Georgia Bulldogs: Losing Jacob Eason Would Ruin UGA
By John Buhler
Jacob Eason, the Georgia Bulldogs’ prized quarterback recruit from Lake Stevens, WA, has supposedly begun considering other options outside of Georgia should Mark Richt leave the program.
The 2015 Season for the Georgia Bulldogs has fallen off its wheels in the month of October. A crushing defeat at home on October 3rd to Alabama in the rain hurt considerably. Losing Nick Chubb for the year in Neyland Stadium and dropping a second SEC game in the process to Tennessee was pure agony. Beating Missouri by a field goal in a game of only field goals was bland to say the least. Losing to Florida down in Jacksonville on Halloween left no doubt. The Georgia Bulldogs aren’t going anywhere in 2015, but maybe to a mediocre bowl game if that.
Entering Week 10’s home date with the Kentucky Wildcats, there has not been this much animosity towards HC Mark Richt or disgust with the football program in general since 2010, when UGA went 6-7 starting RS Freshman Aaron Murray at quarterback. Longtime Mark Richt loyalists are losing their faith in their head coach. I’m not one of them, but I completely understand your frustrations and respect your opinion of wanting to move on from Mark Richt as head coach at the University of Georgia.
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The problem is what comes next? Absolute uncertainty. Can AD Greg McGarity guarantee that a potential Richt replacement would do better? The last thing I want to happen to Georgia is to see the program collapse like Tennessee and Texas did. Even if Mark Richt and the Georgia Bulldogs don’t win another game for the rest of 2015, I wouldn’t fire him because he will have recruited the best quarterback prospect since Matthew Stafford coming out of high school in a decade in Jacob Eason.
Getting Eason enrolled at the University of Georgia in January is more important than any bowl UGA will play in this holiday season. Though he has remained steadfast to his UGA commitment since July 2014, the Lake Stevens, Washington native has begun to test the waters of other Power 5 programs should Richt not return to Athens in 2016.
Two of the programs that have surfaced are the University of Michigan and the University of Florida. While 4-Star OT Ben Cleveland will do everything in his power to keep Eason in UGA’s firm grasp, the #2 pocket passer in the Recruiting Class of 2016 has to do what is in his best interests. The bond between UGA and Eason is strong, but should Richt leave, I wouldn’t blame him if he were to go to Ann Arbor and play for Wolverines HC Jim Harbaugh. At least we wouldn’t see Eason annually.
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The thought of Jacob Eason signing with Florida is nearly too painful to fathom. Playing for HC Jim McElwain and OC Doug Nussmeier wouldn’t be that bad if they didn’t happen to coach the Florida Gators! With Eason wearing orange and blue instead of the red and black attire he belongs in, expect the Georgia Bulldogs to go 0-4 in Eason’s four hypothetical starts for the Gators. Gator Nation would NEVER let us hear the end of how they stole Jacob Eason away from Georgia. EVER.
It also seems that 5-Star TE Isaac Nauta is a package deal with Jacob Eason ever since Nauta de-committed from Florida State. This is supposedly Tight End U and Richt has a proven pro-style offense that gets results, just not this year, at all. Missing out on Jacob Eason would be a program altering mistake for the Georgia Bulldogs football program. Could you imagine what UGA would look like if Herschel Walker committed to Clemson on Easter 1980 instead of Georgia?
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To land Jacob Eason, the Dawgs have to keep Mark Richt. I’m sorry if that angers you, but it’s true. Eason has the potential to become a program-defining player for the Georgia Bulldogs. Let’s not screw this up. The easiest solution for this conundrum is to win on Saturday and keep doing that until January, when Eason is happily attending class in Athens and learning the UGA playbook. Go Dawgs! Beat Kentucky!