The Georgia Bulldogs had a chance. The team certainly had a chance to beat the Florida Gators after falling 17 times of the last 20 meetings between the two SEC East rivals. After trailing 21-7 at halftime, Georgia got hot in the second half as Aaron Murray found receivers and the running game got going. But then the Dawgs turned into the Dawgs that usually show up to Jacksonville, and Florida was able to escape OT with a 34-31 victory. So what happened in the 2010 installment of the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Part...wait, we can't say that anymore. What happened?
First off, the game appeared to be bigger than Aaron Murray, at least early on. Murray, who has played far better than his redshirt freshman status would suggest, just seemed too jacked to be playing against his "hometown" squad of the Florida Gators. Murray's cause wasn't helped by throwing a pick on his very first pass, the first play from scrimmage for the entire game. Murray was overthrowing passes, throwing behind receivers and missing wide open options, sometimes too high, sometimes too hard. He was simply too jacked up. He seemed to calm down after halftime, but by then the damage was done. He had already thrown two INTS (he would throw another on a 2pt conversion which doesn't technically count and then he'd throw one in OT which effectively ended the game.) and had fumbled a ball while being spun around on a sack. Was he trying to make something out of nothing? Likely. He made plays with his legs all day, but he MUST learn when to wrap up the ball and eat turf to play again.
What would have happened if just one of those INTs hadn't happened? What would have happened if he hadn't fumbled the ball away? What if...
Speaking of "what if..." the biggest what if might be the Sanders Commings' failure to simply fall on a loose ball. Early in the scoreless contest, Trey Burton fumbled and the ball was just lying on the turf when Commings tried to scoop it deep in Georgia territory. He failed to do so and the Gators recovered. Several plays later it was 7-0 Florida. What if Commings had simply fallen on the ball? Blair Walsh would have made that field goal in his sleep and suddenly it is 3-0 Georgia (at worst) and Georgia fans are remembering 2007 and the early INT that led to the Gator Stomp. But instead....
No, for anyone wanting to throw this defeat at the feet of Mark Richt or even Mike Bobo is sorely mistaken. This one is strictly on the players for not executing. The plan was fine. Even the first throw in OT was fine. You were going for the endzone. Too bad Murray didn't put it in the right place. On third down, too bad Murray chose to force it into triple coverage. He could have dumped it low. He could have run it to the middle of the field. The moment was maybe too big for Murray, still a redshirt freshman. Perhaps next season, Murray will learn from his mistakes. He certainly seemed to play with a swagger when bringing this team back. When Georgia fell behind 21-7, many years it would have been done. Not this season. The Dawgs came back; Georgia just couldn't finish the drill. Next season, if Georgia doesn't commit all of the turnovers and possibly takes advantage of a turnover or two, then Georgia might just start its own 18-3 streak. Too bad it didn't start this season though. The opportunity was certainly there.
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