Greyson Lambert lost the battle for the UVA starting quarterback job this past spring to former backup Matt Johns. Now Lambert, who transferred from Virginia after losing the job, will be the starter for #9 Georgia.
“We didn’t invite him blindly,” Georgia coach Mark Richt said Monday in announcing Lambert as the starter for the Bulldogs’ opener on Saturday vs. Louisiana-Monroe. “We watched his film and felt like he could function and do the things that we’re going to ask the quarterback to do here at Georgia.”
Lambert, who graduated from Virginia in May, is a junior in terms of football eligibility. He started nine games as a sophomore at UVA in 2014, completing 59.0 percent of his passes for 1,632 yards, 10 touchdowns, 11 interceptions and a 115.74 passer rating.
His first career start, against UCLA on Aug. 30, ended for him late in the second quarter, which saw Lambert throw two pick-sixes that helped the Bruins jump out to a 21-3 lead.
Johns, in relief, rallied Virginia back into the game before UCLA held on for a 28-20 win.
The Cavs were 3-6 in games that Lambert started in 2014, and Johns saw action in all nine of Lambert’s starts.
UVA coach Mike London opened the #1 spot up for Lambert and Johns to take in the spring, and at the end of camp, London said the decision to go with Johns “wasn’t close” in the end.
“Anything that happened at Virginia had nothing to do with the decision for him to start,” Richt said. “It might have had something to do with the decision to have him come on our campus because that’s what we had on him to go by.”
Lambert beat out Brice Ramsey, last season’s backup at Georgia, but Richt emphasized that the competition was “close.”
“Very, very close competition. Still being contested in my mind,” Richt said. “But at this point we felt it would be wise to name a starter and get him ready to play in this ballgame.”
– Story by Chris Graham
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