University of Georgia Athletics
Richt Names Tereshinski Starting QB
August 21, 2006 | Football
Tereshinski, an Athens native, is a three-year contributor with one start coming in the 2005 game against Florida in Jacksonville. For his career he is 25-for-49 for 371 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions.
Tereshinski helped preserve a 23-20 win over Arkansas last season after senior quarterback D.J. Shockley went down with a knee injury.
Richt also named redshirt freshman Joe Cox as the team's backup quarterback, followed by co-third-team QBs, redshirt sophomore Blake Barnes and freshman Matthew Stafford.
Cox, from Charlotte, N.C., served as the scout team quarterback last season. He was 31-0 as a starting quarterback for Independence High School, which featured fellow Bulldog Mohamed Massaquoi at wideout.
Entering fall camp Richt indicated that the quarterback battle was a four-man race with Tereshinski projected as the leader.
For the second consecutive year, Georgia will have a new quarterback starting in its season opener. David Greene (42-10) was the Bulldogs' starter from 2001-04 while D.J. Shockley (10-2) led the team to a conference title in 2005.
Mark Richt on the QB Race:
“We felt like we needed to sit down individually with each guy on where he sits right now and where we’re going to go at the moment. These four guys have done a beautiful job of competing. Everything I’ve said about them has been true and how difficult the decision has been is true. But now we’re getting to the point where we need to narrow it down as well as other positions.
“Joe T was solid and consistent all the way through. He did a nice job, competed well and held off the young bucks.
“This has not been easy. It’s been on my mind all spring and all summer, everyday during camp, we’ve been trying to be fair. It’s not easy to tell someone they’re not the starter. But right now I feel we’ve been extremely fair. We’ve got a strong group of guys and we’re not disappointed in any of them.
“(On Tereshinski’s reaction to being named starter) He’s a pretty stoic, old-school, yes-sir-no-sir guy. I told him and he said, “Thank you, sir,” and I asked him if he had any questions and he said, “no sir.”