Maestro. we're playing the Mountaineers. I think you can take it from there:
It's time to once again gear up for a weekend of college football between the hedges in Sanford Stadium. Your Georgia Bulldogs will kick things off at 12:30 for their homecoming match up with the Appalachian State Mountaineers. There really aren't a whole lot of story lines for this game, though there are certainly a few.
- Gurley-watch. How much, how often, and under what circumstances will we see Todd Gurley?
- Mason-watch. There have been rumors that Georgia has a guy who would come in to relieve Aaron Murray if we ever got enough of a lead to justify removing him from the game. You could be forgiven for not knowing this based solely upon your observations of the 2013 season. One would hope that this week that may change.
- Patchouli-watch. How strongly will it waft off the visiting fans from Boone? If you've been to Boone, you get what I'm saying on this one.
Oh, and one more thing. Aaron Murray is within one touchdown pass of the SEC record for such things, currently held by Florida's Danny Wuerffel. It's of course just the latest of Aaron Murray's many accomplishments, which have sadly been overshadowed this season by the walking M.A.S.H. unit which has surrounded him. That's unfortunate because, Aaron Murray will leave Athens as the most successful quarterback in recent memory against Georgia's traditional rivals, as the unquestioned statistical leader in every significant category, and having led the Bulldogs as near to a national title shot as any QB in a generation.
But those accolades don't tell the whole story, of course. Murray has also quietly socked away other records in his time in Athens which bear noting. In no particular order Murray has quietly:
- Set the UGA record for most viewings of The Notebook (7, previous record of 5 held by Coach Mike Bobo).
- Most successful pad thai recipe in UGA football history (the secret is making your own fish sauce, which takes commitment. Also fermented fish).
- Most guest appearances on Seth Green's new sitcom "Dads". The record is 1, we think, though in fairness we haven't actually watched the show so A.J. McCarron could be the male lead for all we know.
- In 2011 became the first quarterback in UGA history to successfully cultivate nutmeg on a commercial scale.
- In 2010 Murray became the first UGA football player to perform an emergency tracheotomy on a baby llama. Because I know you were wondering, little Snowflake made a full recovery and now resides in Zach Mettenberger's apartment. Women love llamas. It's science.
So let's celebrate the utter excellence of the Aaron Era, on this, his final Red and Black Homecoming. Also feel free to use this as the open comment thread for tonight's college football action, which will likely be a pale immitation of last night's college football action. Remember Texas fans, Art Briles beat Oklahoma just about as bad as Mack Brown, and for less than half the price! Until later . . .
Go 'Dawgs!!!