Closeness of SEC finish only heightens angst for Georgia

• Georgia fell short with time expiring near the goal line on the game's final drive
• The Bulldogs held a 21-10 in the third quarter
• "It hurts, it really, really hurts," senior wide receiver Tavarres King said

ATLANTA -- Aaron Murray smiled, but his voice was quivering. Tavarres King managed to look up now and then, even as his eyes dragged his entire head down.

Moments earlier, they had come so close to playing for a national title, closer than any Georgia players in three decades. Forget the lead they had blown, the opportunities missed in an epic Southeastern Conference championship game, the plays they could have made to beat Alabama. At that moment Saturday night, in the bowels of a still-buzzing Georgia Dome, all they could think about was the final blurry sequence and the rotten luck that that will forever stain their gallant final attempt.

"I'm crushed, to be honest," said King, a senior receiver. "I'm crushed."

Alabama beat Georgia on Saturday night, 32-28, in the most dramatic and entertaining SEC championship game ever played. From the kickoff to literally the final play, it had absolutely everything: Momentum shifts, lead changes, huge special teams plays, clutch drives and the constant tension of knowing that only the winner would play No. 1 Notre Dame for the BCS national championship.

But for Georgia, it also had this: The torturous understanding of what could have and maybe should have happened, with receiver Chris Conley cradling the football in his arms just four yards short of the end zone as time ran out.

"Man, it stinks," said Murray, the quarterback, and he really didn't need to say anything more.

For Georgia, it did stink, in the worst way possible. The Bulldogs led this game 7-0. They led it 21-10. They fell behind, fought back, fell behind again and had one more chance to win it with 68 seconds and 85 yards to go. And all they needed was one more play to become legends, to change the entire star-crossed history of Georgia's program since its last national title in 1980. Instead, they dressed mostly in silence, knowing they're headed for a consolation bowl game that will likely be forgotten the moment it ends.

"I mean, it hurts me. We fought for this," linebacker Jarvis Jones said. "We had a great offseason and had a great season. Our goal was to come here and win it, and we fell short of that. You're always going to think about it. Four yards short of going to the BCS game. You're always going to think about that, no matter what success you have in life."

The Bulldogs wanted this so bad. For Murray, who has won a lot of games at Georgia but been overwhelmed in the biggest moments. For their defense, which underachieved early in the season but came on strong in the season's last half. For their coach, Mark Richt, who has won two SEC titles in 12 seasons but never really had a team in contention to win the whole thing.

In some ways, it might have been easier to take if the game had ended at midfield, where Alabama cornerback Dee Milliner appeared to pick off Murray's downfield attempt with 45 seconds remaining. But after instant replay ruled it an incompletion, Georgia had another shot and enough time. For Alabama, which thought the game was over at that point, it was a potentially perilous turn of events.

"It was a completely different mindset than we had prior to that happening," Alabama coach Nick Saban said. "Everybody thought we won the game and everybody is sort of celebrating on the sidelines and now you have to go back and really make some critical plays. It takes a tremendous amount of maturity to re-center yourself and put yourself in the right psychological disposition to compete, and we gave them three bang-bang plays."

Indeed, for a moment Georgia had Alabama reeling toward its own end zone as Murray hit tight end Arthur Lynch for 15 yards, then King over the middle for 23, then a quick strike to Lynch for 26 yards down to Alabama's 8.

In retrospect, Georgia should have had Murray spike the ball at that point. But offensive coordinator Mike Bobo wanted to get a play called in quick and have multiple shots at the end zone, which was certainly possible with the amount of time remaining. Murray hurried to the line of scrimmage and took the snap with 10 seconds left, aiming for Malcolm Mitchell in the back of the end zone.

"We work that a lot, get in the formation and try to get a play called real quick and try to give us three chances to get the ball in the end zone," Bobo said. "It just didn't work out that way."

Murray and Mitchell swear the fade to the back of the end zone was there.

"I thought he beat (the safety)," Murray said.

But the ball never got where it was supposed to go. Alabama linebacker C.J. Mosley tipped it at the line of scrimmage, and with four seconds left it fluttered into the arms of Conley, who was supposed to be a decoy on the play to bring a defensive back out of the end zone. It was just an instinct reaction to catch the ball, but in this case it was the wrong instinct. Without a timeout and no opportunity to get out of bounds, the game was over.

"If nothing else it could have been an incomplete pass," Richt said. "In that situation, you want a touchdown or an incomplete pass. It's just a tough thing. You'd like a guy that has the presence of mind to bat the ball down, but I don't know if there's anybody in America that would have that of that one."

What hurts, too, is that Georgia proved so much Saturday. It didn't fold in a big game. It didn't back down from a tough, physical opponent the way it had done the past few years. When it blew a 21-10 lead, it came right back with a 75-yard touchdown drive to make it 28-25 with 12:54 left. The Bulldogs never stopped coming, they just ran out of time. On this day, even a national championship-worthy performance wasn't good enough."

"To taste victory against a phenomenal Alabama team at this stage, it hurts, it really, really hurts," King said. "I wouldn't call it a curse. That's just football."