Bulldogs coach Mark Richt said Murray heard a pop in his left knee when he made a cut on a 28-yard run in the second quarter of Georgia's 59-17 victory over Kentucky on Saturday. Murray was limping at the end of that series, which ended with his touchdown pass to tight end Arthur Lynch. But he remained in the game for one more possession.

Murray left the game after he was hit by defensive end Za'Darius Smith as he threw an interception with 2:17 remaining in the half.

"He felt something pop whenever it happened on the run," Richt told reporters. "He didn't know for sure what it was. We've had other guys feel or hear something pop and then they're fine. He was feeling good enough to put him back in there."

Murray, who started 52 consecutive games at Georgia, is the SEC's all-time leading passer with 13,166 yards and 121 touchdowns.

Richt called Murray's injury "just sickening" and said he "really had a hard time enjoying the rest of the game."

"It's kind of a crummy feeling when you think of what Aaron is going through right now," Richt added.

Murray thanked Georgia fans for their concern and support in two messages on his Twitter account Sunday.

"Wanna thank everyone for making our senior night so special! Truly am blessed to have been your QB for 4 years," Murray said in the first tweet.

"Thank you for all the prayers over the past few hours. Gonna come back stronger than ever! Dawg for life. Truly love you all #GoDawgs," he said in the second. 

Georgia director of sports medicine Ron Courson said Murray is expected to make a full recovery. Murray bypassed early entry in the NFL Draft to return for his senior year.

It has been a disappointing season for Murray's Bulldogs (7-4, 5-3 SEC), who have lost several other top players to season-ending knee injuries, including running back Keith Marshall and receivers Malcolm Mitchell and Justin Scott-Wesley. Running back Todd Gurley also missed three games and receiver Michael Bennett missed two with injuries.

Richt said junior Hutson Mason, who took over for Murray against Kentucky, is expected to start in Georgia's final regular-season game at Georgia Tech and in the Bulldogs' bowl game.


REPORT: FLORIDA'S MUSCHAMP SAFE


Florida's embarrassing, 26-20 loss to FCS team Georgia Southern raised speculation about coach Will Muschamp's job status.

But it's not Muschamp who's on the hot seat, the Orlando Sentinel reports, but rather the rest of the coaching staff.

The university has no plans to dethrone its coach, who is finishing his third season at Florida, according to the report. But "significant changes to Muschamp's coaching staff" could take place after the Gators' season finale against No. 2 Florida State. Florida won't go to a bowl for the first time since 1990.

"Very disappointed for our program, an embarrassment (to be) in this situation," Muschamp said Saturday after the upset loss. "It's all disappointing. It's hard to measure it at this point."

Athletic director Jeremy Foley and school president Bernie Machen said last week Muschamp that was safe, but that was before the worst defeat in school history played in front of thousands of no-shows in The Swamp.

"We're not concerned," Florida safety Cody Riggs said. "I know that a lot of people around here have Coach Muschamp's back. He's a great coach, best coach I ever had. We're not worried about that."

Florida has blamed its problems on a slew of injuries. But that excuse doesn't work against Georgia Southern, which played without 19 of 65 scholarship athletes. The Gators were beaten soundly on both sides of the ball.


KELLY: IRISH NEED TO STAY PHYSICAL


After using its most physical game this season to beat BYU, rebounding from its most disappointing loss, Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly says the Fighting Irish need to come up with an even grittier effort to try to come up with their biggest win of the season against eighth-ranked Stanford.

"You cannot play finesse football against Stanford," Kelly said Sunday. "Oregon showed that you can't go in there and try to finesse them and play fast-break football. You've got to play physical football against Stanford to have a chance against them. What we have to do is prove we can do it consistently."

The Irish (8-3) ran the ball a season-high 47 times against BYU after having just 24 rushing attempts in a 28-21 loss to Pittsburgh in the previous game. Kelly said the physical style the Irish used against BYU is the way they have to play to be successful.

"This is Notre Dame football. This is the way we need to play. This is what we're capable of playing," he said.

Kelly said the Irish haven't always been as physical as they should have been this season, saying toughness needs to be part of the program.

"We want tough gentlemen. I want tough guys on the field, I want gentlemen off the field. There have been times we've played like gentlemen, and I don't want to play like gentlemen," he said.

Contributors: Tadd Haislop, The Associated Press