Hutson Mason got help from everybody this offseason.
One of the bigger objectives Bobo had this spring for Mason, an unheralded 2010 signee from Marietta, dealt with footwork. Bobo had detected on video that Mason’s feet had been too close together late last season, so the two studied New England Patriots star Tom Brady and how he established himself in the pocket.
Bobo’s father, George, a former coach at Thomasville High, also helped out.
“Coach Bobo’s dad really taught me a lot as far as footwork and the lower body, which is something I was struggling with at the end of last year,” Mason said. “We worked hard together in January, February and March, and he feels like I’ve come a long way. I thought as far as mentally and knowing everything in this offense, I felt fantastic the whole spring.
“It was more about mechanics for me, so that’s what I really wanted to focus on. I tried to get my lower body into every single throw this spring to where it wasn’t just all arm.”
Richt claims that Mason actually looked stronger in the two scrimmages that weren’t open to the public. I thought he looked comfortable running the offense at G-Day. He doesn’t sound like he lacks for confidence, but this is April. If his offensive line plays well enough to keep him confident once the season starts, he’s got more than enough weapons around him to make things click.
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“Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face.” – Mike Tyson
That’s my concern. Preseason sunshine is one thing but if the O-line plays like they did many times with AM, will his footwork and confidence fall apart.
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Not sure that I’ve ever seen Bobo this confident in a Quarterback. Maybe Green the last year or two, but he wasn’t OC then, and Richt still worked a lot more with the QB’s.
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If your observation is true, I would have to admit surprise that he can be more confident with HM than he was heading into last year with Murray. My take is that Mason has improved with his fundamentals and Bobo saw this spring that after the “open competition” Hutson Mason is clearly the best option and now is the time to support him publicly to build his confidence.
It is encouraging to see improvement in his footwork but there is simply no way to replicate Murray’s command of the offense and decision making in the first year at the position. Murray’s greatest strength to me was his ability to throw the receiver open and spread the ball to everyone on the field at the right time. Mason seems to be able to make the short throws accurately enough but we will not know about decision making until he faces top SEC defenses, and I still have concerns about his ability to stretch the field. I would love to see him be a Shockley and hit the field wide open next season but QB remains a “neutral” for me regarding this year’s team, neither a strength nor weakness. I think Mason may end up in the top half of SEC QB’s in 2014 but it is a much weaker field for comparison purposes. Will it be enough? I have bigger concerns about UGA in 2014 than QB but I don’t see it as a difference maker.
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Well first, I don’t know that it is true. Just a sense I’m getting from Bobo and Richt. I think it compares favorably with the confidence Richt had in Shockley.
And we have to remember that, even going into his senior year, Murray had a history of not playing well in big games. Going into the 2012 SECCG he had a gorilla on his back. Entering last year, it was reduced to a monkey, or maybe a chimp, but it was still there. It wasn’t until after LSU that it really came off. I can recall Bobo being apologetic to some national writers last August, finally just saying “well he’s our guy, and we believe in him.”
I don’t know that he can, either. But I wouldn’t put it past him, especially after the first 3 or 4 games.
Yeah, I share all the same concerns. But Mason does have good instinct, and the long throws can be made with air under them if he knows exactly where to put it, and how to keep it safe. And he seems to have that knack.
I just have a sense that Mason has that certain “moxie” that Murray didn’t have. Had Murray had that, he wouldn’t have struggled for 3 years in all those big games. And his career would’ve been even better than it already was, he would’ve been considered one of the best to ever play, IMHO. No knock on Murray, that’s just the way it was.
I’m guessing Bobo has that in mind when he gushes with such confidence about Mason. Sure hope I’m right, because we’re going to know one way or the other right our of the gate.
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I pretty much agree but feel the “Murray” can’t win the big one was greatly over stated. Truth is no athlete consistently has great numbers, comparatively speaking, against the best competition whether it be football, baseball, basketball, etc. And football is truly a team sport where the highs and lows are always shared with the performance of others so it is hard to distinguish. Take the SC game in 2012, Peyton Manning would have been horrible at QB in that game if he were wearing Red and Black. Murray made more mistakes against FU’s defense, but what QB wouldn’t be more hurried in those situations? He also played some excellent games against good teams, we just seem to remember the ones we lost and blame the QB.
I am certainly not anti-Mason, hope he blows the top off the stat sheet but it is just unfair to expect him to not be less than the QB I believe to be the best UGA has had. Big games, or cupcakes, I would put AM behind center over the other choices. Would love to say Mason shows us he belongs in that discussion.
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No, that’s something different. I said Murray “had a history of not playing well” in big games, which is not the same thing. Yo can play well and win, or play just as well and lose.
What I’m talking about has almost nothing to do with the numbers. I have no idea what they are, and it doesn’t really matter because I’m referring to how the position itself was played.
I’m a Murray fan, too. But he had a history of laying eggs in the big games, especially early in those games. This past season, Bobo actually referred to it a few times, specifically at last year’s Spring Game. He would just get uptight, or whatever, and Bobo would have to settle him down, usually at the half.
Most of the big games Murray didn’t play well in, it was early. Sometimes he was able to recover at the half, or sometime in the second or third quarter. But whatever it was, it was real, and that was what I meant by lack of “moxie”, which I think Mason has. We’ll see.
I’m not doing that at all. Again, I speaking strictly in terms of the way the position was played. Murray was a notoriously slow starter, in most of his games his first 3 years. And in the bigger ones, he often wasn’t himself. That’s why Bobo had to calm him down all the time.
I’m not placing any expectations on Mason, at least not trying to, I just feel good about him.
We can disagree about Murray being the best. As good as he was, I would place him oh, let’s see … of the Georgia QB’s I saw play in Athens, maybe 5th or so. It would be something like this:
1. Green
2. Zeier
3. Stafford
4. Tarkenton
5. Murray
And it’s really close, IMO, between Green & Zeier.
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“…unheralded 2010 signee” Hutson Mason. WTF?? Mason only broke every HS passing record (yards, TDs, attempts, completions, etc.) for every classification in Georgia HS football history. It would be hard to find a QB who was more “heralded” that Hutson Mason coming out of HS anywhere in the nation. The only reason it took CMR time to offer him was that, at the time, UGA was loaded at the QB position (remember Mettenberger?) and CMR didn’t want to sign any new QBs. Finally, CMR decide to sign 1 QB that year–Mason. I’m sure glad he did as things turned out. With Mett gone there wouldn’t have been anything approaching a solid back-up without Mason.
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Not buying it. Mason may be our best option but his arm strength creates big problems for the offense. He will not be starting in jax.
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The take on Eli Manning coming out of college was that he had limited arm strength to throw it down field. Last I checked he was wearing a super bowl ring. Our quarterback doesn’t need to be able to lie on his back and throw it100 yards down field. I’m going to be objective and say he doesn’t have to be able to sling it around. He has more than enough tools around him to be successful. Colt McCoy didn’t have the gun in college but I liked his release. UT did well with him. Anyway, thanks Bluto for bringing up the story on Coach Bobo schooling our qb’s foot work. He did a great job with his son. Coach Bobo’s last stop was at Stephens Co HS. Guess he liked being close to the mountains cause he pushed on up to Clayton, Georgia when he retired. “Clayton, Georgia where spring time comes to visit in the summer.” And no gnats!
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What Hudson is going to do for us in the fall will be a thing of beauty. Practice makes perfect and he has had that. And yes …love those temps up there. The only place to to be in Georgia the month of August.
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I am about 500 feet above Clayton’s altitude and it can still get warm in August. Last year was very mild in August, in fact, all summer was. Year before, only last week in June until 1st of July was really high heat index. The mountains still get pleasant at night regardless, had a fire on the front porch a few times in August the past two summers. You never know what specific weeks will be like but we never have long stretches of heat, thankfully. Heat is harder to take as I get older, and it was bad when I was young. Pretty much the same with cold, that is why I break the winter up by leaving for 6-8 weeks. I don’t mind a few weeks of winter but 2-3 months of cold is too much for my taste.
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I’m going to step across the line in the sand and say this: Mason doesn’t look like JT III or Joe Cox. I believe that he can be more than just a game manager and can be a key piece to get UGA back to Atlanta…and hey if we get to the ATL, we have a shot at the 4 team playoff. UGA’s chances will rise and fall on our defense – not Mason.
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For some strange reason I think there is a little bit of possum being played by Richt and Bobo. I really think the offense will be as dynamic as last years. Richt and Bobo are hoping to ambush Clemson, So they can open a can of whup ass on Dabo. I hope them empty the whole can… Bam Bam Dabo. Take That!! Take That!!
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What about Masons play against Nebraska suggests he will be anywhere near DJ?
Add in another year of average at best Oline play, and you have a recipe for going .500. And thats only because we have the best RB in the game. 2012 was the closest Richt has come in a loong time and it will take just as long to even sniff that success again. Oline and DBs are killing us and that will continue in 2014. Auburn played for a natty with a plug-in QB and superb blocking. Big uglies win games. When was the last time we had a dominant oline or secondary?
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What made DJ’s play vs tech gave you optimism for 2005? Lord. Welcome to Athens, where our fans are miserable at the thought of a player improving. I’m so tires of this faction of our fanbase. You don’t have to be a Disney Dawg to hope a player improves or actually believe he will. Aaron Murray got better every year. So will Hutson.
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+1. Especially a fan with no history on the blog coming out only to dis a player.
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+2
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“and we will never sniff that success again”. Source please? You must have special powers or just be a negatron….I think I have that puzzle figured out. So we came close in 2012, forgot about 2002 have you? We were as good as anyone in the country but the “system” got us and we were denied a shot. There were 2-3 games where Ohio pulled a rabbit from the hat that year against their usual wimpy schedule. Or 2007, remember the miracles TN had against Vandy, SC, and KY? It took all three to keep us away that year, even with 2 losses….which LSU had too.
I would say having 3 legit chances to the political game so many of you revere in just 13 seasons doesn’t exactly cause me to want to slit my wrists. Just be the negative person who tries to drag everyone down, must be lot of fun. Wait until you wake up one day and find yourself deep into old age and realize how you missed the bus that had all the fun. I don’t want to trade places with other programs, just wish they had to run the same gauntlet we do.
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I haven’t seen anything in Mason’s play, nor that of the O-Line, that gives me anywhere near the level of anxiety I still feel about the corners and safeties. If Pruitt can’t bring some triage to that open wound, Mason will have a steadily decreasing margin of error. Not a good place for Mason to be (or any QB, for that matter), especially early on.
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It will not astonish me if Hutson comes out roaring next year. Say what you will about Spring Practice, but he has improved his passing % before and during. He should have a DJ year with the possibility of a down game or two. I certainly think he has the Neb thingy out of his system. I’ve been waiting to hear of it, but it’s not occurring again; looks like one of those “anomaly” hickeys. And who can ignore his first play in a UGA game was to throw for a TD? Why shouldn’t we expect next season to get what we have just seen in Hutson’s Spring play? Looks to me like a good athlete is realizing levels that only he and no one else expected to achieve. We should be rocking along with him on the trail.
Let’s face it, the kid has gotten better than we expected at QB and with his assimilation into the team’s heart. He has the respect of his fellow O Teamers who say he gets a little nasty and he ain’t a poser. With his record in HS and progress at UGA I don’t think we have to worry one single frown on someone who has gotten everything together and is pulling at the traces to show it. And he can run. I can’t friggin’ wait!
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Sorry to burst your offseason bubble. My point was that Mason doesnt have to be Greene, or even Murray, if we can keep him on his feet.
And i love how posting on an online blog everyday makes you cool or knowledgeable.
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So let me get this straight! The kid been with UGA for what 3,4 years and they just see this, great coaching staff!
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