TAMPA, Fla. — If you look at the numbers for Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray in Monday’s Outback Bowl against the Michigan State Spartans, they don’t look that bad: 20 for 32, 288 yards and two touchdowns.

If you look at his numbers for the season, they look even better: 218-for-371 (58.8 completion percentage) for 2,861 yards and a single-season school-record 33 touchdowns.

Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray completed 20 of 32 passes for 288 yards and two touchdowns against Michigan State. However, he also threw two interceptions which contributed to the Bulldogs' 33-30 triple-overtime loss to the Spartans. KRISTY DENSMORE/Staff

The key stat for Murray this season has never been completions or touchdowns, though.

It has been turnovers — and specifically, big ones at key points in big games.

In Georgia’s three losses prior to Monday, Murray had thrown four interceptions and lost two fumbles in those contests.

And in the Bulldogs’ 33-30 triple overtime loss to the Spartans in the Outback Bowl, Murray gave the ball away three more times, twice through the air and once on the ground.

“Anytime you turn the ball over, those hurt you because you lose your possession (and) you put your defense in a bad way. It is very unfortunate we turned the ball over,” Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo said. “The big message all [during bowl] week…was to protect the ball, and we didn’t do that today. Last night I said, ‘If we don’t protect the ball, we are going to be in a nail biter. If we protect it then we’re going to win,’ and we didn’t do it.”

Because of that inability to protect the ball, Bulldog fans again witnessed the double-edged sword that their star quarterback can sometimes be.

In the first half, they witnessed the leadership and greatness of Murray that saw him go 13-for-16 for 146 yards and one touchdown — an 80-yard bomb to Tavarres King.

In fact, Murray began a perfect 10-for-10 before he threw his first incomplete pass in the second quarter.

“He’s one of the best quarterbacks in the country in my mind and he’ll be one of the better quarterbacks that return. He’s a guy we have an awful late of faith in,” Bulldogs head coach Mark Richt said. “He’s been making a lot of plays for us all year long, breaking a bunch of school records, all that kind of good things.”

But that Murray did not come out in the second half.

With a 16-0 lead at the time — and the Georgia defense having only allowed 72 first half yards — all the momentum was on the Bulldog’s side.

Then four minutes into the second half, Murray overthrew King, who had his back turned as Michigan State’s Darqueze Dennard snagged an easy interception.

“It was just a little miscommunication when it came to scramble drill,” Murray said. “I thought [King] was going to come back to me and he thought he was going to go around the corner and then go deep. I don’t think it was his fault at all. It was just a little miscommunication.”

The Spartans capitalized on the shortened field and went on to score a touchdown and a two-point conversion to cut the Bulldogs’ lead to 16-8.

However, Murray’s most costly error in the quarter came at the 1:47 mark, when a pass intended for Michael Bennett was tipped at the line of scrimmage and again picked off by Dennard, who this time took the ball in for a touchdown.

And just like that, what was once a 16-0, one-sided affair had evaporated into a 16-14 battle.

“After the first [interception], I felt maybe a momentum shift,” King said. “This game is a momentum-based game, so I definitely felt like that was a huge, huge turning point after that first one. Then the second one, I felt like it was 0-0 again.”

Murray did not agree with his junior wide receiver.

“No, I don’t think so,” Murray said about a possible momentum shift after his two interceptions. “We were still up 16-14. I felt like our guys were good to go and we still kept playing. We got the lead at 27-20 and had an opportunity to finish the game then, and then obviously in overtime [we] had a chance to finish it also.”

But as his head coach pointed out, turnovers — whether committed by Murray or not — tend to play a key role in the outcome of a game.

“That’s kind of the way football is,” Richt said. “Turnovers, you’ve got to respect the ball. If you don’t, you’ve got a good chance of getting beat.”