David Ching assesses what’s in store for Georgia at the position here. He teases out a couple of interesting stats:
- Mason passed for at least 200 yards in just one game.
- Although Ramsey played far less than Mason, he accounted for two of the Bulldogs’ five longest completions of the season.
Considering that Gurley had one of 2014’s other three longest completions, it’s pretty clear that Bobo abandoned the long passing game for the first time in a while.
With either Ramsey or Park at the helm, it’s a pretty good bet that Georgia’s going to be trading one set of strengths, Mason’s accuracy and ball protection, for another, the threat of a deep passing attack to keep opposing safeties from loading up against the run as much.
And that leads to a set of questions for which we’ll have to wait on the answers – (1) is Schottenheimer up to the task of selling the deep threat? and (2) can the offensive line’s pass protection hold up for the longer time it takes those passing plays to develop?
Get The Picture 
Just think what Chubb could do if the safeties had to stay back…
Having watched a couple bowl practices in person, Park strikes me as “the guy”. He just seemed to have “it” along with an arm every bit as strong as Ramsey’s
Btw, many have forgotten about Keith Marshall but he looked like an absolute beast in bowl practice
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I hope you’re right about Marshall; I’m really rooting for that kid
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Marshall has never looked like a beast. Sorry, you can’t be a running back in this league if the turf monster grabs you every third play.
Mason was a mistake. Someone made him a promise when he redshirted as a Junior in 2012. Unfortunately, they made good on that promise.
Bring on Ramsey or Park, and make sure Marshall’s carries all come in the 4th quarter of blowouts.
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Mason was not a mistake. He actually was a great bridge between Murray and whomever starts this year. Ramsey would have been a nightmare last year.
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I will never agree with the sentiment that making good on your promises can be a bad thing. UGA needed depth behind Murray. Richt apparently made a commitment to him to keep him there. If you don’t think those promises matter and that the character to keep them is important, then you don’t understand the thoughts that are going through parents heads when coaches are sitting in their living rooms. Besides, Mason didn’t lose a game for us this year. And frankly, I don’t think playing any other kid on the bench would have won a game that we lost. Just my opinion. But I’d bet a big chunk of cash that keeping that promise to Mason will pay some recruiting dividends and also serve as some life lessons for every UGA player’s future.
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I agree.
Ramsay or Park wouldn’t have stopped our entire team from shitting the bed against Florida, nor would it have stopped Gurley from signing autographs.
We still would have choked our way out of title contention, and wouldn’t have our integrity intact either.
We made the right call.
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I agree with you guys agreement. Mason used the tools he had, we adapted to them pretty well. As a fan, I consider myself lucky.
I don’t know that promises were made, it is also possible Mason was simply the best available option.
In either case the call was the right one.
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I think you are probably right. I doubt CMR promised him the starting job absolutely, positively, regardless of all other options. I imagine he promised him the inside track and not much more.
I highly doubt CMR or CMB would have played Mason if clearly superior options were available.
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Clearly, you’re not a G-Day truther. 😉
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LOL. Nope. Never have been. That’s a scrimmage, and I trust our coaches to evaluate talent a lot better than fans on the sidelines of a single scrimmage.
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+1
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Mason wasn’t the mistake – Christian LeMay was. I still believe that Hutson was never intended to be the starting QB when he was recruited. We recruited him for depth…Christian LeMay was supposed to be the heir to Aaron Murray, but he was a bust. It happens…as good as the QB recruiting has been under Richt/Bobo, sometimes a can’t-miss guy actually does miss.
Hutson was the guy we recruited in case of emergency…and last year was the emergency. LeMay bombed out, and neither Ramsey nor Park were ready yet. I commend Hutson for sticking around, and I think his performance last year was just fine…Bobo got everything out of him that he could.
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Exhibit B to your some can’t miss guys are a bust, I believe Jeff Driskell was the No.1 rated QB coming out of HS,
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I was one of those, going into Murray’s senior season thought that Mason, if given the chance, would move ahead of Murray. Even with Murray breaking records, I was frustrated with some of his ‘big game’ play. I saw just enough glimpses of Mason to believe he was better…then Mason got to play…and I realized Murray was the right decision.
Then again going into the 2014 season, I told my Dawg friends that Mason had wasted his time redshirting because Ramsey would pass him. Then the few times we saw Ramsey step on the field it was evident that Mason was the right call. I know it’s hard to believe but I was wrong again!
Then it dawned on me. Maybe, just maybe, the coaches that earn millions per year, that spend every day working with these kids, watching them practice. Just maybe, they are able to make a better judgment call on who should play, than me sitting at home on my coach watching them on TV.
But just for kicks and giggles, let me paint this picture…CMR sits down with Mason and says, “Mason, if you will redshirt this year, I promise you will play next year…no matter what! Forget my career, my lively-hood, and my annual 3.2 million. Forget providing for my family.” “I love you man!” “It’s all about you and I WILL keep my promise, even if you stink it up and Ramsey ends up being better than you!”
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I’m sorry but Murray’s junior season was probably the best any QB has ever had at Georgia. How anyone could think Mason would or could have unseated him is sheer lunacy. Murray’s “big game” play that season included (against Auburn) one of the most incredible comebacks I’ve ever seen from ANY quarterback.
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How quickly we forget Marshall’s freshman year. The turf monster wasn’t much of an issue when he was completely healthy.
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I will also say that if you think Marshall “never looked like a beast”, you need to go back and watch the YouTube videos of him during his freshman year. If he can get even close to that again, he is a damn good option in the backfield.
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Remember the 2012 UT game? Wow! Marshall was awesome!
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I feel dumber for reading your post…
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Bad post CT. Marshall was a beast before his injury (almost as good as Gurley in 2012) and Mason saved Georgia’s bacon because none of the other QBs were ready for prime time in 2014.
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another stat from that article that stuck out – Mason only 4 interceptions all season.
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But that last one. Ugh….
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If only our fearless leader had not squibbed…..Mason’s legacy would have been ANOTHER come from behind victory v. our hated in-state rivals.
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Yep. I really felt for Mason. He led the team on a great drive to score the winning TD with 18 seconds left on the clock. And then CMR (once again) screwed the pooch opening the door to losing the game–which is exactly what happened.
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yup – that one hurt bad.
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I think the effect of safeties loading the box is a bit overstated. Think of how many long runs happened this year because the safeties ended up out of position and Chubb or Gurley was past the second level as soon as they were past the first.
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This is very true but the majority of the time they will be able to fill all gaps with the safeties coming up.
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Not when Chubb bounces outside and outruns them to the end zone, which happened basically every time the opponent’s D tried to fill inside gaps with safeties.
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That’s the problem with defending Chubb. Sure, he’s probably going to have a dozen negative rushes per game, but the long one will potentially be there every play, and eventually he’ll bust free. He is, quite simply, impossible to defend for an entire game.
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The short passing (along with minimal injuries) really helped our offensive line perform well for the season. Not sure how a change in offensive philosophy may affect our OL play next season.
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Georgia ran more of Bill Walsh’s Pro Style Offense last season. You remember, Montana would throw a 5 yard pass, and Jerry would take t to the house. It’s a short pass approach, that plays to an accurate quarterback. Complete a bunch and people will start bringing the safeties up which should open up some long runs and/or passes. Didn’t happen in the pass game, but did work in the run game. Not convinced you have to go long so often, think it opens you up to interceptions, which lose games. I’d look for the same exact system, executed a little better, like receiver blocking, or getting the ball more often to playmakers like McKenzie and Mitchell with burner speed. Saw more long runs than any season I can remember. All off of the short pass game.
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Many criticized Bobo for play-calling that appeared to be “balanced for balance sakes”. With over 6 yards per carry rushing, 8th nationally in scoring, 1st in the SEC, why would you have wanted Mason to throw deep more?
If Schottie resurrects “first & bomb” that turn into 3 and out, the howling on here will be at an all-time high.
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True, but there is no way you can stop any fan base from over reacting when plays/series of plays don’t result in 7. While everyone on the planet has remarkable hindsight abilities, there is no other group of fans who will publicly castigate players and coaches so voraciously, for decades, as UGA fans. As if the other options they now support guaranteed success….geez. These were only problems CMB, CMR, or HM had last year, in 2015 it will be CBS, CMR, and a QB to be named later.
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Why are you so anti-Georgia? Every post you write has some sort of negative comment about Georgia fans/alums. Georgia fans/alums are just fine. They support their team as well or better than any team in the nation. You’re nothing but negative. Give it a rest for Pete’s sake!
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Thanks Mayor…or were you talking about another pete? 🙂
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Meth is a terrible thing mayor, Mr. One Track. Your reading comprehension, analytical skills, ability to espouse more than three thoughts over a five year period, etc……all symptoms of something going badly wrong upstairs. But the hindsight is still working well, if you could just show where your second choice would have done any better. Better to bitch and rant than offer something other than your repetitive criticism.
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Here’s a tip: Making sweeping statements about any fanbase is pretty much always a stupid thing to do.
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Listen, however it shakes out…put me on record right here right now TODAY – I’m for the backup QB.
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Hear, hear!
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how much of the “no deep threat” was due to lack of deep threat receivers? MM, JSW, JR all missed significant practice and playing time. Mason could not get into rhythm with them during pre-season practice and Bobo and RIcht schemed around no true deep threat receiver by going with short to intermediate passes. To blame Mason’s arm strength is poor form, when he was never asked to really go deep for all we know he could do it but checked down to the open guy for a sure catch and moving the chains.
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Agree with all the support for Mason here…I thought he did a heckuva job. If you tried to add up all the negative yardage he did not give other teams via turnovers, his stats look even better. Plus he was a candid, scrappy, DGD who we must assume helped hold that offense together in a weird year. Do not understand people grousing about that kid, just do not get it…
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Agree 100%. I will remember him as a DGD. Was he prefect. Nope. Neither am I. But he had heart, won a lot of games, and set some records of his own. Bobo did a great job of using what he had to set records, too.
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Then go back and watch the Mizzou game (and a couple others). We leaned on a true freshman RB for 39 carries because the QB wasn’t going to win the game for us.
Mason was a very good QB, in that he didn’t lose games, was efficient, etc. But the drop off from AM’s senior year where he won several games and nearly won the Auburn game TWICE…was tremendous.
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Damn…I missed that game! Must have been a hell of a good one. The Mizzou game televised here showed Mason running off a play fake for an 11 yard TD (stumbling, bumbling as it may have been), throwing a strike to Bennett for another TD, and the Dawg D shutting out the a Tigers O. We also unleashed Chubb on the CFB world with his 38 carries while fans held up Free Gurley signs.
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We’re talking about Mason here, not the D or Chubb. The bootleg would have been a score by any QB on the roster, but the pass to Bennett was a good one. Good to know one good pass and a bumbling, stumbling bootleg is enough for you to think it was a good game by the QB.
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…the QB wasn’t going to win the game for us.
No one player wins…or loses…a game, but those 2 TDs on the feet and arm of Mason disproves your statement. The Mizzou game was a complete victory for the team…the Defense, Chubb and Mason included.
Because Bobo didn’t need Mason to throw for 300 yards to beat Mizzou doesn’t prove he’s a bad QB, the point Cosmic was making and you were quick to try to refute.
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If you read my post, you’ll see I said Mason was a very good QB. And the fact that you think those 2 TDs disprove my points is evidence that you give him credit for a bootleg TD any non-hobbled QB could have scored. Give credit where it is due, (including to Mauk for playing horribly, his receivers for dropping balls…including tipping one up for an easy interception) and withhold credit for when it’s appropriate to do so.
Remember all the good Mason did, but also remember that earlier in the year he lost a (very) little playing time to a redshirt freshman with a tendency to turn over the ball.
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The drop off was not “tremendous”. None of them are perfect. I truly love me some Aaron Murray, but he wasn’t superman every time out. Add in that Mason was a 5th year Dawg but “gameday freshman” and Murray was a 4-year starter and I think Mason acquitted himself very, very well.
Recall a couple of games in 2012 – 2013 season. Murray at his best was pretty amazing, but give Mason some credit for not experiencing these kinds of highs and lows:
NYT Oct 30, 2012:
“Murray, a redshirt junior, leads the nation in passing efficiency (a 177.15 rating) and yards per attempt (10), and has thrown 30 touchdown passes with only seven interceptions. But he has not performed well against ranked teams. Murray threw one touchdown pass with four interceptions combined against Florida and South Carolina. In those two games, he completed 41 percent of his passes for 259 yards, with Georgia scoring a total of 24 points, well below the 44 points it averaged in its other 10 games.
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The dropoff was tremendous. Your link talks about 2012, but notice my comment refers to the dropoff from AM’s senior year when Aaron and company played much better. There is simply no comparison (even with the better completion rate) between AM and HM in the last two years.
Mason gets credit for avoiding lows. But none for highs. He was solid, but unspectacular which was awesome for the 2014 Dawgs. But he was no AM from ’13.
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Like Jim, I suspect that Park will wind up as the starting QB next year one way or the other. I always hate that for a quality competitor like Ramsey who may lose out (just as I did for the guys that Stafford beat out), but that’s the nature of the game.
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I think the QB with the best G Day game will be the starter. 🙂
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Hutson will get picked up, usually you got 14 or 15 Qb’s in the 7 rounds that go. CBS has Mason as #15 QB and a 7th Round or Free Agent.
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/prospectrankings/2015/QB
NFLDraft Scout also has Hutson in the top 15 out of 139 Qb’s:
http://www.nfldraftscout.com/ratings/dsprofile.php?pyid=110150&draftyear=2015&genpos=QB
Also, here’s a kicker, Hutson was the MOST ACCURATE PASSER IN THE SEC ON DEEP THROWS according to NFL.com, sure wish Bobo had let him rip it:
Mason displays the football intelligence, accuracy and poise worthy of an NFL camp. Must prove his intangibles can overcome his lack of arm.
http://www.nfl.com/draft/2015/profiles/hutson-mason?id=2552372
Wonder if being #1 in the nation in win % vs ranked teams (4-1 record in 2014) will work for intangibles?
I think Hutson will get picked up, and while he’ll start out as backup like Brady did, Mason will shock some folks if the guy in front of him gets injured. He just wins games against highly ranked teams. He compares favorably to Tom Brady’s Sr season at Michigan.
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This is actually a very good observation, BD. It would not surprise me one bit if Mason made an NFL roster next season.
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I’d like to see a return to more deep and intermediate passes. Opens up the field and many times breaks the opponent’s spirits. The objective is to score, not dink it downfield.
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Just for fun, let’s look at the stats.
We had the #1 scoring offense in the SEC…so why is it important how you do that? But maybe there’s something to the “breaks the opponents spirit” concept. Not to go all troll-like here with selective stats, but let’s call “deep and intermediate” a 30+ yard play, just for comparison sakes. Looking at cfbstats.com:
Rushing plays ranked #1 in SEC with 21 such plays. #2 had but 12.
Passing we ranked in the bottom third of the league (to your point I guess)
Total Scrimmage +30 yards has us tied for second, one play less than #1.
Nationally, for Total Long Scrimmage Plays all 4 playoff teams plus Baylor, TCU and Miss St. all ranked in the top 12, while UGA was at #25 and your SECE winner Mizzou was at #52(!). And on my selective stat of 30+ yards, a more interesting story is told…tOSU is #2, Oregon #3 while Bama is at #45 and FSU is #48. UGA ranked #18.
No question wide open and spread attacks generate big plays. But that’s not enough to infer cause and effect (looking at you Auburn).
Changing our offense to throw deep more may be entertaining. We’ll have a QB who can do it, and maybe even the receivers who can get separation, make the back-shoulder catch, etc. But as long as Chubb, Sony and Marshall are healthy and effective, and our QB can control the game, clock and not make turnovers, I don’t give a damn how we go about outscoring the other teams.
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I was jealous watching the Ohio St. 3rd string QB sling it 20 yds over the middle of the Bama D. The same thing in the O vs FSU game. I want a passing game like that too.
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