GA News: OnlineAthens - After late recruiting pursuit of Jacob Eason, Florida faces UGA QB for

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From OnlineAthens.com
October 23rd, 2016 05:03 PM

Jacob Eason as a Florida Gator?
The thought may have caused heart palpitations for Bulldog fans the first week of December in between Mark Richt’s firing and Kirby Smart’s hire at Georgia.
The coveted five-star quarterback recruit traveled cross country from Lake Stevens, Wash., to take an official visit to Gainesville, Fla.
“We tried to jump in there late when there might have been a crack,” Gators coach Jim McElwain, a former Eastern Washington quarterback and assistant coach who had recruiting ties in the area, said last week. “I don’t know how big the crack was, but really had to do kind of with some previous relationships even with some people out in Seattle or in that side of the country there.”
Eason stuck with his Georgia commitment and the freshman will start his seventh game for the Bulldogs (4-3, 2-3 SEC) on Saturday in Jacksonville, Fla., when the Bulldogs play the SEC East first-place Gators (5-1, 3-1).
Bulldog coaches put Eason to work during the off week with a list of “four of five things” they wanted him to focus on to improve his game, Smart said.
“The biggest thing is communication to the group,” Smart said. “Making sure that everybody gets the call and understands what it’s supposed to be and he can fix any mistakes or errors that are there.”
Eason also honed his footwork in the pocket and his decision-making in reading coverages.
“He’s really gotten better to where he’s telling you what the coverage was after the play,” Smart said. “These teams just don’t line up and make it easy for you. They make it as complicated as they can. Most of them do a good job of confusing young quarterbacks. (We’re) trying to simplify it for him.”
Smart made sure that Eason faced challenging looks during practice periods during the bye week to test his ability to decipher the defense.
Eason is coming off a career-high 346 yard passing game in the loss to Vanderbilt, but Smart said it was still a mixed bag that is similar to most of his games—some wow throws and good reads and other passes he missed on.
“For Jacob, it’s about improvement,” Smart said. “The guy has improved gradually throughout the year.”
The Vanderbilt game marked Eason’s highest passing efficiency rating (148.4) since he became starter in week two but that followed his worst rating (51.4) against South Carolina the previous game.
Consistency is still not there yet with Eason from one game day to another.
“He’s had ups and downs, OK, but he sees the coverage, he understands where to go with the ball,” Smart said. “We call all slants, he knows he’s supposed to work the field side. He’s improved in that and he’s got to continue to do that.”
Eason will be the fourth different Georgia quarterback to start in Jacksonville in as many years after Faton Bauta, Hutson Mason and Aaron Murray.
The last Georgia quarterback to win in his first start against Florida was Greg Talley in 1989.
Eason has completed 54.3 percent of his passes with nine touchdowns and five interceptions.
“I do know this—that guy is a special talent,” McElwain said. “He understands the game. He grew up in it. That guy, I really enjoyed being around him and his family in the brief time we were able to. He’s really a good player.”
Chances are good McElwain and his staff behind closed doors are talking about flaws they see on film that the Gators can expose.
Florida leads the nation in holding opponents to a 37.9 percent completion percentage and should present the biggest challenge yet for Eason who Smart has said has better study habits now in watching film to prepare for games.
“He’s continuing to learn the offense,” tight end Jeb Blazevich said. “We’re still installing stuff, we’re still getting the confusion around running new plays, running all this new stuff, while trying to fix and modify the old ones. He’s handling a lot better, he’s starting to put guys in different spots, he’s starting to be a lot more vocal, and he’s being a lot more consistent.”



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