Mettenberger is out!

Well the QB battle up in Athens has now gone from three players to two! Apparently the charges that were brought on Zach Mettenberger a couple of weeks ago while on UGA’s spring break are more serious than originally thought. Mettenberger is a red shirt freshman and was involved in a heated battle for the starting QB role in the fall for the Bulldogs. He was arrested at a local bar outside of Valdosta, Ga and charged with underage possession of alcohol, disorderly conduct, obstruction and two counts of possession of false identification. Originally, Coach Richt said there would be at least a one game suspension, now he has been dismissed from the team. The dismissal is a result of Mettenberger’s violation of team rules, Richt said.

This is a tough blow to the Dawgs 2010 season. It seems that Mettenberger was slightly leading the close battle between Aaron Murray and Logan Gray for the starting QB role. Apparently more has surfaced in the case and now Mettenberger is out. So that pretty much clears up the QB battle. I know Logan Gray is a great athlete and will play a lot, but most of his plays probably won’t be under center.

With the departure of Mettenberger, that opens the door for incoming freshman Hutson Mason to possibly compete for the back up role. Also, that makes Athens more attractive to the top rated QB prospect in 2011. Yeah, I am looking ahead to the next major recruiting class! Christian LeMay was already looking at UGA but now, they just moved to the top of the list according to LeMay’s father. So, I guess there is a silver lining to this whole story. I do feel bad for Mettenberger, he made a mistake that most college kids make regularly, bit this one will cost him dearly. I am sure he will transfer to another school and get a shot to play football, but it probably won’t be an SEC school and therefore will be a tougher road for him to be noticed by the pro scouts.