QB from North Fulton is a preferred walk-on for UGA Bulldogs

Matthew Downing, who threw 24 touchdowns for Alpharetta this season, will be a preferred walk-on at Georgia this fall.

Matthew Downing, who threw 24 touchdowns for Alpharetta this season, will be a preferred walk-on at Georgia this fall.

A quarterback from Alpharetta could be in the mix on the depth chart at quarterback next season for the Georgia Bulldogs.

Matthew Downing, who will graduate from Alpharetta High School this spring, has verbally accepted a preferred walk-on gig with the Bulldogs.

In a tweet on Saturday, Downing thanked friends, family and Georgia's coaching staff for giving him an opportunity. He visited the Athens campus on Friday.

“This has been a crazy ride and I’m very excited for the future,” Downing wrote.

As a preferred walk-on, Downing won't have a scholarship from the school, but he will have a spot on the team and get all of the support that a scholarship athlete would.

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Wednesday is national signing day, and a ceremony for him and other Alpharetta athletes will be in the school’s media center at 4 p.m.

A 6-foot, 180-pound quarterback, Downing had offers from a few lower Division I schools, including Samford, Montana State and Southern Illinois, according to 247sports.com.

In his senior season for the Raiders, Downing threw for 2,569 yards and 24 touchdowns, according to MaxPreps. He had a completion rate of 58.3 percent and threw just five interceptions. He also rushed 100 times for 386 yards and three touchdowns.

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With Downing under center, Alpharetta went 11-2 in 2017.

Downing will be in quarterback meetings with several talented players, including SEC Freshman of the Year Jake Fromm, five-star recruit Justin Fields, redshirt freshman Stetson Bennett IV, and other recruits.

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