… Before Murray’s 2011 season, only four quarterbacks — Tim Couch, Peyton Manning, Danny Wuerffel and Andre Woodson — threw for more than 3,000 yards and 35 touchdowns in a [SEC] single season. Those were also the only quarterbacks to throw for 35 touchdowns in a season before Murray. Murray — if he stays healthy and remains at Georgia for all four years of his eligibility — is on pace to break Wuerffel’s SEC touchdown record of 114.
We can bitch all we want about Murray’s shortcomings, but that’s some damned impressive company he’s keeping, especially when you consider that Georgia’s receiving corps was a big question mark going into the season. Somebody deserves a little credit for what’s going on there.
Get The Picture 
Just desserts, after a Gator breaking Herschel’s rushing TD record that a Dawg would break Wuerffel’s passing TD record. Please let that happen.
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I clicked comment JUST to leave basically this same comment. I’d love to have it happen in Jacksonville.
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And UGA win the game at the same time.
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+1
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It is pretty impressive if you compare their first 2 years against each other. Murray wins the side by side look but also threw more attempts and probably played in more games.
DW stats
Year Comp Att Comp % Passing TD INT
1993 159 273 58.2 2230 22 10
1994 132 212 62.3 1754 18 9
1995 210 325 64.6 3266 35 10
1996 207 360 57.5 3625 39 13
AM Stats
Statistics Att Comp Pct Yds TD Int Rating
2011 403 238 59.1 3,149 35 14 146.4
2010 342 209 61.1 3,049 24 8 154.5
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Thank You!!
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stats like this are what frustrate me about Murray. He shows flashes of brilliance if not outright dominance then completely negates it with a dumb turnover. When the guy’s on he’s on, and contrary to what his critics say he’s had moments when he shows up in big games against great defenses. First halves of the SECCG and MSU, come to mind. He’ll throw for a ton of yards and touchdowns but if he keeps coughing up the ball especially in big games he’s going to keep having great stats, a mediocre W-L record and no championships. Bobo’s either got to develop Murray to take better care of the ball or have another QB in the wings ready and able to take Murray’s job if the turnovers don’t stop.
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+1 He gets too tight and tries to do too much and it gets him in trouble. It would help if he could count on his OL for a little help. It would also help if Bobo could teach him how to throw a screen pass. Since Matthew left I live in fear everytime we try to set up a screen, it is just ugly. It doesn’t help that we have a short QB trying to throw to midgets in the middle of giants.
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He hasn’t negated anything. We won 10 games last year with 6 offensive linemen. He threw picks but none were really game changers. He was under pressure all year. He’s going pro next year and Bobo coached him up. Wake up idiots
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He threw picks but none were game changers? South Carolina: the offense leads directly to 21 points for the game cocks, 14 directly attributed to Murray, a pick six, the fumble recovered by Ingram, fumbled exchange by Crowell and Murray leads to another SC TD. Michigan State: i’ll spare you the details but the Spartans score 14 points off turnovers both by Murray. LSU: A Murray fumble and pick six lead to two LSU touchdowns. These are critical back breaking mistakes. Not that blame can’t be spread around the team for these losses but Georgia wins going away at least against USC and MSU if Murray doesn’t score points for the other team.
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No one will ever take his job. Guess what… QB’s throw picks. Especially when they throw it often enough to collect 35 TD passes. WTF do you want. If Hutson Mason was better then he would have been playing all along. Let’s leave the talent evaluation to the experts.
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+1
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I agree with everything except that Murray’s INTs are explained by the number of attempts.
Plenty of QBs throw just as many TDs (or close… or more) without throwing so many picks (for example: http://www.cfbstats.com/2011/player/768/1027036/passing/split.html). He threw too many interceptions this year. And the back-breaking fumbles also have to stop.
I agree that Murray won’t be unseated. I agree that picks happen. But he did throw too many and fumbled too much. Maybe he gets better protection next year. Maybe he locks onto his receiver less frequently and moves through his progression better. Maybe he does a better job with audibles and reading coverages pre-snap. If all those things happen… Murray is going to have an amazing year.
And… I know people use Murray’s progression as proof that Bobo is a very good QB coach, but as talented as Aaron is (and since Mark Richt works with the QBs a lot too), I’m not sure how much credit to give him. At least not without giving him (or them) equal blame for Murray’s legs becoming less of a weapon and Murray making more catastrophic mistakes. It could just be that the playbook is too damn thick.
Either way, I’m hoping Murray continues to trend upwards and we have an awesome 2012 and Bobo and Richt look like geniuses on offense.
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All of the above commenters have made good points
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Listen, when it comes to Bobo and Murray, you really need to pick an extreme and then go for blood, okay? This sort of wishy washy stance, while intelligent, has no place in this discussion.
With all due respect to the bumper sticker (that gets it right in another arena): “if you’re not outraged about Bobo/Murray or angry with people who are outraged about Bobo/Murray, you’re not paying attention.
😉
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No one can say that the guy lacks talent. He can make all of the throws. Murray’s problem is between the ears. As fans, we ask that he stop turning the ball over in big time spots. As for the coaches, I am certain that they drill this into his skull day after day. At this point (2 years as a starter and 3 on campus), Murray is what he is. He will probably leave Georgia with the TD passing record. He will also leave Georgia with zero big wins and and no hardware.
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I’m hopeful that he still has time to improve on the mental aspects/turnovers. Maybe his junior season will be the turning point.
This is a case where stats don’t tell the most important part of the story. When you look at turnovers against quality opponents, you see the devil in the details.
Murray is a DGD and I’d love to see him earn some hardware while he’s in Athens.
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But the stats do tell the most important part of the story. He’s a baller! WTF do you want from him? He’s breaking records and we’re winning.
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Back to Bobo, btw: Dude is a good QB coach.
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He doesn’t have a problem between the ears dumbass. He threw 35 TD’s. He’s a kid. He’s doing great! I’ll be sorry when he leaves next year.
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I like your enthusiasm, but will believe a sub-6′ QB entering the draft early when I see it.
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Murray is a legit 6’1” with shoes 6’0 without
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I think he is closer to 5’10”.
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How about Drew Brees. You ever heard of him?
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Didn’t leave early, bubba.
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How tall he is or whether he goes early really has nothing to do with the topic. Do you like Bobo or not? PS: Mike Vick, Mark Sanchez
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Fair point, but Drew Brees is incredibly accurate. Murray hasn’t yet and I doubt he’ll ever develop the pin-point accuracy that Brees has. Not a knock on Murray but just (begrudging) praise for Brees. Also not as athletic as Vick of course. He reminds me of Colt McCoy with his frame and athleticism, which doesn’t really translate to the NFL. He would need to develop an outstanding skill first.
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Watch this analysis on exactly how accurate Brees is:
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Drew Brees’s sophmore interception numbers were way worse than Aaron Murray’s interception numbers though.
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Murray’s problem is between his ears just like BOBO’s. Murray’s performance closely mirrors or parallels Bobo;s performance as an OC.
Statistics can be good for ego’s sake. But it also can mean nothing if the higher goals are not acieved.
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“Somebody deserves a little credit for what’s going on there.”
That would be Aaron Murray.
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Who coaches and develops aaron Murray dumbass?
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Who called the 35 plays where he threw TD’s dumbass?
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Great stats…praise AM and Bobo.
Record with great stats: 16 – 11 …blame who?
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Mike Bobo. Best QB coach in the SEC.
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I agree 100 percent but as an OC, he is near the bottom.
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P.S. The 16-11 record came with a D that in 2010 was middle of the pack in the SEC and in 2011 was top 5 in the nation.
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Mr. Mayor & The Senator.
I totally agree & I too Blame Bobo (& Richt).
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You blame Willie Martinez or Mark Richt for keeping Martinez a year to long. The defense was the difference this year. Murray has been stellar all along.
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Murray was an excellent leader in high school and was voted best leader at the Elite 11 QB camp. What some see as him tightening up, I tend to see as Murray thinking “we´re not getting anywhere doing what we´re doing; I´m going to make a play.” It´s an admirable mentality. When you play in the JV NFL, however, it results in turnovers.
Problem is, one can understand why Murray would think he needs to make a play. We were 119th nationally in sustained drives last year. If vertical passing or off-tackle running didn´t work, we didn´t have much else (where did those screens go after the USC game?). Yet during plenty of stretches, we seemed happy to throw running backs against a wall for 2 downs, then play-action into a 2-man max-protect route (vs. 4 in their backfield). If you feel responsible for your offense, what do you do?
Kudos to Murray for backing it up with his own body. Hopefully he´ll have an effective running game next year and can gain some trust in the defense. With those, I´d guess his leadership instincts will translate into long drives and well-checked plays instead of strange calls in efforts to jump-start the offense.
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Remember in 2003 Greene threw almost as many picks as Td’s. His line was awful. My guess is that if Murray is not running for his life his turnovers will go down. Just a guess.
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I really hope we get the chance to find out. Murray is a DGD. He deserves some protection for his passion and hard work. We need him to be good, but can certainly make it easier for him to do his job.
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+1
how many of those critical turnovers were made on 3rd and long with a defensive end in Murray’ face? The Oline play needs to improve for him to make significant strides forward in clutch situations.
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God I love this blog. Where are all the dumbass Bobo haters from last week? Its Friday and I’m at the bar and I’m ready to rip into somebody. I think his name was ECDawg or something. Then there was the guy who tried to defend him and is scared to punt from mid field because the punt might go into the end zone. What do you have to say to these stats? Morons. Bobo is the man! Good coordinator, a good recruiter, and a great QB coach. Your thoughts retards?
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Again, your enthusiasm is admirable, but you should take those epithets over to the AJC.
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Ditto. Although the alcohol may lead to a mature thought communicated rationally. One can hope…
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….and being new here, I had just commented on how enjoyable and relaxing this blog is while being full of salient conversation…..and that’s usually true as I’ve read here for a couple of years
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I’ve followed this blog for a number of years and your comments are not the kind we usually have around here. I rarely post, just read, but you made me pop my head up. Take your friendly-fire somewhere else. You have called a number of people here dumbass, and with the same mouth spouted that none of Murray’s interceptions lead to points–now isnt the pot calling the kettle black? If you want to hate on your own fans with unfounded dumbassery, join a tech blog.
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Bobo is responsible for developing the offense with Murray with the O line that was available for two years. Give Murray all the credit for standing in there with guts to go with his talent. If the RBs had done their job (along with the O line) Wuerffel’s record would be in jeopardy before our 4th game this year. With the possibility of everything coming together this year, look for Murray’s game going hyper with Bobo’s tutelage within this year’s offensive plan.
The implied shots at Bobo as only being good as a QB coach are undeserved when it comes to O planning and execution and he will ram the crap remarks back where they belong this year. You nit-pickin’ whiners need to get a life. Go suck an egg, you egg-suckin’ Dawgs!
Otherwise, I think everything is good.
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1 (one) carry by a fullback in 2011.
How many screens?
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My admittedly unedu-me-cated reading of those numbers is that it is a major difficulty to execute screen passes when you have bulky, immobile Guards at four of the OLine positions. We ought to experience more of swing pass game in ’12.
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Bobo may be a good game planner, he is not a good game adapter–and that’s what makes him a mediocre OC. He’ll stop a passing drive because he feels some unrestrained impulse to return to the run. He repeatedly calls third and bomb when he needs 6 yards. He sends Carlton Thomas up the middle. He refused to utilize quick screens all season when Murray was getting killed. These are things he has done with such repetition that they are habitual and will not stop *if* he has an improved o-line. Which, if you had a clue about Georgia’s current o-line, you would realize is a borderline pipe-dream. And you tell everyone else to suck an egg? As I said above, join a tech blog if you want to trash Georgia fans wirh nonsense.
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once again I agree with COJONES 100% Just pray all the redshirt FR OL are staying in the weight room–if so we WILL have a running game next year and everyone will see how good this young man can be !!
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Like almost every Dawg fan on earth, the only stat I care about is WINS AGAINST RANKED TEAMS. Who cares if you throw for 5 td’s vs. New Mexico State. Some are impressed by that crap, not many.
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It worked for Wuerffel.
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How many teams we played last year were ranked before we beat them?
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Really liked the Scout article quotes by Murray back in November before the LSU game about how championships are all that matter instead of individual touchdowns and statistics and individual accolades, he’s right, this isn’t golf or tennis, it’s a team sport and success is measured only by how many championships your team wins. Manning, Woodson, and Murray, have no SEC Championships between them.
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maybe it is just Championships but I would point out that Manning could buy Wuerffel,Couch,Woodson and Murray at least 10 and probably 20 times over, And Manning has been to Disney World so maybe it’s not just about SEC championships ….I’m just sayin
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Wuerffel was the best of this group, he won 4 conference championships, the other 4, Manning-Couch-Woodson-Murray, didn’t win a championship.
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Plus, Wuerffel won the Heisman.
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