Jacob Eason still working through freshman mistakes

Jacob Eason is still a work in progress.

Coming off of a game in which Eason, the five-star quarterback who has started five of Georgia’s six games this year, completed only 5-of-17 passes for 29 yards, head coach Kirby Smart acknowledged there’s a lot more that needs to be done in practice each week to ensure his signal-caller can be more comfortable in game situations.

“I think the biggest thing with Jacob is getting him more reps and allowing him to develop,” Smart said. “South Carolina didn’t do anything outside of what they always do. It was more a matter of him not being comfortable with the protection, so he got a little rattled at times and started looking around. It wasn’t anything they did to confuse him. I think the best thing we can do is give him a better picture in practice of what he’s going to see in the game and try to simulate that, and throw and catch the ball more.”

Eason had a tough time hitting open receivers and misfired on a lot of passes throughout the game. The good thing for Eason was that the rushing attack was able to account for 326 yards and take a lot of pressure off of his arm.

Smart said he and his coaching staff have to do a better job of simulating what is going to occur in a game during practice so that the young quarterback is better prepared for what he’s about to face. Of course, that was tough against South Carolina with the wind being a factor, especially early in the game.

Throughout the highs and lows, Smart said Eason’s composure hasn’t wavered, which has been good to see.

“Jacob knows that he’s had his ups and downs this season,” Smart said. “He’s had his wow moments, and he’s had his bad moments. I think when you are starting a true freshman you know that you’re going to inherently go through some of those. You’ve got to encourage, you’ve got to teach, you’ve got to improve him as a player so that there’s progress there.”

But while progress has been made, there are areas Smart would like to see improvement.

Smart wants to see better play-action fakes. He wants to see Eason be more detailed when dropping back and reading coverage. His communication skills at the line of scrimmage need to get better.

Through it all, Eason is getting great experience as a true freshman quarterback in the SEC. Therefore, while he struggled through four quarters against the Gamecocks, it never occurred to Smart to pull him.

“You asked if we considered changing during the game,” Smart said. “We did not.”

This story was originally published October 11, 2016 at 3:15 PM with the headline "Jacob Eason still working through freshman mistakes ."