There are some fans that view Georgia’s “quarterback competition” as a farce. They saw Brice Ramsey play in more than twice the games of any other backup signalcaller last season and see the sophomore as the heir apparent to Hutson Mason.
But you’ll get a different story from the three players in the throes of that competition this spring. In the early going at least, this thing is a true-blue, three-man rotation between Ramsey, Faton Bauta and Jacob Park, and no one man is getting more work than the next.
“We’ve got a rotation going,” Ramsey said after the Bulldogs’ first fully-padded, full-contact practice on Tuesday. “I was with the ones today, I’ll be with the threes tomorrow, I’ll be with the twos on Friday, be back with the ones on Saturday. … It’s a good battle. Everyone’s competing, everyone’s working hard.”
Each quarterback works the entire day with the No. 1 offense every third practice. So Park and Bauta are getting the same number of repetitions with that group as does Ramsey. And just four practices into a 15-practice spring session, there’s no way to tell who is leading or falling behind.
“That’s how Coach (Brian) Schottenheimer and Coach (Mark) Richt want to do it, so I guess that’s how we’re going to do it,” said Park, a 6-foot-4, 202-pound redshirt freshman from Goose Creek, S.C. “As far as playing time and the competition out there, I’d say, yes, it looks like everybody’s got a pretty equal chance.”
Further equalizing the competition is the fact that the Bulldogs are employing a new offense under Schottenheimer. Both he and Richt intimated at the offensive coordinator’s hiring announcement in January that the offense would stay the same. But that hasn’t turned out to be the case.
“Yeah, that was myth,” junior guard Greg Pyke said. “We’ve definitely had to learn a lot of new things. A lot of the things are the same, they’re just called different things. So it’s just about learning key words. That’s why you have spring ball.”
Ramsey played in eight games last season and relieved Mason in the Belk Bowl when Mason left halfway through with a concussion. He finished with 333 yards on 61.5 percent passing with three touchdowns and two interceptions. Bauta played in three games last season (six in his career) and 48 yards and two TDs on 4-of-5 passing.
Park is the most intriguing candidate in that all his work came on the scout team during his redshirt season. He wowed teammates then and is wowing them still.
“He definitely has a cannon,” senior tight end Jay Rome said of Park’s arm. “You really can’t describe it any other way.”
For Park, being in the midst of a competition rather than working with the scout team has meant refining his game.
“Last year I knew I was redshirting so it was just go out there, have fun and throw the ball on scout team,” Park said. “Now I’ve actually got to sit in the pocket, make reads, pick up the blitz and not run around all the time. I’ve got to make decisions and throw completions.”
Terry working at corner: Sophomore Tramel Terry was working with the cornerbacks on Tuesday. Without the context that defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt could provide – he has yet to be available for interviews this spring — it's hard to know whether it was a one-day experiment or a permanent move.
Terry, a redshirt sophomore from Goose Creek, S.C., played safety all of last season and then only in a reserve role. He appeared in 10 games and finished with 6 tackles.
Terry has struggled to find a role with the Bulldogs since arriving as Mr. Football in the state of South Carolina in 2013. He signed as a receiver, tore an ACL in a high school all-star game then redshirted as an offensive player. He was moved to defense last spring and never contended for a starting role.
Other players working at corner Tuesday included Aaron Davis, Malkom Parrish, Shattle Fenteng, Devin Gillespie and Javonte Nelson. Working at safety were Dominick Sanders, Quincy Mauger, Devin Bowman and Reggie Wilkerson.
Williams injured: Promising sophomore wide receiver Shakenneth Williams went out with some sort of leg injury on Tuesday. The severity of the injury was unknown but, according to Ramsey, the 6-1, 197-pound athlete "tore his hamstring up."
About the Author
