Rudy’s Blog Player

ATHENS — Just minutes before it was announced to the rest of the world, Georgia’s players found out who their starting quarterback would be for its season opener.

Greyson Lambert won the job over sophomore Brice Ramsey and junior Faton Bauta. And though they had little time to digest the news, other Bulldogs emphasized the trust in the coaches’ decision and expressed excitement for Lambert.

“We just found out ourselves,” senior offensive lineman John Theus said. “I’m happy for Greyson and all three guys have done a heck of a job.”

A pair of defensive players echoed that sentiment.

“All of our quarterback are good quarterbacks,” sophomore cornerback Malkom Parrish said. “I think that’s just the guy that’s best for the system for now.”

“All three of those guys can play the game,” sophomore outside linebacker Davin Bellamy said. “I’m excited to see him play Saturday.”

Lambert’s designation as the starter came seven weeks to the day after he arrived on Georgia’s campus. It also came only five months after being demoted to No. 2 on the depth chart at Virginia, a 5-7 team last year with Lambert starting nine games.

But Lambert’s history at Virginia didn’t end up mattering, at least negatively.

“He came into Georgia and busted his butt,” Theus said. “He got in the playbook, got a great understanding of Coach (Brian) Schottenheimer’s playbook. He put himself in the best position to be named the starter.”

The quarterback competition had been as much a curiosity, and a mystery, around the team as in the public.

“Honestly I had no idea. I’ll be the first to tell you,” Theus said. “I had my parents, everybody ask me, I had no idea. One day at practice I had Leonard Floyd ask me: ‘Who’s gonna be the quarterback.’ I said, ‘Leonard I have no idea.’ And that’s Leonard, if I had an inclination I would tell him. That’s what they pay the coaches to do, make tough decisions like this.”