ATHENS — UGA President Michael Adams had a message for Aaron Murray in Georgia’s locker room after Saturday’s 24-10 win over Mississippi State.
After shaking the sophomore quarterback’s hand and telling him, “good job,” he leaned in and added with a wink, “Get the mistakes out of the way now because, down the road, then they’ll be gone.”
The Bulldogs can only hope, for Murray did not play like his normal self. He threw three interceptions, which doubled his total for the season. Murray threw only eight interceptions last season.
“Just a couple of passes where I wasn’t as accurate as I need to be,” Murray explained afterward. “We were playing a great SEC team today, and you’ve got to be pinpoint with every pass. You throw enough passes, and great athletes are going to make a play on it. So I’ve got to continue working on my game and make sure that doesn’t happen.”
Murray’s pass efficiency has been the hallmark of his tenure as Georgia’s quarterback. He was 14th in the nation as a freshman last season when he had a 154.48 rating with 24 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He entered Saturday’s game second in the SEC with a pass-efficiency rating of 163.0 with 11 touchdowns and three interceptions.
Robinson returns
There was some question whether Christian Robinson would play Saturday. As it turned out, the Bulldogs’ regular “Mike” linebacker and defensive captain was on the field for virtually every important defensive snap.
“I played on our two-minute defense and every third down,” said Robinson, who estimated that totaled 25 plays. “They wanted me in there for communication mainly, especially on third down.”
Mississippi State finished 4-of-15 in third-down conversions.
Robinson was thought to be out for at least four weeks when he sprained his left ankle in the final minutes of the South Carolina game. Instead, he missed only two games. Saturday he had one tackle and a pass breakup.
Meanwhile, Michael Gilliard and Amarlo Herrera continue to fill in nicely with Robinson limited and fellow starter Alec Ogletree sidelined. Gilliard led all defenders in tackles for the third consecutive week, with nine. Herrera, a freshman, added six and a tackle for loss.
Fourth and no-go
Once again, Georgia coach Mark Richt was conservative as far as going for it on fourth downs. Twice in the third quarter he passed on the chance to go for a first down on fourth-and-short.
In one case Georgia punted on fourth-and-inches at its own 34. In the other, Richt chose to attempt a field goal on fourth-and-1 at the Mississippi State 5. Drew Butler mishandled the low snap, and the Bulldogs never even got off the 22-yard try.
Said Richt of the first: “It was third and inches, and they didn’t make it. If you’re going to make it, make it on third down.”
As for the second: “I could see where fans wouldn’t be too excited about that. I don’t like being put in that position, quite frankly. Maybe I should have, I don’t know. But at that point my goal was to go up by three touchdowns.”
Injury report
Brandon Boykin was injured when he was upended on Georgia’s kickoff return to start the second half. The tackle knocked out Boykin’s mouthpiece, and his facemask raked down over his mouth win he landed, knocking some teeth loose and busting his lip.
Boykin returned for Georgia’s third defensive series of the second half, but left for short periods a couple of other times, including shortly before the end of the game. Richt seemed to think Boykin will be ready for the Tennessee game.
Starting strong safety Shawn Williams had to be helped off the field with a left arm injury at the 3:05 mark of the second quarter. He also was able to return and finish the game.
Offensive lineman Chris Burnette (knee) and freshman cornerback Damian Swann (groin) sat out for the second consecutive week. Burnette was the starter at right guard the first three games of the season. Swann started the Coastal Carolina game and played in all three previous games.
