Another week of Bulldogs playing: Who’s at quarterback?
Associated Press
ATLANTA — Get ready for another week of the Georgia Bulldogs playing: Who’s at quarterback?
Heading into a huge Southeastern Conference game between No. 4 Georgia and seventh-ranked Auburn, Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart is again taking a coy approach to who will get the start at the most prominent position on the field.
It may not really matter. “I’m not going to sit here and say we can’t play multiple guys,” Smart said Monday. “I certainly think it’s easier when it’s one guy, in terms of continuity with your team and things like that. But we’ve got to do what gives us the best chance to win.”
Redshirt freshman D’Wan Mathis started the season opener against Arkansas, but he was yanked after completing just 8 of 17 passes for 55 yards. Junior Stetson Bennett took over with the Bulldogs — a 28-point favorite — stunningly trailing the Razorbacks.
Bennett sparked the offense in the second half, finishing 20 of 29 for 211 yards and a pair of touchdowns as Georgia rallied for a 37-10 victory.
Off that performance, it might seem like a no-brainer for Bennett to get the starting the nod against Auburn (1-0). But the Bulldogs have never thought of the former walk-on as a long-term option at quarterback, and Smart isn’t about to give up on Mathis so quickly.
Further adding to the intrigue, Smart revealed Monday that transfer JT Daniels, who formerly started at Southern Cal, has finally been cleared to play after recovering from a serious knee injury.
Mathis and Daniels got most of the work with the first team during preseason practices.
“I thought Stetson did a good job when he came in,” Smart said. “He had good composure, he handled the pocket well, he handled the protections well. Stetson has seen a lot of football in his time.”
After watching the film, Smart insisted that Mathis’ performance wasn’t as poor as the numbers might have indicated.
“D’Wan did a lot of good things,” the coach said. “It’s not his fault a play got called back for holding. It’s not his fault a guy missed a pick-up on third down — and he almost turned that into a first down. He did a lot of good things early on there, but we just never could put good things back to back.”
Auburn coach Gus Malzahn shrugged off the uncertainty of playing a team still sorting out its quarterback position.