Head-scratcher: Aaron Murray has been great, yet UGA is 5-6
The good news: This quarterback is a real keeper. (AP photo)
Had you told me on Sept. 3 that the Ides of November would find Georgia under .500, I’d have had two thoughts. The first: “Ain’t no way.” (For the record, I picked the Bulldogs to finish 9-3.) The second: “If there is a way, it’ll be because Aaron Murray isn’t ready.”
And that’s what makes Georgia being 5-6 so confounding. More than simply being ready, Aaron Murray has been good bordering on great. A redshirt freshman, he’s already the third-best quarterback in the SEC, and the league’s best is Cam Newton, the finest player among collegians, and its second-best is the splendid passer Ryan Mallett. Murray is 15th nationally in passing efficiency. (Newton and Mallett are second and fourth, respectively.)
Heck, we can make a compelling case that Murray has been the best freshman quarterback in Bulldog annals, and those annals are inscribed with the deeds of some fairly fine frosh.
- Aaron Murray, 2010: 173 completions in 285 attempts; a completion percentage of 60.7; 21 touchdowns against six interceptions; 2,580 yards passing.
- Matthew Stafford, 2006: 135 completions in 256 attempts; a completion percentage of 52.7; seven touchdowns against 13 interceptions; 1,749 yards passing.
- David Greene, 2001: 192 completions in 324 attempts; a completion percentage of 59.3; 17 touchdowns against nine interceptions; 2,789 yards passing.
- Quincy Carter, 1998: 176 completions in 290 attempts; a completion percentage of 60.7; 12 touchdowns against nine interceptions; 2,484 yards passing.
- Eric Zeier, 1991: 159 completions in 286 attempts; a completion percentage of 55.6; seven touchdowns against four interceptions; 1,984 yards passing.
(We should stipulate that Zeier and Stafford didn’t begin their freshman seasons as the No. 1 quarterback. Both, however, played in the season opener – Zeier as the No. 2 behind Greg Talley, Stafford as No. 3 behind Joe Tereshinski III and Joe Cox — and both became No. 1 for good in October of those respective years.)
OK, those are the numbers. Murray already has the best completion percentage (tied with Carter), the second-fewest interceptions behind Zeier and the most touchdowns, and he’s within reach of Greene’s school record for passing yardage by a freshman. But here’s the weird part:
The Bulldogs were 9-3 in both Zeier’s and Carter’s freshman seasons, 8-4 in Greene’s, 9-4 in Stafford’s. How is it possible that a team returning every offensive starter save the quarterback could see that new quarterback perform so ably — and still be 5-6? (And of those six losses, only the Florida game, in which Murray threw half of his total of six interceptions, could be debited to the quarterback — and it must be noted that even on his worst day Murray led the rally that forced overtime.)
Not much about this Georgia season has made sense, but this part makes the least. The one offensive variable has come up trumps, and still the team enters its final scheduled game needing to win to become bowl-eligible.
Here’s how addled I am: I’m tempted to say, “Put Murray on Florida and the Gators would have won the SEC East,” or, “Put Murray on South Carolina and the Gamecocks would be 9-1, not 7-3″ … and then I realize the team he’s on finished behind those two. Maybe you can make some sense of it. Obviously I can’t.
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
384 comments Add your comment
kral
November 17th, 2010
5:16 pm
I will miss Omar, but love the bat we got..I know that’s Braves talk but love me some Dawgs and Braves…Loved the BB game last nite too
bitter dawg sh---t
November 17th, 2010
5:22 pm
recruit scam newton (aka) money, try DEATH penalty, 10 years of probation you stupid young thugs, auburn will come to a crashing stop after FBI interview papa smerf (daddy newton) trust me get as far away from any stick my head in a bucket of sand fans from lower alabama, far far awat, this crash will make the stock market look like scoring points on georgia defence is a hard thang to do, hahahahahah, please, be carefull what you ask for allBURN “U”, hahahahahahah, fools!!!!!
kral
November 17th, 2010
5:25 pm
Will ignore outlandish comments from those who are far more knowlegible than me…Because I know there proven right..Hope you get the sarcasm..Bye to those of you who complain and can second guess the day after,the week after, a year later… Hel. some can corrrect things that happen 10 yrs. ago are better
savannadawg
November 17th, 2010
5:39 pm
Mark, the problem is confidence. The coaches, specifically CMR never shows any confidence. Watch his demeanor. You have to realize EVERYONE and I mean EVERYONE around him are going to immulate that. I know that he has had a hard and disappointing year. But he has got to pull his head out of the sand and lead this team back. If he has such a strong faith in God, then now is the time to show it. With faith there is no reason to be weak. I knew after I saw his halftime interview w/ ESPN sideline reporter that we were going to lose the game at Auburn. It was like life itself was leaving him. The reason I’m putting this on this blog is that I hope someone thats close to him will reachout to him and just say. Hey man, get up! brush yourself off and get too it because its you! No one else is going to lead this team, so don’t look for me to cry for you.
Crenhaw
November 17th, 2010
5:43 pm
Georga has been the underdog in the betting lines against:
South Carolina
Arkansas
MSU
Florida
Auburn
They were expected to LOSE these games.
The only game they lost where hey were favored to win, was Colorado
No surpises here about 90% of the games.
Bradley might have expected Georgia to beat Auburn, Florida, etc., but Vegas didn’t.
savannadawg
November 17th, 2010
5:44 pm
Oh yes, and by the way CMR. Stop worrying about what people think of you! Stop being so politically correct. Spit, curse, yell, I don’t care BUT GET THIS DAMN TEAM BACK TO WERE IT BELONGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Crenhaw
November 17th, 2010
5:47 pm
I remember reading pre-season Georgia was expected to go 5-7, and finish around #64 ranking. Expectations wern’t high coming into the season. The writer said the #64 ranking was due to th QB and new defense, and loss of leadership on the defense.
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/sports_college/2010/06/college-football-2010-countdown-no-64-georgia.html
Crenhaw
November 17th, 2010
5:52 pm
Florida & Alabama & Texas have underachieved in 2010.
Georgia Tech? It’s not the Rambling wreck, it’s now called the train wreck.
Dog Guy
November 17th, 2010
6:01 pm
Only the naiive woud be shocked when a team has a 7-6 year 1 time per decade, to expect 10 8+ win seasons in a row, is naiive.
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
November 17th, 2010
6:08 pm
If we have less than 4 losses next year I will be stunned
Dog Guy
November 17th, 2010
6:17 pm
Miss St & South Carolina both beat Alabama, so they’re excellent teams.
Kentucky beat South Carolina, and Georgia eat Kentucky, didn’t expect Georgia to win that one.
Auburn’s #1 ranked team in the country.
Arkansas has the #1 offense in the country.
Win Big in 2011!
November 17th, 2010
6:56 pm
Georgia was a young team in 2010, with a lot of key injuries and suspensions. In 2011—with an experienced lineup. the Dawgs should win big—easily winning the SEC east. Florida’s going to be terrible again and USC loses all their top talent. Dawgs roll to the SEC title!!!!
Bud
November 17th, 2010
6:58 pm
DEFENCE!!!!
Bud
November 17th, 2010
6:59 pm
(sp)DEFENSE!!!!!
wildbill
November 17th, 2010
7:05 pm
Disappointing year? Darn right! Reasons: drinking, staying out late, not being in shape, not knowing the plays, not executing during games,
The Coaching, what coaching? I saw confusion, disconnection, repetitive lapses of poor play calling, underperforming coaches and players
“wait till next year”………….more of the same.
FLA DAWG
November 17th, 2010
7:13 pm
Mark,
Let me help you out on understanding it (though you clearly already know the reason(s))…Richt and Bobo have recruited solid talent for years and that is why we’ve had such stellar QBs. Richt and Bobo are incapable of GameDay Coaching / Playcalling (respectively).
A secondary reason is the lack of performance by our O Line – once described as one of the best in the country, they too have suffered from being under the coaching of Mark Richt & Company.
5 – 6 in a season where The SEC East was ripe for the picking – who’d have thought it was possible for The Dawgs to be so consistently bad…………..MANY OF US IN DAWG NATION FOR THE PAST THREE YEARS…………that’s who.
GET SMART………….FIRE RICHT
Randy Marsh
November 17th, 2010
7:29 pm
It’s quite simple. Football is still blocking and tackling and GA can’t do either. The OL still can’t block and never will as long as Richt is there, and the defense is still terrible.
Jim
November 17th, 2010
8:05 pm
Bradley,
The real head scratcher is why you were so OFF on both Florida & Georgia this year?
You had florida going 11-1 and georgia going 9-3.
Why was your judgment so bad?
kral
November 17th, 2010
8:06 pm
Duh, Randy Marshmello..Did you actually watch the Tech game last year..I could go and find you stats, even from this year, where GA’s running game was good..but that wouldn’t do you any good you would just make some broad totally incorrect statement about something else..calling you a liar is no good, because someone has to know about something before they can lie about it..i knoww you posted awhile back but I do hope after reading what you had to say you get to read my opinion
Jim
November 17th, 2010
8:14 pm
Bradley,
Since you were so far off on both Florida & Georgia, maybe you have a tendancy to thik teams are a LOT better than they really are. No way you should have had Florida going 11-1 or Georgia 9-3. Schedule’s were too tough, and both had no experience at QB and both lost a lot of key players to the NFL.
I had Florida going 7-5, Georgia going 6-6.
IRISH DAWGS
November 17th, 2010
8:29 pm
TMZ .COM IS REPORTING CECIL NEWTON RECIEVE THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS FOR HIS SON TO GO TO AUBURN. PROBATION OR THE DEATH PENALTY IS COMING $$$$ AUBURN $$$$N.
Superdawg1
November 17th, 2010
8:37 pm
Hope Tech beats the dawgs so there will be no bowl. We had enough embarassments allready this year
Kenny Powers
November 17th, 2010
8:47 pm
The pblm is, and has been, the coaching plain and simple…they kept Murray bottled up early in the year until they fell behind and then they turned the keys over to him and he performed well in each loss…if you recall CMR had to get involved, well actually ordered CMB to turn Murray loose…did it really take them until game 5 to realize that they had something special in Murray…until the return of # 8 the team had no identity…# 16 did a great individual job, but the team didn’t rally behind him, nor did they get behind # 3 or # 4, there was no one to follow, no one stepped up to lead, Murray was being held back by CMB…I’m sure that killed Murray having to watch, but being a choir boy and being very coach-able he did what they wanted…heck, they wouldn’t even let him use his wheels…step up they said trust the pocket, don’t try to make any plays on the edge…nope, this season lies at the feet of the coaching staff…sure # 8 and # 16 will be gone next year, but if the coaches stay out of the way, you can bet that Murray will step up and he’ll make All-American candidates out of #12, # 7, and probably # 15 if he works on his routes this summer…hopefully the coaches aren’t so timid next season
Jim
November 17th, 2010
9:02 pm
Mark-
If you’re saying Richt’s the BLAME for this year’s non top 25 ranking, then don’t you also have to give Richt the CREDIT for the 90 wins over 9 seasons? Are you saying Richt’s the problem, 769 win %, seriously? Come on. Same coach got Georgia 90 wins in 9 seasons, and got Florida State to 12 top 5 finishes. Richt finished in the top 10 for 6 seasons at Georgia, 4 consecutively (which Meyer & Saban will never do).
If when a team has 1 bad year, and if that means it’s the coach’s fault, then wouldn’t you have to say Mack Brown & Urban Meyer can’t coach? I mean really, I don’t see your point. You seem to be hinting towards coaching as the problem, which you’ve criticised so often in the past (ex. Willie Martinez ad nauseum, Bobo, Grantham, Richt, etc.). Your answer is whatever caused Brown, Meyer’s year to tank this year. Same answer as to why all are having a non-top 25 season.
kral
November 17th, 2010
9:07 pm
I must say Jim, I have heard the voice of reason in the midst of all the insanity..Thank YOU
Lowcountry Dawg
November 17th, 2010
9:14 pm
It;s simply this-we have a team that is poorly conditoned and poorly disciplined. This is why we have been losing all the close games. I don’t know when Mark Richt will stop taking it easy on his team
2005-By his own admission-he let the team off easy before the bowl game-and look at what happened with WVA.
2008- Due to injuries, by his own admission-he started limiting live tackling in practice-look at the defensive performance in the latter half of 2008
2010-Decided not to do two-a – days in the summer-I wonder how many of our opponents skipped two-a days this year?
It seems like this all started when Van Gorder left. Remember “Finish the Drill”
From 2001 to 2004, we were a well-conditioned team that one the close games-not anymore.
kral
November 17th, 2010
9:15 pm
I could at least read his article tonight without getting pis.. off, because at least he did not use gutless ?????????????????????
kral
November 17th, 2010
9:26 pm
Let’s see Low Down Country D you risk further injury if you hit to much right..so you would as a head coach keep on knocking heads…2005 I don’t remember but we da.. shore ran into more speed than I ever expected and after a beat down early we were conditioned enough to almost win….I want you to blame conditioning on this years losses or lack of two a days because that makes you a joke…I wish I had some swamp land in south GA to sell to you
Old Dawg
November 17th, 2010
9:28 pm
Select plays and turnovers have certainly had negative effects on this team. Blown assignments on defense are disturbing. I thought they would be corrected by the new defensive coaches but that hasn’t happened and I REALLY don’t understand how they happen … between practices and film sessions they should be eliminated.
The lack of two-a-days obviously eliminated the toughness of the team. CMR instituted live practices during the week to reverse the trend and he has said the 2011 pre-season practices will be more physical. I would hope the conditioning during the winter and summer will be enhanced.
As for next season’s schedule, once again the Dawgs don’t play Alabama and LSU from the West which should help with the results. But we thought Mississippi State would be a W as well.
Time to get after it in the off-season and right this listing ship!
jc_dawgs
November 17th, 2010
9:32 pm
Ever since Van Gorder left….the UGA defense has gotten worse and worse.
I guess Grantham gets a pass because he is in his 1st year….but looking at the last couple of years of defensive recruits….I dont see the D getting any better.
kral
November 17th, 2010
9:42 pm
UGA has one of the toughest off-season mat drills for conditioning..Let’s be honest..A fumble against SC conditioning? two passes that could have been easily intercepted against Ark ?…a fumble against Col?..interception against Fla in overtime after having come back from a deficit? conditioning give me a break..maybe it was because the watergirl has been going to her son’s games instead of UGA’s ..Even without the fumble or the interceptions I’m not saying we win..I’m just saying 2-days..conditioning are you people kidding me do you actually watch the games
Coffee Bluff DAWG
November 17th, 2010
9:47 pm
UGA is losing the recruiting battles to some SEC rivals. like SC (Lattimore, etc) now that the ole Ball Coach has moved in. We’re still getting some great players but there were obvious gaps in personnel on D this year.
Thought we scored enough to win several more games but gave up way too many points. UGA & Murray can be a great in the next few years but only if we can fill in the gaps and replace AJ, Houston and others.
kral
November 17th, 2010
9:52 pm
When you make mindless comments as though you have some great insight to GA’ practices, coaches, gameplan,and ect.. you peole make me laugh so hard I almost want to fall out of my chair..I’m sure you have the inside on GA’s practices and have personally set in on a meeting where coach Richt had to discipline a player
kral
November 17th, 2010
9:54 pm
Correct pass tense is sat
kral
November 17th, 2010
10:07 pm
To all true college football fans, buy you a copy of “Death to the BCS” and read it when you get through you will have to take a shower to wash all the sleeze and slime off of you..Written by David Wetzel and others..He also has an article in last weeks sports ill…
kral
November 17th, 2010
10:18 pm
Dear Kenny are you “carnac” are some person who has lsp,or espn or what ever it takes to read minds because you are amazing with your knowlege of what people are thinking and doing.Gosh, I wish I had your talents…and I also wish you were here to read this blog..By the way if your special gift doesn’t allow you to recognize “Carnac” buy some dvd’s of the old Johnny arson Show
kral
November 17th, 2010
10:19 pm
arson is Carson
Boston Dawg
November 17th, 2010
10:21 pm
A few factors are at play I think.
Boston Dawg
November 17th, 2010
10:21 pm
A few factors are at play I think.
Bing
November 17th, 2010
10:24 pm
Look at Florida, look at Texas, look at Georgia. What do you see? A brand new inexperienced QB in his first year. Explains a lot right there. When you consider Georgia’s had a brand new inexperienced QB 2 years in a row, explains the recent slide in 09′ and 10′. I’d also figure Georgia will let Aaron Murray RUN a lot more next year (if they want to compete for the Championship) , with Mason 1 year into the system as the back-up, and with mega-talented Lemay waiting for his chance. So Murray could put up some Newton type of numbers next season if Richt can roll the dice and have confidence in his back up QB in case of injury. Murray was the top rated dual threat QB in the country coming out of High School. A QB who can run, is a defense’s worst nightmare, and Murray can run like the wind. So can Logan Gray.
Bing
November 17th, 2010
10:24 pm
Inexperience at QB explains Texas, Florida and Georgia.
kral
November 17th, 2010
10:29 pm
Bing, you are a trip, our OB is the number 3rated QB in the SEC behind Newton, then Mallett want do you mean..
kral
November 17th, 2010
10:31 pm
Okay, you eplained, but the coaches had to protect AM…I hope that is what you mean
kral
November 17th, 2010
10:32 pm
epained is explained
Boston Dawg
November 17th, 2010
10:39 pm
Aside from the usual complaints about the defense and guys not living up to potential, I think another main factor not being mentioned is that the competition is a little stiffer in the SEC now than it was for some of those other guys. The West used to be a lot weaker, and the only teams you really had to worry about in the East were UT and UF. Now, the entire West is in the Top 25, save Ole Miss. SC, Arkansas, and especially Auburn are all significantly improved from the last several seasons. Georgia is simply closer to the bottom of the pack than they are to the top, regardless of who is at QB.
I’m not as pessimistic as some of these other people, though, about the future of the program. For one thing, Murray will be here for another three seasons, so there’s time to improve. Jury is still out on Grantham, but as weak as the defense has been in spurts, it is still improved from last year, so no reason to think that can’t continue. Also, they are closer to being back on top than people give them credit for…my main argument for that is UGA has been competitive in every loss, except for possibly the Auburn game, and even then they were within four points well into the 4th quarter.
I think the main two areas needed for improvement are in the secondary and at running back. There is some promise with Ogletree at safety. I don’t see any stud RBs in our recruiting class this year, but they better go find one, because Caleb King and Ealey simply don’t scare anybody. They are average SEC backs, and are going to remain that way.
bigdawg8
November 17th, 2010
10:41 pm
Because UGA has too many 4 and 5 star players that don’t bleed red and black! They come to UGA to see how fast they can get to the NFL without getting hurt. Murray is a Fla. kid but I truly believe he bleeds red and black now because he is one of the few who hustles and seems to really care. Instead spending his off the field time trying to break the law he is in the film room and working on his game to make himself better.
Bing
November 17th, 2010
10:46 pm
Murray’s middle of the pack in the SEC when it counts:
3rd down- 8th
4th quarter- 8th
Red Zone- 8th
He’ll get better when it counts with experience, just gets nervous, due to inexeprience, not confident in the Red Zone, 4th quarter or 3rd down–he’s an average QB when the game is on the line.
kral
November 17th, 2010
10:47 pm
Good analysis..can’t argue with anything you said..Only problem I have with it is you thing about the backs..They have both had off-field problems..led to a possible lack of continuinty maybe ..but if you do not think ga tech fears them, you must surely no something I don’t
GATA
November 17th, 2010
10:56 pm
It’s easy to get caught in a whirlwind of confusion over where to pinpoint why UGA is not winning. But at the end of the day, DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS. I think the Dogs have a star QB that proves he can go to war in the brutal sec, and UGA will recruit on par with anyone on offense. The O will score enough points to win. THE question is, can Grantham build a truly smash mouth, old school intimidating D. The kind that other schools dread playing. The kind of D that has its own identity and plays with pride, discipline and always full throttle. One that even our own offense doesn’t want to mess with. A defense that WILLl get the 3-and-out, the crucial stop, create turnovers and generally wreak havoc. If this can happen, UGA will dominate the East and bring home that crystal trophy. Is Grantham the man that can do it? Screw both auburn and bama. I wish they could both lose. I HATE to hear Dog fans crying ‘roll tide’ because UGA couldn’t take care of bidness. My concern is for UGA to get back to playing to WIN, not trying not to lose. Erk summed it up in “The Letter” he wrote before the 1980 season…”I mean like whipping Tennessee’s ass to start with, then ten more and then another one. This is the game plan. We have no alternate plan.”
Bing
November 17th, 2010
11:02 pm
Murray when it counts:
1- 4th Quarter
Completion % ranking in SEC- 8th
Longest Pass ranking in SEC-10th
2- 3rd Down
Competion % in SEC rank- 10th
Pass Effic rank in SEC- 7th
Longest pass in SEC rank- 8th
3- Red Zone
Completion % in SEC rank- 8th
Pass efficiency rank in SEC- 11th
Longestpass in SEC rank- 11th
That’s why Georgia’s 5-6. That’s why Florida & Texas are struggling too. Inexperience at WB shows up WHEN IT COUNTS THE MOST-4th quarter, 3rd downs, red zone.