Who’s No. 1 QB? Answer this week, Richt says (PLUS: more from G-Day)
(Updated 7 p.m.)
ATHENS – The G-Day game produced no immediate answer to the No. 1 question in Bulldog Nation: Who is Georgia’s starting quarterback?
“I know everyone wants to know what’s going on, wants to know who the starter is, and I couldn’t name the starter right now if I wanted to,” coach Mark Richt said after Saturday’s intra-squad game. “I really don’t think I could.”
But Richt said hopes to have a new quarterback depth chart by the end of this coming week.
Between now and then, he and offensive coordinator Mike Bobo will review video of the quarterbacks’ performances throughout spring practice, which concluded with the G-Day game.
And Richt cautioned that whoever is No. 1 on the post-spring depth chart won’t be guaranteed of keeping the position into the Sept. 4 season opener against Louisiana Lafayette.
In the G-Day game, won by the “Black” team 17-7 over the “Red” team before a crowd of 38,742, strong-armed redshirt freshman Zach Mettenberger had the best statistical performance of the three quarterbacks.
He completed six of 10 passes for 150 yards for the Black team, including touchdown throws of 20 yards to walk-on wide receiver Rhett McGowan and 39 yards to tight end Arthur Lynch.
Mettenberger, who is suspended from at least the first game of the season because of his arrest near Valdosta last month on five misdemeanor charges, worked only with the second-team offense and against the second-team defense Saturday. The other quarterbacks, Logan Gray and Aaron Murray, worked with both the first- and second-team offense.
“Mettenberger certainly had a nice day, there’s no doubt about that,” Richt said. “But I think they all did well.”
Gray completed seven of 13 passes for 102 yards and one touchdown — a 7-yard toss to wide receiver Kris Durham – for the Red team and three of four passes for 30 yards for the Black team.
Murray completed eight of 19 passes for 96 yards (with one interception) for the Red team and two of three for no net yards for the Black.
Mettenberger was not available for comment afterward, per Georgia’s policy for suspended players. Both Gray and Murray said Mettenberger had his best day of the spring.
As for their own days:
“I think I did decent,” Murray said.
“I thought it went pretty well,” Gray said.
Now they await word from Richt and Bobo on a pecking order.
“I think it’s a close competition. I think it’s a great competition,” Murray said. “I think all of us, throughout the spring, have really stepped up our game.”
Said Gray: “Obviously this game was big, but it wasn’t a deciding factor for everything.”
While the G-Day game gets the most attention because it is open to the public and televised, the other spring practices, particularly two earlier closed scrimmages, get equal or greater weighting from the coaches.
“After every scrimmage, you might say one guy did better than another one,” Richt said. “I think they all had their day.”
The upcoming depth chart “will gauge where we think [the quarterbacks] are right now, but it won’t necessarily be who will start when the first game rolls around,” Richt said. “It will indicate who will be where when we start [preseason] camp.”
——————————————
Georgia put its 3-4 defense on public display for the first time Saturday -– sort of.
To avoid giving opponents a peek at the new defense, the Bulldogs were extremely guarded in how much of the playbook they showed. (Virtually none, players said.) And to keep from exposing how the defense would react to certain situations, the offense was toned down, too.
Still, new defensive coordinator Todd Grantham seemed pleased, particularly with his No. 1 unit.
“The biggest thing I was pleased with was how we worked the game and adjusted to what happened,” Grantham said. He noted that one specific running play went for a long gain in the first half but was stopped for no gain when tried again in the second half.
Grantham said he was impressed with the play of inside linebacker Akeem Dent, outside linebacker Justin Houston and the cornerbacks.
Said Houston: “I think the defense did a great job, especially holding the No. 1 offense to seven points. It was a great confidence builder, especially since they have been sticking it to us all spring.”
Fans got a first look Saturday at Grantham on the sideline. He’s intense, to say the least.
“That’s what you want . . . a guy that’s got some fire in him,” Richt said. “Everybody knows my demeanor and has a little bit of a feel for that. I think it’s probably good to have somebody who’s a little more outwardly excited. I do get excited on the inside, but it’s good to have that energy on the sidelines.”
———————————————–
Just one penalty was called in the game. That particularly pleased Richt, given the Bulldogs’ No. 113 rank in the nation in penalties last season. . . Offensive tackle Josh Davis banged up his shoulder. The extent of the injury was not immediately known. . . . Tailback Caleb King didn’t play because of a strained knee. Richt said the injury isn’t a long-term concern. . . . Linebacker Richard Samuel did not play because of a concussion suffered at practice this week. . . . The Black team wore white jerseys (with black numbers). . . . Safety Nick Williams had the day’s high in tackles (7). . . . Not much was happening in the running game. Washaun Ealey had just 22 yards on seven carries for the Red team. Dontavius Jackson and Carlton Thomas ran for 43 and 41 yards, respectively, for the Black.
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359 comments Add your comment
Urban Meyer's Luck
April 11th, 2010
12:19 pm
Here’s what Brantley did in the Spring on accuracy, nothing impressive overall:
1st scrimmage: 13 for 31
2nd scrimmage: 15 for 22
3rd scrimmage: 15 for 19
43 for 72. 58% completion rate. In other words, here’s how he ranks against Georgia’s QB’s on completion rate:
Mettenberger 64%
Murray 59%
Brantley 58%
Gray 53%
Urban Meyer's Luck
April 11th, 2010
12:44 pm
Brantley in the 3 sprint games:
58% completion, 10 sacks, 8 fumbles, 5 td’s, 2 interceptions.
How about that “Gatorade player of the year” folks?
What a moron this guy is
April 11th, 2010
1:19 pm
Geez what a complete idiot this guy is going to such lengths to talk smack about the Gators when all they do is kick your teams tail up and down the field. Citing meaningless spring practice stats as some sort of evidence is the work of a slightly retarded extremely jealous fool who can’t have his team back up his internet bravado.
Patrick you sure want to compare Florida getting “lucky” in 2006 with their 13-1 and UGA’s 13-1 in 2002 but it sure is funny you conveniently leave out the FACT that Florida has matched that 13-1 THREE times in the last FIVE years. No luck about that you jealous little fool, just FACTS.
Why you talk smack about Spring Practice stats when they start actually meaning something in a game played between August and January. Until keep embarrassing yourself and the rest of the UGA Nation with your jealous little rants. You poor pathetic little boy….
SEC QB Analyst
April 11th, 2010
1:22 pm
Urban Meyer’s luck,
Brantley also throws against the no.1 D at Florida. He will be just fine and you forget that he was the gatorade player of the year coming out of high school and is in his 3rd year of prepping for the job. You forget that in the Florida spring game last year he was something like 19 of 25. Over at Bama their backup qb AJ McCarron was 21 of 28 for 230 yds and 3 tds 0 picks. He’s been tearing it up all spring and some of the Bammers think he could beat out McElroy. I would take Brantley and or that Bama backup qb over your 3 headed joke of a qb derby anyday.
As bad as Logan Gray is (pick 6 on 1 pass vs mighty gators) its remarkable that the other 2 are so bad that neither of them has been able to outright seize the job or take the backup job during their redshirt season.
In a fair comparison these 3 stooges aint nothin compared to Brantley and aren’t showing the promise of the Bama backup who was good enough to win the #2 job as a redshirt freshman last year. If you can’t beat out Logan Gray even as a redshirt freshman than that is saying something. And it aint good.
SEC QB Analyst
April 11th, 2010
1:32 pm
Those are some great stats by Patrick. However, the majority of Richt’s success came in 2001-2005 when Bama was racked with probation and reduced schollys and Florida had Ron Zook. That was his window of opportunity and now that Urban Meyer is at UF and Bama is back at full strength and has Saban things are different. Looking at Richt’s stats since 2005 he is 10-10 against the sec east. That says it all. One or even 2 down years are permissable but .500 in your own division over the span of 4 years is terrible. Its especially bad when given that Vandy and Kentucky are in the divsion and that UT has had coaching turmoil the last 3-4 years with Fulmer on the hot seat for 2-3 straight years and then the boy blunder in there for a year. The only stable teams have been Carolina and Florida and that’s it.
4 years of mediocre performance is enough of a downtrend to determine that the Georgia program is dropping and a rise back up is not anywhere near in sight. Patrick can talk all he wants to about Georgia doing well under Richt but the bottom line is that most of that success came in the early 2000s when there was no Urban Meyer or Nick Saban at Bama.
patrick
April 11th, 2010
1:33 pm
ummmm buLLdawgs…………..Good luck with the slow descent into madness!
You are like so many people and their revisionist history. If you remember you would post endlessly BEFORE I cam on and slammed you down with actual facts. I even posted how you must really love UGA since all you do is stay on here blogging about them. I will try to find the comment and time stamp. So actually you are not here because of me….I am here because of you!
patrick
April 11th, 2010
1:35 pm
4 years of medicorce? ummm was 2007 not in the last 4 years? Didnt UGA finish second in the nation? Please ole sage one….do tell us how a number 2 ranking is mediocre? We are all waiting with baited breath
patrick
April 11th, 2010
1:37 pm
Also, Brantley was NOT throwing against the number one Defense. In scrimmages the number 1 usually plays number 2. Not much of an analyst.
patrick
April 11th, 2010
1:38 pm
SEC dummy/analyst………
Nick Saban went 6-5, 6-6, 6-6, 7-5 at Mich St.
He went 8-5 at LSU 2x
He went 7-6 at Alabama.
Saban has gone 5-3 or worse in conference 8 times.
Richt has only gone 5-3 or worse in conference 3 times in his first 9 years.
Compare that to Saban’s record and consistency in his 1st 9 years.
Richt has NEVER had a 7-6 or 6-6 season, Saban’s done it 5 times, including once at Alabama.
What a moron this guy is
April 11th, 2010
1:40 pm
Im sure Patrick is also the type fan that will find an obscure stat after a blowout loss for the dogs and cry and cry about how it means they were the better team and it was really a “win”
It’s really apparent all these beatdowns by the Gators have turned you into a pathetic tool ripe with jealousy so strong its made you a babbling moron and an embarrassment to your own teams fans.
patrick
April 11th, 2010
1:42 pm
“what a moron this guy” comments but with nothing to discredit what I said…..translation: “I dont like Patrick bursting my blue and orange bubble and since I cant discredit him I will call him a moron”
patrick
April 11th, 2010
1:44 pm
what a moron this guy fails to mention that fla NEVER had an undefeated season. I wonder if UGA fans can say the same thing. LOL
Dr Jekyll meet Mr Hyde
April 11th, 2010
1:46 pm
Pay no attention to patrick…he loves meaningless stats…he is the only person I have ever heard that tries to directly compare players at different schools based on scrimmages and SPRING stats and not actual games…because when it comes to the real games, the stats don’t support his absurdity…and neither does the scoreboard…but you know what they say and it certainly does apply to patrick…stats are for losers…
patrick
April 11th, 2010
1:46 pm
“what a moron this guy” fails to mention that Fla has a losing record in bowls and that UGA is 6th in the nation in bowl winning percentage
CDAWG
April 11th, 2010
1:47 pm
Is CMR REALLY going to let AJ return punts. GOD I hope not. I noticed him standing back there yesterday and I know they have been talking about it.
I am really excited about Coach Grantham’s fire, passion and leadership on the sideline.
I agree with an earlier post that Murray made poor decisions and was off target with his passes. I was more impressed with Logan than Aaron.
There were some penaltiest that were not called that would be called in the fall.
Now I think we all have something to be excited about this fall. I CANNOT wait for that putrid Orange team to come in here.
patrick
April 11th, 2010
1:48 pm
“what a moron this guy” fails to mention that UGA ranks 11th alltime in wins all the while playing the second hardest SOS in history behind Mich. Where is Fla ranked?
patrick
April 11th, 2010
1:48 pm
“what a moron this guy” fails to mention that UGA is ranked 11th in average polls in history…Fla not so much.
patrick
April 11th, 2010
1:49 pm
“what a moron this guy” fails to mention that in the last nine years under Richt UGA has finished top ten 6 times to Fla’s 3 times.
patrick
April 11th, 2010
1:50 pm
But I digress
patrick
April 11th, 2010
1:52 pm
buLLdawg created me….now the other Fla fans have to suffer with actual facts to discredit their supposed stellar program.
patrick
April 11th, 2010
1:55 pm
4 years of decline?…..2006 UGA finished ranked in the 20s. 2007 UGA ranked number 2 (an incline). in 2008 UGA finished ranked 10/13 (not much of a fall off). 2009 UGA finished unranked. Looks more like a one year decline to me.
Stats Are For Foolers
April 11th, 2010
1:56 pm
You can make stats support any argument you want. For instance, I can go survey Wall Street and give you all kind of stats and figures that the economy is booming. Or I can go survey a Detroit urban neighborhood and tell you that the economy has never been worse. Whatever your point is, I can find stats to support it.
What a moron this guy is
April 11th, 2010
1:57 pm
thanks for proving my point loser…
patrick
April 11th, 2010
1:57 pm
oh did I mention that the longest streak of 8 or more games in history belongs to UGA who currently has 13 in a row?
did I mention that over those 13 years UGA has won 11 bowl games? Other than LSU and ALA no other team has done that.
patrick
April 11th, 2010
1:59 pm
Facts are facts…they dont change simply because they dont support your erroneous claims and you dont like them
What a moron this guy is
April 11th, 2010
2:00 pm
even with all that Florida still has more National titles than UGA and Patrick unless you’re VERY old the Gators have flat out owned UGA in your lifetime. COngrats though on coming up with so much meaningless spin to make yourself feel better about the Gators being your teams daddy since you’ve been alive. Maybe one day your team will actually do something vs. the Gators and you wont have to resort to such pathetic spin that does nothing but show how pathetic, jealous and insecure you are that your team is no where near the level of what the Gators are right now.
Stats Are For Foolers
April 11th, 2010
2:14 pm
This guy Patrick would be great on a political forum. He could even argue against himself. But fortunately this is sports where there is a definitive winner and a loser determined by a set of rules and an ultimate determined score. And a scoreboard just to remind us. This is one reason that people love sports because it eliminates the ambiguity, the B.S. that seems to permeate our society. Well, at least I suppose for most of us. Guess there’s a Patrick in every crowd.
patrick
April 11th, 2010
2:18 pm
6 top tens in last 9 years
3 top ten in 9 years
hmmmmm
patrick
April 11th, 2010
2:20 pm
stats are for fools.
scoreboard? OK then
UGA under Richt has 90 wins
Fla in same time has 90 wins
UGA has 2 SEC titles in last 9 years
Fla has 2 SEC titles in last nine years
UGA ranked top ten 6 times in last 9 years
Fla ranked top ten 3 times in last 9 years.
Yeah clearly Fla is superior to UGA
patrick
April 11th, 2010
2:25 pm
oh did I mention that UGA has 56 players currently on active NFL rosters. One a Superbowl MVP and one the rihest number 1 draft pick in history? Fla has 41 players on active NFL rosters. yeah clearly Fla is superior to UGA
AltamahaDawg
April 11th, 2010
2:38 pm
Give patrick credit for one thing…for all the names you guys call him, nobody seems to be able to actually dispute or correct him.
He is just another personality that BuLLdawg uses to argue with himself anyway.
“patrick is why I am in here” “buLLdawg created me….”
Dissociative Identity Disorder. Does anybody Not believe its possible?
patrick
April 11th, 2010
2:51 pm
Altamaha Dawg, I think I would rather be called a freakin democrat than BuLLdawg
POSER
April 11th, 2010
2:54 pm
YELLOW HAMMER, Who the hell are you directing those nasty comments to. I”M THE POSER, and untill now I’ve not posted anything. However don’t worry JAWJA fans, coach DODO, I mean coach BOBO will figure out who’s the best QB. I’ve got your hammer hanging, but it an’t yellow. YELLOW(scrotum nose) HAMMER.
BleedRedandBlack
April 11th, 2010
3:24 pm
If SEC officials did the game same as regular season, there would have been numerous penalties and at least one if not two players ejected!
No one knows what was said or what led up to it, but Ealey looked more out of line than Williams, although Williams suffered the brunt of the discipline and Ealey continued playing.
Slim
April 11th, 2010
3:40 pm
Mark it down…Georgia will only win 3 games this year.
Could it be...
April 11th, 2010
4:13 pm
…that patrick and BuLLdawg are one and the same??? Their lunatic rantings would indicate so…
Go Dawgs
April 11th, 2010
4:17 pm
Mettenberger!!!! Start getting him ready for South Carolina!!!!!
Murray did not make good decisions (reminiscent of Joe Cox!)
Logan Gray runs good but his passes are slow and several receivers caught the ball reaching back for them. Gray was unable to deliver the ball to AJ Green downfield – it was out of his range!
Jeckyll Island
April 11th, 2010
4:20 pm
30-24!!!
30-24!!!
30-24!!!
30-24!!!
30-24!!!
30-24!!!
8 out of 9!!!
8 out of 9!!!
8 out of 9!!!
8 out of 9!!!
8 out of 9!!!
8 out of 9!!!
Dawgs Own Tech!!!!
Mark Richt is undefeated in tiny Bobby Dodd Stadium!!!!
73-66!!!
73-66!!!
73-66!!!
73-66!!!
73-66!!!
73-66!!!
Tech is always so overrated!!!!
Small Johnson
April 11th, 2010
4:27 pm
I think UGA will probably lose to South Carolina and Arkansas do to what I saw yesterday possibly Auburn and
FL of course, I hate to say it but yes because the coaching staff does not feel the FL game is an important win, its all about winning the meaningless 10 game crap.
The reason for loses to SC and ARK is because of Met being suspended and if Murry plays have decent in the first game Richty and OPY will be reluctant to put met in if the game gets tight just don’t feel good about it
FRED
April 11th, 2010
5:10 pm
MURRAYS INTERSEPTION WAS SCARY. IT LOOKED HIGH SCHOOLISH.
Small Johnson
April 11th, 2010
5:18 pm
Bobo or Richt must be telling Mickelson to continue using his driver, Im mean when are you going to realize that club (or Richt and Bobo’s case Play) isn’t working for you
Glass is HALF FULL
April 11th, 2010
7:12 pm
Headline here ought to read UGA’s QB glass is HALF FULL with THREE VERY COMPETENT and different style QBs. It appears that these three talented QBs can move the chains. This is good news for true UGA fans ……….three guys is great news. All of them can play in the SEC.
Zack won the day however. No big deal. It IS April.
Logan looked exactly like what he brings to the table. athleticism and ability to throw on the run.
AM was somewhat disappointing BUT he has 5 months to tune up. He is ALSO similar to Logan and is possibly more accurate with his throws. He did not show it on Saturday and was way off the mark with AJ and Orson. If he makes those two passes he has TWO TDS and about 90 more passing yds.
The so called UGA QB uncertainty is good news. It means that they all need to work hard. Too bad for Zack ………..his Valdosta partying will make him a bench warmer on opening day and once the season starts, it is hard to dislodge quality players like AM if they are producing. Just a lesson of life. If you sooze …………YOU MIGHT LOSE the ability to start.
Goooooooooooooo Dogs.
paul
April 11th, 2010
7:23 pm
With Murray throwing those 2 touchdowns, and 3 interceptions, not so good. Like Mettenberger throwing 5 touchdown’s and 1 interception. Mettenberger was more accurate and threw for more yards too. I expect an announcement Monday, this one’s a no brainer.
Glass is HALF FULL
April 11th, 2010
7:24 pm
Here is one more comment. To say that UGA ia a “loser school because Mark Richt has never won a NC” is dumb. It is accurate but dumb. Here is why:
Like this: The number 1 salesman in our firm earned over $1.3 million in 2009 sales commisions. The # 3 guy in 2009 “only” made $500,000. How many of you would love to be third in sales every year with “only” $500,000 in income.??? How many of you have a great job????? Hmmm??
UGA often ends up either in the Sugar Bowl, Chic Fil A, Outback or the Capital One and ends up over 13 years winning 8 games or more. NOT ONE …………NOT ONE SCHOOL other than UGA can claim that.
We pistol whipped Drew Brees while he was at Purdue in the Outback Bowl in this same period. Who else in the South can claim that?? Hmmm?? I know that he is not as good as a Josh Nesbitt. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHHAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAH We also beat Eli Manning in this same period. AAAAAAAAAHAHAH Both Super bowl QBs lately. UGA is a guy with a fabulous resume and making that $500,000 income and CAPABLE OF EARNING FAR MORE with only one or two more wins per year. THAT is why UGA fans are always pumped.
The UGA glass is always AT LEAST HALF FULL. Most SEC/ACC/Big TEN/PAC 10/BIG 12 glasses for 50 years or more have been bone dry.
Go Dogs.
AltamahaDawg
April 11th, 2010
7:55 pm
A democrat!!!! That is serious, I take it back then.
Popi
April 11th, 2010
8:14 pm
The big unanswered question is how many of the UGA goons will be arrested.
THAT will determine the depth chart!
Popi
April 11th, 2010
8:17 pm
Hey, “Jeckyll Island”: Learn to spell, you moron.
AltamahaDawg
April 11th, 2010
8:20 pm
Speaking of that Outback Bowl, you must have seen the replay this afternoon of the 2000 game. I know now why we don’t seem to be many lucky breaks. QC used up about a decade worth of them in that 4th quarter. New decade, maybe Lady Luck can refresh our account balance.
Tdawg
April 11th, 2010
8:22 pm
Wonder if we can get Joe Cox another year of eligibility?
Small Johnson
April 11th, 2010
8:39 pm
Really could care less about the 10 wins
Rather have wins against FL
If you go back and look losses to FL kept us out of several SEC championship games and a national championship
So you can take your 10 wins crap and shove it
At the end of the day people only remember champions not 10 win seasons