Report: QB Jacob Eason to make first career start vs. Nicholls State

Photo: Perry McIntyre Jr./UGA

The revolving door at the quarterback position continues, and Georgia names a new starter for the second game of the 2016 season.

Freshman Jacob Eason will start behind center for Georgia in their home opener against Nicholls State, according to a report from Marc Weiszer of the Athens Banner-Herald. Eason replaces senior Greyson Lambert for the starting role, as he took the first snap for the Bulldogs in the season opener last Saturday.

Eason will be the first freshman to start for Georgia since 2006, when Matthew Stafford assumed the role to begin the third game of the season.

The move was expected at some point, as the former five-star recruit out of Lake Stevens, Wash., possesses the skill set that could make a big impact in the college game. However, the expectation was for Lambert to take the first few starts due to experience.

Eason is a fan-favorite, and the Bulldog faithful have been pushing for quite some time for him to take sole possession of the role. The case can be made due to his performance in the season opener, in which the freshman threw for 131 yards on eight completions and displayed an ability to throw the ball downfield, but it’s not going to be that easy.

Georgia head coach Kirby Smart did not name a starting quarterback on his Thursday radio show just a few hours ago, however he indicated the competition is far from over.

“I was saying we’ve got to make a decision for this game, not that we have to make a decision permanently by any means,” Smart said. “We’re going to continue to have competition each week regardless of who trots out there first on Saturday. They’ll continue to be competition.”

Smart believes in using both quarterbacks for the time being, due to their differing skill sets. Therefore, it can be assumed that Lambert sees action as well. Georgia is 11-2 when the senior has started behind center since he transferred from Virginia prior to the 2015 season. He went 5-8 for 54 yards in intermittent action in the opener.

“They were in two different situations,” Smart said. “One guy was in the game when we were behind more than the other. They both have their strong points and those strong points are different. So we’ll continue to develop both guys, give both guys reps and make a decision when we have to. I don’t want people to think we have to settle on one guy.”