College Football Wrap-Up: Week 13

Georgia easily defeated Kentucky on Saturday night by a final score of 59-17, but it was tough to witness Aaron Murray's college career cut short when he suffered a torn ACL in the 2nd quarter. After completing 18 of 23 passes for 183 yards and 4 TDs, Murray had to be helped off the field shortly before halftime. Murray has meant so much to this program the last 4 years and his legacy in the DawgNation is secure.  If you missed the Open Letter to Aaron Murray last week then I promise you it is well worth your time.

Photo Credit: Jason Vorhees/The Macon Telegraph

Aaron Murray finishes his Georgia career holding every significant passing record in SEC history.  His limited performance on Saturday night put him over 3,000 passing yards on the season, which means that he is the only QB in SEC history to have four seasons of 3,000+ yards.  His 121 touchdown passes is good enough for #6 overall in NCAA history.  Murray has enjoyed a truly remarkable career as Georgia's starting quarterback.  It's just a shame that it had to end the way it did on Saturday night. If you've ever doubted Murray's heart, his leadership, or his desire to win then take a look at what Will Friend, offensive line coach for UGA, tweeted out on Sunday night.

Preparing for Tech at office. 9:45 pm. In walks A. Murray to watch film. What a warrior.
— Will Friend (@georgiaOL) November 25, 2013

• The Hutson Mason era began on Saturday night and he performed well, going 13-19 for 189 yards and 1 TD, along with a rushing TD. He will have to perform on a larger stage this Saturday versus Tech.  Yes, the crowd will be much smaller at Bobby Dodd Stadium, when the Dawgs and Jackets meet, but you have to believe that Murray's injury will give Tech's defense even more reason to believe they can slow down the Dawgs and pull the upset.  I will be interested to see how Mason responds and, while it's a cruel way for Murray to end his career, the silver lining is that Mason will get two valuable starts (both away from Sanford Stadium) and gain some meaningful experience before Clemson travels to Athens next August.
• Other than the obvious disappointment with Murray's injury, you really couldn't complain if you were a Dawg fan.  The offense and defense both performed well most of the night and, other than a couple of turnovers, it was a very thorough performance from the Dawgs.
• Ramik Wilson continues to impress on the defensive side of the ball and again led the Dawgs with 9 tackles.  He currently leads the SEC in tackles and it's by a wide margin. He has 119 total tackles, while AJ Johnson of Tennessee is in second place with 97 tackles. Wilson has been a liability in pass coverage, but otherwise his performance this season has been incredible when you consider that he is a first year starter. Remarkably, Georgia's other starting inside linebacker, Armalo Herrera, sits in 4th place with 95 tackles on the season.
• Other players that stood out to me on the defensive side of the ball on Saturday night were Garrison Smith and Josh Harvey-Clemons. Smith, playing in his final game at Sanford Stadium, had 7 tackles, 2 forced fumbles, and 2 sacks.  He has enjoyed an outstanding senior season and today was honored by the SEC as the Defensive Lineman of the Week.  Harvey-Clemons finished with 6 tackles, 1 forced fumble, and 2 fumble recoveries. He is really beginning to play well and I believe he will be a star next season.
• Offensively, the Dawgs put up 59 points and over 600 yards of offense, largely without Murray in the game.  When you're averaging 8.9 yards per pass attempt and 5.8 yards per rush attempt your offense is clicking.  
• As Get The Picture points out, the Dawgs scored more per game in SEC action this season than they did in 2012.  When you consider that the schedule was tougher, and that they did this in spite of the rash of injuries, it once again demonstrates how valuable Bobo is to this program.
• I'm still not sure that Gurley is 100% healthy, but he sure is impressive even when he's not at full speed.  He has really become a threat catching the ball out of the backfield.

Georgia (Southern) defeats the Gators in the Swamp

We certainly enjoyed watching the end of this game at our tailgate on Saturday afternoon.  Florida suffers their first loss to an FCS team in school history and GSU did it without even completing a pass. Giving up 26 points to a 6-4 Southern team is no embarrassment, but only scoring 20 against their defense is shameful.  The Gators only had 279 yards of total offense. Florida paid Georgia Southern $550,000 to play this game, and barring a miracle against FSU on Saturday, the Gators will finish 4-8 on the season.

Reports continue to surface that Muschamp will survive and remain as the head coach, at least through 2014.  If Muschamp does indeed survive this storm, then the pressure next year will be phenomenal. As an outsider, it appears to me that Muschamp has recruited well and his defenses have performed at a high level, but his offenses have been a train wreck all 3 seasons. Honestly, I believe he will be hard pressed to hire a formidable offensive coordinator. Whoever he goes to hire will know they will only have one season to turn this unit around or the whole staff will be fired after next season.  

It's Football Time in Tennessee

Photo Credit: Mark Zaleski/Associated Press

Vanderbilt drove 92 yards, and scored with 16 seconds remaining in the game, to defeat Tennessee 14-10 before a stunned Neyland Stadium crowd.  It's the first time Vanderbilt has defeated Tennessee in consecutive seasons since 1926.  The Volunteers will miss a bowl game for the third consecutive season and will finish with a losing record for the 4th consecutive season.  This once-proud program has now finished with a losing record 6 out of the last 9 seasons, which is almost unfathomable.  Butch Jones gained his signature win by defeating South Carolina this season, but he has not been able to build on that momentum. The Vols have a very highly ranked recruiting class, which will help immensely if they can keep it intact between now and signing day in February. However, they will suffer major attrition on both lines of scrimmage and their OL was regarded as one of the best in the SEC.

Odds & Ends

• The SEC East picture is crystal clear going into the final regular season weekend.  If Missouri beats Texas A&M then they win the East and, if the Tigers lose, then South Carolina will win the division.
• A couple of Oregon players indicated last week that they weren't excited about the possibility of playing in the Rose Bowl this season.  Well, now that Arizona thumped the Ducks 42-16 on Saturday, they won't have to worry about playing in the Rose Bowl. Oregon is likely headed either to the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio or the Holiday Bowl in San Diego.
• Down goes Baylor...I was sad to see the Bears lose to Oklahoma State on Saturday night. I've really been pulling for Baylor to run the table, but they ran into a buzz saw in Stillwater.  You have to credit Oklahoma State for rebounding nicely after a tough loss in September to West Virginia. The Cowboys likely just punched their ticket to the Fiesta Bowl.

Bowl Projections

The bowl picture will become much clearer after this weekend's actions.  According to the Jacksonville newspaper, the Dawgs are the favorites out of the SEC to land in the Gator Bowl, in spite of Murray's injury.  The experts at ESPN also have the Dawgs slotted for the Gator Bowl on January 1st.  If the Gator Bowl is the destination for the Dawgs, I would prefer a Minnesota matchup over a Nebraska matchup, simply because a game versus the Cornhuskers would just be a rematch of last year's Capital One Bowl that the Dawgs won comfortably 45-31. A loss on Saturday versus Georgia Tech will certainly hurt Georgia's chances to go to a quality bowl. A 7-5 team without their senior star QB is a much tougher sale than 8-4 team that has provided plenty of exciting games all season.

Rivalry Weekend

Mark Schlabach has put together a good preview of all the rivalry games we can enjoy this weekend. The two biggest games this weekend are Auburn/Alabama and Clemson/South Carolina.  Both games feature a Top 10 matchup between fierce in-state rivalries. 

The winner of the Iron Bowl wins the SEC West and remains in the race for the BCS National Championship game. I will be very surprised if this game is close in the 4th quarter, but stranger things have happened in the 4th quarter at Auburn this season. If Auburn can somehow manage to pull off the upset, I believe they will have an opportunity to play for the national championship.  A win against Bama would put FSU and Ohio State at #1 and #2 in the BCS standings.  Auburn would move to #3 and then have the opportunity to play #4 Missouri (assuming they beat A&M this weekend) in the SEC Championship.  If that occurred then Auburn, with wins in the last 2 weeks versus #1 and #4, could make a strong case for jumping Ohio State in the standings, thus moving into the BCS Championship game. Again, I do think it is highly unlikely that Auburn beats Alabama, but it is certainly possible.

South Carolina needs to beat Clemson in order to keep hopes alive for a possible BCS bowl. Meanwhile, Clemson is trying to avoid a 5th straight loss to the Gamecocks.  The game will be played in Columbia and the Gamecocks own the nation's longest home winning streak at 16 games. In 1987 #12 South Carolina defeated #8 Clemson 20-7, however I don't believe this game has ever featured two Top 10 teams. This rivalry doesn't garner the same respect nationally as the Iron Bowl, but I can assure you that it is just as intense.

Clean Old-Fashioned Hate
This game between the Dawgs and the Jackets reminds me of how I felt prior to the Tennessee game in early September.  Georgia is in a vulnerable position and I would not be surprised to see this game go deep into the 4th quarter before it's decided.  The Dawgs have suffered an incredible amount of injuries on offense this season and unfortunately the loss of Murray was the most significant, not just because he's a great player, but he's also the team's leader.  It will be interesting to see how the Dawgs respond without their senior signal-caller on Saturday.  Mason appears to be very capable, but it's going to be tough to ask him to step in on the road against your in-state rival.  Without question, we're one of the more athletic defenses Tech has faced all season.  Against their offense though, the defenders must play disciplined and stick with their assignments.  Our outside linebackers and safeties, in particular, have to play well in order to have success.  Since Richt arrived, the Dawgs are 11-1 versus Tech.  Georgia has won 4 straight in the series and I'm sure the Yellow Jackets are hungry to beat their arch rival.