georgia football mike bobo quarterbacks

ATHENS — Saturday’s spring game had Mike Bobo back in a familiar role. It was his first chance to show what he could do as the team’s offensive coordinator, as he took over for Todd Monken this offseason.

And given how the first-team offense started, with touchdowns on the first three drives, it’s safe to Bobo was more than comfortable dialing up plays for the Bulldogs.

“I mean, it was a lot of fun, you know? We do a lot of, like, situations in practice where we’ll move the field and try to simulate game-like reps and stuff,’ Georgia quarterback Carson Beck said. “I’ve had a little experience with him calling plays, but obviously today it worked pretty well.”

Beck completed 13 of his 18 pass attempts while working with the first-team offense and throwing for 211 yards. It was a strong effort for the junior quarterback as he staked his claim as Georgia’s starting quarterback.

“I felt like everything was working,” Beck said. “You know, Bobo was really dialing it up. I just told him that afterward when we just talked. He was dialing it up, we were executing, guys were getting open, guys were catching balls, guys were making plays. You know, it’s really easy whenever we do that and we’re executing on all levels.”

Beck wasn’t the only quarterback who shared his thoughts on Bobo, as Brock Vandagriff also spoke to reporters. Vandagriff didn’t have the same kind of success with the first-team offense but he was a victim of drops according to Kirby Smart. Vandagriff only briefly got to use his legs, but he showed some impressive athleticism while ripping off a 22-yard scramble.

On the whole, Vandagriff completed 13 of his 25 pass attempts for 175 yards. He did throw two touchdowns but he was also intercepted by Tykee Smith.

But overall, the redshirt sophomore was pleased with his performance on Saturday.

“At the end, Coach Bobo said, ‘This was one of the best quarterback groups and rooms I’ve ever been a part of.’ It’s just being bought in,” Vandagriff said. “Everyone’s on the same page. Everyone’s working to please Coach Bobo and help to contribute to this team.”

Bobo doubles as the quarterbacks coach for Georgia, so he’ll have a significant hand in selecting Georgia’s next starting quarterback. Gunner Stockton, also in the running, completed 13 of his 22 pass attempts for 144 yards. He also added a rushing touchdown.

Bobo was with Georgia last season, serving as an analyst who specialized in play design. He has past experience with multiple offensive staff members as well, easing his transition into a technically new role. Bobo was Georgia’s offensive coordinator from 2007 through 2014 but that might as well be a lifetime ago given the Bulldogs have won back-to-back national championships.

“He’s worked with people in that room,” Smart said. “They can co-exist and say, well, you want to call it this or do you want to call it this? It’s either apples or oranges. Nobody’s going to argue over what we call something. They’re good football coaches and they have good football players at their disposal. We should be good. We should be productive. We’ve got good football players, and we have good coaches. That combination has allowed us to be a good football team.”

Georgia will continue its quarterback competition through the summer and into the fall. Smart would not put an estimate on when he would name a starter. Anyone that follows the program closely probably knows better than waiting for Smart to publicly name a starter.

What is clear is that those quarterbacks feel very good about the man calling plays and coaching quarterbacks for Georgia.

Brock Vandagriff talks about benefit of working with Mike Bobo

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