Aaron Murray: Tennessee 'in a better position' than Georgia entering SEC opener

Aaron Murray has two perspectives when he looks at No. 6 Georgia’s game at No. 15 Tennessee on Saturday. One view is as the former Georgia quarterback who never lost to the Vols. The other is as a college football analyst for ESPN. 

“I want to put my Georgia hat on,” Murray told the Knoxville Quarterback Club on Monday, “and I want to say Georgia is going to beat your ass so bad, but I can’t say that confidently. 

“As an ESPN employee, I put my Georgia hat away and just call the game for what it is, I think Tennessee is in a better position right now to go out there and have success.”

SEC Opener: No. 15 Tennessee vs. No. 6 Georgia, Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET

Tennessee (2-0) will get a chance to live up to that kind of talk against Georgia (2-0) on Saturday (3:30 p.m. Eastern Time, ABC) when the two teams face off in the SEC opener at Neyland Stadium. 

“I think that Tennessee is more confident,” Murray said. “I think Tennessee is a better team. Massive home field advantage.”

As for his former team, Murray was frank about Georgia’s struggles through two weeks — a 45-7 win over Marshall in Week 1 and a 28-6 win over Austin Peay on Saturday. 

“I do not like what I see on tape from the Georgia football team, to be honest, at all,” Murray said. “There’s a lot of worry in the state of Georgia and for good reason. The tape don’t lie. And the tape is not being good for Georgia on offense the first two games of the season against what you can consider lesser opponents in Marshall and Austin Peay.”

Murray called Georgia junior and first-year starter Gunner Stockton “a good quarterback” who has potential, but also said he currently lacks quickness getting rid of the football on quick reads.  

“Gunner is a little bit long in his delivery when it comes to getting it out in the RPO world,” Murray said. “The quick hitches, the bubbles, the screens on the outside. And I think that there’s some confidence that lacking at the moment. 

“And the last thing that you want from a guy that’s played in that stadium twice and know how difficult it is to play in Neyland and how loud and intimidating and how you aren’t going to have a voice after four quarters. The last thing that you need  is lacking confidence heading into this ball game. So I worry about him and his confidence.”

Aaron Murray: Neyland Stadium could be ‘recipe for disaster’ for Georgia

Joey Aguilar’s play as Tennessee’s new starting quarterback has Murray changing what was a poor preseason perception of the Vols. 

It started with his first throw against Syracuse in Week 1, going over the middle to Mike Matthews on a play-action pass for a first down.

“I kind of sat back and said, OK, maybe they got the right guy at quarterback,” Murray said. “And I don’t know if Joey Aguilar is going to be as good as Nico. I don’t know if he’s going to be a better prospect than Nico. But through two games, he looks pretty damn good.”

He looks pretty damn good, Murray said, because of his anticipation. Because “he can throw it down the field with touch” and he can “throw it to the outside with some gusto.”

“Overall, man, really impressed with him,” Murray said. “I like the receivers on the outside. I like the running back. I like the defense. So you guys impressed me.”

If Stockton is missing gusto for Georgia, it could be the difference.

“You walk into Neyland with guys that are not playing well and communicating,” Murray said, “that’s a recipe for disaster. So there are some things offensively right now that that is obviously a big time concern for the Georgia Bulldogs, which should be giving you guys some extra motivation heading into the ballgame.”