ATHENS — Georgia’s quarterback competition is now entering a critical 48-hour phase, with some clarity on the way afterwards. But how much clarity remains to be seen.
Head coach Kirby Smart didn’t make any announcements after Saturday’s scrimmage, but with the team having the next two days off from practice, Smart and his coaches will now spend that time watching tape and making an evaluation on Jacob Eason, Greyson Lambert and Brice Ramsey.
“We’re going to continue to go down this quarterback road until we figure something out,” Smart said. “But I can’t tell you anything to update you right now, because I want to reserve judgment till I watch tape, like last time.”
Smart also wouldn’t commit yet to cutting the competition down to two guys by Tuesday, or how reps will be handled in practice next week.
“We’re going to evaluate the tape and then make a decision,” Smart said.
The scrimmage was closed to the media and public. No stats were released afterwards, and nobody but Smart was made available to speak afterwards.
Smart did acknowledge that Eason, the highly-touted freshman, has received more work with the first and second team this week, which he painted as an effort to catch him up to veterans Lambert and Ramsey in terms of reps in which to evaluate Eason.
“We’re trying to catch him up to speed and get him some reps to find out what he can do,” Smart said. “I think he’s done a good job responding to it. He’s had an opportunity to make more plays, and also an opportunity to make more mistakes, and he’s done both. So he’s got to improve there.”
Perhaps the most intriguing thing Smart said was near the end of his post-scrimmage press conference, when he was asked whether he planned on going into the season opener with a play script for multiple quarterbacks or just one.
“We’ve got a plan in our mind, but that’s not for public opinion, and not to share with North Carolina and everybody else in the world,” Smart said. “So we’ll execute the plan and it’ll be what it’ll be.”
The scrimmage was rain-soaked, with at least one stoppage.
The goal had been to improve timing of the passing game, and the weather made that tough. Asked if that lessened the importance of the scrimmage to the quarterback decision, Smart said it did affect the play-calling, but not necessarily how the quarterbacks will be evaluated.
“You may play a game in those (weather) conditions,” said Smart, who indicated that despite the weather the offense overall had a better day. “The offense ran the ball well. That’s always a good sign. But that’s always what you have to do in that climate.”