ATHENS – Welcome to the Georgia Quarterback Debate, Part VIII.
The Bulldogs (8-0, 6-0 SEC) enter their ninth game of the season Saturday against Missouri (4-4, 1-3). For the eighth time over that span, they come into a contest with a muddled quarterback situation.
Not that it’s a bad thing. Georgia is getting excellent quarterback play, is undefeated and, on Tuesday night, was a runaway choice as the nation’s top team in the first College Football Playoff rankings. Life is good between the hedges.
But if it’s clarity you’re after, don’t look UGA’s way. Deliberate or circumstantial, coach Kirby Smart seems to revel in the vagueness and confusion of his quarterback situation.
Asked directly after practice Tuesday if senior Stetson Bennett would get a fifth consecutive start Saturday, Smart went into muddle mode.
“I think it’s important for both of them to continue to develop and make good decisions,” he said of Bennett and JT Daniels.
That was just the first sentence in a 90-word reply to the question. None of them came close to answering it.
“Part of playing quarterback is accuracy, decision-making, mobility. Those things are the critical factors,” Smart continued. “Anyone can hand it off; we all know that. Anybody can make our run checks or decisions. But it’s the decisions when the ball is in your hand and you’re having to make decisions on where you’re going with it, where you’re throwing it, all those things that are biggest deciding factors. Yeah, I’m pleased with where both of them are.”
Rightly, the reporter repeated the actual question.
“So, is Stetson going to start again?”
“Like I said, I’m pleased with where both of them are, and I think both of them are doing a great job,” Smart said.
It’s obvious now that Smart prefers the lack of clarity. It keeps opposing defensive coordinators guessing, as well as reporters and fans. But between Georgia’s defensive prowess and the play of the two quarterbacks when they’ve been on the field, it doesn’t seem to matter which one is running the offense.
Bennett has been solid starting the past four games in absence of Daniels, the starter coming into the season. During that stretch he has completed 63.3% of his passes for an average of 178.5 yards per game with six touchdowns and two interceptions. Both interceptions came on deep balls in Georgia’s 34-7 win over Florida on Saturday. Bennett also has rushed 18 times for 114 yards in those games.
The concern is that the Bulldogs might need the stronger, more accurate passing ability of Daniels eventually. But the 6-foot-3, 210-pound junior has been sidelined since the end of the first quarter of the Sept. 25 game at Vanderbilt with back-muscle strain.
Smart indicated last week that Daniels finally was able to practice full speed. Daniels warmed up before the Florida game, but never played. Including his last year at Southern Cal, Daniels now missed 21 of his teams’ past 30 games because of injuries.
Georgia knows now that a postseason awaits. A likely matchup with No. 2 Alabama in the SEC Championship game ultimately is the hurdle the Bulldogs must clear.
Bennett has been getting them down the track nicely, but will he take them across the finish line? You’ll just have to wait and see, Smart said, or something to that effect.
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