After going the past three games without a pick, Aaron Murray now sports the top passer rating in college football.
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“We remember the Sugar Bowl, I think it my junior year of high school, we let Alabama beat us twice,” Brinson said of a team that also lost to the Crimson Tide in the SEC Championship game. “We’re not letting Alabama beat us twice. In the Sugar Bowl in 2018, they… thought they should have been in the playoffs and lost to Texas.” -- AB-H, 12/27/23
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Get The Picture · Bloviation for the Dawgnation
Get The Picture 
I’m not one to follow the lead-up to the Heisman stuff.. but can Aaron be in the mix realistically? Seems like he keeps racking up stats and breaking records, but no one talks about him. Maybe that’s a good thing.. there’s only one prize I want, and its the National championship.
The kids not flashy, and maybe that’s why, or perhaps I just haven’t heard the talk. Running, duel threat QBs seem to get a lot more attention, from what I can tell.
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I agree 100% with Macallanlover’s response to this, btw, but I think the USCjr game all but took AM out of the Heisman convo. All it takes is one bad game, it seems, and the pundits move on to another player.
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I don’t disagree with that rationale, but it seems you can find similar flaws on any of the guys in the running. The one stat without looking that I think might look bad for Murray is interceptions, but that’s just off the top of my head.
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He has 7 ALL season — that is a great figure. But if you are isolating games UF was his low water mark in which he tossed 3.
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Korn Dawg, that didn’t keep them from resurrecting USC’s Barfeysly every time he looked like shit this year. It was embarrassing to watch ESPN continue to push Barkley’s candidacy while he showed less and less talent each week this year. Now that Kan St’s candidate went down with his team last night, it’s an open game.
Once again luck and perception play all the hands in a year with no clear candidate. Although Jarvis is better on the field and in the stat book, the pointy heads will push Monti Teo (?) from ND as the top D candidate simply because he is Polynesian with a more distinctive name for print than Jones. Embarrassingly, they already have done that with Jarvis’s stats comparably posted just below the ND candidate’s. I’m afraid in the lean years that the Heisman is more of a beauty contest than the MNC.
Sure, Aaron should be pushed . He is as deserving as anyone, but in pure athletic prowess and personal carriage, Jarvis is my winner this year. Isn’t that all supposed to be wrapped together, fuck the stats?
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Jarvis will just point to his draft status and move on.
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His yards per attempt stat is crazy good.
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yeah, basically a first down with every attempt.
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I blame Bobo, and Mark Richt has clearly lost control of Bobo and Murray. He must be fired now, before he can win any more games.
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Hey! I have a unique idea. Why don’t we start a “Fire the coaches” site on the internet. I’ll bet no low-class person has thought of that before.
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He cannot even win a majority of the vote among our fans. Some say he isn’t tough, others say he isn’t reliable, many say he makes too many mistakes. etc. Guess they have a list of all the QBs they would rather have than AM, cause we know they are all perfect.
I stopped caring about the Heisman a few decades ago because the sport is too big for one award as “the best”, and it has become politicized with marketing campaigns and regional biases. I just want him to get an SEC ring/title, and a little respect from the radical fringe.
A Florida resident/fan chooses UGA, comes in and obliterates the record books, never causes a minute of problems, and is both a Warrior and a leader on/off the foeld. Yeah, I will take that one to lead me against Bama, just give him a fighting chance blockers.
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+100
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Sorry, was meant as a reply to heyberto regarding the Heisman race opportunity..
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and a +1 reply at that. cant disagree at all
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We know, but heyberto won’t mind if some of us just savor your words a little longer.
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I know we have to beat Tech first–but all the talking heads don’t think we have a chance—I will take Aaron and like our chances—I already love this team—they beat uf
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Honestly, that’s the way I’d like it to be. Flying low and under the radar. We surprised LSU that way in the Dome in 2005. Hurt Jamarcus Russell with our big DEs and Sean Bailey (I think) had the game of his life at WR.
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“under the radar”…….that’s my hope as well.
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Well said.
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He makes too many mistakes in big games. The numbers don’t lie, Mac.
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Not only does he make mistakes in those games, he has not had a quality game in one of those big games by just about any metric.
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http://espn.go.com/ncf/boxscore?gameId=303170002
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Or here, fumble notwithstanding:
http://espn.go.com/ncf/boxscore?gameId=312530061
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You guys win–there are two. Any more out there that I’ve forgotten about?
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You’ve got a web browser. Why not look for yourself instead of outsourcing it to commenters on this blog. If you’re going to casually bag on a DGD who works extremely hard, stays out of trouble downtown, and so on, at least put a little bit of effort into it.
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Casually bag…yeah, ok. Challenge accepted. Aaron Murray’s career versus top-15 teams:
#12 arkansas 15/27 253 1/1
#2 auburn 15/28 273 3/0
#5 boise state 16/29 236 2/1
#12 scarolina 19/29 248 4/1
#1 lsu 16/40 163 1/2
#6 scarolina 11/31 109 0/1
#2 florida 12/24 150 1/3
104/208 50.0% 204.6 ypg 12 TD 9 INT
Oh, and our record in those games is 1-6.
Truth hurts, folks.
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Okay. I would say the last three of those games look terrible. The others range from average to fantastic. Methinks perhaps something else beside JUST Murray’s play might account for the 1-6 record.
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There aren’t an awful lot of ‘big games’ per year. Particularly in Murray’s tenure, as our 4 main rivals have provided only 2 in three years, one of which is mentioned above. FWIW, Murray is 9-2 against those rivals (and likely to be 10-2 shortly).
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He’s got 1 TD and 4 INTs against both ranked teams he’s faced this year.
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What is your point?
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Good question. Most Heisman candidates have had multiple bad games. When they didn’t it usually meant that they were injured for that period. Many of the recipients have missed games.
What Mac said with the extra juice of when have you ever seen Murray miss a game because of injury? Do you think with all the hard hits he has had, that he doesn’t get injured? No, we’re not that stupid. He has played hurt and without the press touting what a man he was for doing so. Murray bleeds red and black for himself and is a proxy for many of us. Most of his gutsy play shows when he just stands in an undependable pocket and never lets it slip that he probably could shit his pants before he gets a pass off or is sacked. He defines courage just like our mascot. Bulldog through and through.
Screw the Heisman. Murray is ours to hold in Bulldog lore.
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It’s not physical toughness that’s the issue, I agree. He has mettle on that front.
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Come on, of course his numbers are worse against the top 5% of the competition. Find me ANY athlete who doesn’t see his numbers drop against better hitters, better pitchers, top rated defenses, better defenders in basketball, higher scoring average on tougher golf courses. All of the top guys “pad their stats” when the going is easier, we are looking at averages, there is always a variance between the highs and lows.
.In football it is even nore complex, being the ultimate team game the linemen will get beat more often and the running game will be less effective. Add more pressure from the defense because of more 3rd and longs and you will see lower completion percentages and a higher number of INTs by better DBs. You think AM is the only one impacted by these circumstances? QB isn’t a position that exists in isolation, the success is determined by dozens of other factors outside the QB’s control. Shut the running game down and see how easy it is to throw into a defense that knows the pass is coming and sets itself accordingly. And throw out several of the INTS for deflected passes off our receivers hands, or wrong cuts by the receiver. You just cannot slice it exactly into perfect pieces in football.
No one is saying AM is the best to ever walk, or that he will not make mistakes in the Dome, but I really don’t see another guy in this conference who is close to him as our field general; he is a plus, not a negative.
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+1000
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Beat Yech and The Program and AM will be in NY.
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Whoever says he isn’t tough is an idiot. Murray routinely gets pounded and still gets after it. He’s tough as nails.
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Never heard even the most morose naysayers suggest he’s not tough.
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And what’s really something is that he is not even our best QB and he has to work under the worst OC in the nation! 😉
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Dude, that is like so true. OMG!
But seriously….does Mason practice extra hard these next few weeks? If (God forbid) Murray goes out, does he want to burn the redshirt with everything on the line? What a tough call that’s gonna be.
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You have to. That was always going to be a carefully weighed decision, but it was always going to come down to ‘what’s on the line’. It doesn’t matter if there are only a couple of games left, if those couple of games are for championships of various stripes (state/sec/natl).
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Or even worse, what would happen if we beat Bama, but in the process lost Murray to a season ending injury?
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Brought back the memory of DJ not playing against FU in his 1-loss year.
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Murray is a damn good dawg!
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Count me in as a Murray fan. I do think our fans downgrading his achievements hurts Aaron in the Heisman hunt. Keeo proving them wrong Aaron.
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Give me a break, Debby. We don’t have an impact on this stuff. Yes, Aaron, please do prove me wrong in my expectation that you will struggle against good defenses. Our chances depend on it. Oh, and can you learn to throw the ball away once in a while instead of always taking the sack? We know you’re not perfect, no one is…but progress is nice. 🙂
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How many snaps have you taken at QB in the SEC? While from your seat in 37F I am sure you see every blitz and every open receiver, from field level at game speed it is an entirely different animal. No Aaron is not perfect, but I would take him over any QB in the conference.
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The funny thing is, I don’t play football. I have different calling, and I’m damn good at it. The other funny thing is, no one gets any better at anything without recognizing their strengths and weaknesses.
That said, I have absolute confidence Aaron Murray recognizes his own strengths and weaknesses and that the coaches are helping him to improve. And if Aaron Murray knows it himself, why am I required to ignore it?
Whatevs. I’ll be ecstatic to take it all back if Aaron has a decent game against Alabama.
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Speaking of number 1, someone gave the Dawgs their #1 vote in the coaches poll.
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How can we find out who that was?
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Might have been Little Jimmy Franklin for the way we hammered his best team, evah. Or, it could have been Cheetzik since CMR didn’t bury him like he could have at a time he had enough troubles. Could have been Freeze because we whomped them more than others. Or it could have been SOS for letting him keep the SC fans thinking they are relevant (and sparing them another beatdown in the SECCG.) Could have been SOD tryng to make amends for his mutha’s bad actions. Doesn’t matter, we have a spot in the SECCG and that was earned, we didn’t need to win a popularity contest to get that ticket.
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My money is on Steve. He probably has us 1, Florida 2 and LSU 3. That we he and the cocks can crow about losing to the 2 and 3 teams, but beating number 1….
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Unless the coach in question volunteers his vote, we won’t know. USA Today only releases a breakdown of the final vote.
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Am guessing it was Hugh Freeze at Ole Miss Rebel Black Bears sans Colonel University.
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No one thinks it could be Richt? I sure did when I saw the poll. Why not? He is about to play for the SECCG and win to go to the MNC. It would show confidence that he believes that we are the best in the land, that he is going for nothing but the big one( after he gets rid of a pesky insect that is planning mayhem) and that would please me no end.
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Richt denied it during his teleconference today.
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Nah. Muschamp was feeling homesick and regretful.
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Blame Bobo for CMR losing control of Aaron’s quarterbacking. If CMR wins the NC this year we will never be able to fire him and Ill program will be doomed.
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We’re going to build him a Dome? Wow!
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Murray is not flashy, that’s true. But neither is McArron-he just wins. AM is a solid QB and has grown into this role over the season. He is doing things much better now than ever and his upside is tremendous. If we beat AL and AM has a good game, hopefully he will at least get some recognition.
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All the talk is about “Football Johnny”, who is a great talent, but look where his team is VS Murray’s team. These idiots are ignoring Murray because they have always hated Red and Black since 1980 when the boys from the red clay hills of Georgia beat the golden wonders of Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl for the NC. They have never forgotten that, and for them, it’s Dejavu if the Dogs beat Tech and Bama and ND doesn’t stumble against a quarterbackless squad in their last game.
I remember the talk in 80. It was as if Notre Dame shouldn’t have to be on the field with those nasty southerners, and couldn’t they just be awarded the NC without having to touch them?
Unless ND loses to USC, which would suit me fine, they will almost certainly have to face Georgia or Alabama. I don’t think the talking heads quite planned on it happening this way.
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ND is going to lose to USC. When that happens all hell will break loose in the rankings. There will be several ESPN talking heads engaging in a food fight on ESPN about which 1 loss teams are most deserving. Just wait. There will be dawgrading like you never saw before. Holtz will do everything possible to get ND into the big game even when the Domers lose and he will try to persuade voters to keep the Dawgs out even if the Dawgs win the SECCG.
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Ala. & UF are The picks of the National Media & ESPN. If ALa wins they are in. If the Dawgs win I do not believe that they will be IN. Remember 2007.?. Beating Ala., & winning the SEC just might be as much as the Dawgs will be allowed to accomplish.Lose to ALA. & UF goes to the Sugar Bowl instead of the Dawgs. Capital 1 Bowl anyone.
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I HEREBY NOMINATE BAYLOR TO BE THE NEXT SCHOOL ADMITTED TO THE SEC.
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A senior Murray with Mitchell, Conley, Bennett, Scott-Wesley, etc. next year is enough to make a Dawg salivate in anticipation.
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don’t mean to be Debbie Downer BUT defenses win championships. When Martinez was our DC we were scoring 40 a game and still not winning. Sometimes the offense doesn’t click but “D” can always punch em in the face. This is the year not next,
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Stay on topic, Deb. I was just lending my voice to the songs of praise for A. Murray. (smiley yellow circle here).
I think that the defense will lose a bunch of talent, but there will be a lot of young guys who will have known only Grantham’s methods – and that’s a good thing.
Throw Gurshall into the mix with the young receivers and a more experienced line, and we’re lookin’ at the offensive wow factor.
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I’m printing this out and giving it to the numerous idiots who sit near me and bitch about Murray and Bobo. Its so crazy one drunken fool complains about Bobo when we’re on defense. I’m printing numerous copies but it probably won’t change their minds because we need to be more like Bama and Saban. Facts are meaningless to many of the Dumb masses.
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The USCjr game changed a number of things.
The fan’s and media’s reaction got the coaching staff off their ‘we are in the arena & you aren’t’ hiding in the bunker mentality and in front of the mirror.
Shawn Williams stepped up and became the lead dog of the passion pack. This internal leadership has been missing since the Pollack, T Davis, and Greg Blue.
But very importantly – Aaron Murray finally learned the importance of a SOFTLY thrown checkdown pass. Ever since he decided that the laser missle hot read wasn’t always going to work and the feathered pass done quickly can kill the all out rush – Murray has been outstanding. This one extra weapon in his arsenal makes him a Pro Level QB. Not an All Pro – but above all the other college QBs. UGA will have a QB advantage in the next two, and hopefully three, games.
IMO – the USCjr game awakened the coaching staff, the leaders on the team, and the QB like a thief sneaking across the junkyard kicking a tin can…
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I think the change was a subtle one after the UF game that made all the difference. His freshman year if Murray got in trouble he would take off running. Generally he could get a few yards and sometimes quite a few but the biggest thing is he felt ok to get what he could with his legs instead of risking an INT. The last year and half he got out of that mode and started to try to force things when something wasn’t there instead of just taking what he could get, even if that was with his legs. I think it was early in the Ole Miss game that he got some pressure and took off running for about a 5 year gain. Very overloooked but I think a huge play for him. I think that willingness to use all of his weapons, including his legs, has taken him to where he needs to be. Watch the last few games. He is a differeent QB now and I think that will show up ni big games. Yesterday there was a play where he got lots of pressure and just ducked down to the ground to take the sack. To me that was a great decision but one that gets overlooked. He is at the top of his game right nwo and I think will not just help us beat Bama but will be the difference in the game.
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Actually, the coaches shut his running down about 1/4 way through his freshman season. There were quotes and blog noise and shit about it at the time. He ran very effectively in high school, and still could.
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That was the reply that I was going to post. He is a good runner; enough to make a game difference. Bobo shut him down to preserve his longevity. It worked, since Murray was tough enough to press through the toughest hits that any QB in the country received.
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That run against Tennessee his freshman year was fantastic. But stuff like that made Richt really nervous.
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Personally I think the biggest safety blanket for Murray is having a dependable WR who can make tough catches in traffic. Having AJ Green around his freshman year made a lot of difference, IMO. I think Michael Bennett was well on his way to achieving a similar role (albeit with his mere-mortal abilities compared to AJ)–and I think losing him made a large impact on Murray’s performance in the SC and UF games.
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I want to see Murray succeed and I think he’s a good kid but the fact remains that at this point he’s padded his stats against weaker competition and has yet to play well and beat a highly ranked opponent. In big games he’s been more of a liability than an asset. Here’s hoping that changes against Bama because we can’t afford 3 picks against them a la Florida.
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Maybe it was the conscious shut-down of his off-the-cuff scrambling that has cured his looseness while carrting the mail, or maybe it has just been AM’s focus on securing the pigskin. Whatever the cause, I cannot recall Murray laying the ball on the ground but maybe twice this year. That’s nice.
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Murray’s been very good since the 2nd half against UF.
Going up against a NATS D ranked 88th in the nation (yes, worse than Auburn, worse than Kentucky, worse than Buffalo) this weekend shouldn’t hurt his stats.
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Nobody picks on a terrible defense like Aaron Murray.
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Nobody picks own their own good quarterback like a Georgia fan. 😉
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