Will Murray flourish or wilt in the spotlight?
Let's go ahead and put the ball in Aaron Murray's hands. (Johnny Crawford / AJC)
I know many UGA fans at this point are tired of talking about the Zach Mettenberger situation, especially since it doesn’t look like we’re going to get the full story about why Mark Richt kicked him off the team any time soon.
There are a lot of rumors circulating, but no one in a position to confirm what happened is talking. Suffice it to say from what we’ve seen of Richt over the years, you have to assume that when additional information about what happened in Remerton reached him, it crossed some boundary that made tacking on a few more games’ suspension not enough punishment. Possibly the head coach found out he’d been lied to.
I do know one thing: Richt wouldn’t throw this kid’s UGA career away lightly. He’s bent over backwards to near-contortionist levels to give players a second chance in the past.
He anguishes over having to deal with wayward players. After the Touchdown Club of Athens meeting last week, I was thanking him for the classy way he’d handled the taxi incident allegations and the sorry saga of Montez Robinson. Richt said he appreciated it and shook his head over the Robinson affair. You always hope that you can turn a kid like that around, but sometimes you can’t, he said with a sad look on his face. “And you wonder why you couldn’t connect with him completely.”
Added Richt: “I really hate that it was so public, too.”
Well, I said, that’s the other side of the coin for big-time college athletes. He agreed. Some, he said, love the spotlight and flourish in it. He was probably thinking of Jeff Owens, David Pollack and others. And then there are those who don’t like the attention at all. “Take A.J. Green,” Richt said. “He doesn’t want anything to do with all that. He just wants to play football.”
Mettenberger, obviously, fell into the group who didn’t handle the spotlight well. And whatever he did, his story is, I think, over at UGA. I’ve heard speculation that maybe he could go away to Georgia Military for a year like Odell Thurman did and then come back to Athens, but I think that’s highly unlikely. Usually when that’s a possibility, Richt says so from the start. Plus, Mettenberger probably would just as soon start over at another program.
So we’re left with Aaron Murray and Logan Gray. Some still hold out hope that Gray the “athlete” will prove to be an SEC-caliber quarterback, and there’s always that possibility, but if he winds up as the Dogs’ starter, I think you’re talking more of a caretaker QB until Murray develops or someone else steps forward. Sort of Joe Cox with less of an arm but more scrambling ability.
No, it’s more than likely that Murray is UGA’s best bet behind center. A year ago, everyone was sky-high on the prospect of him playing quarterback for the Dogs. But the fact that he’s a bit short and has been injury-prone, plus his lackluster showing this spring, has cooled fans’ ardor for him quite a bit.
I’m hopeful, though, that he’ll yet rise to the occasion, as Erk would say. You know he’s a tough competitor just based on the way he came back from a broken leg to lead his high school team to a championship. He showed some really good moves at G-Day but kept overthrowing wide-open receivers. Perhaps the competition with the strong-armed Mettenberger had Murray pressing too hard.
We’ve seen that situation at QB before. Remember how awful D.J. Shockley looked at times when he was battling the cool field general David Greene for playing time? Richt usually built a certain number of guaranteed series into games for Shockley (when he was healthy), but D.J. often looked like he was trying too hard, as in that awful interception he threw against Florida. And when he had to relieve the injured Greene against Tech. (Greene, you’ll recall, had to come back in to save the game.)
Once the job was his, however, Shockley relaxed and became the superb quarterback Richt had always thought he could be.
Perhaps that will be the case with Murray, too. Which makes me think it might be better if Richt and Mike Bobo go ahead and make Murray a clear-cut No. 1 on the suddenly tiny QB depth chart as soon as possible, rather than let the battle go on deep into August. So he can get that monkey off his back and settle down.
The spotlight is on Murray now. Keep your fingers crossed he’s able to handle it.
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331 comments Add your comment
Spokesman for the SEC East
April 20th, 2010
3:17 pm
I am a retard, please do not pay any attention to me.
PTC DAWG
April 20th, 2010
3:18 pm
Nice to fans of other teams care….it warms the heart.
But to answer the original question? Who knows? Certainly not any of us.
suwaneedawg
April 20th, 2010
3:19 pm
I love the people who support a team that can’t even sale out most of their home games, come on here and act like they have been a dominant football team for a long time. One year does not make a dynasty tech geeks so calm down. By the way, if the tech grad who mows my lawn is on here, forget about mowing today. I will see you tomorrow.
reebok
April 20th, 2010
3:20 pm
Tech fan here. I’m sure Murray is a terrifically talented QB…you don’t wind up competing for the starting job at a place like Georgia’s if you’re…but if he is indeed injury prone (or just not big and strong enough to take the pounding) then your team is going to be in a world of hurt. Yes, I know you have a great O-line and good running backs…I watched your team run ran all over my Jackets at Bobby Dodd in November…but without the passing game anybody can pack the box against a pro-style offense and stuff the run. Just my 2 cents’ worth…oh, and I hope Mettenberger gets his act together and realizes what he’s throwing away…maybe he could catch on at Jax State or similar program and somewhat redeem himself.
dawgwalker
April 20th, 2010
3:20 pm
aaron murray facts height 6 foot 3 /10 weight 212 pounds(last reported) .,built like a linebacker strong arm , lighting quick release,can move like a cat and he gun it on the run acuratly moving either direction and set up on a dime and fire.Needs to work on his touch,long throws and reads.he’s young dawg nation be patient he could be one of the best the game has ever seen.
TheItalianDawg
April 20th, 2010
3:22 pm
behind such a veteran OL, and very good Rbs and all these weapons from TE to WR! even my grand ma can play QB and look good! Murray is our best QB, he was even better than Cox last year, but this damn seniority philosophy by our coaches prevented him from starting. Murray will be a great QB, I have no doubt about that so stop the debate and the none sense.
BurningRedBleedingBlack
April 20th, 2010
3:24 pm
JB murray is not 5-10 he’s 6-1 and hes 210
Blackneck
April 20th, 2010
3:33 pm
For the Tea and Republican Party activists
NOW YOU WANT TO GET MAD?
We had eight years of Bush and Cheney, but now you get mad!
You didn’t get mad when the Supreme Court stopped a legal recount and appointed a President.
You didn’t get mad when Cheney allowed Energy company officials to dictate energy policy.
You didn’t get mad when a covert CIA operative got ousted.
You didn’t get mad when the Patriot Act got passed..
You didn’t get mad when we illegally invaded a country that posed no threat to us.
You didn’t get mad when we spent over 600 billion(and counting) on said
illegal war.
You didn’t get mad when over 10 billion dollars just disappeared in Iraq .
You didn’t get mad when you found out we were torturing people.
You didn’t get mad when the government was illegally wiretapping Americans.
You didn’t get mad when we didn’t catch Bin Laden.
You didn’t get mad when you saw the horrible conditions at Walter Reed.
You didn’t get mad when we let a major US city drown.
You didn’t get mad when we gave a 900 billion tax break to the rich.
You didn’t get mad when, using reconciliation; a trillion dollars of our tax dollars were
redirected to insurance companies for Medicare Advantage which cost over 20 percent more for basically the same services that Medicare provides.
You didn’t get mad when the deficit hit the trillion dollar mark, and our
debt hit the thirteen trillion dollar mark.
And Now When The Government Decided that people in America deserved the right to see a doctor if they are sick, “You Want To Get Mad!!” Yes, illegal wars, lies, corruption, torture, stealing your tax dollars to make the rich richer, are all okay with you, but helping other Americans… oh hell no.
cantondawg
April 20th, 2010
3:35 pm
I don’t buy this too short crap…Didn’t a guy named Flutie win the Heisman and have a pretty good pro career. He also happened to be 5 foot 8. Murray a good 4 inches taller than him and if we can get anywhere the production out of him that Flutie showed we will be in good shape.
Reality Dog
April 20th, 2010
3:36 pm
Murray > Brantley
ga gator
April 20th, 2010
3:39 pm
I agree with whats been said already and by him coming back off of a broken ankle early to lead his HS Team in the State Championship game says something more than X’s, O’s and arm strength. Like I said before, Gator friends of mine in Tampa says the young man has Tebow like leadership qualities and toughness.
ga gator
April 20th, 2010
3:40 pm
Dont kid yourself Reality, Murray might end up better than Brantley, but it won’t be this year.
Sanford Drive
April 20th, 2010
3:40 pm
Blackneck,
Take your angry political opinions elsewhere. This is a football blog.
G
April 20th, 2010
3:41 pm
Aaron Murray – Height 6-1, Weight 210
Drew Brees – Height 6-0, Weight 209
Urban
April 20th, 2010
3:42 pm
Thanks everyone for all your questions and concern but I’m happy to report that its just another beautiful day in Bimini! And yes, I think mentally that Murray will be fine. I know my man Dan (Mullen) thought very highly of him except in the height dept. Tally Ho…And Daz…great job in Orlando…they said you were “fired up”.
Sanford Drive
April 20th, 2010
3:45 pm
So we’re only left with 1 Elite 11 QB. It could be a lot worse, dawg fans. Murray has a lot of potential to develop into a great QB. We have enough talent to beat any team on our schedule this year, including UF (Okay that’s a longshot, but it’s still possible). Check out some videos of him on youtube or rivals. He actually has a great arm.
G-Day was ONE game (and not even a real one). He’ll be a very good QB when all is said & done.
The Real SugarHillDawg
April 20th, 2010
3:46 pm
Richt doesn’t have the luxury for Gray to be another caretaker QB. That will mean 3 sub par years in a row and he WILL be on the hot seat NO MATTER what Damon Evans says!!!
FP Santangelo
April 20th, 2010
3:50 pm
Aaron Murray is 5′8″. He has happy feet while standing in the pocket and does not understand the concept of stepping up in the pocket to buy himself more time. His arm is weaker than ZM’s. He makes bad decisions (see interception in G-Day game).
Alphare
April 20th, 2010
3:58 pm
How tall is Ron Mexico? 5′11”? That’s a tad shorter than AM.
GaGator
April 20th, 2010
3:59 pm
Blackneck,
Great, George Bush caused all your problems, now get a life, this a sports
blog, not some wine line for the oppressed.
chazzo
April 20th, 2010
3:59 pm
Another thing regarding Ark and USC last season. The Cox led O amassed a bunch of points, but the Martinez D could not keep them from putting points on the board, also. USC is a big, big game this year. Maybe the biggest.
FP,
Murray looked great stepping up in the pocket on G-day. You are right about the pick. Also, consider some receivers dropped balls they sould have caught. Murray will do just fine. Maybe he is a little short, but he has a high release and will have a good line in front of him.
GaGator
April 20th, 2010
4:00 pm
Reality Dog
April 20th, 2010
3:36 pm
Murray > Brantley
In your dreams!
ga gator
April 20th, 2010
4:02 pm
your a little late on that one GaGator.
Gratefuldawghead
April 20th, 2010
4:02 pm
Its not the Quarter Back yall need to worry about its King and Ealey running behind a better line (see last years Tech game) that will get the job done!
GO DAWGS!
ValdostaDawg
April 20th, 2010
4:03 pm
I know what Metts really did down here, and trust me you do not want him on the team! When it comes out, and it will you will agree!
FalconUGAFan
April 20th, 2010
4:03 pm
Great article, Bill. One of your best ever.
dawgwalker
April 20th, 2010
4:03 pm
FP SANTANGELO night night go back to sleep start watching mud wrestling retire from football
CHDawg
April 20th, 2010
4:05 pm
One of the worst parts of Mett leaving is that they probably can’t use Gray like they could have. Gray would be awesome as a wideout. Good skills, but the part I like is that they could use him on end arounds and he could throw or run. It would be a great use for his skills. I think he likes rolling out anyway. They could also throw over to him for a double throw as well as use him as straight up receiver. One thing I like about Urban is that he isn’t afraid to use his talent like that…think how he used Tebow in his freshman year. Instead of having the kid sit on the bench and wait, he found a way for him to make a difference.
Reebok, injury can stop any of them…you just never know. That is the worst part of Mett leaving. Regardless of who started we had a lot of depth. You know one of the things that I think a lot of people miss about Tech is just how good Nesbitt is at the option offense. You didn’t have a backup either, and that hurt you in our game, which was closer on the scoreboard than on the field imo. Nesbitt is very under-rated–the kid is brilliant at handling the ball.
Alphare
April 20th, 2010
4:06 pm
For those who live in Atlanta but pull for a team in a little town called Athens, are you kidding me?
Ed
April 20th, 2010
4:06 pm
If Richt gets a 100 yard rusher, he’s 40-3, and if he gets 0 turnovers, he’s 15-0.
All we need from Murray is to like McElroy, 15-20 td’s, and 4 interceptions. We need about 200 yards passing a game, to open up the running lanes and create balance. We don’t need 25 td’s this year from him, we don’t need 60% accuracy this year. But he can’t lose games turning the ball over. He can’t go Brett Favre on us. Just a td passing a game, and don’t get picked. Georgia HAS to dominate the turnover margin and run the ball if they want to win it all.
Gman
April 20th, 2010
4:07 pm
BigDawg,DroopyDawg, and Mike on Lake Hartwell..
1917, 1928, 1952, and 1990…National Championships for Tech vs. 1942 and 1980 for Georgia…4 > 2 you do the math…oh wait…this is not remedial enough
That being said…height shouldn’t matter…Shawn Jones, the GT quarterback on the 1990 National Championship Team was 6′0″ 200 lbs.
Sanford Drive
April 20th, 2010
4:10 pm
CHDawg,
I’m not sure Gray can be “awesome” at anything. And with Troupe, Wooten, Durham, Brown, T. King, and Green playing I’m not sure he would’ve seen much time at receiver anyway.
Big time?? Not
April 20th, 2010
4:12 pm
Four tickets, four hot dogs, four cokes. How’s that for remidial math.
Ed
April 20th, 2010
4:14 pm
Don’t forget how smart this guy is. Very high SAT, and a 4.8 gpa on a 4.0 scale. Hopefully he can use his intelligence to choose low risk options.
reebok
April 20th, 2010
4:16 pm
CHDawg, I agree with you completely about depth, and that was actually a point I did a poor job of spelling out…losing Metts leaves you thin at QB, irrespective of who wins the starting job.
CHDawg
April 20th, 2010
4:18 pm
I don’t know, San Dr., Gray was pretty highly touted, and I have always had the feeling that at some point the light would flip on…I hope you are wrong. I believe Wooten was a QB, so they could use him at it, too. I agree with your assessment of our receivers–they are an impressive bunch. Throw in Charles, Figgins, Lynch, and White, and what a talented bunch of young receivers!
Ed
April 20th, 2010
4:18 pm
If Murray plays too high risk, he’ll get hit instead of sliding or going out of bounds and get injured, or he’ll try to set INDIVIDUALISTIC GOALS and end up throw too many interceptions. That’s the lid on his talent. He’s got to figure out how to stay healthy, and protect the ball.
Ed
April 20th, 2010
4:19 pm
Drew Brees focuses on passing lanes, that theory that you have to be 6′ 3” to play QB well, has been proven to be wrong.
GaGator
April 20th, 2010
4:22 pm
Ed,
If a bull frog had wings, it could fly and if it had a 4.8 GPA, it could
proably fly to the moon.
Wishing and hoping won’t beat the Gators, sorry.
GaDawg
April 20th, 2010
4:23 pm
$750K – How many times do you have to be told that the coaches salaries and the institution salaries are separate. Coaches salaries are paid through the Athletic Association, Hartman Fund and private donations. The state does not contribute to their salaries.
It would be nice to kick some of these ideologue, liberal professors to the curb though. Maybe then we can get back to common sense education and not theory.
proxydawg
April 20th, 2010
4:27 pm
Wonder how many times Abry Jones will be called arby jones
Ed
April 20th, 2010
4:28 pm
Thanks for bringing up Florida (dumb move).
Let’s compare Murray to Brantley
Murray did over 60 TD’s and over 5000 yards in 1 season and won 2 state championship against the highest level of competition.
Brantley played for Div 2B competition, and did not win 2 state championships, and did not throw for 60 td’s and get 5000 yards in one season.
Murray can run and pass. Brantley can’t run.
Murray had 56 scholarship offers. Brantley, not so much.
Murray sat on the bench for 1 year, Brantley has sat on the bench for 2 years. If he’s so great, why has he sat on the bench for 2 years?
Advantage Murray.
Ed
April 20th, 2010
4:36 pm
Murray needs to work on lowering his downside, forget his upside for now. Don’t make stupid mistakes.
Rod
April 20th, 2010
4:37 pm
The bottom line is the University of Georgia cannot have the QB of the Bullodgs come in the game in relief or as the starter and have Vern Lundquist or Kirk Herbstreet or whoever talk all during the game on national tv about our QB being arrested back in the spring for being drunk, disorderly conduct and being physical with a girl. Met had to go or it would look very bad down the road when UGA is playing on TV every week.
Rod
April 20th, 2010
4:42 pm
Murray is just as tall as DJ Shockley and he won 2 sec championships. DJ had to save 3 games for Greene the year we won one of the sec championships. I think Murray needs to lose the glove though. Even Stafford took a year to become good so give MUrray his freshman year to improve before you give up.
Tucker
April 20th, 2010
4:44 pm
Time to reset attention from finding greatest QB ever to winning SEC championship. Alabama did it with McElroy. Just get it done, CMR.
Ed
April 20th, 2010
4:44 pm
Murray has the QB big 3 in DROVES:
1) intelligence
2) quick release
3) leadership
Height is not important as long as you’re 6′ foot. Murray is 6′ 1”.
Good article here about short QB’s who excel in college:
http://collegefootball.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=831608
Ed
April 20th, 2010
4:49 pm
Let’s hope Murray’s less like Dan Marino and more like Terry Bradshaw. It’s not about setting individualsitic records, it’s about winning championships–you know, the whole “Team” thang?
termigator
April 20th, 2010
4:50 pm
Ed/Patrick, Murray only had one Title you dumba$$. Brantley sat because of Tebow, Murray sat because of Joe Cox. Advantage Brantley you stupid fluck. See how stupid kicked out of the Marines Patrick is:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1158327737&ref=name
Lance
April 20th, 2010
4:51 pm
Just saying– You win in the SEC by playing stout D and rushing the football. We do those two things and we will be just fine.