QB Murray returns to practice; throws ball ‘extremely well,’ Richt says
(Updated 8:45 p.m.)
As Georgia’s football team resumed preparations Monday for its regular-season finale against Georgia Tech, quarterback Aaron Murray returned to the practice field for the first time since suffering knee and sternum injuries against Auburn.
Coach Mark Richt said on his radio call-in show Monday night that Murray threw the ball “extremely well,” although Richt cautioned that practice conditions are quite different from game conditions for Georgia quarterbacks.
“Aaron is doing well,” Richt said. “He got to practice today. He went through the whole thing. That doesn’t necessarily mean he’s ready to play [under game conditions]. But because we don’t hit our quarterbacks in practice, he was able to do everything we asked him to do. I’m not sure how he would have handled getting hit and tackled to the ground and having the full weight of one or two guys land on him. I don’t know how he’d do in that situation right now.
“But he does feel a lot better. He threw the ball extremely well. If he keeps getting better — like he said today, ‘Coach, I got five more days.’ I hope by the end of the week he’ll feel good enough to go.”
The Georgia-Georgia Tech game kicks off at 7:45 p.m. Saturday in Sanford Stadium.
Murray “wants to play, there’s no doubt about that,” Richt said.
The redshirt freshman quarterback suffered a bruised sternum and a bruised knee in the Bulldogs’ Nov. 13 loss at Auburn. He was held out of practice last week, when Georgia had an open date.
“[Murray] looked pretty good,” tailback Washaun Ealey said after Monday’s practice. “He came out a little edgy today, but he got all that worked out. He looked good toward the end of practice. You could tell he was real banged up, but he’s fighting through it. He’s a tough competitor. He knows we’re all counting on him to come through, so he’s out there trying to grind every day to get the job done.”
Ealey added: “I’m pretty sure he’ll play Saturday.”
– AJC correspondent Andy Johnston contributed to this blog.
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354 comments Add your comment
Marcus may have a point ...
November 23rd, 2010
8:51 am
If all there were was 3rd down and a 4th quarter in a complete game, but …
Hit A Single
November 23rd, 2010
8:53 am
Hey Fairley, I hope you get to the NFL so Hines Ward can bust your ass!
Hit A Single
November 23rd, 2010
8:57 am
Yea Marus is having his party at Chucky Cheeses and that clown Chizik is going to be there.
AltamahaDawg
November 23rd, 2010
9:00 am
marcus: “Every college football expert, in the pre-season, said Georgia would struggle with a Freshman QB. Yet Georgia, especially Richt, won’t admit it’s what’s going on.”
#1, when exactly have you heard Richt say that playing (rs)freshman QB did NOT contribute to UGA’s record this year?
#2. how does any of that back up your position that playing an actual TRUE freshman QB was going to be a better choice?
Esteban
November 23rd, 2010
9:00 am
Hope his O-Line blocks for him! They let that Fairley guy get to him several times vs. Auburn. There is no crying in football — do your job!
GA_WISHER-WATCHER
November 23rd, 2010
9:15 am
It’ll be a great game. As “Ironic” stated in the first post, it’ll be two short buses colliding in middle of Sanford Stadium. It’s gonna be a very entertaining game by two bowl bound State of Georgia university teams.
GA_WISHER-WATCHER
November 23rd, 2010
9:17 am
UGA wins 35-20.
GA_WISHER-WATCHER
November 23rd, 2010
9:18 am
Then, teams shake hands and then go to Chucky Cheese to see fan Marcus on his 12th birthday …
GA_WISHER-WATCHER
November 23rd, 2010
9:19 am
Can 12 year olds stay up past 11 pm? Teams won’t get to Chucky Cheese until 11:30 pm.
Davis
November 23rd, 2010
9:22 am
There’s little doubt that Georgia will win the game, but consider this: In the 1986 Jan Kemp trial, O. Hale Almand Jr., a lawyer for UGA, offered a justification for the favorable treatment accorded the athletes, citing a hypothetical player. “We may not make a university student out of him,” he told the jury, “but if we can teach him to read and write, maybe he can work at the post office rather than as a garbageman when he gets through with his athletic career.”
That trial exposed UGA for the football factory that it was, and exposed Vince Dooley as a fraud and a sleazebag. It also derailed Dooley’s plans for a political career. That’s why we see the decrepit old fraud doing TV commercials even now.
Mark Richt is just the latest in a line of sleazy UGA coaches who coddle athletes and discard them after four years of football. He recruits illiterate morons he knows aren’t smart enough for college, but he doesn’t care, as long as they help him line his pockets with millions of dollars each year.
At least Tech fans can be proud of our team, win or lose. UGA, on the other hand, is a cesspool. And the winner of the Fulmer Cup. And the infamous red panties, don’t forget them.
Bud
November 23rd, 2010
9:23 am
He’s tough as leather. The hit in the back by Auburn’s #90 , worst I’ve ever seen. But when they lined up and ran Caleb and the offensive line straight at # 90 was great!!! I wished they had put him out of the game.Payback, Brotherhood, you hit us we’re go hit you back.
Bigdog24
November 23rd, 2010
9:26 am
All bulldog fans should hear this Bulldog song. I heard this guy down in Jacksonville everyone went crazy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lquu4TscUY0
Horace Mann
November 23rd, 2010
9:29 am
I’ve never understood how anyone – even an alumnus – could support and take pride in UGA’s football team. When you look at their history for the past forty years, how can anyone ignore Jan Kemp and the “remedial studies” scam, the Jim Harrick fiasco, the DUIs in the athletic office, the DUIs and other arrests of players, the #1 party school tag (i.e., the most drunk students), the suspensions and outright dismissals, the Fulmer Cup, and on and on?
UGA, The Cesspool of the South.
DawgMom52
November 23rd, 2010
9:31 am
Marcus – the immense amount of dislike for anything Murray has accomplished this year is quite telling ,actually. I would say it indicates a lack of “a life” on your part with a leaning towards misplaced hostility. Have you been bullied in the school yard lately or has your sister been beating you up again? You should really get some professional help and practice eating crow, because that it exactly what you are going to have to do before Murray finishes his career at UGA. Mocking injured players is something AU fans do best, but your guys are giving them a run for their money, and we all know they have an abundance to spread around.
Bobbo in Acworth
November 23rd, 2010
9:34 am
Definition of “cesspool”: Any place of moral filth or immorality.
Yeah, that fits UGAy perfectly.
Mobile Dawg
November 23rd, 2010
9:34 am
Georgia’s football team ranked second in the SEC, behind Vanderbilt, in Graduation Success Rate (GSR) statistics released today by the NCAA.Georgia had a 68-percent graduation rate in football for the freshmen classes and transfer students of 2000 through 2003, according to the figures released today.
While Georgia Tech’s overall Graduation Success Rate rose to its highest level, the football team posted the lowest score among ACC schools, according to data released today by the NCAA.
The football team scored a 49 for the second consecutive year. Duke posted the highest score (95) among football teams in the ACC.
Choke on that for a while Davis….
404
November 23rd, 2010
9:37 am
All this Murray talk is BS.
Just check out the youtube video of Murray and some other GA players jumping up & down and high-fiving and cheering for Duke at the
GT-Duke from Saturday.
This “injury watch” stuff is just a bogus “smokescreen.”
DuckFan
November 23rd, 2010
9:42 am
SEC and ACC, two over-rated conferences.
Macon 4 for 4
November 23rd, 2010
9:45 am
mobile dawg:
your ignorance is just too plentiful to hold back isnt it?
for ugag to be second behind vandy,
only means that ugag’s stats are a fraud.
how tough can it be for a ugag athlete to graduate with
a “Housing” major, or a Recreation & Leisure Studies degree.
for ugag to be second behind vandy only means that ugag has so
watered-down and dumbed-down the curriculum that it fraudulently
pads the graduation stats.
i’m sure if every ugag player was a Criminal Justice major then the graduation rate would be 100% and #1 in the sec.
it would only mean ugag would be an even bigger joke.
Marcus
November 23rd, 2010
9:54 am
Go Tech!
doggie
November 23rd, 2010
9:57 am
Marcus = a friend of Hutson Mason
doggie
November 23rd, 2010
9:57 am
Marcus = 14yo
doggie
November 23rd, 2010
9:58 am
Marcus = idiot
doggie
November 23rd, 2010
9:58 am
Marcus = loser
doggie
November 23rd, 2010
9:59 am
Marcus = 14yo future techie
Mobile Dawg
November 23rd, 2010
10:01 am
Macon, if ignorance were a disease, you would be on life support Sport.
Larry the Cable Guy
November 23rd, 2010
10:02 am
Ironic
November 22nd, 2010
7:07 pm
This game should be great. Like 2 short buses collided in Sanford stadium and a slap fight broke out.
“Now that’s funny right there…I don’t care who yer are!”
Marcus
November 23rd, 2010
10:04 am
Richt had a lot of options BESIDES letting Murray starts.
1- Let Mett start after a 1 or 2 game suspension, who outplayed him over the Spring
2- Go get a JUCO guy like Cam Newton with experience
3- Let Logan Gray start, who outplayed him over the Spring
4- Let Huston Mason start, who owns all the state-wide Georgia records for td’s and yardage
What has Murray DONE to EARN his starts as a starter–beat 1 team with a winning record, played ok against lousy Div. 2 teams with a 1-10 record? When Ealey fumbled 2x, he was benched, when Murray threw 3 interceptions and fumbled in 1 game, he was rewarded with another start.
I don’t care if Murray threw for 4000 yards, and 86 td’s, if he can’t beat more than 1 team with a winning recrd, and has his team at Richt’s worst record ever at 5-6. OBVIOUSLY, that would mean, Murray pumped his stats up playing against FAR INFERIOR competition, and CHOKED against teams with winning records.
that’s what his record and stats tell us.
Marcus
November 23rd, 2010
10:08 am
Richt’s judgement of QB’s at UGA hasn’t always been good. Joe T? Joe Cox? Now Murray?
Hutson is the No. 2. Hutson has 1 of 7 QB’s who won Parade All-American, and Hutson was ranked as a top 20 QB by ESPN. Huston owns the state-wide record for td’s and yardage, and Murray plays like garbage against teams with winning records. Give Hutson a shot, he can’t be worse than Murray.
If not Hutson, give Gray or Bingham a start, just bench Murray, he’s simply awful when it counts.
Mobile Dawg
November 23rd, 2010
10:09 am
Marcus, CMR’s focus is on his Quarterbacks. He has tunnel vision. If he put as much effort and focus on the rest of his responsibilities as a HC we wouldn’t be having these discussions. Murray was a good young QB, the foundation that supported him is what needs work.
Macon 4 for 4
November 23rd, 2010
10:10 am
poor mobile dawg
gettin his panties all bunched up cause
theres a a spotlight on his ignorance
Marcus
November 23rd, 2010
10:10 am
Georgia owuld be 9-2 with Logan Gray starting this year. 8-2 or 8-3 with Hutson Mason starting. 7-4 with Greg Bingham starting.
Marcus
November 23rd, 2010
10:13 am
this is really important, read this closely, you’ll never hear this from the Georgia coaching staff.
Here is why Georgia is 5-6.
Here’s what you need to know about Aaron “Choke City” Murray:
Pass completion ranking:
#86 in the red zone
#76 on 3rd down
#83 in the 4th quarter
#71 against teams with winning records
This is the worst of any UGA QB in a decade.
Marcus
November 23rd, 2010
10:18 am
I am a duoche bag
Marcus
November 23rd, 2010
10:19 am
This year was wasted on Aaron Murray. UGA had the #1 most experienced O-Line, AJ Green, Durham, Charles, experienced RB’s which were at the top of their game when the season ended last year.
And all Murray could do was go 5-6, and beat 1 team with a winning record?
It’s inexcusable.
Marcus
November 23rd, 2010
10:19 am
I am a really big duoche bag
Marcus
November 23rd, 2010
10:20 am
UGA will never have a winning seaosn with Aaron Murray at QB.
Some guys have the “it” factor, some guys have the ‘choke’ factor.
Murray chokes when it counts.
Marcus
November 23rd, 2010
10:22 am
Murray has lost 2 out 3 games, with AJ Green playing 100%. It’s simply incomprehensible how bad he is.
Marcus
November 23rd, 2010
10:23 am
I try and anger the dawg fans because I am insecure about myself. My defense mechanism is to lash out because I don’t have a lot of people skills. I find it easier to sit in front of my computer and spout off BS than deal with the real world.
Marcus
November 23rd, 2010
10:24 am
I am a really really big duoche bag
Marcus
November 23rd, 2010
10:25 am
My hate for Aaron Murry stems from my troubled childhood. My parents showed me little attention and i don’t have a lot of friends. I spend most of my days on UGA blog sites irritating dawg fans because i have nothing better to do with my life.
Marcus
November 23rd, 2010
10:26 am
I have no life
Marcus
November 23rd, 2010
10:26 am
Mike Hartline of Kentucky beats Murray in most stats. But Kentucky is just 6-5? Why?
Same reason. Hartline chokes in the red zone and in the 4th quarter.
Marcus
November 23rd, 2010
10:27 am
i will not respond back to commentors because i am a coward
Marcus
November 23rd, 2010
10:28 am
i hide behind me computer because i have no friends.
Marcus
November 23rd, 2010
10:28 am
If throwing for a lot of yards, td’s, and having a high pass effic rating was good enough, Kentucky would be 11-0, because Hartline outplayed Murray these year in all the meaningless stats.
But it’s about playing well, when it counts, something Murray cannot, or never will, do.
Marcus
November 23rd, 2010
10:29 am
i think trying to anger dawg fans is fun, but in reality they are laughing at me like most people i come in contact with throughout my life.
Marcus
November 23rd, 2010
10:29 am
Poor UGA fans, they make fun of you if you speak the truth.
Marcus
November 23rd, 2010
10:30 am
Aaron Murray = Mike Hartline
Marcus
November 23rd, 2010
10:30 am
i try to turn it on the dawg fans when i really have no argument.