Murray pulling for Gators to help Georgia

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Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray reacts after a Georgia touchdown in the first half of an NCAA college football game against Tennessee on Saturday, Sept. 29, 2012, in Athens, Ga. Georgia won 51-44. ( AP Photo/John Bazemore

October 18, 2012

Murray pulling for Gators to help Georgia

Anonymous Associated Press Thu Oct 18, 2012, 08:16 PM EDT

ATHENS — Aaron Murray isn't asking Georgia fans to wear Florida's orange and blue on Saturday. He's not ex- pecting to see Bulldogs fans doing the Gator chomp.

All the same, the quar- terback said Georgia fans can cheer for Florida against South Carolina on Saturday, if only for that one day.

"I definitely am," Mur- ray said.

Murray realizes No. 13 Georgia, which plays at Kentucky on Saturday night, needs help in the Southeastern Conference East Division race. Florida can provide that help.

Georgia (5-1, 3-1 SEC) trails Florida and South Carolina in the division. The Bulldogs could move to the top of the East if Florida tops South Caroli- na while Georgia beats Kentucky and beats Flori- da next week.

Go Gators? Murray smiled at the suggestion.

"I think everyone has a free pass as a Georgia fan to root for them," Murray said. "I'm not saying deck out in Florida gear but def-

initely we would be a little happier if they came out with a victory on Satur- day."

Georgia was off last week after its lopsided 35-7 loss at South Carolina on Oct. 6. The loss robbed Georgia of its ability to control its fate in the divi- sion.

"It definitely stinks we're not in the driver's seat right now and we defi- nitely have a lot of work to do," Murray said. "We have to make sure we win the remainder of our games. If

we lose even one more, we have no shot of getting to Atlanta."

The Bulldogs' hopes in the division were lifted when South Carolina (6-1, 4-1 SEC) lost to LSU last week. The Gamecocks would win a tie-breaker with Georgia if each team finishes with one confer- ence loss.

Florida (6-0, 5-0 SEC) is left as the only undefeated team in the East. Georgia plays Florida next week in Jacksonville. With a win next week, Georgia would

win a tie-breaker with the Gators.

Coach Mark Richt has reminded his players the Bulldogs can still win the division.

Richt uses the 2011 sea- son as a history lesson for his team. Georgia started last season 0-2, including a loss to South Carolina. It closed the regular season with 10 straight wins to ad- vance to the SEC champi- onship game, where it lost to LSU.

"We know we've got to play as if we do control our own destiny," Richt said Wednesday. "If any- thing does break for us to put it back in our hands, we better be ready for that opportunity. We were there last year. We know what it felt like. We just knew we had to keep grinding and play hard. We had to keep winning. That's all we're trying to do right now."

Richt doesn't want his team, which is favored by 27 1⁄2 points against Ken- tucky (1-6, 0-4 SEC), look- ing ahead to the Florida game.

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