University of Georgia Athletics
QBs Competing, Trying To 'Be The Answer'
August 05, 2015 | Football
By John Frierson
UGAAA Staff Writer
ATHENS, Ga. — Who's it going to be? Is it him, or that guy or the other one, the new guy? Welcome to the start of the 2015 college football season and Georgia's search for a new starting quarterback.
Is the battle between junior Faton Bauta, junior transfer Greyson Lambert and redshirt sophomore Brice Ramsey the biggest story in town at the moment? Maybe.
Is it the biggest story in the Bulldogs' locker room? Maybe not.
"I don't even worry about it," sophomore outside linebacker Lorenzo Carter said during Tuesday's media session, a couple of hours before the Dogs' first preseason practice. "Especially on defense, we barely even realize that there's a competition going on because we're just focused on getting better as a defense and just dominating this year.
"We know that the coaches will make the best decision and whoever they put out there will be able to go out there and win games."
The public's perception of the competition for the starting quarterback spot at a high-profile school like Georgia and the reality of that competition are seldom anything alike.
Externally, the competition sometimes feels like it could over the next month grow to be "Lord of the Flies" or some kind of FOX high-intensity gameshow with a sinister sounding name. Internally, three teammates who get along are simply battling for spots on the Bulldogs' depth chart — granted, at the sport's most critical position.
"I think the reality of it is, we're three college-age students that are going out there. I'm sure we all have our own goals and aspirations, and all we want to do is play the best for our team; we all want to be the answer for our team. Just perform at our best," Bauta said. "That's all I want out of myself, just to perform my best every day and to make sure I don't take a day for granted, or even a play for granted."
Depth chart competition is happening at every position and will continue to happen for all 29 preseason practices and beyond. While fans are studying every comment from coach Mark Richt, the QBs or new quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer for clues, and parsing everything they can come up with to parse, coaches are coaching and evaluating, as always, and the quarterbacks are trying to improve and run the offense as effectively as possible.
"I'm just taking it day by day and just trying to play football every day, and take advantage of my opportunities," said Ramsey, who played more than Bauta last season as Hutson Mason's backup, while Lambert started nine games at Virginia before transferring after losing the starting job in spring practice.
Georgia, ranked No. 9 in the preseason coaches' poll, began practice Tuesday with a two-hour workout on the grass at the Woodruff Practice Fields. Before suiting up, Richt, defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt and several players met with the media to talk about getting started.
Inevitably, and understandably, the subject of the Dogs' search for their next starting quarterback was a popular one — just as it had been last month in Hoover, Ala., during SEC Media Days.
In Georgia's media guide, first made available to reporters in Hoover, Ramsey was listed as the No. 1 quarterback. Because it was on paper, there in black and white, it appeared definitive, or at least important. But the media guide includes a tentative preseason depth chart for each position, even those that aren't close to being decided.
As word spread on social media that Ramsey was listed as the No. 1 guy, Richt sent out a tweet to settle everyone down: "Just so everybody understands, our QB race is wide open and we will decide on a starter sometime during preseason practice! Go Dawgs!"
By the time the Bulldogs kick off the season on Sept. 5, against Louisiana-Monroe at Sanford Stadium, a starter will have been named. Or not, actually, if Richt wants to keep that in-house until the offense takes the field for the first time.
It's his call, and it's not a call he has any reason to make with any haste. Really, what's the rush? The longer the competition for the starting job is on, the longer the QBs push one another and force each other to raise their games. That works out for the better for them and the Bulldogs.
Richt said the trio will rotate repetitions with the first, second and third units during practice and the competition for the starting job will go on as long as it needs to. He also said that the decision will be made based on what they do in practice, in scrimmages and what they did last spring — not what anyone did last season in a totally different situation.
It should make for a very competitive and very interesting August.
John Frierson is a staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Hall of Fame at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex. You can follow him on Twitter: @TheFrierson and @ITAHallofFame.
