Quarterbacks: Offense appears to be in good hands with Aaron Murray`
Fifth in a series breaking down Georgia’s 2011 football team by position groups. . . .
In Aaron Murray the Georgia Bulldogs trust, and for good reason after a phenomenal freshman season. (AJC photo by Brant Sanderlin/bsanderlin@ajc.com)
THE QUARTERBACKS
- Returning starter: Aaron Murray (So., 6-1, 211).
- Others to watch: The competition to become Murray’s chief backup should be a good one between sophomore Hutson Mason, a lightly-recruited player who earned a scholarship offer with a record-breaking season as a high school senior, and true freshman Christian LeMay, an elite prospect of national renown who enrolled early in order to get into the mix.
- Key fact: Rarely is it that a sophomore quarterback is so roundly regarded as is Murray, but he appears to be gaining momentum as a consensus pick for preseason first-team All-SEC. His freshman season coupled with a blue-collar work ethic have excited the masses about the possibilities for improvement. As the meticulous researcher Phil Steele pointed out, Murray as a freshman had a higher higher pass efficiency rating (154.5) than Matthew Stafford did as a junior at Georgia, and Stafford ended up being the No. 1 overall pick in the subsequent NFL draft. Murray completed 61 percent of his passes for 3,049 yards passing — second all-time for an SEC freshamn — had a 24 to 8 TD to interception ratio and tied D.J. Shockley for UGA’s all-time record for TD responsibility with 28. Meanwhile, Murray did his best work at the end of the regular season, passing for 544 yards and 6 TDs with no interceptions against Auburn and Georgia Tech.
- Key fact II: The battle for backup duties is going to be interesting. Mason (6-3, 196) was solid in very limited as a true freshman, appearing in four games and completing 9-of-17 passes, including a TD pass on the very first attempt of his career (only the third QB in college football history to do that, joining Georgia Tech’s Taylor Bennett and Southern Cal’s Matt Leinart). LeMay (6-2, 195) put up some eye-popping passing numbers as a high school junior — 68.5 completion percentage, 3,296 yards, 48 TDs, 2 INTs — while leading Butler High to a 16-0 record and state championship. But he missed his entire senior season while protesting a controversial disciplinary suspension and the effect of the season off is unknown.
- Key questions: How will Murray perform without A.J. Green as a main target? Murray often joked that all he had to do was throw the ball high in the 6-4 Green’s general direction to complete a pass. He won’t have that luxury after Green was plucked away with the No. 4 pick in the NFL draft. But while Green caught 57 balls in nine games, Murray did manage to complete 152 passes to 18 other receivers.
- Recent developments: Murray was named to the Maxwell Award watch list for 2011.
- Outlook: Outstanding. What a difference a year makes. Coming into the 2010 season the Bulldogs had no quarterbacks with any experience. A year later they are relying on a 13-game starter and Freshman All-SEC selection in Murray, a tested backup in Mason and a bluechip prospect in LeMay. Freshman walkons Parker Welch and Greg Bingham provide additional depth.
- Your turn: What’s your take on Georgia’s quarterbacks?
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494 comments Add your comment
Timbodog
July 7th, 2011
10:56 am
“Recruiting classes prove it,” huh?
First of all, I’m not sure where you’re seeing that our recruiting classes were so bad under Donnan.
Scout.com doesn’t seem to go back that far.
Secondly, I’d rather judge by NFL players. UGA had some absolute studs in the years prior to Richt’s arrival. Are you forgetting that D-line of Seymour, Stroud, Sullivan, and Grant?
How about Champ and Boss Bailey, the Stinchcombs, Kendrell Bell, and countless others?
I don’t see how you could possibly say Richt is bringing in much better talent. You must be in high school and just not remember these guys from the mid to late 90s.
Double Zero Eight
July 7th, 2011
10:58 am
The key to Georgia’s offense will be how well the
offensive line performs. Crowell can only be successful
if the O-line blocks for him. He is not Superman and
cannot run through a brick wall!
BG
July 7th, 2011
11:00 am
Murray is going to have a great year.
Sam Robards, Dawg Fan
July 7th, 2011
11:01 am
This has probably already been said, but Murray’s a fantastic talent and a great QB. Easily the best in the conference right now.
Mason’s also been solid (in his limited appearances), and I’m interested to see Lemay continue to develop.
That said, I think this is going to be an amazing year. Richt’s teams do best with a Sophomore QB (Greene in ‘02 and Stafford in ‘07), and I’m looking for that to continue this year.
Here’s to another December trip to Atlanta! Go Dawgs!
TheXman
July 7th, 2011
11:01 am
i remember those guys but i also remember jim only winning 8 games a year and losing to tech more often that uga should. richts still has great players going pro while at the same time winning sec titles and top 5 fininshes. again with jims players and his. i also remember looking donnans recruitng classes fininshing in the top 25 from time to time and im sure someone out there knows his highest recruiting class was maybe 15..never a top 10 class.
TheXman
July 7th, 2011
11:03 am
richt has averaged a top 10-5 class in recruiting which comes in handy while trying to win titles. donnan was never that close. richt can recruit on defense and offense. as well.
TheXman
July 7th, 2011
11:04 am
never said that donnans recruiting classes were so bad, just that richts are so much better.
Timbodog
July 7th, 2011
11:07 am
Now you’re arguing two different things…you claimed that Richt was bringing in much better talent. The truth is he’s not. It’s right about where it’s always been.
And you still haven’t provided any evidence of those class rankings…of course, even if you did, it wouldn’t change the fact that there were just as many big-time NFL players from UGA before Richt as there have been since.
TheXman
July 7th, 2011
11:12 am
not my fault your blind to richts talented players..the number of wins alos proves my point. do you not pay attention to the recruiting classes? you can pull up richts for the last 10 years right? and then you can also see that uga has sent more players to the pros in that time just about more than any other team not named miami.
jim donnan would tell you his self that uga has better players on the team because of coach richt and pretty much every other uga fan.
TheXman
July 7th, 2011
11:14 am
also richt is sending players that are not big time to the pros aswell. which proves he can coach up the chris durhams and david greens and david pollacks of college football.
DawginLex
July 7th, 2011
11:15 am
SSIgator-He continues to be thankful for DJ Shockley’s injury in 2005 that would have exposed Meyer for what he really is-NOTHING WITHOUT TIM TEBOW.
Timmy is not playing QB this year either so look for Florida’s downward spiral from last year to comtinue.
Tide Roll
July 7th, 2011
11:16 am
You guys act like all Murray needs to do is show up! Defensive Coordinators have had a years worth of experience as well. Football is like baseball. It’s about adjustments, and Defensive Coordinators in the SEC are putting schemes in place that Murray has never seen before. One of which entails forcing him to step up in the pocket, where, due to his height limitations, he’s prevented from seeing downfield. He had what,12 games under his belt last year when Middle Florida shut him down? He already had enough experience, yet he and his “Michael Jackson”glove got it handed to him. And another thing, have you Georgia fans never heard of a “Sophomore Slump” !? It’s quite prevalent in football and is primarily due to your competition making adjustments from the prior year. But nooo. that can’t happen to Murray. Pass the Kool-aid.
HECKLE
July 7th, 2011
11:19 am
Really now, how tall is Murray?
cadawg
July 7th, 2011
11:21 am
tide roll: who should alabama start at QB, mcarron or sims? bet i know how you would answer.
and as far as the murray kool-aid goes, it isn’t just georgia fans drinking it. it’s just about every sportswriter writer in the south. if you really think lemay is better than murray right now… well, i didn’t know it was possible to know that little about something.
but why do i even try with you?
David Granger
July 7th, 2011
11:22 am
The QB position looks pretty good for us this year. I’m a lot more concerned about who will be calling plays than I am who will be running them. I hope we don’t continue to have that “play not to lose” mentality this upcoming season.
AltamahaDawg
July 7th, 2011
11:23 am
I figured you to be a huge Michael Jackson fan.
cadawg
July 7th, 2011
11:23 am
and by tide roll’s logic, it’s better to start a new QB every year than bring back an experienced one, since DC’s can look at game tape. try and find one coach — just one — that agrees with that proposition. keep up the good work, TR.
LJM
July 7th, 2011
11:23 am
It is not going to matter how good Murray is. The UGA offensive line and the 3-4 defense is very suspect. South Carolina should run the defense in the ground chasing the Freshman of the year Lattimore and that will open up the passing game to Jeffery and the rest with Garcia at the helm being steady decision maker. If UGA does not win the South Carolina game their hopes of winning the East are gone. They can still have a better season than last but it will be a stretch. Their head coachs mind is on missionary work so don’t be surprised if he leaves at the end of this year win or not. 11 seasons in the SEC is a lot of stress for any coach.
TheXman
July 7th, 2011
11:26 am
looks like donnan had 1 top 5 class after all..
February 1998: Donnan signs a recruiting class considered by everyone to be one of the five best in the country. The headliners of the class are Quincy Carter, Jon Stinchcomb, Boss Bailey, Will Witherspoon, Terreal Bierra, Jasper Sanks, Charles Grant, Jesse Miller, and Terrence Edwards. Donnan also expands the successful recruiting to assistant coaches when he convinces Tennessee’s Rodney Garner, still the SEC’s best recruiter, to come to UGA.
getting garner was very good. his best recruiting job yet.
Joe
July 7th, 2011
11:26 am
Looking at 6 wins, 6 losses.
TheXman
July 7th, 2011
11:29 am
stopping lattimore will be much easier to stop in year 2 than last year as uga will have the players up front to play the nose position. garcia never scares me as he is not very smart.
shankit
July 7th, 2011
11:29 am
Tide Roll – One of your cousins called in recently to your Paul Fienbaum talk radio show,
and asked, “Paul, how come that ol’ Auburn school still has uh engineering course, heck,
there hardly ain’t any trains running any more.”
Joe
July 7th, 2011
11:29 am
Murray can’t beat a team with a winning record. Had 6 chances last year. Lost to all 6 winning teams: Auburn, Florida, Miss St, SC, UCF, and Arkansas.
My prediction is Murray freaks out/chokes in 1st 2 games (remember last year’s Florida 4 to game?), commits 3-4 to’s a game, goes 0-2, Richt changes to Mason or Lemay and UGA finishes 9-3.
The bigger the game, the worse Murray plays.
The bigger the game, the better Lemay plays.
Joe
July 7th, 2011
11:30 am
Garcia beat UGA, Bama, and Florida in the same year. He’s a big game QB. Murray isn’t. I like SC 44, UGA 17.
TheXman
July 7th, 2011
11:32 am
murry will get plenty of wins against twinnnig teams this year and the years to come. uga defense will be much better for one thing. no worries here joe
Joe
July 7th, 2011
11:33 am
MURRAY LED OFFENSE ONLY GOT 18 POINTS A GAME VS. WINNING TEAMS, DOWN 17 POINTS FROM STAFFORD’S 35 IN 07. JUST CAN’T SCORE WITH MURRAY IN BIG GAMES FOR MOST PART UNLESS A REALLY BAD DEFENSE.
FINISHED 12TH IN SEC IN TURNOVERS AGAIN WITH MURRAY LED OFFENSE FOR 2ND CONSECUTIVE SEASON.
Good Hands?
July 7th, 2011
11:33 am
The only “Good Hands” will be from opposing defenses batting down the midgets passes.
Joe
July 7th, 2011
11:34 am
Lemay will be great this year, really excited to see him start in game 3.
BIGDAWG37
July 7th, 2011
11:35 am
Murray will throw for 2000 yards and take Georgia to the SEC Championship this year! Mason is a solid backup and If treated fairly will stay at Georgia. Two years from now it will be a battle for the start.
TheXman
July 7th, 2011
11:35 am
garcia had a running game and his defense played the run very well. garcia games against uga wasnt even good. he played well enough at ala and fla but if not for teh running game he would have screwed that up too.
Joe
July 7th, 2011
11:35 am
who does murray throw to? no wr has more than 2 td’s. t king will be doubled like aj was. there are no proven scorers anywhere on the offense.
TheXman
July 7th, 2011
11:37 am
i have no worries about murry joe as he has proven that he can play the qb position at a high level. one of the reason he is on all the big time watch list. first team all sec etc..
SSIgator
July 7th, 2011
11:38 am
DawginLex -
Since you like to reflect on UGA losses in Jax:
2008 – The worst loss of Coach Richt’s career at Georgia and the 2nd worst loss that the Bulldogs have ever suffered against the Gators.
And the beat goes on.
Joe
July 7th, 2011
11:40 am
Murray was 11th in accuracy against winning teams in SEC out of 12 QB’s.
Also, threw 8 td’s, 6 int’s vs. winning teams. Terrible td-int ratio.
http://www.cfbstats.com/2010/leader/911/player/split09/category02/sort03.html
Joe
July 7th, 2011
11:40 am
What is Murray’s best game so far–La Lafayette? Come on now.
TheXman
July 7th, 2011
11:42 am
not yet joe but your questions will soon be answered. i think king, orson charles will come up big, also marlon brown the jr should be ready to go. alos looking for big things fron isreal troup this year. his last year to shine. uga will always have plenty of talent around murry to throw to.
Joe
July 7th, 2011
11:42 am
In the 4th Quarter, Murray’s ranked 17th out of 19 SEC QB’s in passing accuracy:
http://www.cfbstats.com/2010/leader/911/player/situational07/category02/sort03.html
DawginLex
July 7th, 2011
11:43 am
SSI
My point exactly. Who was the QB that day?
Tebow
without him, Meyer is mediocre.
that’s why he quit.
Joe
July 7th, 2011
11:44 am
On 3rd down, Murray is ranked 10th out of 15 SEC QB’s in accuracy:
http://www.cfbstats.com/2010/leader/911/player/situational11/category02/sort03.html
TheXman
July 7th, 2011
11:44 am
murry looked real good against aub and ark…he played fla well too. all as a freshmen. played awesome against tenn aswell
Dawg Tired
July 7th, 2011
11:44 am
Is Bobo still calling the plays?
TheXman
July 7th, 2011
11:45 am
remember joe..he played as a freshmen not a jr..
Joe
July 7th, 2011
11:45 am
Murray is ranked 83rd in red zone accuracy in the NCAA:
http://www.cfbstats.com/2010/leader/national/player/situational21/category02/sort03.html
Kody
July 7th, 2011
11:46 am
Timbodawg, why don’t you ask Matt stafford why he came to UGA? Your statement that Richt isn’t a great recruiter is absurd.
Russ, the Temporary Mascot
July 7th, 2011
11:47 am
When somebody says to a Bulldog, “Hey, nice shirt.” The correct response is “Wanna buy it?” This would make things easier for everybody.
TheXman
July 7th, 2011
11:47 am
all things he will improve on so hope you will list them next year to keep us updated joe…
Joe
July 7th, 2011
11:47 am
mURRAY FINISHED #90 IN ACCURACY ON 3RD DOWNS IN THE NATION:
http://www.cfbstats.com/2010/leader/national/player/situational11/category02/sort03.html
DawginLex
July 7th, 2011
11:47 am
LOOK EVERYBODY
Joe/Dallas/Judd is back with his worthless stats.
Dawg Tired
July 7th, 2011
11:48 am
Joe’s statistics reflect the predictability of the play calling – not Murray’s ability. Murray’s numbers are amazing given the play calling.
Kody
July 7th, 2011
11:48 am
So today its Joe, yesterday Judd and Dallas the day before Ace, same old tired useless posts.