A month ago, the only people who still gave Georgia a realistic shot at the national championship were the young men on scholarship to play there.
In late October, as Georgia prepared to take on undefeated Florida, the Bulldogs still trailed nine teams in the BCS standings and were coming off three dismal performances. A 35-7 loss to South Carolina was sandwiched between two ugly wins against Tennessee and Kentucky.
Playing between the Hedges against the Volunteers, UGA surrendered 44 points, and followed it up by yielding 21 points in the first seven minutes to South Carolina. Then, against a Kentucky team that would finish 2-10, the Bulldogs barely escaped with a 29-24 victory.
And while Florida came into that matchup with a 7-0 record, it was the Bulldogs who forced six turnovers en route to a gritty 17-9 upset. That turnover figure could have been higher had the Gators not recovered a couple of their fumbles early in the game, but Damian Swann became part of Georgia lore that day.
Not only did he sack Florida’s Jeff Driskel on the game’s third play, causing Driskel to cough up the ball, he also intercepted Driskel in the closing minutes of the first half. The Gators had a second-and-goal at the UGA 5-yard line, and his interception proved to be the difference in the game.
But that upset only brought the Bulldogs to sixth in the national polls. Four undefeated teams remained ahead of them, as did 7-1 LSU. While those teams continued to fall off one by one, the Bulldogs quietly continued winning and crept up the national rankings.
Now, with just one game to play, the Bulldogs control their own destiny. With a win against Alabama in the SEC Championship game, the Bulldogs will claim that coveted No. 2 spot in the final BCS standings.
The reason for Georgia’s steady climb is simple. It’s quarterback Aaron Murray.
At halftime of the Florida game, after throwing three interceptions in the opening 30 minutes, Murray’s touchdown-to-interception ratio stood at just 17-7. It was a decent figure, but not one that deserved any acclaim.
Since that time, however, Murray has thrown for 14 touchdowns without a single pick. His streak of 115 attempts without an interception has catapulted him atop the nation’s passer rating leaders. Murray, who has already graduated with a 3.4 GPA in psychology, has a rating of 174.3.
His surge has opened the door for running backs Todd Gurley and Keith Marshall to keep defenses at bay. The duo is averaging more than 6.4 yards a carry and has tallied nearly 1,900 yards on the season. The offensive production by Gurley, Marshall, and Murray has helped Georgia win its last four games by an average of 32 points, in a season where margin of victory matters.
Those blowouts have been crucial to Georgia’s ranking, as their strength of schedule is hardly what one would expect for an SEC team. The Bulldogs did not have to face Alabama, LSU, Texas A&M or Mississippi State from the SEC West, and played only two ranked teams all year. But all that will change with a victory over Alabama, in what should be a home atmosphere at the Georgia Dome.
If they want to beat Alabama, they will have to toughen up on run defense, as they have given up over 600 yards in the last two games to Georgia Southern and Georgia Tech. But if Murray and Co. can outplay Alabama’s top-ranked defense, history is theirs for the taking.
A win would not only ensure their shot at history, it would also booster Mark Richt’s case for national coach of the year. Remember the rumblings of Richt being fired last year after the team’s 0-2 start? That seems like ancient history now.