Aaron Murray’s emotions may have gotten the best of him in Jacksonville last season.
The then-redshirt freshman was starting in his home state for the first time in his collegiate career and squaring off against several familiar faces.
The start also came in one of the three games Georgia circles on its calendar each year — the Florida matchup, as well as the season opener and the Georgia Tech game.
In Georgia’s 34-31 loss to Florida last season, Murray threw for 313 yards and three touchdowns.
But the Tampa native also tossed three interceptions, including a costly one in overtime that set up Florida’s 37-yard game-winning field goal.
“Only [Murray] knows the emotions that he was feeling a year ago,” Georgia coach Mark Richt said Tuesday.
“Being a freshman, he was a redshirt freshman; it’s still a first-time experience so I’m sure he was a little hyped up for that.”
But a year later, with No. 22 Georgia entering the rivalry game ranked higher than Florida for the first time since 2005, Richt doesn’t want his quarterback dwelling on last season’s performance.
Instead, he wants Murray to focus on the task at hand.
“The less said, the better,” Richt said. “I want him to focus on what’s going to help him win when the ball is snapped.
“That’s where our conversations are going.”
For Georgia to claim just its fourth win in the series in the last 21 years, Murray will have to challenge a Florida secondary that has been largely untested this season.
During UF’s three-game losing streak, opponents have passed only 55 times compared to 135 runs, but the defense has still given up a handful of big passing plays.
Testing Florida’s defensive backs could prove easy for a more mature Murray, who ranks second in the Southeastern Conference in passing with 236.1 yards per game.
For the season, Murray has thrown for 1,653 yards and 16 touchdowns.
He ranks third in the conference in passing efficiency, behind only LSU’s Jarrett Lee and Alabama’s A.J. McCarron. He is also second in the conference and 18th nationally among qualifying passers in yards per attempt with 8.3.
“You’re going to get 10 to 12 shots in the game where they’re going to stretch the field vertically, and you have to defend those balls,” Florida coach Will Muschamp said Monday.
“There’s no question that this game will be a little different from the ones we’ve seen in the last two weeks especially, as far as what people are trying to do down the field.”
Contact Tom Green at tgreen@alligator.org.
UGA quarterback Aaron Murray and Georgia will host South Carolina on Saturday at 4:30 p.m.
