Richt: Decision this week on Mettenberger suspension
ATHENS –- Georgia coach Mark Richt said Tuesday night that he’ll decide by the end of this week how to discipline quarterback Zach Mettenberger, including how many games the recently arrested player will be suspended at the start of the season.
Mettenberger, who entered spring practice in a three-way battle for the Bulldogs’ starting quarterback job, was arrested in the early morning hours of March 7 outside a South Georgia bar on five misdemeanor charges: underage consumption/possession of alcohol, disorderly conduct, obstruction and two counts of possessing false identification.
Richt said UGA Athletic Association policy mandates a suspension of at least one game for an alcohol-related arrest “that sticks,” but the coach could impose more.
“I’m disappointed, first off,” said Richt, who commented publicly on Mettenberger’s arrest for the first time. The Bulldogs resumed spring practice Tuesday following a 12-day interruption for UGA’s spring break.
“I did spend some time talking with him,” Richt said of Mettenberger. “There is a little more information I want to gather before I make a final decision on what I’m going to do. I would certainly think by the end of the week I will have a final decision.”
Richt said he is “going through the normal protocol of talking to the young man and getting any information I can . . and talking with our administration. Anytime something like this happens, we always want to be in agreement on what we’re going to do.”
While a suspension of even one game would effectively reduce the competition for Georgia’s season-opening quarterback job to two candidates –- Aaron Murray and Logan Gray –- Richt said the arrest will not affect “at all” the amount of snaps Mettenberger gets with the No. 1 offense during spring practice.
Indeed, the three quarterbacks continued to divide snaps evenly at Tuesday’s practice. Gray took the opening snaps with the No. 1 offense in the first session of spring practice March 4, and Murray took the first snaps Tuesday, the second practice. Mettenberger will take the opening snaps with the No. 1 offense in the next practice on Thursday, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Mike Bobo said.
Of course, if suspended for the first game, Mettenberger’s role will be reduced in practice in late August. “Once we move into the phase of getting ready for the first game,” Richt said, “anybody who’s suspended, they don’t get any reps or any quality reps.”
“I’m very sad for what happened,” Murray said of Mettenberger’s arrest. “I don’t think it’s really going to change anything [on the team]. . . . . In the end, you just got to get past it. And everyday we’re still trying to get better -– him, me and Logan.”
Mettenberger, from Oconee County High School, was arrested in Remerton, near Valdosta. He was not available for comment after Tuesday’s practice.
“He’s been forthright with what has happened,” Richt said. “I believe he has been very honest. I believe he has been very remorseful. I believe he’s going to take his discipline like a man and move forward and prove to everybody this was just a one-time deal for him.
“He knows he has dug himself a hole, and he wants to climb out. He knows that what has happened this last week is not going to define who he is and define his career. What he does from this point forward will define that. So he’s very anxious to prove to everybody he’s a very solid person and a leader. We’re all disappointed, and we all know there are consequences for those kind of actions. And everybody knows that is what’s going to happen.”
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118 comments Add your comment
He's Third String
March 16th, 2010
11:52 pm
There’s pills for mental illness but there are no pills for stupidity. These acts were stupid. Where was his value of his team? Where was his value for his family? Where was his value for himself? Were a few hours of pleasure and beer drinking worth ruining what you have worked so hard for? I think these act indicate a self-centeredness and “me first attitude”. I don’t think he’ll make it as the number one quarterback. Stupid is as stupid does and this was truly stupid.
Dave Whatley
March 17th, 2010
12:23 am
Met will be fine. Murray should probably start anyway, hes more of a leader. As for thecomment “we were better with Cox:,Get real. We could direct snap to Ealey or King and have a better season than with Cox. At least that would cut down on the picks.
RED DOG 77
March 17th, 2010
12:26 am
My Goodness!!! I just can’t believe what I’m reading ! Lizard………you’re right, Tebow is a fine young man, but big enough to not need you to defend him……..And for most of the rest of you, Just relax people ! Good Greif !………We’re talking about a college kid drinking some beers and running his mouth, He’ll be ok, will you?
It's still too cold for jean shorts
March 17th, 2010
12:48 am
My coach says Coach Richt should suspend him for no more than one series. I mean, it’s not like he tried to put someone’s eye out with that beer!
Update from UGA football practice | UGA sports blog
March 17th, 2010
1:09 am
[...] including how many games the recently arrested QB will be suspended to start the season. Click here for more on the Mettenberger [...]
Judge Dred
March 17th, 2010
1:28 am
Wow! Drinking on spring break and you want to kick him off the team? What do you do if you catch a player stealing, cut off his arm? Sounds like someone is either very old, or maybe been in his room a little too long.
mike addington
March 17th, 2010
3:58 am
I guess the old saying that, if you’ve got two quarterbacks, then you’ve got none applies to fake ID’s. Two’s too many. Common Zack, find you a quality forger for pete’s sake,or UGA VII’s sake.
Yellow Fuzz
March 17th, 2010
4:40 am
(((((((((((((((((((((((((( 6-5 )))))))))))))))))))))))))))
76-Dawg
March 17th, 2010
5:34 am
When I went to UGA in the early 70’s we could drink as early as 18 because of Vietnam. I feel if a young man is old enough to fight and die for his country then he is old enough to drink. Having said that I would give Mett one game suspension for each infraction the stuck. It has nothing to do with anything except Mett’s work ethics and discipline on and off the football field. The question is does he really want to be a bulldog. He is getting a free $40,000 egucation
76-Dawg
March 17th, 2010
6:00 am
GOT too close to the submit key .a free $40,000 education and is expected to prove just how important it is to him to be the best bulldog possible and make every bulldog proud that he is representing UGA. His work ethics on the field has to be all out all of the time. His integrity should be the highest . He should be the example not just a college student going to UGA. He is wanting to be the leader of the UGA football team and he needs by god to act like one. The best example I can think of is Tim Tebow of Florida. Now I love my Dawgs but Tim was a great example of a leader and someone that any football program in the nation would be proud of. . Now the ball is in Mett’s hand . Lets see what kind of character he has. I expect him to be better than Tebow.
Steve
March 17th, 2010
6:59 am
and here we go yet again! sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo sick of this crap
Dawg Master
March 17th, 2010
7:23 am
He was probably set up to get arrested by some local tech fans. Tech will not even win 7 game this year, since all of gailey’s top recruits are gone. GA upsets florida and wins the SEC east—the 3-4 D will be the best in the SEC—mark it down!
hypocrites
March 17th, 2010
7:33 am
The kid is a college kid and college kids drink, use fake id’s and get in trouble from time to time.
However the interesting part of most of you pointing out the obvious in that sentiment is the hypocrisy that if he were a Gator the tone would be much different.
UGA has had more arrest that UF has since Meyer has been at UF and gotten so many negative headlines and dergoatory chat here from dog fans for.
For the most part the Gators, like UGA, have had players in trouble for petty stuff like underage drinking dui and traffic violations. And yes the Gators have had a few here and there with much more serious incidents as has UGA in guys who did stuff like what Michael Lemon did.
It’s ok to defend Mett for being a “college kid” but it’s a shame when you throw stones from glass houses in such a hypocritical manner.
St. Simons is my son and I never married
March 17th, 2010
7:42 am
He who is without Budweiser may throw the 1st bottle.
mcDawg
March 17th, 2010
8:07 am
there is a huge difference between scooter tickets, underage drinking, and crazed violence on the streets of Athens similar to what happened a couple of years ago and lets just say armed robbery for instance–some folks on here and in the media can’t seemto to be able to tell the difference
Tube Steak Shapiro
March 17th, 2010
8:21 am
Well said Lizard King & hypocrites.
john
March 17th, 2010
8:26 am
From now until the end of time all Techies that find their lives more fulfilled by hitting all the UGA blogs are “Tech Nerds” or more commonly know as “Terds”! C’mon in Terds. Makes your presence known to all. We will consider the bottom of each page a flush. Bye Bye Terds…….there they go…….New page. If a Terd shows up we know what to do. Wipe that Terd out! We welcome all you Terds. It makes us all feel….well, a little more regular! I feel better already. Dont forget Dawgs……….Now and forever they will be referred to as “Terds”.
AltamahaDawg
March 17th, 2010
8:33 am
There is also a huge difference in bashing some other team on your own blog, and taking the time and energy to troll another for no other purpose but to insult somebody. (not saying that applies to you) I would characterize the majority of insults hurled toward Florida player in the Georgia Bulldog blogs as not so much directed at the kids as much as it is they are your players. You realize that the kids arent the real targets, right? If so many UF fans weren’t in here, the majority of that never gets said.
dawgster
March 17th, 2010
8:37 am
Lizardking, I agree with you about Tebow and there have been alot of negative comments not only from dawg fans, but alot of other programs also..there really is no place on here for that and with that being said, there was no reason to bring this up at this time as the article had nothing to do with Tebow…Don’t open up a can of worms when there is not a need…The article was about a georgia QB, not the gator QB…
Louie
March 17th, 2010
8:39 am
Well, where do I start.
Been out of the loop lately, amused at Muttenberger story.
The way I see it, grey will play punts (i.e. won’t be qb factor) due to talent and pressure to perform.
Muttenberger is DEEP in richt’s doggie house and he is marginal talent.
So if murray goes down, mutts may be looking at LONG season and rumors flying.
Stay tuned doggies, ”AS THE MUTT TURNS” becomes a real calamity to say the least.
jackhammer, where you at son…..
STILL………………….. L M F A O !!!
sogadog
March 17th, 2010
8:47 am
CMR needs to get a handle on these kids and I am afraid he is going to be too soft on Mettenberger. Mettenberger should be running the stadium stairs not taking snaps with the first string. CMR is sending the message that bad behavior is not a big deal. His soft handling of the players is the reason his teams are sloppy, unfocused and undisciplined. I would park Mettenberger on the scout team and bump Hutson into Mettenberger’s spot. CMR has got to stop being a mama and do something to establish focus and discipline with his team now or 2010 is going to be another 2009.
Starring Kam Fong as Chin Ho
March 17th, 2010
8:49 am
A team has around 100 players. They are watched 365 days per year. In 4 years, that is 146,000 days. There have been 17 arrests in 4 years. That is approx 1 arrest every 8,588.23 days. Not bad. Too many? Yes. But not bad
Dave In Tampa
March 17th, 2010
8:52 am
I’m sure he’s a great kid that made a bad decision. CMR needs to set an example to show that he is serious about the off field problems and suspend him for the year. He needs to get strict with discipline. He does this and it will get the attention of the team.
It does not matter about what other college kids do. He earned a free education by playing football. He is in the spotlight and represents the university. Yes, fair or not, he will be in the spotlight and needs to act accordingly.
Stinger
March 17th, 2010
8:55 am
Let me quess. He gets suspended during the warmups of the opening game and his pay does not kick in until the 2nd quarter. Bottom line is who gives a crap, he will never be worth anything anyway.
Stinger
March 17th, 2010
8:58 am
6-5 Ha,Ha,Ha,Ha,Ha,Ha,Ha, LMFAO !!!!!!!!!
Everyone in the stadium got free hot dogs at the Varsity because our pitcher struck out so many dawg batters.
Bill
March 17th, 2010
9:11 am
Steve said, “Only reason this is a story is kid plays for UGA” ?
Steve the only reason this is a story is because the kid acted stupid was drunk etc… UGA don’t need all the arrest etc bad press it gets from its stupid players. Sad but truth all school have this problem. I forgive the kid and hope he don’t make the same mistake again and kill someone.
If that was Your kid are my kid what would you do? Drinking is a bigger killer than Iraq war…we need to wake up.
hit em' hard
March 17th, 2010
9:18 am
The kid likes to have fun, party, drink beer and did something dumb.
Give him the minimum suspension required by the NCAA during the 1st game against Louisiana Lafayette and be done with it.
Tebow has a future in the NFL...as a Mascot
March 17th, 2010
9:24 am
When Florida fans saw Brandon Spikes try to end Ealery’s career with the ete gouge, they thought a 1/2 game suspension was JUST FINE.
Now they come on the UGA Blog and cry for Mett to be “made an example” for drinking a beer?
Give me a break. They just don’t want Mett to be the QB and outperform their untested QB.
Otto
March 17th, 2010
9:38 am
Tech69, agreed on the juvenile comments. As for the kids drinking and threatening scholarships etc. I doubt it would have much impact. College kids are not thinking about what their actions will lead to. IMO the drinking age should be lowered to 19. Alcohol is not hard to get and if the kids want to try it they will.
MUTZ SUCK!!!
March 17th, 2010
9:44 am
(3)GT Baseball 6 (Last Place)ugay baseball 5. Come back when your worthy. Obviously the 14 fans that showed up to root the almighty muts couldn’t root them to victory in Atlanta. Haha What a bunch of losers.
barneyb
March 17th, 2010
9:47 am
Guarantee you the “punishment” will be light….that’s the Richt mentality.
tim
March 17th, 2010
9:48 am
that “untested” QB is going to light up your sorry rear ends in Jax…more than Tebow ever did, and you girls know it
Georgia...So easy a caveman can do it!!!
March 17th, 2010
9:53 am
Congratulations puppie dogs you have rightfully earned your 55,423,452,294th arrest for your athletics department. I guess that’s what happen when you take whatever Thugs and inbreds you can get to fill out your athletics department. You truly are a disgrace to your state and to college athletics!!! I find it seriously hilarious that you put hundreds of thugs and ex-cons and you try to cover it up and hide it by having Mark Richt (The only Christian in the whole department) in charge of keeping them from killing too many people by drunk driving, assualt, rape, etc….. Please do us all a favor and discontinue all further athletics at Athens Clark Co junior college until you can get a hold on this problem…..PLEASE do that for us all!!!
UGA = Disgrace to us all!!!
March 17th, 2010
9:56 am
Congratulations puppie dogs you have rightfully earned your 55,423,452,294th arrest for your athletics department. I guess that’s what happen when you take whatever Thugs and inbreds you can get to fill out your athletics department. You truly are a disgrace to your state and to college athletics!!! I find it seriously hilarious that you put hundreds of thugs and ex-cons and you try to cover it up and hide it by having Mark Richt (The only Christian in the whole department) in charge of keeping them from killing too many people by drunk driving, assualt, rape, etc….. Please do us all a favor and discontinue all further athletics at Athens Clark Co junior college until you can get a hold on this problem…..PLEASE stop the disgrace!!
6-5
March 17th, 2010
9:59 am
They walk this state
FantasTECH
March 17th, 2010
10:01 am
(3)GT 6 ugay 5……………Yup Georgia Runs this state alright. Haha losers. But seriously thanks to all 14 of the fans that made the trip to Atlanta last night for coming. We needed somebody to make fun of.
Preston
March 17th, 2010
10:05 am
My God guys! Whoever called Mett a thug is a loser. It’s not like he robbed somebody or used a dead girl’s credit card. Anyone that thinks he’s a thug must be a geek boy that never partied when he was younger. I don’t know how intense his obstruction was but if it were serious, it would have been a felony. Obstruction can be a lot of things. And the drinking is a normal thing for a college student. Like it or not, if you have a kid in college, they’re drinking. Bet on it.
TECHnique
March 17th, 2010
10:05 am
Just in case anybody missed it last night Georgia Tech sent ugay home defeated AGAIN in baseball. Thanks though for at least 10 of you showing up to support your team. That’s hilarious! 6-5 HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAA
UGA student
March 17th, 2010
10:08 am
Look, I’m a college freshman and I think it’s unacceptable that this whole issue happened. I drink downtown with my fake ID every weekend, but I’m not as noticeable as a guy competing for a starting SEC QB job. When he is getting a free ride, he should be held to a higher standard.
Although he was unlucky, I see underage football players downtown all the time and most of them will never get arrested.
Why is Georgia QB Aaron Murray wearing a glove on his throwing hand? | UGA sports blog
March 17th, 2010
10:08 am
[...] Richt plans decision this week on Mettenberger suspension. [...]
BUZZZZ
March 17th, 2010
10:08 am
Georgia baseball is a joke. What are they 8-9. HAHAHAHAHAHA that’s pitiful! Please just forfeit the next two games and save Tech the time of waxing you guys. I would much rather that happen because it is seriously not fair to send an EXTREMELY inferior team up against Tech any more this year!!!! 6-5 LOLOLOLOLOL
UGA student
March 17th, 2010
10:10 am
Oh and I’m glad you nerds finally lived up to your higher ranking and beat us in a sport. Your number three team barely slipped by us while FSU pounded us three straight days, so be wary of ACC season.
30-24
uga Students = Losers later in life!!!
March 17th, 2010
10:11 am
Georgia Sucks!!!! 6-5 HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!! Georgia baseball is an embarrassment to the state of Georgia!!!
ARdawg
March 17th, 2010
10:13 am
Looks like Truth the YellowPee has the runs. Jeezus boy, can’t you contribute anything that isn’t infantile?
ARdawg
March 17th, 2010
10:14 am
Saint Simons ((((((((((24-30)))))))))))
UGA student
March 17th, 2010
10:14 am
I’m sure our state is thoroughly embarrassed by the performance of our baseball team. Let me know when you reach a CWS.
uGAY diploma = toilet paper.
March 17th, 2010
10:14 am
Haha it really is sad when your only excuse for losing to tech includes getting “Pounded” three strait days by an unranked FSU team. HAHAHAHA Now that was a good comeback. Please write back I would love to hear the next one. Maybe tell us about your worst loss of the season next time or something. hahahaha 6-5.
UGA student
March 17th, 2010
10:19 am
It’s hopeless arguing with the nerds.
Hmm
30-24
73-66
6-5
I’ll let you take the baseball win.
FantasTECH
March 17th, 2010
11:22 am
I don’t think you have much choice in the matter idiot. 6-5 hahahahahahaha LOSERS!!
William
March 17th, 2010
11:24 am
Remerton, near Valdosta. these cops have nothing to do but chase college kids all day and night……my daughter got a ticket at 11:00 PM for too dark of tint on windows!!!! RIDICULIOUS!!!!!
Go catch the bad guys, will ya!!!!!!