Bauta, Ramsey post similar stats in Georgia scrimmage

Georgia redshirt junior quarterback Faton Bauta, shown rushing last year against Troy, is competing this spring with redshirt sophomore Brice Ramsey and redshirt freshman Jacob Park for the starting job.
Georgia redshirt junior quarterback Faton Bauta, shown rushing last year against Troy, is competing this spring with redshirt sophomore Brice Ramsey and redshirt freshman Jacob Park for the starting job.

Naming a starting quarterback is not a priority this spring for Georgia football coach Mark Richt, but his candidates may not make the eventual decision an easy one.

Redshirt junior Faton Bauta and redshirt sophomore Brice Ramsey each completed 17 of 28 passes Saturday morning during Georgia's second scrimmage inside Sanford Stadium. The Bulldogs ran about 120 plays and will practice again Tuesday and Thursday before next Saturday's G-Day game.

"I thought they both had some good moments and a couple of bad moments," Richt said afterward in a news conference. "Faton was a little hotter on the front end, and Brice was a little hotter at the tail end of the scrimmage."

Bauta threw for 250 yards with two touchdowns and an interception, while Ramsey had 219 yards and a score. The two shared first-team snaps, Richt said, while redshirt freshman Jacob Park completed 2 of 8 passes for 36 yards with the second- and third-team units.

During Georgia's 10-3 season last year, Ramsey played in eight games and Bauta in three. In the 37-14 defeat of Louisville in late December's Belk Bowl, Ramsey replaced an injured Hutson Mason and completed 4 of 9 passes for 51 yards with an interception.

"They're getting there," Richt said. "We're learning a lot, and the better you protect, the easier it is to learn your progressions. We only had one pick, so there were more picks in the last scrimmage and more balls that could have been picked."

Sophomore tailback Nick Chubb, who had 30 or more carries last season in wins against Missouri, Arkansas and Louisville, had just three rushes Saturday for 10 yards and a touchdown. Junior Brendan Douglas rushed 22 times for 99 yards and a touchdown, while redshirt sophomore A.J. Turman had 22 carries for 140 yards and two scores.

"Turman is running the ball well," Richt said. "There was one that broke open for 40 yards and a touchdown, but most of them were hard-earned yards."

Malcolm Mitchell led the receivers with 88 yards on six catches, while Isaiah McKenzie and Justin Scott-Wesley had three receptions along with tight ends Jeb Blazevich, Jackson Harris and Jay Rome. Harris, an early enrollee, scored two touchdowns.

Georgia's leading tacklers were again the new linebackers, with UAB transfer Jake Ganus collecting nine and Arizona Western transfer Chuks Amaechi amassing eight. Half of Amaechi's tackles were lost-yardage stops, including three sacks.

Sophomore cornerback Malkom Parrish had five tackles and two pass breakups, while senior defensive end Sterling Bailey had three tackles, two breakups and a sack.

"There were some sacks," Richt said. "There were 10 out of 120 plays. That's not ideal, but overall there were times we did protect well, guys were open and we stuck it on them. We hit some checkdowns. We did some good things."

Said Bailey: "Overall, I think we did a good job of getting out there and getting after the offense."

The G-Day game will start at 2 p.m., and it will be televised by the SEC Network.

Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.

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