Kirby Smart names Stetson Bennett starter, affirms confidence in quarterback

MIAMI, Fla. — If there was any doubt left in your mind after Todd Monken’s comments on quarterbacks on Tuesday, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart put an end to that on Wednesday. Smart specifically named Stetson Bennett the starter in discussing the status of the JT Daniels after returning from COVID-19.

“In terms of quarterback, Stetson is our starting quarterback,” Smart said. “Again, the JT situation will be a matter of is the situation right, and also is he healthy enough.”

Bennett has started the last nine games for Georgia dating back to the opening of October against Arkansas. Prior to that, he made one start versus UAB in Week 2 with Daniels out due to an oblique injury. After Daniels returned from that and started two straight games, it was a lat strain that sent him to the sidelines once again and secured Bennett the starting job through the regular season and into the postseason.

In a total of 10 starts this season, Bennett threw for 2,170 yards and 23 touchdowns to five interceptions. He also added 202 yards and a touchdown rushing. So, it’s clear that Bennett is capable of doing good things at quarterback. What worries Georgia fans though has been when he isn’t playing well like his pair of two-interception performances against Florida and Alabama as well as taking three sacks in the SEC Championship Game loss to the Crimson Tide.

“I’ll be honest with you, I’ve been really confident in Stetson,” Smart said. “I’m confident in Stetson now and I’m confident in JT. I thought Coach Monken did a great job addressing that yesterday, and we’ve got confidence in all our quarterbacks.”

For some, the coach’s confidence hasn’t been enough of an answer to questions concerning the decision making over playing time at the quarterback position. Nor have Bennett and Bulldogs’ production offensively, averaging more points per game with him at the helm than Daniels. ‘What changed since the start of the season when Daniels was the starter, and why hasn’t he had an opportunity to return to that role after injury?” they wonder.

“We play every game independent of the previous, and we do what we have to do to put the best players out there in a position to win the game,” Smart said when asked that question directly. “Every decision we make as coaches is to give our team the best opportunity to win the game. We sit down as a staff and talk about it, and we had those talks throughout the year. I think Stetson has played at a high level, done a really good job with our offense. He has not played perfect by no means, but he’s played well.”

“It’s a decision that we make as a coaching staff, and for whatever reason, there’s fans that may not agree with it, that may agree with it, media may not agree with it, may agree with it. Our team understands that we’re going to give our team the best opportunity to win and Stetson does that,” he continued. “And that’s not to knock on JT. That’s the part that’s so sad about this is that you guys want to ask us as coaches questions, I want to answer them as honest as possible, but the hardest thing is every time you ask a question, you drive the comparison home. Really at the end of the day they’re both different quarterbacks, and they’re both good in their own right. I think we’ve got four quarterbacks capable of winning big here at University of Georgia, and Stetson is our quarterback right now.”

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