Georgia Football: Will Any QB Emerge as Front-Runner in Spring Game?
It's the closing stretch in Athens, and the crowded quarterback battle for the Georgia Bulldogs appears to have been narrowed to two.
According to the practice report released by Georgia, junior Faton Bauta and sophomore Brice Ramsey put up nearly identical statistics, completing 17 of 28 pass attempts each. Bauta tossed for 250 yards, two touchdowns and a pick; while Ramsey—last season's primary backup—threw for 219 yards and one touchdown.
Head coach Mark Richt commented on his two quarterbacks in the release:
"I thought they both had some good moments and a couple bad moments again. I couldn't tell (the completions and attempts were the same) until I looked at the stats. I wouldn't have been able to predict that. As it went, Faton was a little hotter on the front end, and Brice was a little hotter at the tail end of the scrimmage. They're getting there. They really are.
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Noticeably absent from the report was redshirt freshman Jacob Park, who received only a handful of snaps on Saturday, according to Seth Emerson of the Macon Telegraph.
So who will be the star of the spring game Saturday afternoon between the hedges?
Both are neck-and-neck, but I'll take Ramsey as the favorite to shine.
New offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer has a pro-style pedigree after coaching in the NFL since 2001, and as has been the case for the duration of Richt's tenure, the Bulldogs will run a pro-style system that's founded on establishing the run and working off of play-action.
Ramsey was good enough to win the primary backup job last season under a similar scheme, and he played well at times—particularly in mop-up duty vs. Kentucky, when he completed all five of his passes for 80 yards and one touchdown.
The next step is winning the job when it's vacant, so why wouldn't he be the man for Georgia in 2015?
That's not to say that Bauta won't have a role. He will.
The 6'3", 218-pounder from West Palm Beach, Florida has a little bit of Tim Tebow in him in the sense that, while he isn't going to win the gold in the 100-meter dash, he can do some things on the ground and run over a linebacker or two.
But Ramsey has the arm strength to be a force within the offense despite coming from a Wing-T offense at Camden County High School in Kingsland, Georgia, as the video below from his high school days illustrates.
He gives the Georgia offense more upside.
Let's be honest, the No. 1 attribute that Richt and Schottenhemier are looking for in a quarterback is the ability to stretch the field, and Ramsey is more likely to do that consistently.
Whatever happens in the spring game, though, Georgia's primary focus of the spring seems to already have been accomplished. The race appears to be down to two, with Bauta—who will have some kind of role regardless—in the mix.
That gives the wide receiving corps—which is replacing its top two players from a year ago—a little bit more clarity on who will be involved in the game plan as the Bulldogs enter the summer workout session. That's invaluable as they hit the practice field to work on their own.
Either contender seems capable of winning the job, but Ramsey just seems to be a better fit.
Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. All stats are courtesy of cfbstats.com unless otherwise noted, and all recruiting information is courtesy of 247Sports' composite rankings.
Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and college football video analyst for Bleacher Report as well as a host on Bleacher Report Radio on Sirius 93, XM 208.
Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.
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