In 2007 in Jacksonville, Georgia scored the game’s first touchdown and saw its traveling squad perform what came to be known as the Gator Stomp. It wasn’t planned that way — Mark Richt had encouraged the 11 on-field players to celebrate to the extent of drawing a penalty — but matters escalated, as matters can. Long story short: The dancing Dogs won 42-30, marking only their third victory over Florida since 1989.
In 2009 in that same city, Georgia broke out the black helmets. From the moment the Bulldogs charged onto the field, the ploy bore the pungent whiff of desperation. Florida was undefeated and ranked No. 1 and had Tim Tebow; Georgia was 4-3 and had Joe Cox. The Gators won 41-17. We haven’t seen the black helmets since.
If, as has been reported, Georgia plans to start Faton Bauta at quarterback against Florida, it will mark another in a not-lengthy series of gambles/gimmicks Richt has brewed up for the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party. The Gator Stomp worked. The black helmets flopped. (Then again, the 2007 Bulldogs were a very good team; the 2009 Bulldogs were not.) That’s the nature of gambles/gimmicks. They hit big or fall flat.
Back to that “D”-word: That Georgia might consider a quarterback change so late in a season tells us that its coaches are at least slightly desperate. Greyson Lambert hasn’t been awful; he just hasn’t been good enough. In its past three games, two of them losses, Georgia’s offense scored three touchdowns. It mustered 10 points against Alabama and had to score the game’s final touchdown to break double figures; it beat Missouri without breaking double figures.
In the final 7 1/2 minutes of a tie game, Georgia twice ran on first, second, and third downs inside the Mizzou 25. The first time it missed a field-goal attempt; the second time it made one. That was enough to win 9-6, but still: The Bulldogs clearly weren’t comfortable with Lambert throwing. (His first pass was intercepted; defenders laid hands on three subsequent throws.)
If the assumption is, “We can’t beat Florida without a quarterback who can throw,” there’s logic in making a change. But if the conclusion is, “Ergo, Faton Bauta gives us a better chance” … well, that’s a leap of something that mightn’t qualify as faith.
Bauta hasn’t thrown a pass or run the ball this season. His only extended appearances last season came in routs of Troy and Charleston Southern. If Georgia’s coaches saw him a realistic starting option, why take Lambert as a transfer and make him No. 1? If Bauta’s potential was that tantalizing, why wasn’t he — not the apparently forgotten Brice Ramsey — Lambert’s backup?
Bauta mostly was a running quarterback in high school. He has been likened to Tebow, which isn’t a bad thing. Bauta is supposed to have a good arm and sound mechanics, but he’s a redshirt junior who was No. 3 on the depth chart deep into his fourth collegiate season. It’s not as if these coaches haven’t seen what he can do. (In practice, anyway.)
If Bauta is used Saturday in Wildcat mode, he would be a quarterback unlike any Richt has had at Georgia. Could he and Brian Schottenheimer install a package in two weeks to maximize the talents of a fourth-year junior who hasn’t played much since high school? In the course of a fortnight, could Georgia go from being a pro-style offense to being — overstating for effect — Georgia Tech?
We don’t know know for sure that Bauta will start. We don’t know if he’ll even play a down. Rumors were rampant in Athens this week, but rumors in Athens the Monday after the 2010 Liberty Bowl had Richt being fired. After Wednesday’s practice, the still-employed Richt hinted a quarterback change might be afoot, but that could have been a bit of gamesmanship intended to make Florida’s coaches lose sleep. Or it could have been the truth.
For the moment, all we can say is this: If Bauta does start, it will be Richt’s boldest move as Georgia’s coach — and his most desperate. But desperation has been known to be the mother of invention, has it not?
