HUTSON MASON
Height, weight: 6-foot-3, 202 pounds
Hometown: Marietta
High school: Lassiter
2013 statistics: Completed 67 of 110 passes (61 percent) for 968 yards and five touchdowns with three interceptions. Played in five games, started two. Passed for 299 yards in win at Georgia Tech and 320 in Gator Bowl loss to Nebraska.
UGA career statistics: Completed 94 of 157 passes (60 percent) for 1,324 yards and eight touchdowns with three interceptions. Played in 13 games, started two.
In his fifth and final season on Georgia’s football team, quarterback Hutson Mason will realize a long-deferred dream Saturday when he is announced as a starter in Sanford Stadium.
“For five years, it has been a dream of mine,” he said this week. “As a student, you go across that north campus bridge and dream about hearing your name called in Sanford Stadium. You know, ‘Hutson Mason from Marietta, Ga.’
“It’s crazy to think that, gosh, I’ve been here for five years and this is going to be the first time.”
Mason has started two games for Georgia, but neither was in Athens. After a knee injury to Aaron Murray late last season, Mason started at Georgia Tech and in the Gator Bowl. Saturday’s season opener against Clemson will mark the first time since 2009 any quarterback other than Murray starts a game for Georgia in Sanford Stadium.
Cue the opening of the Hutson Mason era, which is actually just the Hutson Mason season.
Like D.J. Shockley in 2005 and Joe Cox in 2009, Mason gets one season as a starter to make his UGA dreams come true. Shockley and Cox started at quarterback as fifth-year seniors after being stuck behind David Greene and Matthew Stafford, respectively. Obviously, Mason hopes for a season more like Shockley’s (an SEC championship) than Cox’s (an 8-5 record).
In fact, in Mason’s mind, his season will be defined by whether it yields an SEC championship.
“I mean, when you wait around for one year, there’s no other way to define it,” Mason said. “You don’t wait around for one year to go to the Liberty Bowl. You don’t wait around for one year to become second and say, ‘Oh, we shoulda …’
“That’s your only shot, man, your only shot to leave a legacy as a champion. I think what excites me is just the ability to possibly do that with one shot, to take advantage of one opportunity. … It’s not easy to take advantage of one year. You’re hoping everyone stays healthy. You’re hoping you don’t have a bad game.”
The Bulldogs haven’t won the SEC championship since Shockley’s season as the starter, and Mason senses that fans are seeking a parallel.
“You know that expectation is there,” he said. “It’s kind of, like, ‘Is he the next Shockley?’ Or, ‘Is it the next Shockley season?’”
Mason, who talks frequently with Shockley, worked long and hard for this season. He resisted the temptation to transfer for quicker playing time elsewhere. He redshirted in 2012 to position himself to have a year of eligibility left after Murray completed his.
Mason took over 2 1/2 games earlier than expected because of Murray’s ACL injury in the second quarter of the Bulldogs’ final home game last season vs. Kentucky.
The transition has been smoother than one might think, coach Mark Richt said.
“It feels to a certain degree like we’ve got a veteran starter,” Richt said. “Usually, when you have a new QB, you’re wondering what he can do, what he can comprehend or how will be handle being a starter and all those kind of things. Some of those questions have already been answered with (Mason).”
In anticipation of his season in the limelight, Mason recently benched himself from social media to tune out the praise and criticism a starting quarterback inevitably receives.
He said he feels prepared, not nervous. He finds it interesting that the opener is against Clemson.
“I took a visit to Clemson (as a high school senior), and … they told me they were going to offer me the next day,” he said. “I can remember going home that night, and I absolutely loved Clemson.”
When the call came the next day, Clemson told him it had decided not to offer a scholarship.
Five years later, Mason clearly believes he’ll be in the right place, on the right side, when his name is called Saturday.
