Hutson Mason and his "sticky situation"

Quarterback Hutson Mason graded his performance in the Georgia spring football game as a B-minus or C-plus. He passed for 109 yards, but also threw the game’s lone interception.

Still, he finished the spring as the clear backup to starter Aaron Murray, as true freshman Christian LeMay continues to learn the playbook.

That doesn’t guarantee that Mason won’t redshirt.

“I don’t know man. It’s a sticky situation that I’m in,” Mason said. “The only thing I’ve tried to do is just compete every day. I’ll evaluate myself and my situation when it comes to that time. But you know, they just tell me to go out there and compete every day so that’s what I’m doing.”

Mason elaborated on the “sticky situation” by saying it was just that he and Murray are both sophomores. He couldn’t redshirt last year because the team only had two scholarship quarterbacks. Now the team also has Christian LeMay, but he’s a true freshman.

When head coach Mark Richt was asked Saturday about the backup quarterback battle, he said: “I think Christian LeMay right now is just battling the playbook. Until you really know what you’re doing, you really can’t compete at quarterback.”

But LeMay isn’t being ruled out as a factor. He showed a good arm and athletic ability on G-Day, and led the game-winning drive. (Richt said it was just LeMay’s turn in the rotation.) Richt also said he expects LeMay to be a factor in the competition in the fall, so no decision has been made on who will redshirt, if anybody.

Offensive coordinator Mike Bobo, also the quarterbacks coach, summed up the quarterback situation this way:

“I think we’ve got two very good ones in Aaron Murray and Hutson Mason. The other guys are battling it out. (Walk-on) Parker Welch has done a lot of nice things. He’s improved tremendously all spring.

“Christian LeMay I think has a chance to be a very special player. He’s extremely athletic and has a very good arm. He’s just a freshman here and it’s really tough for any freshman to come in and really know what to do. But he’s shown us the ability … that we think he could do a good job.”

Mason was asked Saturday if, ideally, he would like to redshirt in order to be a year behind Murray – and potentially be in line to be the starter down the road.

“I haven’t thought about it much because I don’t want to make an impulsive decision right here and say I wish I did (redshirt),” Mason said. “It would probably be something I would have to sit down and think about what’s best for my future. I don’t want to say yea or nay right now.”

Mason added: “I’ll worry about it when I cross that bridge.”