerbe snagged his third career interception early in the second quarter. Ellerbe’s first career interception came in the season opener of his freshman year in 2005 against Boise State. Ellerbe wore No. 44 against GSU today in honor of injured senior linebacker Marcus Washington.

First-Time Starters: There have been 13 true freshman starters in the season opener dating back to the Vince Dooley era (1964). The true freshman starters under Mark Richt are Cordy Glenn (RG – 2008) and Blair Walsh (PK-2008), Kedric Golston (DT – 2002), Danny Ware (TB – 2004), Trinton Sturdivant (LT – 2007) and Bruce Figgins (TE – 2007). The Bulldogs had 10 true freshmen play in Saturday’s win over the Eagles, which is the most true freshmen who have played in a season opener under Richt. The 10 freshmen were Nick Williams (DB), Brandon Boykin (DB), Richard Samuel (TB), Marcus Dowtin (LB), Blair Walsh (PK), Ben Jones (C), Cordy Glenn (RG), DeAngelo Tyson (DT), Sanders Commings (DB) and A.J. Green (FLK). The previous high under Richt was nine 2002.

‘JW’ Decal: Georgia’s helmets will feature a ‘JW’ decal for the first two games this season in honor of former Georgia snapper Josh Willis of Americus, who was killed in a car accident on Feb. 4, 2008.