Richt advises uneasy fans: Just watch Aaron Murray’s tape
Most people who follow Georgia football had figured since the end of last season that Aaron Murray probably would be the Bulldogs’ starting quarterback in 2010. What no one figured, of course, was that his competition would dissipate as it has.
But with Zach Mettenberger dismissed from the team and Logan Gray shifting part-time to wide receiver, Murray seems suddenly solidly entrenched as the Dogs’ 2010 quarterback.
“We’re thinner at QB than we expected to be at this time,” coach Mark Richt told a Bulldog Club gathering this week, “but if you want to feel good about it, just go back on the Internet and do a little search on Aaron Murray and watch Aaron’s high school tape. And I think you’ll get just as excited as you were the day he . . . committed to Georgia.”
Murray in spring practice, watched by Mike Bobo (AJC photo/Brant Sanderlin)
(If you want to heed Richt’s advice, by the way, you can find plenty video of Murray’s high school days on YouTube.)
Richt has said that Murray, a redshirt freshman, would have been No. 1 on the post-spring depth chart even if Mettenberger had not been kicked off the team, and Gray’s desire to play wide receiver seems to speak volumes about how he saw the chances of surpassing Murray at quarterback this summer.
In high school in Tampa, Murray was a Parade Magazine All-American and MVP of the prestigious Elite 11 camp for the nation’s top quarterback prospects. But fresher on Georgia fans’ minds is his underwhelming performance in the G-Day spring game.
Richt seemed to be trying to ease those concerns during the Bulldog Club meeting at the Walnut Creek Shooting Preserve near Macon this week.
“His skill set -– you would take Aaron Murray every single year that you are recruiting a quarterback,” Richt said. “He’s got a very quick release. He’s an accurate passer. I know in the G-Day game he wasn’t super-accurate, but you got to admit we threw a lot of very low-percentage balls that day. He’s an accurate passer.”
Murray will be the only newcomer on an offense that returns starters at the other 10 positions. He’ll have the luxury of an experienced line, two talented tailbacks and one of the nation’s top wide receivers.
Murray “is to the point, in my opinion, where he just needs to play,” Richt said in an interview. “The biggest thing for him is to understand that you don’t have to do anything spectacular. You don’t have to put the team on your shoulders. You’re not required to carry this football team. You’re required to do your job. And part of your job is to not try to be a hero.
“My biggest thing is: Don’t turn a bad play into a catastrophe. If it’s a bad play, throw it away, take a sack, whatever you got to do.. . . Let’s not be flippant or casual with that ball.”.
Georgia committed 28 turnovers (17 interceptions thrown and 11 fumbles lost) last season and had an atrocious turnover ratio of minus-16 (28 lost, 12 gained). Richt calls turnover ratio the most important statistic in football.
“If we just turn that around, we win a minimum of 10 and probably 11 games [last season],” he said. “So we got to get better at that.”
That will require forcing more opponent turnovers, which is up to Todd Grantham’s defense, and protecting the ball better on offense, which starts with Aaron Murray.
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254 comments Add your comment
Dan
May 16th, 2010
9:46 am
I’ve been a Dawg fan since I was maybe six years old. Forty years later I can honestly say that from reading a whole lotta stuff Dawg fans post that in one respect they are not unlike most football fans in the entire country. They are idiots who don’t need to be posting things on the internet.
1eyedJack
May 16th, 2010
9:48 am
Sooooo many Tech fans that want Coach Richt fired.
Sooooo many Tech fans worried about Murray being our QB.
Go wake ol’ Al from his coma, grease up his Rascal, give him an Ensure, and tell him he better hit the recruiting trail and get some players or that mudhole that UGA stomped in the middle of Grant’s Tomb at Bubba Dodd stadium is going to get worse and no amount of free hot dogs are going to fill it up.
30 year anniversary of UGA being relevant
May 16th, 2010
9:52 am
Pretty sad when a coach sends his delusional fan base to you tube to calm them down.
Face it fleabags, you suck. You have for 30 years now, get use to it. It will NEVER change.
dale
May 16th, 2010
9:57 am
Teresa’s last name is Earndhart. She knows as much about football as she does about racing. Nothing.
Coach Hewitt..
May 16th, 2010
9:59 am
Searched Youtube for Tech recruit highlight tapes… Darn it, I couldn’t find any….LMMFAO, Paul…
Seth
May 16th, 2010
10:10 am
Watch high school football. lol. yeah that’s equal to sec play. what a dope.
Tom
May 16th, 2010
10:15 am
Sorry but he couldn’t even get a start after the crap start with Cox. He would have played last year if he was really a stud. A freshman qb that hasn’t played in 2 years and who was passed over by Joe Cox is going to struggle big time. It’s going to be even harder playing against teams in the best conference. I wish the kid luck but it’s not going to be a good year. There’s a reason why uga is recruiting so many qb’s.
Reality
May 16th, 2010
10:20 am
Enter your comments here
Krogunner
May 16th, 2010
10:22 am
I can’t believe we have a head coach telling us to watch high school tape. Seriously? High school? We could say that about any prospect. What a joke! It’s time for a new HC in Athens. Richt’s time has ended. Bring in Chris Peterson from Boise St.
Murray's the starter
May 16th, 2010
10:22 am
Murray’s the starter, so get over it and get behind him. If he’s not all that everyone thinks he is, then sit him down. He has a QB mentality and I guarantee, that if he isn’t the starter, then you won’t have to worry about him next year in Athens.
Gee, I wonder if Murray ever has second thoughts about not going to UCLA and having a chance to work with Norman Chow.
UCLA wanted him bad, and this from a guy who developed Jim McMahon, Steve Young, Ty Detmer, Philip Rivers, Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart, Robbie Bosco, and he even prepared a QB that couldn’t even start at USC into an NFL caliber QB in Matt Cassel.
Murray may bomb, but I like to think that “real football people” saw something that they wanted real bad, and UGA won the prize.
BAMA1
May 16th, 2010
10:22 am
That is kinda ignorant. check out the tape on bama’s defense….. i mean really.
Tide Roll
May 16th, 2010
10:29 am
Xavier Nixon, James Wilson, Mike Pouncey, Maurice Hurt, Marcus Gilbert. Now that’s a starting offensive line. How much would Ealy gain behind those guys as opposed to ben jones , chris davis etc. Kiante Tripp and Bean Anderson should have signed with Florida. They would be first round draft picks. As it stands, Gillisee will run for 200yds plus aginst ga.
One, two, free, fo, fi, them der Gator don't take no jive!
May 16th, 2010
10:35 am
Murray’s the starter,
I agree the Dawg nation should rally around their QB. I mean, what other choice does a fan have? I just find it REALLY strange that the HC feels he needs to send the fans to YouTube to sell him. Don’t you find that just a little odd?
robdawg08
May 16th, 2010
10:45 am
I’ll be grading him that first game not watching his career hilights on tape. If he leads the team to victory then I’ll be satisfied. I think we all wanna see how he plays against real college opponents instead of local high schools.
robdawg08
May 16th, 2010
10:48 am
We see that you hate Caleb King, bulldawg. But you will be jumping up and down hi-fiving every td he makes this coming year. You know it.
Delbert D.
May 16th, 2010
10:49 am
I saw the UTube on Murray, and he looked very good. What I find interesting from this whole fracas is that Coach Richt is apparently reading blogs or has associates who are doing it for him.
AltamahaDawg
May 16th, 2010
10:56 am
Well, if that were my plan BuLLdawg, at least it would actually involve the target in some manner directly. As opposed to hiding in some remote forum complaining about you just to impress myself, knowing you would never see it, and call THAT a plan.
AltamahaDawg
May 16th, 2010
11:02 am
Delbert , the man just did an extensive Road Tour at multiple booster clubs and talked to a boatload of real fans, as well as is inundated every week with personal conversations and concerns from Dawg folks. I doubt he is having to get his clues from blogs.
Bobby Joe
May 16th, 2010
11:08 am
I got out my old HS tapes. I watched myself play QB and CB in the same game. I was great!! Why couldnt I start for Maimi, USC, ND or any other bigge, as long as we are referring to some ole throw off HS tapes years old. CMR jus wants to run his mouth silently, not like other coaches who have balls. Maybe DDooley will have a great 5y run at Tenn, CMR will stink it up as usual, and DD will come to UGA. Id like to see DD coaching HS tapes…
Referee
May 16th, 2010
11:08 am
GT BABY. Did you win the Orange Bowl? If Georgia is a second tier team, where does that put GT?. You have lost 8 out of 9 times that you played Georgia. You sound like the pot calling the kettle black. You don’t sound like you are anything but trash yourself. 1980 is history, but so are your 4 NC’s. But the most important question is, why are you on a Georgia blog, doesn’t GT have a blog where you could beat up Georgia with all your friends. Rhode Scholars? How many form GT>
Delusional Dawg
May 16th, 2010
11:09 am
WOW…Just really watched those Murray tapes for the first time!! This guy is the REAL DEAL. Great arm, very mobile and a certain future star at UGA. In fact, with these skills, our biggest challenge may be keeping him beyond his Junior year. CAN’T MISS with this guy and he has ALL the goods to beat Florida. Who cares if he’s not 6′3″??? This guy has future NFL potential! Hallelujah!!! WAIT A SECOND…Uh hum….Sorry…Need to go back….I was watching Joe Cox tapes by mistake…nevermind…
harold
May 16th, 2010
11:11 am
COME ON MARK—–IT’S HIGH SCHOOL. HE IS THE SECOND COMING OF JOE COX AND JONATHON CROMPTON! GEORGIA IS LIGHT YEARS AWAY FROM CHAMPIONSHIP PROGRAMS LIKE ALABAMA AND FLORIDA!
Bulldog
May 16th, 2010
11:12 am
You guys need girlfriends–you too, Theresa.
1eyedJack
May 16th, 2010
11:14 am
Come on guys. Do you really think that Coach Richt or Coach Bobo were going to shoot all their silver bullets in the spring game for everybody to have it on tape? I don’t think they’ve unleashed the Dawgs yet.
They were holding Murray back, purposely feeding plays to Mett that would make him look good(I don’t think at this time they knew he would be gone), and not make the young and somewhat overwhelmed defense look bad. Darth Visor and Booby Puktrino are game planning for UGA right now. Although the Ol’ Ball Coach might be playing the back nine.
BuLLdawg
May 16th, 2010
11:45 am
Caleb King if he does have a good year, instead of a year of games of 1 yard rushing or less, which is what he has had so far since we recruited him 2007 as the # 1 football player in the state of Georgia, that would be the 1st time.
This has to be done to put it all in perspective
May 16th, 2010
11:47 am
Tech, dating back to Dodd’s last year in 66 or 67, has gone through enough football coaches to average a new one every 3.5 years. Some of them won big, others did fairly well, given Tech’s circumstances and many were simply run off. THEY ALL left every 3.5 years on average, dating back to Dodd.
CPJ is in his 3rd year ………….Tech fans, he will either be gone by end of next year for a better program ( like Bowling Green or Furman or Millsaps College or Rice ) or he will be fired. His middle school offense is ok when seen infrequently. With good ACC caoches around, with even better ACC D coaches ………..tech will win 6 or 7 per year and end up in the Independence or the Music City Bowl on a frequent basis. Boise Blue Carpet Bowl is there too.
ACC’s second place team now goes to the Independence, as The Gator Bowl has dumped the ACC’s automatic second place team berth. See FSU there in 09. Something for y’all to chew on.
UGA on the other hand, averages in the same period a new coach every 10 years. Hmm. That might suggest a stable UGA program and in a MUCH TOUGHER, BIG BOY CONFERENCE.
Go Dogs.
BuLLdawg
May 16th, 2010
11:49 am
Coach Richt has been reading a lot of blogs.
He has proved it repeatedly.
Recall, he said to us all last year that we fans don’t know what we are talking about.
Remember that ?
Now, he is telling us to watch tapes from 2 years ago on Aaron Murray because why ?
Because Coach Richt himself said just after the G-Day Game that in his opinion, it was
” VERY CLOSE between all the Quarterbacks ”
” Mike Bobo and I will have to go back and look at all 15 spring practices ”
” Only then could Mike Bobo and I say who might be the # 1 QB ”
Now, of course, he LIES that Aaron Murray was the run-away winner anyway.
Yeah, right Coach Richt.
This has to be done to put it all in perspective - II
May 16th, 2010
11:50 am
Waffle House is ready for REFEREE when he is. WH is the home of Tech’s fans, as WH was launched and is run now, by techers.
Go get my coffee!!
Go Dogs.
Ocala Rehab,Inc. reporting in as usual
May 16th, 2010
12:00 pm
Weeping, sobbing were heard from the room at the end of the hall. Sobs like “oh, rerow or knee bow” or something similar and loud wailing when the TV news mentions the “oil slick is nearing state of ALABAMA”.
Also, now being heard more often, are moans and sobs of “mummy” or maybe “MURRAY”.
Not good is the rehab going.
That is all for now.
Allen iverson
May 16th, 2010
12:09 pm
High school? Are you kidding me high school? High school?
Disturbed Dawg
May 16th, 2010
12:11 pm
Any one else find it disturbing that our head coach is telling us to watch high school tapes? I hate to say it, but Krogunner may be right!
Murray's the starter
May 16th, 2010
12:12 pm
One, two, free, fo, fi, them der Gator don’t take no jive!
What I find odd is that this was allowed to go on so long. As the great Harry Hogge stated in Day’s of Thunder to Tim Deland – “Two race teams is one too many!” There was no way Met had improved to the point that he was ahead of Murray, let alone Gray. Now that’s not saying that Met wouldn’t have some where down the road, but Murray was in front, as CMR recently admitted.
I have a small issue with a coach that worries so much about player’s feelings. Hey, it’s time for people to grow up and get prepared for the real world. This coddling of immature behavior is what has this team where it is today. Make examples of some of these problem players and the whole attitude will change, and guess what you’ll start getting a better quality of player. Let the recruits with attitudes by-pass UGA and go play for some coach who condones bad behavior. A team should function as a team and not a group of individuals with their own goals at the forefront.
It starts at the top!
No we've heard it many times before
May 16th, 2010
12:16 pm
I gotta laugh everytime someone writes “the dogs will beat Florida this year, you heard it first”
No we’ve heard it MANY MANY MANY MANY MANY MANY MANY MANY MANY MANY MANY MANY MANY MANY MANY MANY MANY times this time of year in the last 20 years from the UGA fans. It’s one of the most broken records playing in the South. Apparently there’s many dog fans who just wont learn.
One, two, free, fo, fi, them der Gator don't take no jive!
May 16th, 2010
12:42 pm
Ocala Rehab,
Keep making fun of Urban while he continues to totally dominate your program. I’d feel silly saying that a “crazy” person owns my a$$! But then again, I’m not you.
Lane Pimpin
May 16th, 2010
12:44 pm
Richt is obviously listening to the naysayers and critics within Poodle Nation — in sports we call that Rabbit Ears. The folk who are going to watch tapes are the Gator DEs and LBs who will notice that Murray’s delivery goes forward to make him the equivalent of a 5′8 QB. What the tapes show is whole lot of tipped and blocked passes by the Gator DEs, including two of them who were FIRST TEAM AA and will be well into the Gator defense by the time early November rolls around. AJ may be the best WR in nation, but also the most under-utilized who will be deprived of national acclaim because of the mediocre Poodle offense.
Referee
May 16th, 2010
12:56 pm
This has to be done to put it all in P..
In case you didn’t know and it is seems to be you didn’t, I am a Dogs fan, not a Tech fan. I iust happen to referee in the SEC and I do think the celebration penality is a piece of sH%%. So I have to be neutral to some extent.
Zachariah
May 16th, 2010
12:58 pm
You Dawg fans who keep repeating “30-24″ like a mantra enjoy yourselves all you want. The thing is… Tech alumni and fans have lives that don’t depend entirely on what a bunch of kids does on Saturday afternoons. College sports are fun to follow, but the biggest reason for going to college is to get an education.
UGA fans don’t seem to care about anything but football, and they don’t care if their players are enrolled in silly majors that no parents who are paying the bills would send their kids to UGA for. The very few football and basketball players who graduate have no job opportunities and end up unemployed or working in menial jobs that hardly require a college degree.
Georgia Tech is a real school with serious academic standards, and that includes scholarshipped athletes. UGA has a long history of being a party school, where parents send their kids for an easy degree, even if the degree itself is practically worthless.
Jan Kemp exposed the crap going on at UGA with athletes being enrolled in courses a ten-year-old kid could pass. That was almost three decades ago, and nothing has changed. If anything, the abuses are more blatant today. Way too many illiterate morons are being recruited, and the very high arrest rate shows clearly that Richt does not care if his players have any morals or self-discipline.
The bottom line is that most Tech fans have very good jobs and productive lives that don’t depend on Tech’s football record for their happiness in life. It would be great to beat UGA more often, but when you put scholar-athletes up against dummy-athletes, it’s usually no contest.
It’s pretty pathetic to see UGA fans who typically have never been within miles of a college classroom and who live or die with UGA’s weekly results on the football field.
So keep on posting your “30-24″ all you want, especially since you’re home with plenty of time on your hands. I wish you well, maybe you’ll get lucky and get your old job back at the Waffle House before your unemployment checks stop coming.
poopdawg
May 16th, 2010
1:00 pm
Nothing wrong with Richt’s request for worried fans to check out youtube to verify Murray’s skills. Any whining about that is nuts. GO DAWGS !
poopdawg
May 16th, 2010
1:06 pm
Zach, from the length of your post you have plenty of time on your hands. How’s that scholar athlete Eddie Lee Ivory doing ?
Referee
May 16th, 2010
1:21 pm
Zachariah,
If you don’t care about football, why are you here. I could care less who wins on Saturday. But in the 60’s, Tech had a student football player named Billy L. from Gainsville. He played football in the fall and sold cars in Gainsville in the winter and spring. Now that is a true student.
1eyedJack
May 16th, 2010
1:28 pm
Zach your full of yellow crap. 90% of your “scholar athletes” are enrolled in Management or Undecided.
Jethro
May 16th, 2010
1:39 pm
Most of those highlights are from 16 months ago against mostly players that watch games now.
AltamahaDawg
May 16th, 2010
2:16 pm
“Now, of course, he LIES that Aaron Murray was the run-away winner anyway.”
So he said one thing and then tried to say another, as if he had been “all alone”…….hmmm.
Maybe he is reading the blogs. He certainly could have picked up that lil’ trick from you.
I guess if he then turns a third time and dumps on Murray, we will know for sure.
Coach Hewitt..
May 16th, 2010
2:44 pm
The bottom line from somebody close to the program at tech…me, Paul…LMMFAO…
UGAg beats us just about every year..even when they had a down year and we had our best year. ..and yet, we want to deflect and say they don’t develop talent because they don’t win the SEC conference, a much stronger conference, every year? Folks, let’s occasionally take off our yellow tinted glasses once and while and call it like its. UGAg dominates us and to make us feel better about that, we have to say, well you, uh, don’t develop talent, or win a national championship. I mean, who really cares about what UGAg does or doesn’t do beyond our game? However, I’m scratching my head as to why we’re not doing better in this early period post an ACC championship. I contribute that to two reasons. 1) People know the ACC is simply not as strong a conference (we lose to UGAg, Clemson loses to SC where both SEC teams struggled last year..and that’s our conference’s crowning glory?). Plus, the Orange Bowl hurt. We were exposed big time on national television. On the flip side, we lost several good and key players to the NFL this year opening slots. So, that has to be attractive to a recruit. Those players were Gailey’s recruits, though. Let’s see what PJ does with his.
Junior Simms
May 16th, 2010
2:46 pm
A year from now, you won’t even remember the name “Aaron Murray.”
He’ll be gone after the SC game exposes his glaring weaknesses.
DawginLex
May 16th, 2010
3:00 pm
What if he goes 9-12 vs SC with 1 td and no interceptions?
What if we run the ball enough to win in columbia with Murray doing just enough to help us win?
Will you leave the blog and quit pretending to be one of us?
westside jax dawg
May 16th, 2010
3:21 pm
Murray’s better than brantley—UGA beats UF in Jax—-bank on it!!!
Lane Pimpin
May 16th, 2010
3:36 pm
Poodles have walked about six straight batters and are now behind the Gators 9-1. Tell me something, has UGA defeated the Gators in anything this year, except in recruiting about one or two guys the Gators wanted in football?
Lane Pimpin
May 16th, 2010
4:20 pm
Rabbit ears Richt better quit watching HS film and watch Bama and the Gators so that he can learn something about winning and building a real tradition.
Stinger B
May 16th, 2010
4:31 pm
Richt’s qB murray isn’t even 6 feet, and he’s telling fans to read the internet about him? Will he suddenly get taller that way????? Tech beats Ga by 13 in Athens this year—book it. UGA will be lucky to win 8 games with shorty at QB.