ATHENS — Vanderbilt head coach Derek Mason is pretty sure Jake Fromm will be Georgia’s starting quarterback this week. Kirby Smart won’t say whether Mason is right.

Mason said earlier in the day that he believed Fromm would be the starter, and that Smart was “not fooling me” by not naming a starter. 

“Let’s quit with the coaching dramatics,” Mason said, while smiling, at his weekly press conference in Nashville.

Asked about Mason’s comments, and whether Mason was right that Fromm would start, Smart declined to say.

“Derek Mason’s entitled to his opinion,” Smart said. “Derek Mason’s not at our practices. He doesn’t watch our practice tape, that I know of. So I’m not really concerned with those comments.”

Smart was asked if it was important to keep that kind of information away from opposing coaches.

“I don’t know if it’s important to keep it away from the other team as much as we keep it your our team, and we know what’s going on with our team, to make sure that each of our players understands and knows how important practice is, whether they will be on the trip or not, whether they will be on special team or not,” Smart said. “I don’t get into much of that stuff. I just try to make our team better and the guys who can practice and the guys who can play, I want to try and get those guys better.”

Fromm has guided the offense as Georgia has jumped out to a 5-0 start and a No. 5 national rankings. Eason, who started all but one game last season, sprained a knee ligament in the first quarter of the opening game and just returned to action at Tennessee.

Smart said the coaches have sat down and discussed the situation with both quarterbacks.

“They’ve both been great,” Smart said. “They understand the situation. We have talked to them, and explained the situation. They both completely understand. They see it from our perspective, and the team’s perspective. And the team goals and team focus. As long as that’s put first, then all the right decisions are made based off that. And they realize that.

“And those decisions are made off practice. Both those guys are mature and understand exactly what we’re doing, and they’ve responded well in practice.”