Yeh have to agree.
The polls sure are good to the bulldogs though.
They give Bulldogs fans a false hope.
The polls sure are good to the bulldogs though.
They give Bulldogs fans a false hope.
Georgia Bulldogs
- Thread starter THE KOD
- Start date
Athens ? Joe Tereshinski III has been around Georgia football since birth. His grandfather played here and made second-team All-SEC. His dad played here and won an SEC title and has worked in the program since before Joe T. III was born. Now Joe T. III, who rejected offers to sign with other colleges because, his father says, ?They just weren?t Georgia,? is listed as the Bulldogs? No. 1 quarterback.
Nice homegrown story, right? Well, maybe.
Many on the dispassionate periphery consider his status temporary, the belief being that Joe T. III is merely warming a seat for one (or more) of the three younger quarterbacks. Tereshinski rejects the notion. ?I have to consider myself on top,? he says. ?It helps with the leadership role, and it helps with my confidence.?
Via his longtime access to the program, Tereshinski has seen quarterback competitions already. He remembers coming to practice with his dad in 1991 ? Joe T. III was in grade school ? and watching Greg Talley duel Preston Jones and a hot freshman named Eric Zeier, whom Tereshinski would come to regard as ?the quote-unquote hero of my generation.?
That said, neither he nor anyone else can cite a precedent to this four-way struggle. Says Mark Richt, who?ll be the ultimate arbiter: ?This is the tightest race I?ve been involved with. I?ve seen two guys competing for a job, but not more than two.?
Because Tereshinski is a fifth-year senior and the most seasoned among the other three is a redshirt sophomore, conventional wisdom holds that the current depth chart is more a reflection of seniority than ability. But Joe T. III, having long dreamed of doing as Zeier, with whom Tereshinski played catch after practices, did, isn?t inclined to yield to anyone. Here?s his stance: ?I?ve been here four years, and this is my job.?
Says Joe Tereshinski Jr., Georgia?s assistant strength coach and its video coordinator: ?I?ve never met a kid who?s happier when he?s competing than Joe T.?
Come Sept. 2, the day Georgia opens against Western Kentucky, Tereshinski figures to be the first quarterback deployed. When in doubt ? and clearly Richt is ? coaches tend to err on the side of seasoning. But a Bulldogs historian might recall that, even though Zeier didn?t start the first five games of his freshman season, he played so much he was essentially the No. 1 quarterback. And after Zeier engineered a famous victory over sixth-ranked Clemson, he displaced Talley, who was a team captain, as the starter and went on to become the hero of Joe T. III?s generation.
Might such a thing happen again? Would a bad series against South Carolina ? or a big relief performance from a younger guy ? in Week 2 render Joe T. III a latter-day Talley? ?I don?t think it?d be a bad series and out,? he says, ?but if you?re making the same mistakes, you could definitely find another guy in for a while.?
Two other bits of history are more in his favor. First, Georgia hasn?t entered a season with a non-Georgian ? the three others are from out of state ? as its quarterback since James Ray in 1970. And the last fifth-year Bulldogs quarterback to wait his turn wound up being the MVP in the SEC championship game. Is D.J. Shockley?s example a source of inspiration?
?Oh, definitely,? Tereshinski says. ?He pushed himself hard and competed every day, and he rallied his team.?
Tereshinski started the Florida game when Shockley was injured last season and didn?t do so badly. (He didn?t throw a touchdown pass, but he caught one.) He did mop-up duty in five other games, and that measure of familiarity with big-time college football could well be the first determinant in this hairbreadth race.
?You?ve got to be able to manage the job,? Tereshinski says, ?to set up the team and keep it running.?
A fifth-year senior should be more suited to managerial duty than a freshman or a sophomore, but this is one of those cases where nobody really knows anything. The four quarterbacks have been given no timetable as to when a decision might be made. (Indeed, Richt has joked that Georgia could settle things by letting each play a quarter.) Says Tereshinski: ?They?re judging everything, every throw. That?s the reason you have to compete every day. You can?t take an hour off.?
An affable sort, Tereshinski doesn?t flinch when asked to rate the other quarterbacks? assets. He says Joe Cox has ?a very strong arm? and that Matthew Stafford ?loves the game. ? He can tell you what any player throughout history has done? and that Blake Barnes ?gives everything he has.? And the Tereshinski guy?
He smiles. ?I?m more of a pocket passer,? he says. ?I?ve got some experience under my belt. I?m the most physical of the guys. I might be able to stand in a little longer and make a throw.?
Joe T. III has waited all his life for this moment to arrive, and he doesn?t foresee himself wilting under the heat, figurative or literal. Being the first name on the depth chart, he says, means ?I have to be on point every day. If I?m No. 1, I have to maintain the lead. ? I have to keep a lot of pressure on myself just because I?m up there.? Then again, being No. 1 ?might add a little pressure.?
And that makes sense. The other three will have other years. For Joe Tereshinski III, a Bulldog born and bred, there?s only this one.
.............................................................................
Maybe a Georgia running game and defense will allow them to have a QB that can't make all the throws.
Getting closer now.
Nice homegrown story, right? Well, maybe.
Many on the dispassionate periphery consider his status temporary, the belief being that Joe T. III is merely warming a seat for one (or more) of the three younger quarterbacks. Tereshinski rejects the notion. ?I have to consider myself on top,? he says. ?It helps with the leadership role, and it helps with my confidence.?
Via his longtime access to the program, Tereshinski has seen quarterback competitions already. He remembers coming to practice with his dad in 1991 ? Joe T. III was in grade school ? and watching Greg Talley duel Preston Jones and a hot freshman named Eric Zeier, whom Tereshinski would come to regard as ?the quote-unquote hero of my generation.?
That said, neither he nor anyone else can cite a precedent to this four-way struggle. Says Mark Richt, who?ll be the ultimate arbiter: ?This is the tightest race I?ve been involved with. I?ve seen two guys competing for a job, but not more than two.?
Because Tereshinski is a fifth-year senior and the most seasoned among the other three is a redshirt sophomore, conventional wisdom holds that the current depth chart is more a reflection of seniority than ability. But Joe T. III, having long dreamed of doing as Zeier, with whom Tereshinski played catch after practices, did, isn?t inclined to yield to anyone. Here?s his stance: ?I?ve been here four years, and this is my job.?
Says Joe Tereshinski Jr., Georgia?s assistant strength coach and its video coordinator: ?I?ve never met a kid who?s happier when he?s competing than Joe T.?
Come Sept. 2, the day Georgia opens against Western Kentucky, Tereshinski figures to be the first quarterback deployed. When in doubt ? and clearly Richt is ? coaches tend to err on the side of seasoning. But a Bulldogs historian might recall that, even though Zeier didn?t start the first five games of his freshman season, he played so much he was essentially the No. 1 quarterback. And after Zeier engineered a famous victory over sixth-ranked Clemson, he displaced Talley, who was a team captain, as the starter and went on to become the hero of Joe T. III?s generation.
Might such a thing happen again? Would a bad series against South Carolina ? or a big relief performance from a younger guy ? in Week 2 render Joe T. III a latter-day Talley? ?I don?t think it?d be a bad series and out,? he says, ?but if you?re making the same mistakes, you could definitely find another guy in for a while.?
Two other bits of history are more in his favor. First, Georgia hasn?t entered a season with a non-Georgian ? the three others are from out of state ? as its quarterback since James Ray in 1970. And the last fifth-year Bulldogs quarterback to wait his turn wound up being the MVP in the SEC championship game. Is D.J. Shockley?s example a source of inspiration?
?Oh, definitely,? Tereshinski says. ?He pushed himself hard and competed every day, and he rallied his team.?
Tereshinski started the Florida game when Shockley was injured last season and didn?t do so badly. (He didn?t throw a touchdown pass, but he caught one.) He did mop-up duty in five other games, and that measure of familiarity with big-time college football could well be the first determinant in this hairbreadth race.
?You?ve got to be able to manage the job,? Tereshinski says, ?to set up the team and keep it running.?
A fifth-year senior should be more suited to managerial duty than a freshman or a sophomore, but this is one of those cases where nobody really knows anything. The four quarterbacks have been given no timetable as to when a decision might be made. (Indeed, Richt has joked that Georgia could settle things by letting each play a quarter.) Says Tereshinski: ?They?re judging everything, every throw. That?s the reason you have to compete every day. You can?t take an hour off.?
An affable sort, Tereshinski doesn?t flinch when asked to rate the other quarterbacks? assets. He says Joe Cox has ?a very strong arm? and that Matthew Stafford ?loves the game. ? He can tell you what any player throughout history has done? and that Blake Barnes ?gives everything he has.? And the Tereshinski guy?
He smiles. ?I?m more of a pocket passer,? he says. ?I?ve got some experience under my belt. I?m the most physical of the guys. I might be able to stand in a little longer and make a throw.?
Joe T. III has waited all his life for this moment to arrive, and he doesn?t foresee himself wilting under the heat, figurative or literal. Being the first name on the depth chart, he says, means ?I have to be on point every day. If I?m No. 1, I have to maintain the lead. ? I have to keep a lot of pressure on myself just because I?m up there.? Then again, being No. 1 ?might add a little pressure.?
And that makes sense. The other three will have other years. For Joe Tereshinski III, a Bulldog born and bred, there?s only this one.
.............................................................................
Maybe a Georgia running game and defense will allow them to have a QB that can't make all the throws.
Getting closer now.
