I read this…
Already without Malcolm Mitchell, who tore his ACL in the opener against Clemson, Murray lost two more key wideouts, Justin Scott-Wesley and Michael Bennett, last week against Tennessee. Tailback Keith Marshall also went down with a season-ending knee injury last Saturday, joining fellow star tailback Todd Gurley on the sidelines as the Bulldogs’ high-scoring offense started to sputter without so many key pieces.
“I would say it affected not only the offense, but the team,” fullback Quayvon Hicks said. “It was players that are not only playmakers on the field, but great teammates. Losing them and knowing that they’re not going to be out there, it’s something that you’ve got to just suck it up and keep going.”
Murray and No. 7 Georgia (4-1, 3-0) barely salvaged the game, forcing overtime with a last-minute touchdown and winning 34-31 with a field goal in the extra session. The lone constant in Georgia’s lineup over the last three-plus seasons, Murray’s experience adjusting to the personnel around him might have been the difference in the outcome.
“You never really can truly practice everything that might happen in a game,” Bobo said. “So I think it’s been a lot of experience for Aaron, obviously, to have to go through that and the game plan altered in the middle of a game. And then obviously myself with calling plays. You’ve just got to adjust. That’s football, and I think anytime you’ve got experience to draw back from instead of maybe something that you practiced, it’s always beneficial.”
… and can’t help but wonder how would Hutson Mason have done if he’d have been thrust into that situation?
Consider, too, that Mason hasn’t taken a single snap in a game this season and that it’s starting to look a little iffy about when he might get a chance to do so, other than against (I hope) Appalachian State. That’s going to leave Bobo with an interesting situation going into next season’s opener against Clemson. I think they’ll be up to the challenge, new quarterback notwithstanding, but it sure would be nice if nobody on offense were facing health issues then.
Get The Picture 
Arrrgh. Don’t say that out loud. The football gods my hear you…..
LikeLike
“it sure would be nice if nobody on offense were facing health issues then.”
Or suspension issues
LikeLike
THIS is what I thought. Healthy AND no suspensions
LikeLike
Good God a mighty, Senator….next year? what about next week?…man, you tempt the Kharmic Bitches at your peril, we already swapped three starters for a fumble ya know?
LikeLike
Is there any question Peyton Manning > Tee Martin? AM > HM. I think we can trust the trained professionals.
HM is going to be A-OK in ’14 as a starter with most of AM’s weapons and (hopefully) a bit more stout defense. It’s entirely plausible he won’t need to be as good as AM for UGA to have an outstanding year. A really, really outstanding year.
LikeLike
Reminds me of the Joe Cox talk. 50 years from now people will still be talking about how “if Tee Martin could do it, so can we” after their stud quarterback splits. Odds are strong most of those teams won’t be as good.
LikeLike
What???
LikeLike
and folks, if you ain’t read Spencer Hall’s “quotefest” on what its like to catch a Murray pass…you done messed up.
Hope its ok to plug Spencer, boss.
LikeLike
Already linked to his piece, so, yeah, it’s fine.
LikeLike
That piece by Spencer was really bad—in poor taste
LikeLike
I’m the biggest Aaron Murray supporter in the world. I do not want to see Hutson Mason taking a snap during a meaningful part of a ballgame this year.
However, Richt was saying in the preseason that both would play and I find it interesting that plan has fallen by the wayside. I hope we can roll somebody up this fall to get him into some games late. He’s the guy next year, like you say, and Clemson won’t be an easy first day on the job for a new quarterback, even if he has been in the program a long time.
LikeLike
the notion that Mason will be our unquestioned starter next year is a fallacious one. he is going to have to win the job just like every other player. I am not at all convinced he has what it takes to be an SEC starter. While the coaching staff has a good idea of how he practices, the reality is there is no real data of him facing live competition. so any notion of what he is or isn’t is sheer speculation. About the only things we know with a high degree of certainty are his dimensions, that he does not possess elite arm strength, and that he is probably not a significant threat running the ball. None of those conditions preclude him from being a capable QB. that said, the lack of all three suggest it is unlikely he is going to be an elite QB.
Ultimately, the coaching staff is probably going to be faced with a pretty big conundrum. I would argue that conundrum is even more challenging than 2006. In 2006, they had a guy who was by all rights and estimations NOT an SEC QB. On the other hand, they had a true frosh who certainly looked the part of an NFL number one pick. Stafford gave them no choice but to play JT3 early, and JT3 gave them no choice but to play Stafford later.
Next year is much trickier. I imagine Mason is better than JT3, and I am almost certain that Ramsey is NOT anywhere near as sure an NFL QB as stafford, BUT with a redshirt season, I imagine he is going to miles ahead of where stafford was in the fall of 2006. So the coaching staff has a real challenge. they have to answer not just the question…who gives us the best chance to win? but
how much better a chance does Mason give us to win? AND
by playing Ramsey from the start will he give us a better chance to win as the season progresses?
If I were to speculate on things I don’t really know, I really don’t see 2014 being the year of Hutson Mason. My guess is he is physically limiting in ways that Ramsey is not. If Ramsey can prove to the coaching staff that he can learn to “run the team from the line of scrimmage” and make sound decisions with the football, I am going to buck conventional wisdom and suggest he is our QB next year.
LikeLike
Any way you look at it, Georgia’s going to have a green starting QB next season.
LikeLike
in the last 10 years alone,
Bama won two titles with a first year starter (4th year junior and 3rd year soph0
auburn won with a JUCO transfer 4 years removed from H.S.
the Oregon team they beat had a first year starter at QB
LSU won with a first year starter in 2007 beating an awful Ohio state team with an awful first year starter.
USC shared a title in 2003 with a first year starter
that is as far back as I can remember…..
certainly, if our D makes any progress by the end of 2013 (and the personnel we are all counting on returns), our starting QB in 2014 should inherit a HIGHLY favorable situation.
LikeLike
Bama? Awbun? What doe those schools have to do with Georgia?
LikeLike
Umm. This staff rewards loyalty above all. Barring injury, HM gets the start.
LikeLike
Hutson will be named the starter about January 10. Book it.
LikeLike
WE SHOULD HAVE STARTED MASON AGAINST NORTH TEXAS!!!! THAT GUY THAT TROLLED THE COMMENTS WAS RIGHT!!!!
LikeLike
Clemson should be starting a new QB to, right? On the road in what should be a loud stadium.
LikeLike
Good point!
LikeLike
Senator, with all your clout why haven’t you relayed the message from the CMR tweet to be at the stadium at 1130?
LikeLike
Who is to say that Bobo will be here next year? We may be breaking in a new offense coordinator and a new QB.
LikeLike
That is a distinct possibility right there.
LikeLike
To answer your question about what would Hutson have done? Well to start with he would have obviously scored on that long run there’s no question about it!
LikeLike