Nick Chubb leads a potent Georgia ground game. (Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports)
ATHENS, Ga. — With only one week left before the the table is set for ninth-ranked Georgia’s season-opening pregame meal, head coach Mark Richt still wasn’t positive which quarterback would take the first snap for the Bulldogs on Sept. 5.
Richt said this week he just isn’t ready to name a No. 1 quarterback.
He has some pros on his side in delaying the decision.
Georgia has next-level talent on both sides of the ball and a sweet September schedule. The Bulldogs should be 4-0 when Alabama comes to Athens the first weekend of October. A win over the Crimson Tide then would put Richt back in the national title hunt, something desperately craved by Bulldog Nation.
For the first time in a long time, it starts with the defense in Athens. Second-year defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt has a good-looking squad, featuring a pair of superstar linebackers in Leonard Floyd and Jordan Jenkins. Both are projected first-day NFL draft picks.
The offense is built around a running attack that very may well be the best in the nation. Sophomore Nick Chubb was a breakout superstar as a freshman and is a top-tier Heisman candidate this year. Chubb has a pair of road-graters to run behind in junior guard Greg Pyke and senior tackle John Theus, a first-team All-SEC selection. Backup running backs Sony Michel and Keith Marshall are starters at most schools.
That’s where the accolades end, though, because what Georgia doesn’t have is a proven quarterback, which has tempered expectations slightly.
Sophomore Brice Ramsey is considered the frontrunner in a three-man race. Richt wasn’t tipping his hand early in August camp and even said he’d consider playing two quarterbacks in the opener against Louisiana-Monroe. Sophomore Faton Bauta and Virginia-transfer Greyson Lambert are the other candidates.
Whoever wins the job will need only to be able keep defenses somewhat honest. It seems unlikely new offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer would keep the ball the ball away from Chubb or any of the stable of backs he inherited when Mike Bobo took the head coaching job at Colorado State.
Plus, a soft September slate will only benefit the new QB. A Week 3 home game against South Carolina will be the toughest early test, but the Dogs better be ready come October. Back-to-back-to-back SEC battles against Alabama, at Tennessee and home against Missouri will reveal exactly who the Bulldogs are.
Ranked No. 9 in the Coaches Poll, Georgia is the favorite in the SEC East, which also puts the Dogs squarely in the playoff hunt.
NOTES, QUOTES
SPOTLIGHT ON SEPTEMBER: A pair of cupcakes sandwiched around two winnable SEC games set up Georgia to 4-0 heading into October. The Bulldogs open at home against a Louisiana-Monroe team picked to finish seventh in the Sun Belt. Georgia then travels to Vanderbilt, before returning home to take on South Carolina. The Bulldogs close out the month against Southern of the FCS, before facing Alabama, Tennessee and Missouri to consecutive weeks in October. Ouch.
KEYS TO SUCCESS: Georgia’s best players are evenly distributed on both sides of the ball, giving coach Mark Richt a talented, balanced roster to make a run at the SEC East title — if the quarterback play is serviceable enough to keep defenses honest. The quarterback position, by far, is Dogs’ biggest key to success.
AREAS OF CONCERN: In addition to the quarterback, Georgia must break in a new center and some young receivers into new offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer’s scheme. Schottenheimer is not expected to make dramatic changes to the Bulldogs’ pro-style offense, but he’ll need to find ways to make his quarterback comfortable, while force-feeding his stable of backs.
QUOTE TO NOTE: “When you start preparing for Louisiana-Monroe you’d like to have a pecking order [of quarterbacks]. But I’m not even set on that yet. I’m not set on saying that I’m gonna have a first-teamer by the time we do that. There’s a chance we have a couple guys taking reps in game one, I’m not sure.” — Coach Mark Richt to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in early August.
