JACKSONVILLE - When Georgia lost its top two running backs to injury, the Bulldogs appeared to be in trouble.
Instead they just stumbled upon a whole lot of luck.
Redshirt freshman Knowshon Moreno ran all over UF's run second-ranked Southeastern Conference run defense en route to an 188-yard, three-touchdown performance against Georgia on Saturday.
The Bulldogs were without Thomas Brown (collarbone) and Kregg Lumpkin (knee).
"If you give him a hole, give him a crease, he can do some special things," split end Mikey Henderson said. "He can even do it when there's not a hole, there's not a crease. Just having a guy like that, you love playing with him.
"Knowshon Moreno is incredible. That's all you can say."
Moreno was the No. 9 running back in the nation in 2006 , according to Scout.com, and he lived up to the billing Saturday. He broke runs of 14 and 17 yards, and also had a whopper 42-yard sprint early in the third quarter.
"I wasn't tired at all," Moreno said. "I could still go another game right now if I had to."
Even with lack of depth at the running back positions, it didn't matter Saturday in the Bulldogs' 42-30 win against the Gators. Moreno said he hadn't had that many carries since high school, and fullback Brannan Southerl and was the only other runner to get any carries.
Now the members of the Facebook groups "Knowshon Moreno for the Heisman," "I have a Man Crush on Knowshon Moreno" and "Knowshon Moreno is the next Reggie Bush" have reasoning behind their arguments.
"That's not Florida defense," UF coach Urban Meyer said.
No kidding.
BHe?s a shifty guy,C UF linebacker Brandon Spikes said. BThey had great blocking up front. My hat goes off to the O-line … (Moreno) just hit the hole, and he runs real hard.C
While the Gators' offense was consistent throughout the night scoring in every quarter, the Bulldogs were more consistent.
In addition to Moreno's standout performance, sophomore quarterback Matthew Stafford lit up the Gators with an 11 for 18 days and three touchdowns.aid
"Knowshon ran beautifully," Georgia coach Mark Richt said. "We were hoping he'd touch it at least 30 times."
While the Gators were ranked 15th nationally in run defense coming in, it didn't show Saturday. The defensive line got little push up front as Moreno was constantly making his way into the linebackers corps and the secondary.
"I'm not sure what [everyone else] expected, but I know what we expected as a team," Moreno said. "This was a big one for us. It wasn't easy. We executed and came out with big plays, that's why we came out with the win."
Alligator Staff Writer Bryan Jones contributed to this report.
