The Red and Black

By CAL POWELL The Red & Black

It's been 53 years since a freshman started in a season opener at quarterback for Georgia.

But that will change Saturday as Freshman Quincy Carter will be the starting quarterback in Georgia's 5 p.m. season opener against Kent in Sanford Stadium.

Georgia head coach Jim Donnan made the announcement at the conclusion of Wednesday's practice. Carter, who beat out junior Jon England, sophomore Mike Usry and fellow freshman Nate Hybl for the starting role, becomes the first freshman to start at the position in a season opener since John Rauch in 1945.

"He's done a good job of coming in and picking up the offense," Donnan said. "Anytime a guy is able to do that, it's a compliment to him. He's a very mature young man. He's almost 21 years old. He's the guy we picked, and it's pretty obvious why we picked him. (But) it was a very close race. All the guys have good qualities and a good future."

Carter, whose first practice with the team was Aug. 13, hasn't played football since his senior season at Southwest DeKalb in 1995.

Carter originally signed with Georgia Tech in 1996, but later opted to play professional baseball in the Chicago Cubs organization after being drafted in the second round. He was granted a release from Georgia Tech earlier this year and enrolled at Georgia spring quarter.

Due to the stipulations in his release, Carter couldn't practice with the team until fall drills began last month.

But Carter said he feels comfortable with his knowledge of Donnan's offensive system.

"I pretty much have everything," Carter said. "I feel pretty good about the offense and I feel capable of doing the job."

Carter also said he was humbled by the entire experience.

"I'm very honored to be the starting quarterback," he said. "But you also have to feel for the other guys. You don't just take it and run with it if you have a good heart. We had great competition all fall. There couldn't be four better quarterbacks at one university. We all made each other better."

Donnan said he hasn't decided on who'll be Carter's backup or if any other quarterbacks will play in the opener.

"I really don't know about that," he said.

"We've got several who could play. It just depends on what the situation is. Both of those guys (England and Usry) were pretty close. They were pretty close to being the starter, too."

But Donnan didn't rule out the possibility of one of the other quarterbacks taking some snaps this season.

"We're going to make every effort to make this decision work," he said.

"But if (Carter) doesn't do the job, we plan on playing these other quarterbacks through the course of the year and see how they do."

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