A Second Chance for Georgia Fans

As I write this on Tuesday morning, August 30, 2016, Kirby Smart has not yet officially announced who the starting quarterback will be when Georgia opens their 2016 season this Saturday against North Carolina in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game.

Let me go ahead and spoil the surprise for you, Jacob Eason will start Saturday for Georgia, and the reason, is quite simple. If Lambert was starting, why wait to announce it? What a dramatic moment for a first year head coach, “I am pleased to announce that our starting quarterback is going to be the senior who started last year and won 10 games.” That announcement would be completely unnecessary. Do you think North Carolina would be changing their game plan when they find out that the noodle-armed quarterback will be under center for Georgia?

No, there is only one reason to wait to announce the starter, and that is to protect the freshman from all of you crazy people for at least four more days. Eason has won this job. He has been taking the majority of the snaps with the first team offense for the better part of two weeks, and he is clearly going to be the quarterback at some point this season, so why wait?

Coach Smart can make this call because of the announcement he did make on Monday. Nick Chubb is fully cleared to play without limitations against the Tar Heels on Saturday. Meanwhile, Sony Michel is day to day, but then again, aren’t we all?

Again, spoiler alert, Sony will play, Chubb will be the Chubb of old, and we are all going to be very excited to see what the future is going to look like when Elijah Holyfield carries the ball.

While I don’t expect Eason to be the star of the North Carolina game, it is clear that he is about to be given a huge responsibility. Let me list for you the names of quarterbacks who did not start their first game as a true freshman at Georgia: Aaron Murray, Matt Stafford, DJ Shockley, David Greene, Eric Zeier. Technically, the last Georgia quarterback to start as a true freshman was Quincy Carter, however, Carter was 22 years old because he had spent 4 years playing baseball in the minor leagues before he got to Georgia.

In the last 25 years, no 18 year old freshman quarterback has started at Georgia, so the rest of this blog is going to be a public service announcement to Georgia fans.

Over the past two seasons, we have seen some of the worst quarterback play we have ever seen at Georgia. With all offense to Hutson Mason, Bryce Ramsey, and most importantly Grayson Lambert, watching these guys play quarterback over the past two seasons has made me want to vomit. It should have also given the entire Bulldog Nation some much needed perspective.

For four years, I had to hear ignorant Georgia fans (you know who you are) complain about Aaron Murray. Those fans begged for Hutson Mason, they begged for anyone who wasn’t Aaron Murray.

Outside of Lambert’s performance against South Carolina last season, which was impressive, there has not been one memorable performance by a Georgia quarterback since Murray got hurt at the end of the 2013 season against Kentucky.

Now, let me take you on a quick trip down memory lane and give you some of the memorable performances from Aaron Murray, the trash quarterback.

Kentucky 2013: Murray tares his ACL, but stays in the game to finish the drive and score a touchdown on the last drive he would ever play in Sanford Stadium. Dawgs win on senior night.

Auburn 2013: Georgia comes back from three scores down to take the lead on the Tigers, with Murray’s fourth and goal quarterback sneak finally giving Georgia the lead in the fourth quarter. After the Miracle at Jordan-Hare, Murray marched the team back down the field to give Georgia a couple of shots into the endzone at the end of the game, nearly being killed on the last play of the game as he tried to will the team to victory.

LSU 2013: Murray leads Georgia to an upset victory over the Tigers and former Georgia quarterback Zach Mettenberger.

Alabama 2012: Murray drives Georgia to within 8 yards of the National title game despite the fact that Georgia was severally outmatched by perhaps the best Alabama team Saban has coached.

Florida 2012: Murray fights against Florida’s great defense all game, and ultimately hits Malcolm Mitchell for the go ahead touchdown as the Dawgs upset #2 Florida.

Those were the memories I came up with. I did no research, looked up no stats, these are games that stick out in my mind when Aaron Murray either led Georgia to victory, or kept Georgia in a game where they had no business even competing.

Georgia’s losses were always hung around Murray’s neck, but the fact of the matter is that he is one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever wear the red and black, and he never got the respect he deserved from Georgia fans. Think about it this way, Murray led Georgia to the SEC title game twice. That is the same number of times David Greene led Georgia to the SEC title game, once more than DJ Shockley, and two more than Matt Stafford, Quincy Carter, and Eric Zeire did combined.

Why am I saying all this?

Georgia fans, you have a chance to be different this time. Jacob Eason is amazingly talented, but he is going to throw some interceptions. He’s going to make some bone-headed plays. He might even cost us a game or two throughout his time in Athens. BUT, at least he is going to be a viable quarterback who can make plays. Support him the way you should have supported Aaron Murray.

I’m not saying Eason will be the greatest quarterback in school history, but after the past two seasons, can’t we at least agree it is going to be nice having a guy in the pocket that could throw the ball more than 30 yards?

Be better Georgia fans. Remember Aaron Murray and remember the past two dreadful seasons at quarterback. Later this year, when Eason makes a terrible decision, remember how excited you are when he trots onto the field at the Georgia Dome on Saturday. He’s not going to be a perfect quarterback, but he’s our quarterback. Support him or be quite, but don’t bash him. He’s 18 years old with the weight of 36 years of disappointment on his shoulders. We can’t win them all this year, but we can show that we aren’t as stupid as we looked from 2010-2013 while we booed a great quarterback and a great kid.