Christian LeMay's confidence level up

photo University of Georgia quarterback Christian LeMay.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Christian LeMay has no idea what will transpire on Georgia's depth chart in the upcoming months.

LeMay will enter August camp as the primary backup to redshirt junior starter Aaron Murray since junior Hutson Mason has elected to redshirt this season to put a year between him and Murray. Yet if Murray gets hurt during the preseason or in the first few games, the coaches could decide to pull the redshirt off Mason.

"I'm just going to go about it as normal as possible," LeMay said after last Saturday's G-Day spring game. "We've seen that Aaron's very durable. He's taken some tough shots, especially that [2010] game at Auburn, so I believe he's going to be fine.

"I'm going to do the best I can to be a good supporter for him throughout this season, but I'm going to have to be prepared myself."

LeMay completed 7 of 10 passes for 154 yards at G-Day, throwing a 66-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jay Rome but also an interception when he was hit as he threw by defensive end Garrison Smith. It was the busiest performance for the 6-foot-2, 198-pounder since his junior year at Butler High in Matthews, N.C.

After leading Butler to a 15-0 record in 2009, when he threw 44 touchdowns and was intercepted twice, LeMay was suspended in July 2010 for violating the Charlotte-Mecklenberg school system's code of conduct several months earlier. The suspension was for 30 days and would have wiped out half his senior season, so LeMay chose to withdraw from Butler after an unsuccessful appeal in August.

LeMay was an early enrollee in last year's signing class, and he was rated Rivals.com's No. 3 pro-style quarterback nationally despite no senior stats.

"I think Christian has come a long way since he first got here," Bulldogs offensive coordinator Mike Bobo said. "I think the year off his senior year hurt him a little bit, and he was rusty, but I see the progress in the way the ball is coming out on routes. He's getting the whole picture together, and he's showing flashes of making good plays.

"We've just got to work on being more consistent, but overall I see a lot of improvement out of him."

In his G-Day debut last April, LeMay completed 3 of 6 passes for 38 yards, and his numbers before last Saturday were similar. He went 2-of-7 for 44 yards in the first spring scrimmage and 3-of-6 for 28 yards with an interception in the second one.

LeMay said he learned from the first two scrimmages, and he exits spring practice with more confidence to take on whatever may occur later this year.

"I'm not out there rushing and running around anymore with my head cut off like a chicken," he said. "I'm more at ease with the game. That's just what a year will do for you."

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