Zach Mettenberger Dismissed from Georgia Bulldogs; April 2010 Marks 28th Straight Month of Doom and Gloom in Bulldog Nation
by T Kyle King on Apr 18, 2010 7:01 PM EDT
in Football
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PrintThere’s a reason why DavetheDawg beat me to the punch: I just tried to have a pleasant Sunday at home, spent minding my own business, mowing the back yard, and tracking the Georgia baseball game, so I was a little late to the party where this was concerned:
University of Georgia redshirt freshman quarterback Zach Mettenberger has been dismissed from the Bulldog football team according to a Sunday announcement by UGA head coach Mark Richt.
According to Richt, the dismissal is a result of violation of team rules.
David Hale is working on getting the details, but, in the meantime, please feel free to whack me upside the head with a two-by-four the next time I start asking questions like this. Clearly, there is no good news in Bulldog Nation; any news that initially appears less than awful is a mere prelude to news that is absolutely disastrous.
Aaron Murray, welcome to the big time, my friend.
Go ‘Dawgs!
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This shouldn't be all that surprising
After Coach Richt announced Zach’s initial one game suspension, he left the door open to further punishment pending more details from the police’s investigation.
I suppose the police found something out further than just a underage drinking and possession of fake ID.
Don’t you think this had something to do with the delay in announcing the depth chart? As bad it sounds now, could you imagine the shock waves if Richt had named him the #1 QB and then he was kicked off the team? Now Murray can be the #1 guy.
www.grittree.wordpress.com
It appears you're exactly right, Corbindawg
Per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
The dismissal apparently is related to Mettenberger’s March 7 arrest outside a bar in Remerton, Ga., near Valdosta. Mettenberger, 18, was charged with underage possession/consumption of alcohol, disorderly conduct, obstruction and two counts of having false identification.
Georgia associate athletics director Claude Felton told the AJC on Sunday that "there was not a new incident involving Zach."
The fact that it shouldn’t be surprising doesn’t make it any less aggravating or disheartening.
Go 'Dawgs!
Kudos to Coach Richt
for not being a jerk. He said all along that depending on what the investigation uncovers, he would make additional actions. And he did. For the second time in a few weeks, he had to dismiss a player to the detriment to the team.
From Montez Robinson’s situation to now, he has also had to deal with false allegations in the taxi cab situation. All the while, he remained calm and steady. He didn’t lie to his family or to the media. He didn’t physically threaten the media. Like his stoic demeanor on the sidelines, he has remained calm but acted quickly and justly while doing so.
I am sure, knowing the type of man Coach Richt is, he will continue to help Zach find his way through this tough and embarrassing situation. I hope Zach gets the chance to play ball somewhere else (not in the SEC, probably isn’t possible with his eligability). It would be painful irony if he brought the VSU Blazers back to a National Championship.
www.grittree.wordpress.com
That would be something, wouldn't it?
I keep thinking about Buck Belue and John Lastinger.
Valdosta giveth quarterbacks, and Valdosta taketh quarterbacks away.
Go 'Dawgs!
by T Kyle King on Apr 18, 2010 10:17 PM EDT up reply actions
Was he already on 'double-secret probation'?
How could it go from ‘drankin’ to ‘gone’ if there hadn’t been more than a warning at some other point for some other incident? (because if it was something substanial in this incident it surely would have been in the police report)
Rumor around Athens is something more than drankin' was going on
I don’t want to spread anonymous internet rumors, but people are saying that something else that didn’t lead to an arrest happened that night. Just because it didn’t make it into the police report doesn’t mean it won’t get you kicked off the team.
Corbindawg is correct in his comment above:
Mettenberger’s suspension was for a minimum of one game, and that suspension was handed down while the investigation was ongoing. I don’t know any more details than you do, so I won’t presume to speculate, but, if there was no further incident (and Claude Felton unequivocally said there wasn’t) and the door was left open for further punishment, this had to have been the other shoe dropping.
Go 'Dawgs!
i don’t get why he would have been allowed to play in the Spring Game if all decisions were made on information already gathered. I don’t know anything but something must have happened to get him dismissed other than the original incident in Valdosta.
Just my 2cents
Coach Richt is a class act...
…and made sure Mettenberger got a good audition in before he was forced to transfer. Simple as that.
I'll buy rxmaster's argument . . .
. . . but I think it’s more likely that not all the information had been gathered. The investigation was ongoing and it had been made clear that additional punishment could be added. I doubt whether there’d have been such a production made of releasing the depth chart, then not releasing the depth chart, if it had been known on G-Day that the axe was coming down.
Go 'Dawgs!
Maybe this is good news.
The QB race just got a lot simpler. And Richt is really showing that he’s not going to put up with crap.
I also believe a couple national championships were won this weekend by Georgia teams.
I know it’s easier to be pessimistic to avoid disappointment, but everything isn’t as bad as it seems,
A couple of national championships?
I knew about the equestrian title. Which one did I miss?
Go 'Dawgs!
Individual equestrian titles
AJC:
bq. Georgia also claimed two individual championships in Saturday’s competition: Michelle Morris won the title in Hunt Seat Equitation on the Flat, and Emma Lipman won the Equitation over Fences event.
Ahh that's what I saw I guess.
Good ol’ equestrian. sighs.
Thanks, schlagdawg
I really need to learn more about equestrian events, particularly since Georgia is so good at them.
Also, I love the terminology. “Hunt seat equitation on the flat”? I don’t care who you are, that’s just cool.
Go 'Dawgs!
by T Kyle King on Apr 18, 2010 10:19 PM EDT up reply actions
This hurts two fold
Aaron Murray may have been the starter next year regardless. The fact that he’ll be getting virtually all of the 1st teams snaps in pre-season practice is the only good news out of the for the Dawgs, IMO. Where this hurts is, obviously, in depth. Where does UGA get left if Murray gets hurt? Secondly, who is really going to push Murray to stay on top of his game through the summer and fall camp? The kid is talented, but he’s young and needs a lot of development.
This is when you hope
that the staff did a good job evaluating talent last year and that Hutson Mason is ready to do more than hold a clipboard.
This should help us land a top QB this year.
by Hobnail_Boot on Apr 18, 2010 9:16 PM EDT up reply actions
Not what I wanted to read on a Sunday night.....
All I can say is that I hope he learned from this and walks the straight and narrow from now on.
i dont wish ill on the kid - but for the team- PROBLEM SOLVED
we now have a young redshirt QB to get behind. CMR is the best at grooming these guys. I was worried about a QB rotation – NO LONGER! Now I just worry that bobo wont use these TEs and the running game and let our starter – and he is the starter for the year, mature.
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
by tankertoad on Apr 18, 2010 11:33 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
You make entirely too much sense TT...
And I LOVE it.
by RedCrake on Apr 18, 2010 11:44 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
thank you ) I will take the stable but not as good an arm guy every day
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
Wasn't Stafford the obvious choice to come in and start in '06 but CMR started JT3 anyways?
I just don’t see it yet that CMR is riding next season on the arm of Murray just yet. He may do so. But for me its kind of a i’ll believe it when i see it kind of thing.
Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win.
I Corinthians 9:24
by Southern Dawg on Apr 19, 2010 8:41 AM EDT up reply actions
True...
but Stafford was a true freshman and I always felt like his comfort level with the offense was the reason for the JT3 debacle. Murray may not be experienced in the SEC, but he should be very comfortable with the offense by now.
by RedCrake on Apr 19, 2010 1:32 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
If I may throw some water on the ashes of despair...
I, for one, am very very happy about the direction of the basketball program. It’s not out of the question that the SEC POY will be wearing red and black next season.
i still am not worried at all
I have visions of double TE sets, T formations, basically 20 plays that a freshman can run out of a few basic formations. Think of the possibilities of short passes to TEs or to one of our RBs. do this 10 times then throw the bomb (you hear me Bobo). We can build an modern offense with multiple attacks from old school formations. I mean, ultimately, it’s all about blocking and tackling, right? Imagine how could we would be if we just blocked and tackled last year – and we still managed to win 8 games.
I just hope CMR is really working with bobo to come up with multple attacks from basic formations – no gimmicks, and no “Bomb, dive, screen” 3 and outs. We have, from reading here, some great TEs, we have two solid starting RBs. Things can work out just fine.
On the flip side of the ball – CTG is going to unleash a storm on Garcia and SC and, yea, we may get burned a few times, but I fully expect to see SC’s offensive running around like a bunch of drunk monkeys.
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
its interesting LeMay knows he may positively impact other recruits.
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
This is bad
This is the moment when I stopped being a pessimist because that’s what cool dawgsports people do and started making my lack of faith my own.
Mettenberger
It is my understanding that some Georgia football boosters that contribute millions to the Georgia Athletic Dept. supported Murray for starting QB in September. Murray starting over Gray is a no brainer. Murray starting over Mettenberger after the G-Day Game, not so much. If the kid violated team rules in early March which warranted dismissal, then why did CMR dismiss him from the team at the end of April? There is something more to the arrest outside that Remerton, GA. bar along the lines of the Ben Roethlisberger situation, that the Georgia coach is not telling. If not, then I am dumbfounded by CMR’s decision. Florida and LSU kept players on their team in the past, that had been charged with felony theft, alot more serious charge than underaged beer drinking and having a fake ID.
by GeorgiaBulldogs83 on Apr 22, 2010 3:01 PM EDT reply actions
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