TAMPA — By Saturday Aaron Murray sounded like Marlon Brando his voice had gotten so hoarse. Considering the number of times he has been interviewed, that should come as no surprise.
But the Georgia quarterback doesn’t believe his gravelly voice is from all the talking.
“No, I think it’s from screaming my head off on those rides at Busch Gardens,” he said with a laugh. “That killed me.”
There have been media opportunities every day since the Bulldogs arrived in Tampa on Monday, and not one has gone by in which Murray and tight end Orson Charles have not been interviewed by some print or electronic media outlet. Their popularity is understandable considering they’re star players who hail from Tampa.
“I kind of expected it,” said Charles, who lives six miles from the Bulldogs’ practice site at the University of Tampa. “Coming back to Tampa, me and Aaron and Ramik [Wilson] knew we’d probably be doing a lot of interviews.”
Said Murray: “I kind of figured it’d be that way. I knew there’d be a lot of questions about being home, questions about Plant and winning the state championship again. I don’t mind. It’s fun.”
Murray, Charles and their teammates can relax their vocal chords now. Interviews were cut off after Saturday’s practice.
Practice update
The 18th-ranked Bulldogs (10-3) practiced for 90 minutes Saturday in shorts in their final workout at the University of Tampa. They take on the 12th-ranked Michigan State Spartans (10-3) in the Outback Bowl on Monday.
“I think we are getting where we need to be,” Georgia coach Mark Richt told reporters before the practice. “We have to solidify our game plan mentally, and we will be ready for the game.”
Georgia will not practice Sunday. The Bulldogs will instead rest for Monday’s 1 p.m. kickoff at Raymond James Stadium.
“Coach Richt has done a great job getting us in shape since the holiday,” said senior cornerback/kick returner Brandon Boykin, who had his last practice as a Bulldog on Saturday. “Since we are playing on January 2, it will be nice to have an extra day to rest. But whenever the game comes, we’ll be ready.”
LeMay impresses
There have been some preliminary discussions about backup quarterback Hutson Mason redshirting next season — if he doesn’t decide to transfer — to put some space between him and Murray, who also is a sophomore. The play of quarterback Christian LeMay, who redshirted this season as a freshman, is making that a realistic option.
According to Murray, LeMay has progressed dramatically.
“Every day at practice over the last couple of weeks, I have looked over at Coach Richt and just said, ‘wow’ watching Christian throw the ball,” Murray told reporters before Saturday’s practice. “At the beginning of the year, he seemed like he was throwing it as hard as he could and was off-balance a lot. But now that he is relaxing, he has been throwing great balls and making really good decisions.”
LeMay (6-foot-2, 200 pounds) was the No. 3-ranked quarterback prospect in the country coming out of Butler High School in Matthews, N.C. He redshirted this season after enrolling in January.
Mason (6-3, 200) has served as Murray’s backup the past two seasons, but has seen little action. He has appeared in four games this season, completing 18 of 30 passes for 254 yards and two touchdowns and zero interceptions.
Motivation no issue
The Bulldogs have several concerns about facing Michigan State, but Georgia’s Alec Ogletree said motivation is not one of them.
“Everybody’s motivated,” the sophomore linebacker said. “That was a tough loss the last game [42-10 to LSU on Dec. 3 in the SEC Championship game]. We’re trying to come out of this game with a ‘W’, and we’re going to have a tough task on our hands. We’ve got to play hard and play our best.”
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