What if Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray had spiked the ball with nine seconds left on the eight-yard line against Alabama? What if his throw to the end zone hadn't been tipped at the line, but had instead fallen incomplete, giving the Dawgs one last chance to call a play?
The play Georgia would’ve run to end the 2012 SEC Championship
And now we know what college football’s non-play of the year would’ve looked like.
What happened in the final moment of the SEC Championship will forever be among the reigning mysteries of the 2012 college football season, especially considering the national stakes. Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo is talking about the play now, and he’s said two very interesting things. First, via the Macon Telegraph’s Seth Emerson:
We had actually gone back to, I don’t know what it was, it was one of the Florida-Alabama games, where Alabama had given up three red zone scores to Florida. It was a play that Florida had actually ran against Alabama. It was an empty set, and had two primary front-side, and a double-slant backside. It was something from ‘08 or ‘09 that Tebow had completed against them. Because I remember after that game, Kirby was talking about how, ‘We just couldn’t stop them in the red zone.’
Based on that description and Emerson’s review of the game, the play Bobo was saving might’ve been something like this (5:45 mark, in case my HTML isn’t working):
If Murray had also scampered around for 10 seconds somewhere in there, that would look sort of like one of the plays Johnny Manziel got Alabama with, right?
However, here’s the really good stuff from Bobo, again via Emerson (emphasis mine):
“Like probably everybody out here, I don’t think we’re ever gonna get over that game,” he said. “First meeting back with the players back, and the offense, I said: Men, people keep telling you you’ve gotta get over it and get ready to go. The bottom line is you’re never gonna get over it, you gotta learn to live with it, you’ve gotta regroup to play the next game, and get better the next day.
“We’ve all got ‘em, if you’ve been in this sport long enough. I’ve got a couple from high school, a couple from my playing days in college. And you’re gonna have them in coaching too. That’s just part of the game, that’s what makes it great. We were in that situation, we were in that game, and (are) proud of how hard our guys fought, how hard they played.”
SO MUCH REAL TALK.
I don’t know if a play like that one above would’ve worked or not. But it’ll always remain stuck in the back pockets of Bobo and Murray and Georgia. It’s a part of many lives now, and something that never happened will forever define part of everyone involved.
“You’re never gonna get over it.”
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