When trying to explain what kind of football player Hutson Mason is, his Georgia teammates like to refer to an incident that took place during a scrimmage in the spring.
Piloting the Bulldogs’ No. 2 offense against the No. 1 defense, as usual, Mason rolled to the right and had just let loose of one of his patent-perfect spirals when linebacker Amarlo Herrera came up and hit him high and hard. As quick as Mason hit the ground, he popped back up and went after Herrera. He shoved Herrera, the two locked up, the offensive and defensive benches emptied and a mini-melee ensued.
“I just felt that he kind of cheap-shotted me, and I let him know how I felt,” Mason explained earlier this week. “One thing led to another, but after practice it was over. … I think things like that sometimes can prove a point to your teammates.”
It did.
Nobody knows Mason how will play when he gets his first career start Saturday at Bobby Dodd Stadium against Georgia Tech (7-4, 5-3 ACC). But the Bulldogs (7-4, 5-3, SEC) have made it clear that they’re 100 percent behind their quarterback, and they absolutely believe in him.
“I feel like I already know how he’s going to play and that’s going to be very well, and everyone on the team will probably tell you that,” junior wide receiver Michael Bennett said. “I know it’s different than practice, but you can just kind of tell a guy is a baller, a gamer. He’s got it. So I’m just excited to see what he shows to the nation.”
Said receiver Chris Conley: “He’s so ready to play. He’s a very ambitious guy. He has a kind of energy about him when he comes into a huddle. It’s fearlessness. It’s really a go-getter attitude that he has. He doesn’t beaten himself up about mistakes. He wants to move forward. I think that fact makes him the kind of quarterback that won’t have those jitters. He may feel them, but I think his ambition overrides that.”
Of course, that’s how Mason’s teammates feel. Vegas feels a little differently.
Mason will play only because senior Aaron Murray — who holds 27 Georgia and SEC offensive records — was lost to a season-ending knee injury Saturday against Kentucky. According to Todd Fuhrman, an oddsmaker who used to be the head of the sports book at Ceasar’s Palace, the Bulldogs would have been nine- to 10-point favorites with Murray in the fold. Without him, the line this week opened with Georgia favored by three and it had risen to 3 1/2 by Friday.
“Well, he was the most prolific passer in the history of the Southeastern Conference, so I think when you lose a guy like that it doesn’t help your chances,” Georgia coach Mark Richt said. “But we do have faith and confidence that Hutson will do a good job.”
Of course, that’s just one dynamic among many surrounding Saturday’s game against Tech, a rivalry so intense it has been dubbed “Clean Old-Fashioned Hate.”
These two teams can’t even agree on the record in the series. Georgia claims to lead 63-37-5, but it doesn’t count two Tech victories during World War II, 1943-44. Of course, the Yellow Jackets do.
What is undisputed, however, is what has happened since Richt became the Bulldogs’ coach. They’re 11-1 against Tech during his tenure. The only loss came in 2008, 45-42, in the first year of coach Paul Johnson’s reign. Otherwise, the Bulldogs have dominated. Including last year’s 42-10 victory, Georgia has won by an average of 11 points under Richt.
“We’ve won most of the games, but I don’t know if I’d say that we’ve taken it over,” Richt said. “There have been so many close games, and we’ve been able to win the close games, most of them. I think our guys understand how important this game is. I don’t know if we’ve had a game where I’d say that we came out flat. I think we’re playing our best football when we play Georgia Tech.”
Georgia will definitely need to be at its best this season, as the Jackets match up well. Tech ranks fourth in the nation in rushing offense (316.1 ypg) and 10th in the nation against the run (104.2 ypg). And the Jackets (7-4) will be supremely motivated to get their first win in five years.
But the Bulldogs will be motivated as well, perhaps even a little more because it will be Mason’s first start. He definitely provides an X-factor for the game, an unknown entity for both teams.
“I can even remember in the last couple of years people clamoring for Hutson Mason instead of Aaron Murray,” Johnson said. “Clearly, he’s a talented guy. I don’t think that it’ll change a lot what they do. He’s been in the program four years. It’s an opportunity for him to showcase what he can do.”
The Bulldogs feel like they already know what Mason can do — Mason included.
“I feel as prepared as I ever could be,” he said.
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