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preview - College Football: Backup QB for Bulldogs
The
No. 9 Georgia Bulldogs shouldn’t have much
difficulty beating the UAB Blazers in Saturday’s
Orange Bowl Classic. Taking down that big spread
is another matter.
The Bulldogs are pegged as
17.5-point favorites (with a total of 38.5) despite
the absence of starting quarterback Joe Tereshinski
III. He’s out with a high ankle sprain suffered
during last weekend’s 18-0 victory over
the South Carolina Gamecocks; doctors say Tereshinski
will be out 4-6 weeks, but the senior pivot insists
he’ll be back on the field in four weeks,
no matter how much pain he may be in.
Freshman Matthew Stafford
was brought in to relieve Tereshinski in the first
quarter of Saturday’s shutout win. Stafford
was an occasionally shaky 8-for-18 for 171 yards,
no touchdowns and three interceptions against
the Gamecocks, but he has nonetheless been named
the starter against UAB. Redshirt freshman Joe
Cox will be the No. 2 QB.
By the time Tereshinski is
ready to play, there might not be a starting job
for him. Stafford is the quarterback of the future
for Georgia – his development project has
simply been put on the front burner a little earlier
than desired. The poor numbers Stafford posted
against South Carolina belie his raw talent; the
Bulldogs drove for a rushing TD by Danny Ware
and two field goals under his stewardship.
UAB’s defense isn’t
nearly as good on paper as South Carolina’s
– especially through the air. East Carolina’s
James Pinkney was able to throw for 280 yards
last week in a narrow 17-12 loss, as the Blazers
failed to cover the 6.5-point spread. That’s
a bit of a red herring, though; East Carolina
flew under the Conference-USA radar last year
at 5-6 overall (8-3 against the spread) and sported
the No. 29 air attack in the nation at 256 yards
per game.
Where UAB may be in bigger
trouble against Georgia is on offense. Not only
are the Bulldogs one of the nastiest defenses
anywhere, the Blazers are also in a quarterback
controversy of their own. Sam Hunt, a transfer
from Middle Tennessee, will start this Saturday
after being pulled against East Carolina in favor
of Chris Williams. It was Williams who secured
victory over the Pirates with a pair of TD passes.
Coach Watson Brown says both QBs will play Saturday.
Handicappers who support
the Bulldogs this week are putting their faith
in Stafford living up to his potential right out
of the box. He may indeed be able to do that against
a suspect Blazers defense, but it’s still
a leap of faith at this point. Game time at Sanford
Stadium in Athens is 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
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