Georgia Names Senior Virginia Transfer Greyson Lambert Starting Quarterback

Written by Ryan Wright

Twitter: @HogManInLA

Week 1 of the 2015 college football season is here and head coaches feeling the crunch to finally name a starter under center are coming forward with their best guess going forward. After a long battle in Athens, Bulldogs’ head coach Mark Richt named senior transfer Greyson Lambert Georgia’s starter against Louisiana-Monroe.

After what now seems like a lifetime of security at the quarterback position with Aaron Murray guiding the Dawgs, the last two seasons have been more of a plug and play in the pocket with the offense relying heavily on the running game. Last year senior Hunter Mason won the job playing the role of game manager passing for 2,168 yards with 21 touchdowns against four interceptions.

In 2015, the keys to the Bulldogs’ offense have been given to the former Virginia starter. Lambert started nine games for the Cavaliers missing three due to injury. The 6’5”, 220 pound, quarterback has a gun for an arm but was fairly inaccurate for Virginia completing 154-of-261 passes, 59 percent, while tossing for 1,632 yards with 10 touchdowns against 11 interceptions.

The battle under center may not be completely over. When Richt announced Lambert the starter after practice he made sure to note, “There may be others that get in the game, but he’s the starter. It’s been a very, very close competition and it’s still being contested but at this point, we felt it was wise to name the starter and get him the reps with the No. 1 unit.”

Richt added, “It’s a big deal because it’s a big position and it’s one where normally you don’t roll guys in and out. Every other position you do that, but quarterbacks tend not to do that. It was a tough decision because they’re all extremely hard workers, they’re smart and they’re talented. They’ve all done well in our opinion.”

Lambert won the job over sophomore Brice Ramsey and junior Faton Bauta. The good news for UGA fans, if Lambert’s starting nod proves to be a good fit, per NCAA eligibility rules and classifications, on the field he is just a junior.

Back in Charlottesville, Lambert was beaten out in the spring by Matt Johns. Johns completed 89-of-162 passes in 2014 picking up 1,109 yards in the air with a touchdown to interception ratio of 8/5.

Photo credit: timesfreepress.com; No. 11 Greyson Lambert drops back to pass at a UGA practice.