Ga. Quarterback In Coach's Mind

In some respects, it sounded like Georgia Coach Mark Richt was putting out a personal ad.

But gone were the strange combination of consonants and the requisite walks on a beach, and in their place were the requests for Richt's prototypical quarterback.

"I need a guy who will make good decisions on the field of play," Richt said. "Number two is you got to be able to hit your target. I mean if everything is right, you've got protection, you've got an open man, you've got to hit it. That's just all there is to it. And number three, which is the most difficult to determine until you actually start playing some games, is to see if this guy is capable of handling the pressure of this job. It's just a pretty high-profile thing. This guy gets a lot of attention, a lot of heat, and how's he going to handle it?"

Richt has four candidates: Blake Barnes, Joe Cox, Matt Stafford and Joe Tereshinski. The competition, however, is really between Stafford and Tereshinski. With David Greene and D.J. Shockley having departed for the NFL, Tereshinski is the only remaining quarterback with any experience. That doesn't mean he's the first choice.

Richt hoped to have the decision narrowed a couple of weeks before the Bulldogs' Sept. 2 season opener against Western Kentucky. That time has neared, and Richt, who has inklings as to who the starter might be, said he would make a decision by today.

This past Friday's scrimmage could prove to be the difference. Richt, in part because he is curious about how his quarterbacks can handle the mental pressure, holds the scrimmages in high light, even though he realizes their shortcomings.

"We try to simulate games as much as possible, although we will not let them get hit in practice," Richt said. "We will not practice in front of 93,000; we will not practice on national TV. So it won't be until we play a couple of games that we will really know for sure."

Tereshinski, a senior, has welcomed the competition, saying that having the extra pressure of not one player, but three, has reminded him he needs to perform consistently and continually.

"I feel that if things are just given to you, you aren't going to perform your best when the season comes," Tereshinski said.

Tereshinski is a third-generation player at Georgia and the grandson of former Washington Redskin Joe Tereshinski Sr. His father serves as the Bulldogs' strength and conditioning coach and video coordinator. While Tereshinski has Georgia in his blood, ESPN rated Stafford the No. 2 high school quarterback last season. Stafford graduated early, enrolled at Georgia in January and participated in spring drills.

For all the quarterback commotion, there are off-field issues at Georgia. Junior cornerback Thomas Flowers was suspended for two games for academic reasons; starting tackle Daniel Inman and backup offensive lineman Ian Smith were each suspended two games and linebacker Dannell Ellerbe was suspended three games. All four will be absent when the team travels to South Carolina on Sept. 9.

Senior Nick Jones admitted there would be the initial issue of inexperience, but saw the upside to the situation.

"We have a depth issue, with the situation we have for the first two games," Jones said, "but I feel good, overall, about our offensive line. I think we have a good chance of being better than we were last year."

Jones, who has played guard the past two years, returns to play center, the position he played as a freshman.

Richt said he also is looking for consistency in the offensive line and "prime-time" play-making by the receivers. Defensively, Richt is dealing with a young group of linebackers and a secondary that lost every starter except all-Southeastern Conference strong safety Tra Battle.

Through all the suspensions, there remains a strong vote of confidence for Richt, who after five years with Georgia, signed a $16 million contract to stay with the Bulldogs for the next eight years. Since arriving in December 2000, Richt is 52-13 and has won two SEC championships, including last year when the Bulldogs beat LSU in the title game.

"My wife and I had always had the goal of taking a job like Georgia and staying there the rest of our career," Richt said. "I wanted to go somewhere where we could call home and hopefully make a very stable atmosphere for our coaches, their families and our players and the university."

He's gotten started, but he still needs a quarterback.