ATHENS - Georgia leading receiver Malcolm Mitchell has definitely been ruled out of Saturday's game at Vanderbilt, head coach Mark Richt confirmed on Sunday.

As for Georgia's following game, the showdown with Florida after the bye week, Richt said the Bulldogs were "hopeful" Mitchell will be available.

Some other notes from Richt's Sunday teleconference:

- There was no movement on the status of offensive lineman Kolton Houston, who remains out with an unspecified NCAA issue.

"We've got no news to add," Richt said. "We're really in the same boat. We have no idea how long that's going to take."

- Richt tempered a bit his criticism of how quarterback Aaron Murray played at Tennessee. After Saturday's game Richt said the team could have thrown the ball better, but when asked if he was concerned at all with Murray, Richt said he was not.

"No, I think he's doing well," Richt said. "We would have loved to hit a couple deep balls there. But other than that, I think he threw pretty well."

Murray currently ranks third in the SEC in passing efficiency and passing yards per game. Tennessee's Tyler Bray (who broke his thumb against Georgia and is out four weeks) is first in both categories, followed by Arkansas' Tyler Wilson.

The Georgia quarterback has 13 touchdown passes and six interceptions.

- Richt again sounded frustrated that the Bulldogs weren't able to put away an opponent. He said he would have handled one drive differently: In the fourth quarter, up 14, when Georgia went three-and-out after playing it conversative with the play-calling.

"(We) pretty much put more pressure on the defense there," Richt said. "If we're in that situation again, we'd better be able to put it away."

- Georgia is now tied with South Carolina for first in the SEC. It received votes in all three major polls - AP, coaches and Harris - but didn't crack the top 25.

"We are continuing to get better," Richt said. "I know that we haven't reached our potential yet, that's for sure."