There wasn’t much debate coming into the season about Florida and Georgia both having talented quarterbacks.

The general perception, though, was that Florida’s guy would probably be more prepared to play and that it might be a little steeper learning curve for Georgia’s guy.

Turns out it’s been just the opposite heading into Saturday’s annual Florida-Georgia showdown in Jacksonville.

Georgia redshirt freshman Aaron Murray has played like a veteran for much of the season and has easily been one of the top six quarterbacks in the league.

Florida junior John Brantley, also making his debut as a starter, has struggled to find any rhythm in an offense that has been searching for an identity all season.

It’s not all on Brantley, either. The play around him has been hit-and-miss, and he’s never looked completely comfortable in what the Gators were doing offensively.

That hasn’t been a problem for Murray, who looks a little more comfortable each week.

“I always felt I could play like this,” Murray said. “I knew there would be a little learning curve when it came to playing against SEC defenses and the speed of the game. But I have 10 guys around me who’ve made my job easier, and I throw to the best receivers in the country. So it makes it a lot easier when you have 10 guys around you who have your back.”

Murray is fifth in the SEC in pass efficiency. He’s averaging 220.8 passing yards per game, and he’s protected the football.

Through eight games, he’s thrown 12 touchdown passes and only three interceptions, which is the best touchdown-to-interception ratio in the league.

It’s supposed to be the other way around when guys are going against SEC defenses for the first time.

“I’m starting to see things more clearly, which is allowing me to get through my reads quicker and get the ball to the open receiver,” Murray said. “You don’t have to take as many chances when you have the playmakers we have, but there still comes a time when you have to try and rip one in there.”

The 6-1, 209-pound Murray also has the multi-threat thing going for him. He’s run for four touchdowns this season, and is tough enough and athletic enough to scramble out of a lot of trouble when he drops back to pass.

“The thing that I’m really most proud of for him is the respect that he’s had for that football and the fact that he rarely throws it in a dangerous place,” Georgia coach Mark Richt said. “He has had a couple of those, but not many. Every quarterback tends to do that, and some guys never grow out of it. He’s had a very healthy respect for the ball.

“His ball-handling has been exceptional. His ball fakes have been exceptional. He has learned to work the pocket better and better. He’s improving on that. He’s a little more athletic than I thought he was.”

Richt already had a pretty good idea about Murray’s leadership during the summer.

Even though he’d never played, Murray was one of the ones organizing the offseason workouts. He was the one constantly dragging receivers out to throw.

Nobody needed to tell him that he was the one big question mark about this offense.

Or so it seemed back in the preseason.

“It wasn’t just the media and fans asking those questions,” Murray said. “I’m sure a lot of the guys on the team looked at it that way. I had to gain their trust.”

Murray said the essence of a leader is leading his team to wins, especially the big wins.

He gets his chance Saturday in a game that’s always been big for Georgia, but a game this season that could turn the Bulldogs’ entire season around.

“We’ve had a tremendous three weeks of practice, and I think you’ll be able to see that come Saturday,” Murray said. “I think we’re turning this thing around. We just have to keep the momentum going.”

Murray, who’s from Tampa, Fla., narrowed his choices to Florida and Georgia coming out of Plant High School. He could have gone just about anywhere in the country and was a big-ticket recruit.

He attended several Florida games in high school because it was such an easy drive from Tampa to Gainesville. But last year’s Florida-Georgia game when he was a true freshman was the first one of those that he’d been to.

Murray said there was just a “gut feeling” that moved him to pick the Bulldogs over the Gators.

“Every time I came to Georgia, I just had a gut feeling that this was the place for me,” Murray said.

Well, he certainly hasn’t looked out of place as a first-year starter and can reserve his place among the top freshmen in school history if he can do what most Georgia quarterbacks before him haven’t been able to do the past two decades – and that’s beat Florida.