Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray announced on his Twitter feed Sunday evening that he will return to the school for his senior season instead of entering the NFL Draft.

“Blessed to be the QB for the Dawgs, not ready to leave just yet. Time to get back to work & help lead this team to a championship,” Murray wrote on his account.

Murray is rated as the fifth-best quarterback among draft-eligible players, according to CBS Sports. He had been projected by CBS as a possible second-round pick in April’s draft.

Blessed to be the QB for the Dawgs, not ready to leave just yet. Time to get back to work & help lead this team to a championship #GoDawgs

— Aaron Murray (@aaronmurray11) January 7, 2013

But instead of the NFL, Murray will return to Georgia, and the Bulldogs will likely be one of the early frontrunners for a national championship appearance. Murray threw for 3,893 yards and 36 touchdowns this season while only throwing 10 interceptions.

Georgia came within eight yards of advancing to the national championship game this season, falling 32-28 in the SEC championship game to Alabama. Instead, Georgia was left out of a BCS bowl game and beat Nebraska, 45-31, in the Capital One Bowl. Murray threw for five touchdowns in the game, including two in a decisive fourth quarter.

Georgia junior linebacker Jarvis Jones is reportedly entering the 2013 NFL draft, according to Jeremy Fowler of CBS Sports.

Jones, who was named to the Associated Press All-America team for the second straight year, is considered to be the top linebacker and a possible No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft.

Jones, 6-2, 242 pounds, led Georgia with 12.5 sacks this past season and had 13.5 in 14 games as a sophomore in 2011. His 22.5 tackles for a loss led the nation.

The 23-year-old played at USC in 2009 before transferring to Georgia where he was redshirted in 2010.

Georgia LB Jarvis Jones is declaring for the NFL draft, according to a source—
Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerCBS) January 04, 2013

Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray’s home was vandalized after the Bulldogs’ 35-7 loss to South Carolina — the same day he found out his father had thyroid cancer.

Murray tweeted Sunday:

Probably the worst 12 hours of my life but I know my family will push through. Keep my dad in your prayers please—
Aaron Murray (@aaronmurray11) October 07, 2012

Murray found out that his father, Dennis “Denny” Murray, had been diagnosed with thyroid cancer. “Papa Murray,” as Aaron referred to him in another tweet, is undergoing surgery today at the Moffit Cancer Center in Tampa.

Apparently Dennis Murray had been diagnosed “a few weeks ago,” but the parents only recently told Aaron and his brother Josh and sister Stephanie. Aaron Murray and his brother drove to Tampa on Sunday.

Murray’s roommate, UGA linebacker Christian Robinson, revealed the vandalism via Twitter:

Came to a house that was egged and rolled. Seems that people turn on you when you're not perfect. Thought we were in this together.—
Christian Robinson™ (@crob45) October 07, 2012

Murray completed 11-of-31 for 109 yards and failed to throw a touchdown for the first time this season.

Georgia wide receiver Michael Bennett tore his ACL and is out for the season. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

Georgia wide receiver Michael Bennett tore his ACL yesterday and is out for the rest of the season, the team announced Wednesday.

Bennett, a sophomore from Alpharetta, Ga., had 24 receptions for 345 yards and four touchdowns this season, including catching five passes for 70 yards and two scores in the 51-44 victory over Tennessee last Saturday.

The fifth-ranked Bulldogs play at sixth-ranked South Carolina this Saturday.

Georgia will play without four defensive starters against Missouri, including All-American safety Bacarri Rambo. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

Georgia will be shorthanded going on the road for their SEC opener against Missouri. The Bulldogs will play without four defensive starters, reports ESPN.com.

The Bulldogs already were without suspended cornerback Sanders Commings and outside linebacker Chase Vasser, who are each serving two-game suspensions for offseason arrests. But UGA coach Mark Richt has been tight-lipped about the availability of Rambo and Ogletree for Saturday’s road contest, the first SEC game for the Tigers.

The Bulldogs will also play without All-American safety Bacarri Rambo, who failed a UGA-administered drug test after eating marijuana-laced brownies in the spring. Alec Ogletree, a linebacker, also failed a drug test for the second time, according to published reports.

Vasser was suspended after he was arrested for a DUI in May. Commings, a senior, was suspended after he was arrested in January on domestic violence charges.

Former Georgia football coach Jim Donnan has been charged with fraud for his alleged role in a Ponzi scheme, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports on Twitter.

Former #UGA coach Jim #Donnan has been charged by Security Exchange Commission in $80 million Ponzi scheme

—
ajc sports editor (@ajcsportseditor) August 16, 2012

The allegations against Donnan surfaced in July 2011 during a bankruptcy case. The former coach is accused of helping to draw investors to a West Virginia-based wholesale liquidation company known as GLC Limited.

The SEC says the 100 or so investors, reportedly including other former college coaches, were promised extremely high returns by Donnan and a partner named Gregory Crabtree. Instead, the SEC says, the pair created a Ponzi scheme in which new investors were paid with money from old investors.

In June, Donnan reportedly reached a deal on a bankruptcy settlement with GLC Ltd. and the investors he brought in to the company.

Georgia dismissed running back Isaiah Crowell today after he was arrested on weapons charges. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

The University of Georgia announced that sophomore running back Isaiah Crowell has been dismissed from the team.

Crowell was arrested early Friday morning on three weapons charges, two of them felonies.

“We have a dedicated and committed group of men who are working hard to prepare for the coming season,” Georgia coach Mark Richt said. “Our total focus will be directed toward the team and this effort.”

He faces charges of possessing a concealed weapon, having a weapon in a school zone and having an altered ID mark on that weapon. He was released Friday afternoon, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 

According to the police report, four other Georgia football players were also in Crowell’s vehicle, including three 2012 freshman signees. Those persons were outside linebacker Josh Harvey-Clemons, wide receiver Blake Tibbs and defensive back Sheldon Dawson. Also present was sophomore defensive back Quintavius Harrow. None of the four were charged.

Georgia running back Isaiah Crowell was arrested on weapons charges early Friday morning. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

Georgia running back Isaiah Crowell, a Freshman All-America last season, was arrested early Friday morning on two felony weapons charges, reports the Ledger-Enquirer‘s Seth Emerson.

Crowell was arrested on charges of “carrying a weapon in a school zone, and having an altered ID mark,” Emerson reports. Both of those charges are felonies.

Crowell was also jailed for possessing a concealed weapon, a misdemeanor.

Crowell was rated by many scouting services as a five-star recruit coming out of high school, and he was a key piece of a strong recruiting class for the Bulldogs. Rivals.com ranked Crowell as the fourth-best running back prospect in the nation.

He showed glimpses of greatness as a freshman, earning SEC Freshman of the Week four times. The Associated Press named him SEC Freshman of the Year after he rushed for 850 yards and five touchdowns.

Crowell was twice suspended during the season, though, including a one-game suspension for testing positive for marijuana.

Ohio State has cancelled a proposed home-and-home series with Georgia because of the Big Ten/Pac-12 scheduling partnership, reports ESPN.com.

Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity said at the SEC spring meetings that Ohio State backed out of an agreement to play the Bulldogs in 2020 and 2021.

The Big Ten/Pac-12 partnership is scheduled to begin in 2017 and will have 12 intra-conference matchups. Ohio State’s participation will likely start in 2018, Ohio State AD Gene Smith said.

The schools did not have a contract for those games, but instead had an understanding to try to schedules games for those years.

Ohio State contacted Georgia in May saying it would not be able to confirm those dates, which terminated the agreement.

Georgia Bulldogs quarterback Aaron Murray now holds the school record for most touchdown passes in a season with 26. The record was previously held by Matthew Stafford, who had 25 touchdown passes in 2008.

Murray broke the record with a 15 yard touchdown pass to Bruce Figgins in the second quarter of Georgia’s game with Auburn. The play gave the Bulldogs a 21-7 lead.

It was Murray’s third touchdown pass of the half.