Does Aaron Murray have the makings of a championship QB?
Can Aaron Murray become an elite quarterback for Georgia? (Associated Press)
It’s tough finding a consensus lately among Georgia fans on quarterback Aaron Murray.
In his second season behind center for the Dogs, Murray completed 218 of 371 passes for 2,861 yards (a 58.8 percent completion rate) and broke the single-season school record for touchdown throws with 33. He also ran for two scores, giving him the UGA record for single-season touchdown responsibility.
And in the SEC, he ranked second in passing (220.1 yards per game), second in total offense (229.6) and fourth in passing efficiency (146.4).
Stats like that are why Murray made some All-SEC teams and is routinely cited by national sports media as one of the best QBs in the conference. It’s a major reason the Dogs will enter next season highly rated.
But closer to home the excitement over Murray’s passing numbers is tempered by frustration over his penchant this season for devastating turnovers against South Carolina, LSU and, most recently, Michigan State.
Of course, the argument can be made that Murray’s tendency to fumble or throw a pick 6 at the worst possible time might be at least in part attributable to the sketchy protection he was getting from Georgia’s erratic offensive line and, in the last couple of games, the lack of a consistent running attack.
Looking ahead to next season, the OL remains a big question mark amid a rebuilding process, but the arrival of Keith Marshall and Todd Gurley ought to help boost the ground game and loosen up defenses a bit. Offensive coordinator Mike Bobo has said an improvement in the running game will make Murray a better quarterback, and I think he’s right.
(Of course, it also would help if, in third-down situations, playcaller Bobo didn’t tend to obsess on downfield plays, keeping Murray standing in a crumbling pocket too long.)
On top of having a better rushing attack, if the progress of past Georgia QBs is any indication, Murray’s decision making ought to improve considerably in his third season as well, which should help him get his ball security issues in check. He’s a good on-field leader and showed in the Florida game this year he can make big-time throws in tough situations, especially those two fourth-down touchdowns.
Overall, I believe the national media types are correct in thinking Murray has the makings of a championship quarterback. What do you think?
Got something on your mind concerning UGA athletics or a question for the Junkyard Blawg? Send it to junkyardblawg@gmail.com.
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610 comments Add your comment
GSeth
January 18th, 2012
12:11 pm
The biggest difference in my mind when I watch and remember the likes of David Greene v. Aaron Murray with Greenie’s willingness to throw the short pass to the flat and letting the other members of the team make some plays. Murray would rather force a ball down field than let a wide-open back/receiver in the flat make a play. Short passess work too! They keep defenses honest in all levels of coverage. Aside from a designed full-back screen, I cannot remember seeing a single screen/flat pass to wide open Branden Smith/Carlton Thomas/Isaiah Crowell and company. Let those guys work their magic in some space!
John Galt
January 18th, 2012
12:12 pm
Most of our needs on offense surround game plans and play calling. HOWEVER- until Murray learns to feel the rush and keep looking downfield when flushed, he won’t take us to the next level. As soon as he feels pressure he runs with no more consideration to throwing.
Who am I?
Make Special Teams, Special
January 18th, 2012
12:12 pm
@John Galt,
Mike Bobo is thick headed and arrogant.
Taco Meat
January 18th, 2012
12:13 pm
Let me preface this by saying I am the biggest Dawg fan there is; always have been and always will be. That said, I’m still not sold on Murray as a championship caliber quarterback. You can throw out his stats all day long, but let’s face it Dawgs fans- he hasn’t done anything against ranked teams. Big time players make big time plays in big games, and Murray just hasn’t done enough for me to consider him “elite” yet. My biggest gripe with him is the turnovers and bone-headed mistakes he makes in big games. Championship quarterbacks just don’t do that. They can be counted on to put the team on their back in big games (i.e. Cam Newton, Luck, Tyler Wilson).
Take Kellen Moore for instance. He may not have been highly recruited, nor does he play in the SEC, but he doesn’t make the killer mistakes that Murray does. He’s a good QB, with good insticts who knows how to win.
Hopefully Murray can develop into that guy next year. Our ability to play for a BCSNC next year depends on his play. We shall see…
AceFrelly
January 18th, 2012
12:14 pm
One other thought.
Murray reminds me of Jay Cutler, minus the strong arm, and Cutler is taller. Both have the same deficiencies.
extrapoint
January 18th, 2012
12:15 pm
What to know how much our play calling has changed. VanGorder will think he never left Georgia when he coaches the Auburn defense againt us. Bobo is stuck in time with his play calling. Name the number of trick plays, screen plays that work, throws to our backs. Plays that make College football exciting and opens up the offensive. And lets take a look at our offensive scheme on blocking. We are starting to look like the Atlanta Falcons.
If UGA plays crummy teams he is fine...
January 18th, 2012
12:15 pm
…but just look at his record against teams that are good – he is ZER0 for everyone, so, no, he is not close to being even an average quarterback, much less a championship QB…
Nom Nom Nom Chuck's Taylor, or Norris if he is available
January 18th, 2012
12:16 pm
I am George Stein’s love toy
jvillebil
January 18th, 2012
12:18 pm
I wish Mason would have been given an opportunity to play more but it seems the coaches are past the point of no return. During the Auburn game Murray looked as good as he ever has. He ran when he needed to an threw extremly accurate. I agree a few more screens, throws in the flats will help. I personally think he’s going to lead Georgia big next year.
Why
January 18th, 2012
12:18 pm
I have asked this question a lot – why are GT fans such crybabies, especially on their blogs? And the biggest crybaby of them all is ken the moderator
SCMAN
January 18th, 2012
12:19 pm
Who has he beaten? No one.
GTJoe
January 18th, 2012
12:20 pm
Don’t worry Dog fans, GT will will the NC this year. Our offense is unstoppable and nobody can run or pass on our defense!
GTJoe
January 18th, 2012
12:21 pm
SCMAN is my biyatch!
John Galt
January 18th, 2012
12:23 pm
I don’t know. Who am I?
DIT
January 18th, 2012
12:23 pm
I’m not happy with Bob like the next person. However Murray is his own worst enemy. Plenty of the blame should be on him. Many bad decisions on his part.
teewest
January 18th, 2012
12:24 pm
Maximus Billibus the answer is simply….No
Capt. Obvious
January 18th, 2012
12:25 pm
Murray is far from great at this point. Lets face it he has had some pretty talented pass catchers around him. The passes you mentioned in the Florida game, the same ones everyone points to as why he is so great. They were nothing more than jump balls. Murray threw the ball into coverage where luckily the receiver got his head around first and won a jump ball. If anything those passes were an example of how good our WRs are! I do believe that Murray is capable of the big time throws, I do not believe these are good examples!
I believe Murray can be very good maybe great. Its hard to make judgement on his decision making because we do not know what he is being told by the coaches. But he routinely does not see the underneath receivers who are wide open and throws at the tight coverage down field. (I can only assume he does not see them, as it would be border line retarded to not throw to an open play maker) I do not know how many times I have watched a TB come out of the backfield and have 20 yards of space and Murray throw to a WR that is double covered. Imagine hitting C. Thomas and giving him that kind of room to make something happen. The few times he does check down he tends to throw behind his targets requiring them to make a fantastic play to catch the ball and turn up field. If he were to lead these players they would have the opportunity to A) get down field and B) Protect themselves. Also I would love to see him realize the pocket is breaking down and scramble for 4 or 5 yards like he did as a freshman instead of staying in the pocket and trying to force something that is not there. Heck, I would rather see him take a sack or throw the ball to the fifth row instead of trying to force a play.
Still@theKool-aidBAR
January 18th, 2012
12:28 pm
3/4 Murray is 16-11 so what does that say about his Championship potential?
Stephen A.DAWG: Maybe, maybe not.
January 18th, 2012
12:29 pm
We have seen enough of Murray’s performances against top twenty teams to know he is not a QB that can carry the team on his back. He is a another product of Richt’s old 1990s FSU offensive system, which attempts to make Heisman candidates out of short, overachieving QBs with limited abilities by placing them around highly talented skill players. Richt is the same OC today as he was in the 1990s at FSU, when he had the audacity to start limited Casey Weldon ahead of dangerous, dual threat Heisman winner, Charlie Ward at QB. Richt is “still” the real OC at UGA and Bobo is the fall guy who catches the heat as OC in Richt’s pass-first offensive system when it fails in big games.
Murray apparently is accustomed to free lancing and scrambling to making plays as a QB in high school and the Bobo/Richt braintrust is trying to force him to be disciplined to be a passer from the pocket. The problem is that Murray is too short to stand behind a tall O-line under duress and his field vision is limited. Richt and Bobo want Murray to basically be a basketball point guard and distribute the ball to the receivers and against weak or mediocre competition this system works. But against the talented, well coached top twenty teams, Murray can be forced into turning the ball over because he doesn’t have the composure or skillset of a big time or championship QB to avoid errors which hurt his teams’ chances to win. Murray has all the stats in the world, but being a stat-leader doesn’t make him a championship QB or 1st round NFL prospect. It appears Murray is Richt’s entitlement de-facto starter at UGA for all his four years, but that entitlement won’t win championships or translate to being a starter in the NFL with what we have seen of him so far. Murray reminds me a lot of Richt’s old FSU pupil, Casey Weldon, who was a small and limited QB that had benefitted greatly from the talent of players around him to move on to a long NFL career sitting on the bench as a third stringer. In crucial situations against good teams we see Murray make disastrous mistakes (fumbles and pick sixes) when other poorly coached areas of the offense break down.Then depending on the defense, Richt and Bobo lose confidence in Murray and run giveup dive plays up the middle with tiny Carlton Thomas. So it’s clearly not all on Murray, who is really giving it his all and doing his best in a old, outdated offensive system that feeds on talent levels to win or lose in games. With that in mind talented, but poorly coached UGA will continue to win against sub-par teams and lose to well coached and talented teams.
Is Bama’s QB A.J.McCarron a true championship QB? No, but the system he plays in has made him a champion playing the position.
Murray could be a championship QB if he was at Alabama, because the coaching would play to his strengths when needed, and he wouldn’t be asked to do too much because of the Tide’s dominant running game. If Georgia had better offensive coaching philosophy it would greatly enhance its championship aspirations and not be dependent on solely on a QB.
The basic basics are missing for now
January 18th, 2012
12:29 pm
Special teams issues cost UGA nearly all of their four losses. I include FG kicking, kick off coverages ( we defeated Ole Miss and Vandy but they EXPOSED US) punts, punt coverages and fundamentals ………….like tackling in these very situations.
Secondly, Aaron Murray turned the ball over in very critical times in 2011 like vs SC or LSU and even in 2010, ………like in the Florida game, he threw a quick 6 pic TD and fumbled one for a quick pick up TD and then in OT, he threw it to Charles with 45 Gators all over him. FG game over.
No, until Murray looks SMOOTH in TIGHT games and in BIG GAMES ………….. he is just another UGA QB to me with empty stats.
Murray is like Tech’s Triple Option ………………tons and tons and tons of EMTPY, meaningless yards for no real gains.
UGA class of 71 & 73
Auburn Army
January 18th, 2012
12:30 pm
Murray would not even start if he was play for Auburn. Hell he wouldn’t even be 2nd team water boy. These are the truce facts.
Whiskey Breath
January 18th, 2012
12:30 pm
What Ga people don’t understand is he get’s all those passing yards against the so so competition.
Ga plays to the level of their competition and when they have to play a good team, they can’t raise
their level of play. However I think Murray will step up one day. The question is when.
Sometimes a easy schedule is not a good thing when you finnaly have to play a tough team.
59bulldawg
January 18th, 2012
12:30 pm
I hear you on the turnovers at critical times. It’s frustrating. But Murray is a great athlete, works extremely hard to get better each week, stays out of trouble, and loves the University of Georgia. Some of the same folks criticizing Murray now are some of the same folks who criticized Joe T3 when he was QB and were begging for someone like Murray. Considering our spotty line play and lack of a running game it’s no small miracle that he played as well as he did. Until we get some mean and nasty hogs up front, a consistent running game again, and a different philosophy on play calling, Murray will have to “chuck and duck” again next next season. I’m optimistic about the running game. But the O-line and the play calling have got to improve. Otherwise it won’t matter if Joe Namath is playing quarterback for us. All in all, there are a lot more checks on the positive side than the negative with Murray. Give him a running game, a line, and a decent game plan and you’ll him see him take us even higher.
BobDawg
January 18th, 2012
12:34 pm
I agree with your assessment, Bill… With Murray going through what some consider are the Soph “slump”; if you can call him setting records left and right a slump, the next 2 years will slow down for him on the field.. He will have a better run game and maybe only have to chuck it 20-25 times a game. He is very athletic and a danger to defenses that think they have the perfect call on a play.
DAWGS forever
January 18th, 2012
12:35 pm
John Galt…. Bobo has watched the championship game and he loves the play calling of LSU. That’s the problem
EDawgs
January 18th, 2012
12:36 pm
Nope, Kid is color blind, needs Manning passing camp and Lasik surgery.
DawginLex
January 18th, 2012
12:37 pm
My view is to let Lemay share the reps with him in the spring and during the summer leading up to the opener.
Let both of them play alternating series against the cream puffs and do a strong evaluation.
Starting the game is not as important as who finishes.
The one who displays the most value to ball control/possession becomes the man.
In other words, you turn the ball over and you get drilled.
Stan
January 18th, 2012
12:37 pm
I think Murray is a Dickhead…
DAWGS forever
January 18th, 2012
12:37 pm
I agree with the person who said Murray is tough. At times he takes a pounding. He is tough and he is a leader of the team and does not whine when things go wrong. Some great and admirable qualities that can’t go over looked.
Now clean up the other areas… PLEASE
Go DAWGS
roughrider
January 18th, 2012
12:37 pm
When Murray throws two interceptions in a game, he should ride the bench and let his back up play.
Rationale
January 18th, 2012
12:38 pm
Without having read the article first, my reply is, no, unless he figures out how to control the adrenalin level, when things are going a bit crazy and he throws the ball into the other teams hands, and unless he figures out how to actually win a big game. The adrenalin control whould lead to more wins.
Still@theKool-aidBAR
January 18th, 2012
12:38 pm
I don’t know what a 3/4 Murray is. I just like to say stupid stuff.
SC Fan
January 18th, 2012
12:38 pm
poor qb coach. locks on to his receiver and then it gets tipped. poor technique=poor coaching. a sack or two and you are behind and he panics. good defense then goes to a stampede. easy against a mediocre defense though.
Old Dog
January 18th, 2012
12:39 pm
Bill, Where are the stats on how many pick-6’s and fumbles he has made compared to other QBs? You can rack up a lot of successful passes and yardage in those games like Coastal Carolina. If he gets kept in those easy games rather than letting the back-up QB get some playing experience, then of course his stats go up.
Compare his passing to that of his opponent in the Michigan State game – the othe QB got rid of the ball almost immediately, for good effect – short passes mostly. Murray seemed to stand all day in the pocket looking for someone to throw it to.
Stan
January 18th, 2012
12:39 pm
I want to see Murray’s ****head
AceFrelly
January 18th, 2012
12:40 pm
Christian Lemay reminds me of Tom Brady in his competitiveness, his poise, his leadership, his mentality.
Every game Richt sits Lemay, he will regret.
Lemay led his team to a victory over Independence a few years ago, it was Independence’s 1st home loss in 22 years.
Great video interview with Lemay and highlights:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5G_W0aP0NI0
GT Joe
January 18th, 2012
12:41 pm
Tech is back!! We will win it all this year, baby!
IF we could run the ball well, then .......
January 18th, 2012
12:41 pm
If we could run at will, then we would be better overall on O. Murray would absolutely benefit from that scheme and then he could move around and hit the short passes and allow his guys to take it to the house. By running it well …………….the dbs and lbs have to come up to stop it ………………..this creates HUGE probs for the opponent’s D ………….cause we can sprint past them wide open for one of Murray’s intermediate range throws.
In the SEC, you must run to win. LSU and ALabama WOULD HAVE wron our D down. SC did to some extent and we got into a trak meet with them due to Murray’s mess ups.
If we run the ball WELL …………………we will win more than our share. WITHOUT A BLUE CHIP LINE …………………it could be very difficult, so we will see more of Aaron Murray desperately trying to hit the home run ball and ultiamtely, more qucik 6 pics on such.
BobDawg
January 18th, 2012
12:41 pm
…Interesting hearing the LSU commit Gunner Kiel (sp?) is going to Notre Dame… I guess Mettenberger is being handed the starting QB job…
Deport
January 18th, 2012
12:41 pm
He will go down as the best UGA QB of all time… he is on pace to break every record except interceptions .. which is a good thing! .. give him a break .. wow … some fans …
TN Jeff
January 18th, 2012
12:42 pm
Admittedly I’m not a Bobo fan. But in his defense regarding the play calling on 3rd downs where he seeks downfield plays which require better pass protection, it would help IF Murray could learn how to throw a simple screen pass. I have never seen a QB as good as he is that struggles so mightily with selling and throwing a screen pass. It seems every time he throws one it is either picked off, nearly picked off, loses yardage, or at best falls incomplete. In addition, someone might want to remind him & Bobo that there was a LOT of hype about his running abilities which seem to be neglected in key situations.
AceFrelly
January 18th, 2012
12:42 pm
I want to be Lemay’s boytoy.
BobDawg
January 18th, 2012
12:43 pm
@SC FAN.. you are RIGHT… Garcia looked horrible for you guys and just got run out of town..
TN Jeff
January 18th, 2012
12:43 pm
One other glaring weakness – eyeing down one receiver and thus advertising the target for potential interceptions.
BobDawg
January 18th, 2012
12:44 pm
Big John Isner just beat Nalbandian in the Aussie Open…GO DAWGS!!!!!
SC Fan
January 18th, 2012
12:45 pm
Spurrier is cute.
Old Dog
January 18th, 2012
12:46 pm
“especially those two fourth-down touchdowns.”
Those were desperation plays. Should not have had to wait until fourth down to complete a pass. The only reason RichtBobo called those plays were to save themselves from getting fired. They were lucky it worked. If it had been because Murray was good, he would have thrown those passes on 1st down.
SC Fan
January 18th, 2012
12:46 pm
BobDawg, don’t talk about my homeboy Garcia like that.
59bulldawg
January 18th, 2012
12:46 pm
Dawg in Lexington – I wouldn’t have a problem with working LeMay in some next season . . . and I’m not speaking of just “mop-up duty” either.
HOP
January 18th, 2012
12:47 pm
.I am tired of all the excuses for this guy. his turnovers were not fault of the o/line or running game.
david greene , dj,eric the great,had limitations as well with limited support,but they did not
choke when the game was on the line.
the problem is cmr is too loyal and does not open up the competition like he does with
other positions.
georgia will never be a championship until cmr does.