Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray says that he hasn’t been able to sleep at night since the Bulldogs’ loss to Alabama in the SEC championship game.(Photo: Mike Ehrmann, Getty Images)
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12:27PM EST December 13. 2012 – Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray is having a hard time letting go of the Bulldogs’ 32-28 loss to Alabama in the SEC title game, one that ended with his offense deep in Alabama territory as time expired.
Murray tells David Ching of ESPN.com that “I can’t sleep at night[1].”
Said Murray, “I literally replay the entire game pretty much every night before I go to bed. It’s stressful. It’s a game that will probably haunt me the rest of my life, honestly.”
You can see why Murray has yet to put the game aside. After taking over at its own 15-yard line with 1:08 remaining, a 26-yard gain to tight end Arthur Lynch left Georgia at the Alabama 11 with just seconds left and no timeouts.
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Instead of spiking the ball to stop the clock – a decision that looks bad only in hindsight – Murray dropped back and threw a pass towards the back shoulder of wide receiver Malcolm Mitchell, who was streaking into the end zone along the right sideline. The pass was batted at the line of scrimmage and caught by wide receiver Chris Conley, and the game ended as time expired.
“Oh, it’s a touchdown,” Murray said of the pass. “It’s a 50-50 ball, and the guy’s facing Malcolm and Malcolm’s supposed to just go up and catch the ball.”
Georgia is “great” at the back-shoulder throw, Murray told Ching. “That’s why I feel like if that ball wasn’t tipped, there was a pretty good chance that it would have been a completion. But hey, it happens. Move on.”
For Murray and Georgia, moving on means meeting Nebraska on Jan. 1 in the Outback Bowl. One only hopes that Murray gets some rest before kickoff.
