Athens, GA (Sports Network) - Knowshon Moreno rushed for three touchdowns and Matthew Stafford passed for two scores, as top-ranked Georgia opened its season with a 45-21 triumph over Georgia Southern.

Starting the season No. 1 for the first time in school history, the Bulldogs (1-0) showed plenty of firepower continuing from a spectacular finish to the 2007 campaign. Georgia went 11-2, including a 41-10 thrashing of Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl last season.

Stafford completed 13-of-21 passes for a career-high 275 yards, and Moreno, coming off a season in which he scored 14 times on 1,334 rushing yards, ran for 59 yards on Saturday.

"I thought we played pretty well, but we had penalties and turned the ball over," said Stafford. "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."

Antonio Henton connected on 10-of-18 passes for 102 yards with a TD and an interception for Georgia Southern (0-1). Lee Chapple went 9-of-18 for 86 yards through the air, and also ran for a score.

Moreno scored on a two-yard run just 2:40 into the game, and a 53-yard field goal by Blair Walsh extended the lead to 10-0 less than four minutes later.

Jesse Hartley missed a 56-yard field goal for the Eagles later in the first, and Georgia Southern squandered another scoring opportunity early in the second. The Eagles took over in Georgia territory after a fumble, but Dannell Ellerbe intercepted Henton in the end zone in the opening minute of the second.

Stafford then found Kris Durham over the middle for a 61-yard TD pass with 12:38 left before the half. Moreno punched in a three-yard run for a 24-0 margin, just 24 seconds remaining in the second quarter.

It took Georgia just two plays to score to open the third with Moreno rumbling 24 yards to the end zone. Stafford hit Demiko Goodman with a five-yard TD pass later in the quarter, before Chapple broke the shutout with a one-yard scoring run with 4:27 left in the same stanza.

"Once in the red zone, we have to put the ball into the end zone for touchdowns," said Chapple. "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."

Samair Baker scored on a two-yard run for Georgia Southern early in the fourth before Georgia's Joe Cox passed three yards to A.J. Green for a score with 7:56 left.

Henton's 34-yard TD connection to Leander Barney with 1:45 left capped the scoring.