Georgia will be in good hands with Shockley

ATHENS, Ga. – As D.J. Shockley threw one incomplete pass after another, the Georgia fans grew more and more restless.

As Georgia Tech made a game of it, the Sanford Stadium crowd became more and more hostile toward its backup quarterback.

Finally, when David Greene trotted back on the field despite an injured thumb, cheers of relief filtered down from the stands.

The Bulldogs held on to beat Georgia Tech that day, but Shockley hasn’t forgotten what it felt like. Even though he bounced back to play brilliantly in his first – and only season – as Georgia’s starting QB, he still has some unfinished business.

“I feel like I need to redeem myself to my teammates,” Shockley said. “Georgia Tech was one of the worst games I’ve ever played on a personal level.”

Last season, Greene fractured the tip of his left thumb – his throwing hand – on Georgia’s opening drive against the Yellow Jackets. He managed to throw a 28-yard touchdown pass and play one more series before he came out, apparently to watch the rest of the game from the sideline.

Shockley, who spent three years backing up Greene and getting sporadic playing time, had the Bulldogs in good shape at halftime. He threw a short TD to Reggie Brown and went to the locker room with a 16-0 lead.

But Shockley struggled in the second half, and Georgia Tech closed the gap to 16-13. Finally, on a critical possession late in the game, Greene returned to the game and guided the Bulldogs to a much-needed field goal that helped preserve a 19-13 win.

Shockley’s erratic throws left him just 5-of-16 for 112 yards, raising doubts about his ability to take over the starting job once Greene departed.

No one is concerned anymore.

Shockley has been every bit the quarterback that Greene was, completing 57 percent for 2,001 yards, with 18 touchdowns and only four interceptions. He is the team’s third-leading rusher with 250 yards and three touchdowns. His mobility is a major reason the Bulldogs have allowed only 16 sacks, tied for the fewest in the Southeastern Conference.

Most important, Shockley led the No. 13 Bulldogs (8-2) to the Southeastern Conference championship game for the third time in four seasons, in keeping with the tradition set by his predecessor, the winningest QB in major college history.

“If you take what he’s meant to this team statistically,” coach Mark Richt said, “he matches up with anybody in our league.”

Shockley’s importance to the Bulldogs was apparent in the one game he missed. Sidelined by a knee injury, he watched the offense struggle in a 14-10 loss to Florida.

Wearing a brace, Shockley returned two weeks later against Auburn and had one of his best games. Even though the Bulldogs lost a 31-30 thriller, the quarterback could hardly be blamed after completing 20 of 36 passes for 304 yards and two touchdowns.

Shockley threw four more TD passes last week in a 45-13 victory over Kentucky that clinched the SEC East.

“When we played Auburn, I thought he might have to knock some of the rust off,” Richt said. “But he played well. I had no complaints. He played well in the last game, too. Is he where he was before the injury? I’m not sure. But he’s close.”

Shockley needs to be at his best Saturday when the Bulldogs travel to Atlanta to meet 20th-ranked Georgia Tech (7-3), which is coming off a stunning win at Miami and hopes to end a four-game losing streak to its state rival.

The Yellow Jackets blitz extensively and do a good job of hiding where the rush will be coming from, so it’s imperative that Shockley make good reads at the line and react quickly once the ball is snapped.

“That’s their bread and butter,” he said. “They’re going to pressure you with somebody. They make you think fast. They make you make a play.”

Miami quarterback Kyle Wright had a miserable time against all those blitzes, but Georgia Tech knows it will be tougher to catch Shockley.

“When you pressure him, he can move around,” Tech linebacker Gerris Wilkinson said. “Not that Kyle Wright wasn’t mobile, but D.J. is more athletic than Wright.”

As for last year’s game, Wilkinson doesn’t believe that’s an indication of how Shockley will play this time.

“He’s a whole different player,” Wilkinson said. “He’s playing with more confidence, and he knows the offense a whole lot better. I’m sure they have changed their plan a little more in terms of the plays that they’re running. He’s able to spread the ball around very well.”

Shockley doesn’t want to get into a personal matchup with Georgia Tech counterpart Reggie Ball, but everyone else will be tallying up the quarterback numbers.

“That’s one of the story lines of this game,” Shockley acknowledged. “In some ways, I know it depends on which one of us plays better. Both quarterbacks are very important to their teams. But I’m playing against Georgia Tech, not Reggie Ball. I’m sure he feels the same way about Georgia.”