TAMPA — It was an unfitting end to a fitful season for Georgia kicker Blair Walsh.
The Bulldogs’ record-setting senior, who became the SEC’s all-time scoring leader during Monday’s Outback Bowl, missed two field goals -- including the potential game-winner -- as No. 16 Georgia fell to 17th-ranked Michigan State 33-30 in triple overtime before 49,429 at Raymond James Stadium.
Walsh missed a 42-yarder that could have clinched the victory after Bacarri Rambo intercepted Michigan State to open the first overtime. Walsh’s 47-yard attempt in the third overtime was kicked on a low trajectory and blocked by defensive lineman Anthony Rashad Wright.
The late misses enabled the Spartans (11-3) to complete a second-half comeback in a game in which they trailed 16-0 at halftime.
“The line collapsed a little bit and it looked like it got blocked,” said Walsh, who also had 32- and 47-yard field goals in the game. “I don’t really know; it happened so fast. But it’s all on me. If the ball hits your foot you’re expected to make it.”
Walsh also kicked two extra points and finished with eight points on the day, which gave him 412 in his career. He left as the SEC’s and Georgia’s all-time scoring leader.
“Who cares,” said Walsh, who missed 14 field goals this season after failing on just five the previous two years.
“I’d trade all those points just to have the three points to win the game for us. It sucks.”
Coach Mark Richt and the Bulldogs (10-4) didn’t put Walsh in ideal positions. The blocked kick came after two incompletions and a four-yard sack of quarterback Aaron Murray. The 42-yard missed attempt in the first OT came after the Bulldogs took a two-yard loss on third down.
“I felt like my man would make the kick,” Richt said. “We centered the ball and put it right where we wanted to. It was well within his range. I felt like he could easily make that kick. That would’ve ended the game there. That was my thinking anyway.”
Richt could have had the three points needed to win the game in regulation if he had only turned to Walsh in the first quarter.
Leading 2-0, Richt intended to send the Georgia senior out for what would have been a 22-yard field goal on the Bulldogs’ second possession of the game. Alerted from the coaches’ box that there was less than a yard to go he called timeout, and then elected to go for a first down at the 5. But tailback Ken Malcome got stuffed for a 1-yard loss by All-American defensive tackle Jerel Worthy.
“It’s a tough pill to swallow anytime you lose a game, period,” Richt said. “To lose in overtime I guess hurts worse but they all hurt pretty bad.”
The loss was Georgia’s second in a row after winning 10 consecutive games to reach the SEC Championship game. Michigan State has won a program-best 22 games the past two seasons under coach Mark Dantonio. The victory broke a five-game bowl losing streak for the Spartans.
The loss erased some otherwise good work by the Bulldogs. Junior wide receiver Tavarres King set a school record with 205 yards receiving, including a bowl record 80-yard touchdown pass from Murray. Senior Brandon Boykin scored points on offense, defense and special teams to earn MVP honors in defeat; he had a 92-yard punt return, a 13-yard pass reception and recorded a safety on a tackle in the first quarter.
It was a rough homecoming for Murray and fellow Tampa native Orson Charles. Murray threw two interceptions and lost a fumble while Charles had a single catch for two yards.
The game turned on Murray’s first interception. Leading 16-0, Murray was pressured out of the pocket and found some running room on the right flank. But at the last moment he tried to throw a pass to King, who had turned up field moments before it was delivered. Michigan State cornerback Darqueze Dennard gobbled up an easy interception thrown right to him.
The Bulldogs lost their lead at 20-19, regained it and were tied by Michigan State at 27 with 14 seconds left in regulation.
Afterward, nobody was blaming the kicker.
“We’ve all seen it the fours years he’s been here,” King said of Walsh. “He’s great at it. For whatever reason the ball just didn’t go through the uprights today.”
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