UGA’s Murray: ‘We could have pulled out a couple more wins’
A Murray moment: Tavarres King snags a touchdown. (AP photo)
A note: This ran in today’s print AJC. I present it to you, our digital patrons, in the interest of full disclosure.
Tampa — Aaron Murray tried to put on a happy face, but it was a struggle. Georgia’s quarterback returned home for the Outback Bowl and will leave not as a conquering hero but as one of the causes of his team’s demise.
“I think the whole Dog Nation is very excited about this team,” Murray said afterward. “I know we’re very excited.”
The blare of a turnaround season was muted by the doings here Monday. Georgia led 16-0 but lost 33-30 in three overtimes, and the crazy game turned in the third quarter on two Murray interceptions. The first led to Michigan State’s first touchdown. The second became the Spartans’ second touchdown, and it marked the fourth time this season a Murray interception had been returned for a score.
On the first interception, Murray scrambled right and spotted Tavarres King open over the middle. He expected King to backtrack. Instead King turned and went deeper. Murray’s pass was intercepted by a diving Darqueze Dennard.
“There was a little miscommunication in the scramble drill,” Murray said.
The second interception, also taken by Dennard, was a product of a quick Murray read and a tipped throw to his left. “It got nicked,” Murray said, “and got a little off-course.”
Dennard’s 38-yard return cut Georgia’s lead to two points. Asked if he felt he’d let the grasping Spartans back in the game, Murray said: “I don’t think so. We were still up 16-14. We still kept playing. Our guys have shown all year they’re not going to fold.”
Michigan State took a 20-19 lead with 8:22 to play, whereupon Murray led Georgia’s best drive of a halting day. He threw four passes, completing three, for 83 yards and ultimately a go-back-ahead touchdown to redeployed defender Brandon Boykin. Then Murray found Malcolm Mitchell for a two-point conversion. Georgia led 27-20 with 6:44 to play.
But it wouldn’t hold. The Bulldogs couldn’t run out the clock, choosing to run up the middle to force the Spartans to use their timeouts, and were undone when Michigan State tied it with 14 seconds remaining in regulation. In overtime, three Georgia possessions lost a total of four yards. Murray threw four passes in the OTs, all incomplete.
Murray’s final numbers: Twenty completions in 32 attempts, 288 yards passing, two touchdowns, two interceptions, one lost fumble, four sacks. Not the worst day ever, but not good enough.
Asked about Murray, coach Mark Richt said: “Aaron’s future is very bright. He’s one of the best quarterbacks in the country in my mind and he’ll be one of the better quarterbacks who’ll be returning. He’s a guy we’ve got an awful lot of faith in. He’s human; he’s going to make mistakes.”
Speaking of 2012, Murray said: “As a team, we’re definitely excited about the future. But we definitely could have pulled out a couple of more wins.”
Someone wondered if this loss, coming as it did 4.6 miles from Plant High, Murray’s alma mater, hurt worse than the others. “It’s the same,” Murray said. “A loss is a loss.”
By Mark Bradley
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990 comments Add your comment
IlliniDawg
January 3rd, 2012
9:20 pm
@Flat Tire: dude, take it easy. Pour yourself a double Beam and Diet and sit down and watch the Big Bang Theory like I am and laugh. Damn, your panties are all in a wad.
CMR is going nowhere – like it or not. Unfortunately, it looks like Bobo is also going nowhere. But this is a program to be proud of again. We have great young men who play hard and represent us well. And many many of these guys will be playing on Sunday: Boykin, B. Jones, J. Jones, Ogletree, Rambo, Charles, Jenkins, Murray, King, etc.
jim heaton
January 3rd, 2012
9:20 pm
go bobo go we need a oc now not next week
Matthew Stafford
January 3rd, 2012
9:21 pm
You know, it’s funny that Aaron said that about winning a couple more games.
I thought the same thing when I left UGA. I couldn’t help but think: if I had gone to any of three or four other SEC schools I probably would’ve won a national championship. But hindsight is 20/20. There was no way I could’ve predicted that CMR was gonna go completely soft these last five year.
Aaron and I both suffered from poor play calling, but at least I didn’t choke every time it counted.
Erk Russell's Dog
January 3rd, 2012
9:22 pm
Phil
UGA had no chance to land Harbaugh he was ready for Prime Time (NFL) and he could not take the culture shock relocating from Frisco area to Georgia.
AltamahaDawg
January 3rd, 2012
9:24 pm
Wow. that was………..something right there.
Tired Jawja Citizen
January 3rd, 2012
9:27 pm
Jon Gruden…come to Athens and coach the Dawgs…CMR is on his last leg, recruits would crawl to UGA to play for you! We need you! You can keep CTG…he is doing his job.
AltamahaDawg
January 3rd, 2012
9:32 pm
Did make me laugh though. So much for your psychoanalysis huh?Ttry flipping the locations, and you would be closer to correct.
BTW, since you say Richt has to go, (and we all realize he is not likely to be fired tomorrow), what then is your plan?
Bad Dawg
January 3rd, 2012
9:36 pm
IlliniDawg, What is there to be proud of? Winning the worst SEC East division in years, Getting embarrassed on national televion by Boise State and LSU, or going 0-9 versus teams that finish in the top 25 the last two years? The only thing I am proud of is the players like Brandon Boykin, Aron White, and Ben Jones who did it the Georgia way and were DGD. The head coach and the offensive coaching staff is purely an embarrassment to Georgia football. So you tell me what is there to be proud of?
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
January 3rd, 2012
9:37 pm
Altamah Dawg
Since you claim I wanted Richt gone and I was backpeddling here is just another example of some of my comments
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
September 5th, 2011
8:31 pm
Low Country
AND ANYONE ELSE
I welcome anyone and I say anyone to come on here at the end of NEXT YEAR and say I was wrong and I was an idiot
I really want Richt to succeed
All last week I really thought that this coaching staff had gotten the message of your on the hotseat
But after sitting in the stands watching the same crap play calling that we have seen for years with nothing different I do not see this staff making it through this year.
My suggestion for Richt is he better take over the play calling or here is a better idea. Bobo needs to call Eric Zeir during the game and ask him what to call because if anyone listens to the radio. Zeir knows what plays should
I was answering LakeDawgs comment about Richt at 8:57 pm
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
September 5th, 2011
9:16 pm
LakeDawg
I totally agree everyone has an opinion
And like you state Im tired of hearing your not a fan, your a tech fan, or FL fan etc when you dont agree with the kool-aid, bong smokers on here
Thats why earlier today I called out some of those rubes that did nothing but attack me all year and call me a non fan.
I think these idiots think I hate Richt. I certainly do not.
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
September 5th, 2011
9:17 pm
I really was hoping I was going to be wrong and am still hoping I will be wrong. And again after next season I welcome anyone to call me on it. If changes are made
I left the link so you wont make your typical comment of Sure Tire
http://blogs.ajc.com/junkyard-blawg/2011/09/05/dogs-fans-looking-for-answers-find-only-more-question-marks/?cp=4
Mobile Dawg
January 3rd, 2012
9:37 pm
My plan is to get used to mediocrity, well actually I already am, but then you didn’t ask me.
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
January 3rd, 2012
9:40 pm
Altamaha Dawg
Since you claim that I wanted Richt gone before and during the season here is some more things I stated back in September
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
September 5th, 2011
8:31 pm
Low Country
AND ANYONE ELSE
I welcome anyone and I say anyone to come on here at the end of NEXT YEAR and say I was wrong and I was an idiot
I really want Richt to succeed
All last week I really thought that this coaching staff had gotten the message of your on the hotseat
But after sitting in the stands watching the same crap play calling that we have seen for years with nothing different I do not see this staff making it through this year.
My suggestion for Richt is he better take over the play calling or here is a better idea. Bobo needs to call Eric Zeir during the game and ask him what to call because if anyone listens to the radio. Zeir knows what plays should
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
January 3rd, 2012
9:41 pm
And here is the rest
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
September 5th, 2011
9:16 pm
LakeDawg
I totally agree everyone has an opinion
And like you state Im tired of hearing your not a fan, your a tech fan, or FL fan etc when you dont agree with the kool-aid, bong smokers on here
Thats why earlier today I called out some of those rubes that did nothing but attack me all year and call me a non fan.
I think these idiots think I hate Richt. I certainly do not.
Link
Report this comment
.
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
September 5th, 2011
9:17 pm
I really was hoping I was going to be wrong and am still hoping I will be wrong. And again after next season I welcome anyone to call me on it. If changes are made
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
January 3rd, 2012
9:41 pm
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
September 5th, 2011
9:17 pm
I really was hoping I was going to be wrong and am still hoping I will be wrong. And again after next season I welcome anyone to call me on it. If changes are made
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
January 3rd, 2012
9:42 pm
and here is the link since you will claim I made it up like you always do
http://blogs.ajc.com/junkyard-blawg/2011/09/05/dogs-fans-looking-for-answers-find-only-more-question-marks/?cp=4
STEPHEN A.DAWG: Grantham for UGA HEAD COACH after Richt.
January 3rd, 2012
9:42 pm
Coach Grantham is the only coach on the staff that exhibits the enthusiasm and fire to inspire his players and give the fans encouragement during a game. CTG was pumped and in to it on the Outback sideline and totally opposite to the lifeless and mundane Richt, who looks like he would be more excited thinking about his missionary work than coaching a football game. The only time I saw him fired up was after the Auburn game stuck in a celebratory lip-lock with his wife. I guess he felt he was off the hot seat and she felt like he had finally done something to earn a kiss. LOL ! The players can feed off the emotions of the head coach and the body language of the UGA players on the bench in all of four of the losses was like they were attending their own funeral. The loss to MSU leaves us with nothing but more questions. Why did Richt coach so conservatively and put the game in the hands or foot of a kicker who had lost his confidence a long time ago ? Wasn’t it obvious to everyone that Richt didn’t have too much confidence in Murray’s ability at QB during crunch time. And if so why won’t Richt bench Murray and give Mason a look. Why does Murray sulk like a little kid in time out everytime he turns the ball over only to go out and make another mistake. Do the UGA coaches only care about Murray’s stats more than his win/loss percentage versus top twenty teams ? Are the reserve QBs worse than Murray ? What is the real deal with Crowell ? I think he may shell-shocked and might need to red-shirt the entire 2012 season to heal and get in shape mentally and physically. Will Richt make any relevant changes to the offense for improvement ? I say he won’t because he feels they are knocking on the door of greatness. Too bad nobody appears to be home to answer this door of greatness. I think the door to mediocrity is more like it and it’s wide open. Richt just no longer has the killer instinct to win the SEC. So I guess the UGA fans should just be happy with 10 or 9 win seasons and fifth place SEC finishes behind ‘Bama, LSU, Arkansas, and South Carolina. Or until napping Florida, slumbering Auburn and sleeping Tennessee awake. Then Georgia and Richt will be fighting off improving Vandy and newcomers Mizzou and Texas A&M for eighth place in the SEC.
AltamahaDawg
January 3rd, 2012
9:43 pm
yes, we get it, you flip flop a lot. and?????
gotta love em
January 3rd, 2012
9:44 pm
0-9 that’s CMRs record against top 20 teams………………………… did not beat a good team all year.. not 1!!
Mobile Dawg
January 3rd, 2012
9:44 pm
Flat Tire, you are not wrong. Richt “always” chokes in the big games. The Dawgs will win their share of games but no championships.
AltamahaDawg
January 3rd, 2012
9:45 pm
But now “officially” on the Fire Mark Richt, what is you new plan? since they aren’t probably going to do that tomorrow.
AltamahaDawg
January 3rd, 2012
9:48 pm
He’s not wrong wanting him fired today, or he’s not wrong when he was claiming not to want him fired yesterday?
MY Dawg
January 3rd, 2012
9:48 pm
Why doesn’t Richt open up the QB competition? Several games this year Murray has looked horrible. Duck after duck going up. How many times did receivers have to slow down and wait for passes throughout the season??? BOBO said they were still working with Mason on the long ball, what about Murray? We needed one 1st down to win the game. Three straight runs up the middle? Malcolm got hammered trying to run the ball. The blocking was horrible. #2 spent as much time in the Ga backfield as Murray. Has any Ga coach ever heard of 1/2 time adjustments? The other teams have… I think BOBO is a great QB coach, that doesn’t equate into OC. I wonder if Richt will ride BOBO until they fire them both? He didn’t mind getting rid of Willie did he? Go Dawgs!
IlliniDawg
January 3rd, 2012
9:50 pm
@Bad Dawg: I’m proud of a program that has avoided major ethical lapses, of a seemingly never-ended conveyor belt of sharp young men who choose to play for us over many other highly ranked teams, of a culture of family where players believe that the coaching staff is genuinely concerned for their best interests, of a program that has grown from a regional presence to national prominence, of a decade-long track record of wins and bowl appearances and rankings that all but a handful of schools would be insanely jealous to have, and of a program that does as good a job as any in preparing men to succeed at the next level.
That’s what I’m proud of.
Wild Hoage
January 3rd, 2012
9:51 pm
As far as the dogs, “Ah give me a wee taste of the cutter lads, and I’ll draw my breath in pain to tell the tale.” First and last of all: putting the game on the line for a 42-yd Blair Walsh field goal was the right call the prior three years, but not this season. If anything, shutting down the offense to simply bring in the yipster probably only increased the pressure. Geez, we’re not even going to throw downfield once? Oh, but there’s the answer: lack of faith in the mercurial Murray. That’s the hard choice Richt gets to make for the big bucks: Do you risk letting your 3-turnover QB (including a pick-6) take a shot or call out the kicker (played by Anthony Perkins), who has been like a coin toss all year. At 50-50, in Richt’s eyes the odds were better with the kick than the pass — (even one just to gain 10 precious yards!?) — and that really opens up the question of whether Murray is falling out of favor. The backup Mason has already threatened to transfer so there is pressure for the coaches to give some kind of signal to the team on this. They have a lot of talent, but ultimately Richt’s bobby-cox loyalty to a fault syndrome came down to two guys that he has stood by all year, and neither was a good choice.
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
January 3rd, 2012
9:52 pm
Altamaha Dope
Flip Flop
Ok Moron
When did I Flip Flop
AltamahaDawg
January 3rd, 2012
9:53 pm
………..cue the arm-fishing insult in…… four……three…two..one
Lowcountry Bulldawg
January 3rd, 2012
9:53 pm
The status quo is working soooo well. We lost four games to teams that we were either evenly matched against in retrospect or in the case of LSU way out classed.
Richt is getting the extension and will be the coach next year but again lets all watch and see him channel his inner Tommy Bowden.
Easy to play the lets win 10 games, graduate players and everything is all nice. UGA along with its fans deserves better. Richt has to address serious flaws within the staff.
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
January 3rd, 2012
9:55 pm
No
I think its
cue the you said this… you said that…..
but you never show us any facts 3 2 1 go
Mobile Dawg
January 3rd, 2012
9:58 pm
It wouldn’t bother me one bit if they had fired him yesterday or today. I would be willing to bet that just about any coach qualified to coach at the D1 level would deliver equal or better performances than Richt with the resources UGA has. He can’t put a coaching staff together, why? No one has come knocking on our door looking for one of our coaches to head up their program. That’s a direct reflection on Mark Richt. He’s an average” coach” IMO.
AltamahaDawg
January 3rd, 2012
10:00 pm
Actually, LC..,I would agree except there was a pretty BIG shake up of the status quo. Resulting in going from a 6-7 team to one that a lot of folks think will legitimately compete for the SEC. Did you not think there was major improvement?
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
January 3rd, 2012
10:01 pm
Mobile Dawg
I made that statement a couple of months ago to Altamaha Dope when he and his kool-aid cronies were throwing up to me about Bozo and his 30 pts per game garbage.
No other school wants Bobo for any coaching job but he is great though……. yea sure
Mudcatjoe
January 3rd, 2012
10:03 pm
Enough with the lovefest for UGA football! They lost again, they suck! Let’s talk about something else now. I think Bradley is more in love with Mark Richt than Chuck Dowdle!
still looking for....
January 3rd, 2012
10:03 pm
headley lamar
True Dawg Fan
superDawg
dawgfan
ty webb
and the rest of the trolls who have been all over the GT boards for a week
They all seem to be in the witless protection program
Raiderbeater
January 3rd, 2012
10:05 pm
We can beat 6-6 Florida and 7-5 Auburn……but don’t expect us to beat a GOOD team.
It hurts to say but this team isn’t THAT much better than last years (6-7 team) We had alot of breaks and alot of soft/VERY weak competition that we rarely handled.
dagnabit
January 3rd, 2012
10:07 pm
The shame of being a Georgia Bulldawg must be overwhelming.
SOUTH GA DIRT ROAD SCHOLAR
January 3rd, 2012
10:07 pm
UGA fans we will just have to grin and bear it. CMR aint going no where, we are stuck with him and CMB, just ask Greg McGarity!! So look forward to 5 more years of 9 to 10 wins each season with NO CHANCE of ever winning a NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP!!
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
January 3rd, 2012
10:08 pm
Flip Flop
Flip Flop
Still waiting on how I
Flip Flopped
IlliniDawg
January 3rd, 2012
10:09 pm
@dagnabit: the shamelessness of the critics here and their vile venom is pathetic.
AltamahaDawg
January 3rd, 2012
10:11 pm
If you don’t think you did, great. Folks can read, they know your drill.
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
January 3rd, 2012
10:14 pm
So because after yesterdays game I came to the conclusion that its time for UGA to move on to a new coach
Thats a flip flop
Folks can read; well show me idiot; where did I flip flop moron
Vampire Bill
January 3rd, 2012
10:14 pm
Mark Richt’s teams always seem to lack something, an intangible that makes them move to the next level… Confidence, lack of killer instinct.. something… It’s just not there… Maybe it’s just plain ole hard work and conditioning? Still support my dawgs.. but without big changes the big boys will ALWAYS beat UGA 41-10
Mobile Dawg
January 3rd, 2012
10:15 pm
Anything’s possible when you’re dreaming, imagining. Trouble is reality always jumps up and grabs us by the nads. Something bad always seems to happen, there’s a pattern of poor performance, poor decisions, poor results when it really counts. Why is that? Is our “luck” that bad. I was taught in business that the harder you work, the smarter you work, the better decisions you make, the better luck you would have. I can’t figure out why the “unlucky breaks” go against us most of the time.
sameoldstory
January 3rd, 2012
10:16 pm
I will let all of the dog fans in on a secret that all other SEC fans figured out a few years back. You will never win a national championship with the coach you have. You recruit as well as anyone and he is a good coach. You don’t win championships with a good coach. You won’t win championships in the SEC with a “good” coach. The SEC is big boy football and a league filled with some of the best coaches in college football. The schedule favors you for next year and you will probably do well, might even win the east if South Carolina schedule is tough. But after that reality check will be back.
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
January 3rd, 2012
10:17 pm
Mobile Dawg
Could you read my posts on page 12 and explain to me how I flip flopped
I know you have brains unlike some on here
Stewie
January 3rd, 2012
10:17 pm
“Our guys have shown all year they’re not going to fold.”
Actually, Aaron, you and your teammates have shown just the opposite.
Erk Russell's Dog
January 3rd, 2012
10:18 pm
MB
The ascent of the Georgia football program did not end with the loss to Michigan State. NO ,MB it actually ended in 2008 when Alabama came to Athens and ran the Dawgs off the field. Cmr and the Dawgs have not beat a top ten team since that day.
STEPHEN A.DAWG: Grantham for UGA HEAD COACH after Richt.
January 3rd, 2012
10:18 pm
In the bowl loss to MSU it was clear to us all Richt went with the lesser of the two evils. He chose to go for the win with a kicker who had lost his confidence in himself over his error-prone, two year starter at quarterback. Either way he was in a no win situation against another top twenty team. In OT Murray was abysmal, but the kicker did make one of his three attempts in OT. But at least Murray didn’t throw another pick six. The OT UGA defense played well and gave the Dawgs a chance to win. Overtime UGA special teams simply wasn’t good enough to win. OT offense and coaching stunk and helped lose the game
AltamahaDawg
January 3rd, 2012
10:19 pm
Mobile as we discussed before, its great when somebody from your staff is pursued but Coach Bobo (if that was who you meant by all the staff) has made it pretty clear he is not looking to be one right now, probably becasue he is not near ready to do that. And what OC job would be better than the one he has? Who exactly is going to publically pursue coaches that are saying no upfront?
How long is the list of assistant coaches around the SEC that you have not heard one word about folks lining up to get them to run thier programs?
Nobody wants any of them to be thier HC right now, proves none of them are any good?.
Lowcountry Bulldawg
January 3rd, 2012
10:19 pm
Altamaha-
Plenty of improvement but simply not enough. Richt and Bobo continued to display the same ignorance of the past 3-4 years and once again it cost UGA. It stinks, I hate it, but this program is stagnant as long as they are in charge.
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
January 3rd, 2012
10:20 pm
Altamaha
We all know your drill
Mouth off garbage and never back it up
oh wait yea you do; your response is “sure”
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
January 3rd, 2012
10:22 pm
Altamaha
There you go; Bobo to replace Richt that would be up your alley wouldnt it