From OnlineAthens.com
April 16th, 2016 08:11 PM
Jacob Eason quietly went through his first two plays at G-Day because he was the holder on field goals.
When he simply walked onto the field to play quarterback for the first time before fans in a Georgia uniform, the capacity crowd in Sanford Stadium Saturday went nuts.
Here was the moment they had been waiting for with 10:36 left in second quarter.
The prized five-star freshman from Lake Stevens, Wash., connected on his first four passes including a nifty 35-yard pass to fellow early enrollee Riley Ridley, who made an over the shoulder catch.
“He can spin the ball,” coach Kirby Smart said. “I didn’t hide anything from y’all when I said the guy has an elite arm. He’s got great arm strength, great arm talent. He makes good decisions most of the time, and he’s got to communicate better.”
Two hours after G-Day ended, Eason was still trending on Twitter.
Eason went 19 of 29 for 244 yards and a touchdown while working with the No. 2 offense. He was on the Red team that lost 34-14 to the Black.
The 6-foot-5, 230-pound Eason had more completions, passing yards and the only TD pass on the day, but he was the only quarterback that didn’t face the No. 1 defense.
Smart was told that fans may now be ready to crown Eason the starter.
“Really? Why would people say that?” Smart said. “To me, he ended up 60-something percent. Brice was 60-something percent and Greyson had two drops and one bad decision. ...For people to say that, maybe they should go to Coaching 101. I don’t see that being the case.”
Eason has been working behind Greyson Lambert and Brice Ramsey all spring.
Lambert, who started last season for Georgia and in 2014 at Virginia, quarterbacked two scoring drives and went 11 of 22 passes for 140 yards. He nearly directed the offense to another score, but had a pass picked off and returned 98 yards for a touchdown by Aaron Davis.
Ramsey went 16 of 25 for 224 yards without a touchdown or interception and led the Black teams on drives that ended with Tae Crowder rushing touchdowns of 2 and 6 yards.
“Of course, Jacob has the hype about him, the fans are going crazy,” tight end Jeb Blazevich said. “I’m definitely proud of him, but I feel like everybody in that room has taken the next step. I think it’s a really competitive situation that brings out the best in guys.”
None of the quarterbacks were made available for interviews this spring, including after the scrimmage.
"I'm not really the quarterback guru," tailback Sony Michel said. "Yeah, he can throw the football, but that's the coaches' say-so on the quarterback battle."
And here is what the head coach says about that: “What I see going into fall camp is three guys that have three different traits. All three of them got some growing to do. That’s what I want them to do is improve.”
Eason’s first drive ended without a score because William Ham missed a 39-yard field goal try. When Eason returned with 3:19 left in the quarter, he received another round of cheers.
“I’m glad everybody got to come out and see Jacob Eason,” Smart said. “I think the welcoming and everybody clapping in the stands, I think that’s all great. But the guy that starts the game against North Carolina will be the guy that gives us the best chance to win the game. If that’s Jacob Eason, it will be Jacob Eason but it may not be.”
Eason’s longest pass play went for 37 yards to Reggie Davis, which set up a 7-yard touchdown run for Shaquery Wilson.
He wasn’t flawless. He had a pass float over the outstretched arms of Kirby Choates and he was fortunate that quarterbacks were off limits to be tackled or D’Andre Walker and Reggie Wilkerson could have some damage on one sack.
“I think he held the ball too long a couple of times too long,” Smart said. “He’s not used to seeing some of those pressures coming right at him. He has to improve in that area.”
Smart said he wanted the quarterback to get balanced snaps and they almost came out even.
“I thought all three of those kids competed hard, communicated well in the huddle, didn’t always make the best decisions, held the ball too long sometimes, did a good job of executing the offense for the most part,” he said.
...READ MORE HERE...
April 16th, 2016 08:11 PM
Jacob Eason quietly went through his first two plays at G-Day because he was the holder on field goals.
When he simply walked onto the field to play quarterback for the first time before fans in a Georgia uniform, the capacity crowd in Sanford Stadium Saturday went nuts.
Here was the moment they had been waiting for with 10:36 left in second quarter.
The prized five-star freshman from Lake Stevens, Wash., connected on his first four passes including a nifty 35-yard pass to fellow early enrollee Riley Ridley, who made an over the shoulder catch.
“He can spin the ball,” coach Kirby Smart said. “I didn’t hide anything from y’all when I said the guy has an elite arm. He’s got great arm strength, great arm talent. He makes good decisions most of the time, and he’s got to communicate better.”
Two hours after G-Day ended, Eason was still trending on Twitter.
Eason went 19 of 29 for 244 yards and a touchdown while working with the No. 2 offense. He was on the Red team that lost 34-14 to the Black.
The 6-foot-5, 230-pound Eason had more completions, passing yards and the only TD pass on the day, but he was the only quarterback that didn’t face the No. 1 defense.
Smart was told that fans may now be ready to crown Eason the starter.
“Really? Why would people say that?” Smart said. “To me, he ended up 60-something percent. Brice was 60-something percent and Greyson had two drops and one bad decision. ...For people to say that, maybe they should go to Coaching 101. I don’t see that being the case.”
Eason has been working behind Greyson Lambert and Brice Ramsey all spring.
Lambert, who started last season for Georgia and in 2014 at Virginia, quarterbacked two scoring drives and went 11 of 22 passes for 140 yards. He nearly directed the offense to another score, but had a pass picked off and returned 98 yards for a touchdown by Aaron Davis.
Ramsey went 16 of 25 for 224 yards without a touchdown or interception and led the Black teams on drives that ended with Tae Crowder rushing touchdowns of 2 and 6 yards.
“Of course, Jacob has the hype about him, the fans are going crazy,” tight end Jeb Blazevich said. “I’m definitely proud of him, but I feel like everybody in that room has taken the next step. I think it’s a really competitive situation that brings out the best in guys.”
None of the quarterbacks were made available for interviews this spring, including after the scrimmage.
"I'm not really the quarterback guru," tailback Sony Michel said. "Yeah, he can throw the football, but that's the coaches' say-so on the quarterback battle."
And here is what the head coach says about that: “What I see going into fall camp is three guys that have three different traits. All three of them got some growing to do. That’s what I want them to do is improve.”
Eason’s first drive ended without a score because William Ham missed a 39-yard field goal try. When Eason returned with 3:19 left in the quarter, he received another round of cheers.
“I’m glad everybody got to come out and see Jacob Eason,” Smart said. “I think the welcoming and everybody clapping in the stands, I think that’s all great. But the guy that starts the game against North Carolina will be the guy that gives us the best chance to win the game. If that’s Jacob Eason, it will be Jacob Eason but it may not be.”
Eason’s longest pass play went for 37 yards to Reggie Davis, which set up a 7-yard touchdown run for Shaquery Wilson.
He wasn’t flawless. He had a pass float over the outstretched arms of Kirby Choates and he was fortunate that quarterbacks were off limits to be tackled or D’Andre Walker and Reggie Wilkerson could have some damage on one sack.
“I think he held the ball too long a couple of times too long,” Smart said. “He’s not used to seeing some of those pressures coming right at him. He has to improve in that area.”
Smart said he wanted the quarterback to get balanced snaps and they almost came out even.
“I thought all three of those kids competed hard, communicated well in the huddle, didn’t always make the best decisions, held the ball too long sometimes, did a good job of executing the offense for the most part,” he said.
...READ MORE HERE...
