Mettenberger dismissed from team

Photo by UGASports

It was just last weekend that Zach Mettenberger was the highlight of Georgia's G-Day game.

Now, he's not even on the team.

The redshirt freshman was dismissed from the team Sunday as a result of violating team rules, according to head coach Mark Richt.

Although Richt didn't specifically disclose the details on why Mettenberger was dismissed, it's almost guaranteed that it has something to do with what went down in Valdosta back in March, which cost him the Bulldogs' home opener against Louisiana-Lafayette.

Now it appears it may have cost him his football career.

It's shameful, too, as he was probably the most impressive quarterback at G-Day. He threw for two touchdowns and a game-high 150 yards, and had it not been for that suspension, may have moved up to the No. 1 in the depth chart.

Now that Mettenberger is out, the starting job is Aaron Murray's to lose. And as AJC Georgia football blogger Bill King pointed out today, Murray has to be solid if the Bulldogs want to win. The ACC & SEC Blog agrees. Until incoming freshman Hutson Mason arrives on campus in August, Georgia has only two quarterbacks, none of which have ever been a starter.

The suspension also says something about Richt's crackdown on players getting in trouble. In the past, Richt as been somewhat lenient on suspensions given out to the players who can't uphold team rules, or even the law for that matter. Something tells me Athletic Director Damon Evans or even President Michael Adams had some input on this one.