Johnson: Thomas ‘will be the quarterback’
Georgia Tech quarterback Tim Byerly has ably proven himself to coaches as a worthy backup to starter Justin Thomas. As the Yellow Jackets prepare for their season opener Saturday against Wofford, coach Paul Johnson indicated Wednesday that this will not be a 1/1A situation, however.
“We’re not going into the season thinking we’re going to use two,” Johnson said on the ACC coaches teleconference.
In 2012, Johnson shared the position between two quarterbacks, as starter Tevin Washington and backup Vad Lee rotated series in the second half of the season. Johnson acknowledged a two-quarterback system could happen, but that it’s not in the plans.
“I just feel we’re confident in Tim,” he said. “If we need to put him in the game, that he can get the job done. But we don’t have a plan to go in and say, ‘OK, this guy is going to play 40 reps, this guy is going to get 35,’ or whatever. Justin Thomas will be the quarterback.”
Thomas played 10 games last season as a redshirt freshman, receiving his largest portion in blowout wins. His playing time was not nearly the volume that Lee received as a redshirt freshman in 2012.
About the Author
Ken Sugiura is a sports columnist at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Formerly the Georgia Tech beat reporter, Sugiura started at the AJC in 1998 and has covered a variety of beats, mostly within sports.
