About that "Big Game" nonsense

I was reading a blog this morning.  The blogger was going over reasons why the Dawgs would/wouldn't win the Title this year, and one of the primary why nots was Murray's inability to come through in big games.  This blogger pointed to the 4-10 record the Dawgs post in the Murray era.  So, let's break that down, shall we?

I don't think anyone would pretend that our team in the 2010 season was one worthy of any kind of national ranking.  You lose 7 games out of 13, and you're just plain sub-par as a football team.  That's all there is to it.  We faced 4 ranked teams that year, and lost to all 4...including #25 UCF in the bowl game.  (A low point in modern UGA football history).  Murray was a freshman who couldn't lead his offense to paydirt against South Carolina, and who couldn't keep up the pace when eventual National Champion Cam Newton Auburn came roaring back to beat the Dawgs.

So, you take the crappiest year of UGA football out of the equation, and you're looking at a 4-6 record against Ranked Opponents.

So, then what?

2011 - The Boise Debacle in which Connor Norman (walk-on soph) had to try to hold up in coverage against one of the nation's better passing attacks due to suspensions/injuries in our secondary.  Follow that up with a SC game that featured A punt-fake-td, and a shower of points-by-mistake by the Cocks.  We also notched two Top 25 wins in 2012 over Auburn and at GT.  Then, after playing the best defensive half in SECCG history, the levee broke and our defense got railroaded by LSU.  The Michigan State Game?  Damnit.  Just Damnit.

So here we are, going into the 2012 season looking at 2 more wins, and 2 more losses.

One loss was horrible.  It was the worst game of football I can remember watching UGA play in quite some time.  The Dawgs simply were firing on ZERO cylinders as South Carolina ran us out of the building.  The other loss, though...it was 5 yards and 6 seconds from being the victory that finally put Georgia over the hump.  

So, to put it simply...when you're summing up how Georgia "can't win the big one" with Murray at the helm, you need to look at the past and see that he went

0-4  (0%)

Then

2-4  (33%)

Then

2-2  (50%)

And very nearly 3-1 (75%).


The first month of the season will give Murray and the Dawgs three shots at Top 25 teams.  There's a fourth in November against Florida.  It's possible that Vandy will be ranked in the Top 25 by the time we play them.  And, if the Dawgs win the East, they'll be facing Top-25ers in the SECCG and any Bowl game we reach (Nat'l Title or otherwise).

So at the end of the day, 7 out of our possible 14 games this season could be against Top 25 teams.  Or in other words, if you don't think Murray and Company can "win the big ones" against T25s, we're screwed.


As for me, I think we go 14-0...but hey, don't I always say that?

Go Dawgs.