Big blow to Dogs offense: Mettenberger kicked off team!
Zach Mettenberger has been kicked off the team. (Bob Andres / AJC)
UGA just made the announcement this afternoon. Not many details, but here it is:
“University of Georgia redshirt freshman quarterback Zach Mettenberger has been dismissed from the Bulldog football team according to a Sunday announcement by UGA head coach Mark Richt.
According to Richt, the dismissal is a result of violation of team rules.
A graduate of Oconee County High School in Watkinsville, Ga., Mettenberger had been issued a minimum one-game suspension by Richt following an alcohol-related arrest in March.”
Obviously, new details must have surfaced from the incident earlier this spring in which Mettenberger was arrested for underage drinking and having false IDs. Those don’t seem like charges that would get you kicked off the team, and it’s hard to believe Richt would have let him go through spring practice if he was going to dismiss him just for that.
And, of course, Mettenberger finished the spring with the best showing by a Georgia QB at G-Day.
Anyway, this leaves Georgia with just two quarterbacks until Hutson Mason gets on campus in August. Dogs fans better hope Aaron Murray really is the real deal!
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331 comments Add your comment
jasont13
April 18th, 2010
8:54 pm
I heard from a very reliable source within the UGA athletic department that he failed a drug test.
gt4ever
April 18th, 2010
8:55 pm
All about freeing up space for another recruit…… Man, this Richt guy has NO conscience….
Reality
April 18th, 2010
8:58 pm
I hate my life.
jbb
April 18th, 2010
8:59 pm
I spoke with an attorney in the county where Mett, committed the misdemeanors. Apparently a possible felony also occurred. If so, look for an indictment. I hope Mett, and his family are ok.
FLMoonpie
April 18th, 2010
9:00 pm
atl xmen, if its not past your bedtime, heed the message, go back to school,,,fool…..at least get a GED. You are pathetic.
Dawg Stephen
April 18th, 2010
9:00 pm
Since Bill got mad at me, he wont let me post my link to my blog, but I will have my thoughts and a full write up as soon as I get the facts together.
In the meanwhile, you can find my blog on “yahoo search” or on “Google”
Just search: Dawg Stephen
cant keep a good man down Bill!! of course you wouldnt know that, you cant even meet a good man in the mirror.
Reality
April 18th, 2010
9:02 pm
“this crap” beat us 30-24. “this crap” beat our best team in 10 years. I ask myself,” what is worse than “this crap?’ then I look in the mirror.
gt4ever
April 18th, 2010
9:05 pm
atl xmen is such a tool, murray is not even close to the QB mett would have been!
RxDawg
April 18th, 2010
9:20 pm
For underage drinking? I can’t wait to hear the real story about this. This violation of team rules crap is insulting.
Sunday News and Notes: Zach Mettenberger Dismissed by UGA and Other News « MrSEC.com
April 18th, 2010
9:22 pm
[...] big news today is that UGA has dismissed redshirt freshman QB Zach Mettenberger. Mettenberger was already going to have to serve a one-game suspension as [...]
SOUTHGADAWG88
April 18th, 2010
9:33 pm
Montez had a brutal upbringing…Zach is from a totally different world BUT.. “decisions have consequences” is a mantra all young men have to learn.Dawg Stephen-getting a little chippy eh?
dawg85
April 18th, 2010
9:34 pm
Sad for him. Something else must have happened since Valdosta and it must be pretty bad. I still think Murray would have ultimately won the job regardless but i hate losing that kind of depth and the competition that goes along with it.
Dawg Tired
April 18th, 2010
9:34 pm
This is a shocker. I feel bad for the kid, but know Coach Richt would not take such action without a very good reason. I am encouraged to see real discipline being administered by the coach. I hope this helps the kid straighten out his life.
As for “4 ncs are better than 1″ all I can say is what an idiot. I think he is actually happy this has happened to the young man. Now that is sick and less than human. He is apparently too stupid to grasp that this is about so much more than football. We’re talking about a young man’s life here. Of course, many others on here are apparently just as clueless as all they seem to care about is what this means to the football team. The kid didn’t blow out his knee, he has made a major life mistake. Do you folks have a clue about life? Or is football your life? If so, might I suggest you get a life.
daddydog
April 18th, 2010
9:51 pm
If Mett has been kicked off team because of mistakes from one night, it is indeed a shame and far different from anything in the past.
If Mett crossed team rules again, definitely the right move.
dog forever
April 18th, 2010
10:00 pm
barking dawg all i have to say is WOOF WOOF … I AGREE WITH U
Bama
April 18th, 2010
10:02 pm
sell the lake house and get involved with the program. Thanks again for James Carpenter and Chance Warmack
Gillislee
April 18th, 2010
10:06 pm
Richt just sent his #1 QB packing and I heard several SEC teams are already interested in Mettenberger so you probably haven’t seen the last of him.
Puzzled
April 18th, 2010
10:16 pm
Can’t quite figure this out. During my time as a student at UGA, virtually every classmate I knew had a couple of fake ID’s and drank on occasion. If any one reading this attended UGA and never had a beer before age 21, I would be interested in hearing from you.
I don’t worry about this from the standpoint of GA football. The football team will get by. I am concerned about Mettenberger. He strikes me as a decent kid who made a mistake. I hope this does not have long term negative ramifications for him.
EASTsiders
April 18th, 2010
10:17 pm
Urban, Steve, Derek, Joker, and Bobby are all smiling tonight.
JELLO JOCKITCH
April 18th, 2010
10:18 pm
I JUST WONDER IF HE ASSAULTED A JELLO JOCKITCH AND HIT HIS AL GROHin.
GaDawg
April 18th, 2010
10:23 pm
Small Johnson
April 18th, 2010
6:56 pm
in the name of uga
April 18th, 2010
10:23 pm
After pondering what one would say if I was in the same predicament, I came to this conclusion: we can all only hope for the best. As a diehard uga fan, I only want what’s best for the program. Prior to reading other articles discussing this very incident, there are a ton of rumors surfacing. The most popular rumor is that zm was going be charged with some type of sexual assualt. Now if this is true and honestly none of us no for sure then I believe that the young man made a terrible mistake. But in my opinion, he should have been given another shot for redemption. Going forward, it is my belief that cmr is going to have to exercise a tight ship with all of his players for this dismissal to make any concrete sense.
Cautiously Optimistic
April 18th, 2010
10:40 pm
I think that the non pecking order and Mett only playing with the 2nd string on G-day says that CMR knew a decision was coming. Therefore making it possible that the first incident was the reason pending the investegation. Just my 2 cents. I hate this since I thought he would be the guy, but yet I am glad to have a team rid of this type behavior. We just have to move forward and hope for the best. Go Dawgs!!!
shane#1
April 18th, 2010
10:41 pm
Damn, just damn! Can UGA not even buy a break?
Patrick
April 18th, 2010
10:46 pm
Mett, come on out to Cali and you can stay with me and my Chihuahua and we can play some touch football.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1158327737&ref=name
SamoanDawg
April 18th, 2010
10:47 pm
I wonder if coach will send Mett to GMC and gets a second chance to come back to Athens. He did the same thing with Odell Thurman and Akeem Hebron. They spent a year at GMC and was reinstated, of course.
GaDawg
April 18th, 2010
10:49 pm
@Small Johnson – this has been a miserable day at home. I just finished burying my pet cat whom my wife accidentally backed her car over in the driveway; we are both heartsick. Then I get this sickening news about Mett? Then I read your following post:
Small Johnson
April 18th, 2010
6:56 pm
Do you think Mett was driving the cab?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
That was a good funny post. Thanks,
I really, really needed that laugh!!!
6:56 pm
Do you think Mett was driving the cab?
Urban
April 18th, 2010
10:51 pm
Mettzen…who???
Jimmy
April 18th, 2010
11:01 pm
Some of you act like the kid is a player in your pathetic video games.
What kind of human beings are you?
This is a real person who has experienced something terrible in his life.
He obviously made mistakes…
You animals from other schools are real jerks.
Dixie
April 18th, 2010
11:12 pm
too easy……
Dan Halen
April 18th, 2010
11:16 pm
This is a real milestone.What do you have to do to kicked off the team by Richt, commit homicide?
hind tit
April 18th, 2010
11:32 pm
what ever happened will come out sooner or later and more than likely won’t be good. what really concerns me more than what’s at stake in the qb race has more to do with the two families caught up in all this. number one is the mettenberger family whose son is the center of all the rumors, of which is 99% of what’s on this blog. as bad as that is his mom work’s with or for coach richt and uga for a good number of years. number two is coach richt who like it or not becomes these kid’s father away from home for up to five years and loves these kids just like they were his on. then you throw in the kids mom who over the years he has learned to love like family. i know one thing i sure wouldn’t want to have to make some of the choices he has to make and all the sleepless night’s he goes through. i raised two kids and was very blessed they gave me no trouble at all. he has 85 plus a recruiting class to go to bed and worry about each night. the point i’m trying to make is, coaching football is the easy part and whose going to be the qb is the least of his worries.
Dawg 39
April 18th, 2010
11:36 pm
In 2005 UGA signed 19 recruits. Only 12 got in that fall. UGA & Vandy have the most difficult entrance requirements in the SEC. CMR has rules & penalties resulting from not following those rules that are fair & known to all of the players. No one does a better job of screening recruits than CMR. What he did makes me proud to be a DAWG FAN. Now Mett will probably end up playing for one of our rivals. He is still a future NFL QB.
sameitaintso
April 18th, 2010
11:37 pm
Apparently he was removed from the team for additional charges from the incident in Remerton. He didn’t fail a drug test. Seems that he & Big Ben share more than just the Berger in their last name. There are some charges from touching a young lady inappropriately without her consent.
Retired UGA Prof
April 18th, 2010
11:46 pm
Mike Adams micromanages all aspects of the University. He is campaigning hard for the NCAA job, and the issue of player graduation and discipline has jumped up and bitten him in the butt. Adams pulled the trigger on Zack to get points with the NCAA. Dooley stood up to Adams and look what happened to him.
PMC
April 18th, 2010
11:54 pm
Mark Richt has to do what is best for his football team and the university. It was a really tough call I’m sure but he’s paid to evaluate and make these kinds of decisions. Mettenburger has really picked his game up in the last year. I’m sure this will be depressing for him but I also think he will land on his feet and become an excellent QB somewhere if he keeps working at it. Really tough lesson to learn though.
RED DOG 77
April 19th, 2010
12:25 am
Sad day for Zack Mettenberger……………….Great day for the University of GEORGIA football program !!!!………My thoughts and prayers are with Zack and his family…….Hope he learns from this and grows up, mans up, and does what it takes to turn his life around !……..For CMR to cut loose a great talent like Mettinberger shows the type of leadership we have at UGA !!!…..Folks, don’t fret, the DOGS will be better off in the long run because of Richt’s principled move…….not only are we getting rid of a distraction from the team, this also opens the door for another top flight recruit ! mabe Mr. Christian Lemay………or any number of high quality QBs that will be ready to be coached by the best QB coach in the country, Coach Mark Richt. ………….So alls good DOG fans, be cool we gonna whup-up on some butt this 2010 season !!! GO DOGS !!! GATA !! SIC’ ‘EM WOOF….WOOF…….WOOF……..WOOOF !!!!!
RedandBlack
April 19th, 2010
12:34 am
It really is a shame that Mettenberger could not have gotten another opportunity. Perhaps he did and messed that up. We do not know. He is still innocent until proven guilty and as of now there is no conclusion as to what transpired down in South Georgia. Things happen for certain reasons, and it is hard not to be thinking positively for Mr. Mettenberger and his family. Things will be better. They are and will be Bulldogs and of course we should wish the best for them.
Until, we see the real results, it is very difficult to see this dismissal as being the outcome from everything that occurred from the one incident. For the record, ZM had no second or third chance, did not cause harm to another, did not test positive for drug use, did not damage or steal property, and did not commit a moving violation whether he was under the influence of something or not. After considering all of that, this dismissal still looks very strange given the previous history of offenses that have been tolerated in Athens.
At any rate, Hutson Mason definitely has a tremendous opportunity once he arrives in Athens this Summer. Look for him to give significant competition to Gray and Murray. After watching Murray’s decision making and throwing ability at the G-Day game last week, Mason will be seeing live action considerably this upcoming season. The only red shirt Mason sees will be his home jersey. Woof, Baby Woof!! Go Dogs!!
dawg123
April 19th, 2010
12:51 am
This all stems from the night he was arrested. A woman has come forward and pressed charges against him for groping her at the bar
Las Vegas Chainsaw
April 19th, 2010
1:19 am
Hutson Mason???? Starting as a freshman???? HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA Pass around some of that North Georgia moonshine you’ve been drinking!
frank perez
April 19th, 2010
1:58 am
mark richt is not the right coach anymore in my opion. my aunt that got a degree in psychology always said that everyone deserves a second chance in life. sorry uga. its time for another head coach. plain and simple. a national championship with cmr is only a dream.not a reality.
Dawg 39
April 19th, 2010
5:24 am
RED DOG 77: You got it right. I totally agree with every sentence in your comment. The next 4 years keep looking better & better to me. The Dawg Football PROGRAM is in great shape.
Win with class
April 19th, 2010
5:24 am
I’m tired of street thug, dread lock, tatooed, burned symboled athletes who can’t put a sentence together bringing a street fight mentality and lawlessness to college athletics. It’s time to clean up the entire mess. Athletes have gone too far riding their importance and egos. This was the right move for CMR and it will pay dividens now and in the future. This sends the message that should have been sent several years ago. If he’ll send dumb ole Matt packing, he’ll send you packing.
I’d prefer to win with class than have a win at any cost program. It may be tougher but it will be better. If Mattenberger couldn’t do the deal, he needed to be put on the road. He sounds like a spoiled, hard headed, ego centered trouble maker to me. Go Dawgs … keep some class.
Jim007
April 19th, 2010
5:25 am
There must be more to the story that has not yet come out !
Lesson to all….Do something wrong and the whole world knows in 20 minutes today !
However, I am glad CMR has finally begun to take a stance on dicipline.
bornloser
April 19th, 2010
5:58 am
please explain the term driving the cab! CMR is a loser get a real coach. fire cmr fire cmr fire cmr
BuLLdawg
April 19th, 2010
6:31 am
It is not a big blow to Dogs’ Offense that Zach Mettenberger is charged with yet another charge from a very bad night for him in Remington because when the news comes out, all the “fans” who think you can only say good stuff about losing to 5 SEC East teams in the last 4 years, none of the 5 of whom are found in the Top 25 Final AP Polls the last 4 years, will say that well he isn’t on our team.
2 Georgia Bulldogs’ football recruits of Rodney Garner / Coach Richt have been dismissed from the team for what they did off the field DURING SPRING PRACTICE.
1 beat up a girl. Truth be told, he did that October 20, 2009. He slammed her into a dumpster. He was suspended for 1 game. The Shreveport Bowl game. THEN, November 30, 2009 Montez Robinson attacked her car in the parking lot breaking the taillights. He was suspended for the 1st games of this up-coming 2010 season. Only then, Montez Robinson at McWhorter Hall, picked the little University of Georgia student up and repeatedly threw her into the floor.
THAT
is when Coach Richt dismissed him from the team.
Zach Mettenberger one month and a half ago on March 7 a Sunday was arrested for arguing with the police trying to break up a brawl. They arrested him for obstruction. He also then provided 2 fake IDs. In addition this 18-year Rodney Garner / Coach Richt recruit was disorderly, and of course drunk. Now, we find out that he might have been on a trip to see a gal and that she has something to say about that night too, now that he was not the best QB at G-Day, but the Best UGA QB in the 3 Scrimmages including the G-Day Game.
What we saw was that Aaron Murray did not look good on TV in front of 39,000 Sanford Stadium crowds, but the facts are that Aaron Murray was not the best QB prior to that. Injured in high school, he showed up here, injured. Then, our staff allowed him to throw his arm out and he missed 21 practices last year. This year, we found that the QB who never took a snap under center at Plant High School, had to share time to finally try to get ready with a QB here for 4 years now, Logan Gray, who has 0 TD passes, 2 interceptions and 5 completions to show for his 4 years now in this system. And, had to share time with Zach Mettenberger, who was relegated in a 3-way competition for Starting QB to being the ONLY QB not to play with the 1st team offense.
Coach Richt knew this about his recruit of last year, all along.
It is why he did not let Zach Mettenberger play with the 1st team offense, despite being # 1 QB for the 3 scrimmages.
3 scrimmages # 1 QB, not just G-Day.
It is why he did not let Zach Mettenberger be named on the 3-deep Depth Chart at QB. It is why he missed telling us all the Depth Chart for the last 2 weeks now, even though he told us he would, not this weekend but last weekend.
Then, he missed this weekend’s deadline for announcing the depth chart.
92 arrested / suspended UGA Football Players in the Coach Richt Era.
4 years of substandard play against substandard SEC East opponents.
A QB who is small and only is 4.7 in the 40-yard dash. Seemed overwhelmed in the highly publicized G-Day, but frankly underperformed in all 3 scrimmages with 3 scrimmages worth of 5 interceptions and 1 TD pass, numerous sacks, and the team fumbled the ball, while we saw penalty after penalty which clearly were not allowed to be called.
9-4 or 10-3 in a 14-game season.
Don’t let there be something else I find out about later, Zach Mettenberger, Coach Richt told him. Tell me now, March 7. Month and a half later, yes Coach that happened also.
Gone.
While every other team is discussing their 10-3 or 9-4 season up-coming in 14-game seasons, we have the dubious distinction of hoping oft-injured small and slow Aaron Murray who did not perform well on TV in front of even 39,000 screaming fans, can witness at least what ?
No more arrests / suspensions ?
We get to spend yet another Summer talking about nothing but Arrests / Suspensions
AGAIN.
92 Arrests / Suspensions in the Coach Richt Era.
Look for Chris Low to have his say on this, now.
It is ALL we hear about anymore. Arrested / Suspended Bulldog THROWN off the team.
Michael Lemon. Odell Thurman. Montez Robinson. Zach Mettenberger. And, it does not stop here. We have filled the NFL with the same type situations for them to deal with too. It is the state of this UGA Bulldogs’ Football Program.
That and losing 5 games to SEC East Teams the last 4 years alone, none of the 5 of which are found in the Top 25 of the Final AP Polls the years they ALL 5 BEAT US.
Whiznot
April 19th, 2010
6:45 am
Don’t criticize CMR. He is a good humble simple minded Christian.
Buckhead Bulldog
April 19th, 2010
7:06 am
BuLLdawg – Brutal but true…..gotta agree with you on that one! I wonder how much Grantham’s influence has had on Richt? Get a little NFL discipline with these wild boys at UGA….enough is enough. Very embarassing for the institution I love.
Hobnail Boot
April 19th, 2010
7:06 am
I guess better now than down the stretch when we need him. I hate it the kid really had a big arm.
Bud
April 19th, 2010
7:17 am
test