INDECISION AT QB
Georgia enters third straight game with no true starter at spot
ATHENS, Ga. — The Georgia Bulldogs are a couple of games into their 2016 football season, but they are no closer to having a solidified quarterback.
Graduate transfer Greyson Lambert started the 33-24 opening victory over North Carolina in Atlanta, but true freshman Jacob Eason rallied the Bulldogs from a 24-14 deficit late in the third quarter. Eason got the start this past Saturday for the expected blowout of Nicholls State in Sanford Stadium, but it was Lambert who entered with 7:50 remaining and converted a pair of third downs to help Georgia avoid a monstrous embarrassment with a 26-24 escape.
The Bulldogs open Southeastern Conference play Saturday night at Missouri, and coach Kirby Smart said Monday that this week’s starter will be based on how practice goes.
“That will play itself out over the week,” Smart said. “Every team in the country has a way they go about getting prepared and have a formula for what you’re going to do on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and then you review that on Thursday. We’ll do that same process and figure out which guy is going to give us the best opportunity.
“After reviewing the (Nicholls) game film, Jacob made some mistakes, but he also made some really good plays. Greyson came in and, for a guy who came off the bench, did a great job of manufacturing first downs and doing what we asked him to do.”
Eason, the nation’s top-rated quarterback in the 2016 signing class, has completed 19 of 32 passes for 335 yards with two touchdowns and one interception through two games. His ability to stretch the field against North Carolina not only resulted in a 51-yard completion to Isaiah McKenzie but drew a pair of key pass-interference penalties when Georgia faced its 10-point deficit.
Though he benched Eason this past weekend, Smart does not believe it will have a lasting effect.
“He understands the situation in each game, and I think Jacob is very confident in himself,” Smart said.
Lambert, who won 10 of 12 starts for the Bulldogs last season after transferring from Virginia, has completed 7 of 11 passes for 56 yards but closed out each of the two victories.
Junior tailback Nick Chubb has been noticeably better so far this season when Lambert is in the game, rushing 25 times for 183 yards and 7.32 yards per carry. Chubb has gained 119 yards on 27 carries with Eason, an average of 4.41 yards per rush.
Chubb’s 55-yard touchdown run to seal the win over UNC certainly helps his average with Lambert, but Smart and his players aren’t putting too much into the notion that the on-field chemistry with Chubb and Lambert is better than with Chubb and Eason.
“I think it has a lot more to do with the way the plays have been blocked,” Smart said. “Nick had some good bounce-out runs the other day when he didn’t have a lot of places to go, and that was even when Jacob was in there.”
Said senior center Brandon Kublanow: “I think both quarterbacks are great quarterbacks, but I don’t think the quarterbacks have anything to do with how we run the ball.”
The Bulldogs may not know until Thursday who will start at Mizzou, which would be the third consecutive week in which that’s the case. Lambert is 11-2 as Georgia’s starter and is the more proven commodity, but Eason is now 1-0 and has played more than five out of eight quarters so far this season and gained a slew of experience this past Saturday despite the close call.
“Jacob was good at times and poor at times,” Smart said. “I think he gets rushed at times and doesn’t always have his eyes at the right place, but there were times he showed improvement from the North Carolina game.”
Odds and ends
Georgia’s game next week at Ole Miss will have a noon kickoff on ESPN. … Smart said sophomore defensive end Jonathan Ledbetter, who was suspended in July after a second alcohol-related arrest, will not play again this week. … Georgia is opening SEC play against a team other than South Carolina for only the third time since 1992, the other occasions being Missouri in 2012 and Vanderbilt last season. … Sophomore cornerback Rico McGraw has yet to play this season, with Smart saying that is partly due to a shoulder injury and partly due to the need to practice better. … Reggie Davis and Brendan Douglas will continue to serve as the deep men on kickoff returns, according to Smart.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfree press.com or 423-757-6524.