Sept 1, 2001

By PAUL NEWBERRY
AP Sports Writer

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) - David Greene passed for 285 yards and two touchdowns in his first college game, Musa Smith scored three times and Georgia beat Arkansas State 45-17 Saturday in Mark Richt's coaching debut.

Greene, a redshirt freshman, narrowly won the No. 1 quarterback job over two other contenders but quickly showed himself worthy with a poised, accurate performance in the season opener for both teams.

Arkansas State was a 35-point underdog, coming off a 1-10 season and rotating a pair of true freshmen at quarterback. That made things easy for Richt, the former offensive coordinator at Florida State who landed his first head coaching job after Jim Donnan was fired at Georgia.

Greene completed 21 of 29 passes, which would have been even better if not for a couple of drops. Smith provided balance to the offense with 158 yards rushing, including a 49-yard scoring run.

Junior Cory Phillips, who started five games last season but couldn't beat out Greene, played two series in the first half and most of the fourth quarter. He was 5-of-9 for 101 yards, throwing a late 24-yard touchdown pass to Corrie Collier.

Still, Greene's performance should scuttle talk of a quarterback controversy heading into a game that poses the first serious test of the Richt era. No. 21 South Carolina visits Sanford Stadium next weekend for the Southeastern Conference opener.

Working out of a no-huddle offense that Richt brought from Tallahassee, Greene completed 11 straight passes to begin his career, a streak that ended when LaBrone Mitchell dropped a ball with about five minutes left in the first half. The very next throw went to Terrence Edwards for a 25-yard touchdown play that gave the Bulldogs a 21-0 lead.

Smith scored the first two Georgia touchdowns on runs of 5 and 3 yards after Greene passed his team down the field.

On the opening possession, he completed four throws for 49 yards, including a 24-yarder to Damien Gary. Smith lost a fumble on the Bulldogs' next possession, then a well-placed punt by Arkansas State's Mike Alexander gave Georgia the ball at its own 1.

Undaunted, Greene went to work again, looking more like a veteran than a rookie on an 11-play, 99-yard touchdown drive.

Using rollouts, straight drops and plenty of play action, Greene hit Edwards with three straight passes for 39 yards, then connected with tight end Ben Watson on a 27-yarder. The freshman went back to Edwards for 10 yards before Smith powered into the end zone.

Josh Driscoll hooked up with Alvin Powell on an 8-yard touchdown pass that brought Arkansas State to 21-7 at the half.

But Greene guided the Bulldogs to a pair of scoring drives that put the game out of reach in the third quarter.

The first stalled at the Arkansas State 10, bringing on Billy Bennett to kick a 27-yard field goal. The Bulldogs had barely crossed into Indian territory on their next possession when Smith broke loose around left end, streaking untouched down the sideline to become the first Georgia runner to score three times in a game since Robert Edwards in the 1998 Outback Bowl.

Greene's final pass was a 13-yard touchdown to Gary on the first play of the fourth quarter.

The Bulldogs played without four starters: All-SEC cornerback Tim Wansley, defensive end Charles Grant, tight end Randy McMichael and fullback Verron Haynes. All served one-game suspensions for various transgressions.