Leaving early might not be the best choice for Geathers, Murray (Updated)

Kwame Geathers made this tackle but too often got pushed around against Nebraska. (Associated Press)

A few bowl week observations …

So far, we know that Alec Ogletree and Jarvis Jones, the two members of Mark Richt’s 2012 team considered most likely to leave early, are indeed cutting their UGA playing careers short.

Still to be heard from: nose guard Kwame Geathers and quarterback Aaron Murray.

Retaining one or both would be a big plus for the Dawgs.

Geathers, of course, has always been considered unlikely to return for his senior year, though a lot of college football observers feel he could benefit greatly from another year in Athens. After watching Geathers, who had one solo tackle and two assists, get pushed around by offensive linemen 50 pounds lighter than him in the Capital One Bowl, I’m inclined to agree.

Still, I’ll be suprised if he stays.

Aaron Murray has to decide which he'd rather do next year: Break a bunch of records or hold a clipboard. (Associated Press)

As for Murray, his pro playing potential has always been considered a little suspect simply because of he’s short for an NFL quarterback (though there are, of course, exceptions like Seattle rookie Russell Wilson that no doubt give him encouragement).

Another year at Georgia isn’t going to see Murray grow any, so basically he’s got to decide whether he wants to have a shot at leaving college owning most of the SEC quarterbacking records or if he’d rather be paid (albeit handsomely) to hold a clipboard next year.

Here’s hoping he decides that whatever NFL future he has can wait another year. …

UPDATE: Murray tweeted Sunday: “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.”

That’s great news for the 2013 Dawgs, who early in the season might have to depend on outscoring opponents as the defense rebuilds. …

When the BCS bowl lineup first was announced, most of the discussion about which team didn’t really belong centered on Northern Illinois and Louisville.

It turned out, however, that if there was any program that didn’t deserve a BCS slot, it was the Florida Gators, who got the spot Georgia should have had simply because they didn’t make it to the SEC Championship and thus didn’t pick up a second regular season loss. Not only did the Gators lose their bowl game, they did so in particularly unimpressive fashion. And on top of that their fan base didn’t seem too thrilled about the game in New Orleans, resulting in the Sugar Bowl’s smallest crowd since 1939. Chalk up a big whiff for Gator Nation. …

Trash talk from a loser never looks good, but Nebraska QB Taylor Martinez came off particularly clueless this week with his dissing of the Georgia defense after the Cornhuskers lost the Capital One Bowl. His sneering “we pretty much did anything we wanted against them” remark begs the question: If that was the case, why was his offense shut out for the last 25 minutes of the game?

When they first announced the Dawgs’ tough, frontloaded 2013 schedule, featuring September games against Clemson, South Carolina and LSU, I thought Les Miles’ team would be the biggest challenge. But after watching Georgia’s future opponents in bowl play the past week, it looks like the two South Carolina schools will be tougher, especially Clemson.

And after watching LSU in the Chick-fil-A Bowl and Georgia in the Cap One, is there anyone in the Bulldog Nation who still thinks Zach Mettenberger, the quarterback that got away, is the one the Dawgs would have been better off with?

I was amused watching the ESPN crew fall all over themselves describing that Rose Bowl yawner between Stanford and Wisconsin as a “classic” and “rugged” game. Let’s face it, it was just plain boring. But the fact is that the non-title BCS games in general have been among the least interesting of this year’s bowls. Not one of them came close to matching the Capital One or Outback for excitement. …

Georgia Tech's Sun Bowl uniform? Yuck. (Associated Press)

Finally, did they blindfold the folks at Georgia Tech who chose that uniform the Jackets wore in the Sun Bowl? In the mix-and-match era typified by Oregon, we’ve seen a lot of nightmare combinations, and nothing can top the garish designs worn by Maryland, but that outfit worn by Tech screamed high school.

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— Bill King, Junkyard Blawg