Eason’s ‘seeing the hard way’ what life in the SEC is like

When Jacob Eason wasn’t on the run, he was stepping backward and away from the pocket.

With Florida’s pass rush bearing down on Eason throughout Saturday’s 24-10 loss to Florida, Georgia’s freshman quarterback was unable to establish much of a rhythm after hitting five of his first seven throws. It sure proved to be a learning experience for Eason, who dealt with a great deal of pressure all game.

“I think he’s growing up. He’s seeing the hard way,” head coach Kirby Smart said. “That was probably the best pass rush he’s seen, as far as the caliber of those guys.”

From what Smart saw, Eason was dropping too far back on passing plays and not trusting the pocket to develop. Considering Eason was hurried 16 times and sacked twice is evidence that he was under siege throughout the game.

Facing that kind of pressure had Eason doing his best to extend plays on the run. On Georgia’s only touchdown drive, Eason bought some time that allowed Terry Godwin to sneak behind the Florida secondary and come up with a 38-yard grab. Eason did the same on his 14-yard throwing score to receiver Riley Ridley.

While there’s plenty for Eason to still improve upon, he did have some positives coming out of the game.

“With everything going on and him being a freshman, I feel like he handled it very well,” Godwin said. “He came out, even when he was being pressured, he scrambled and made plays. That’s not normal for a freshman quarterback to do, especially against a defense like this.”

Eason’s day ended 15-of-33 passing for only 143 yards and a touchdown. Eighty of those yards came off of a 5-of-7 start, which made it seem like Georgia’s offense would be able to compete with Florida early.

But the Gators adjusted, and the true freshman was unable to make many more plays.

“He had a couple of times he didn’t snap the ball at the right time,” Smart said. “The formation he didn’t flip. And then he’s backing up some. But he’s getting better. He sees things. He’s getting more confident. He’s able to move around and make some plays athletically. He ad-libbed and made a couple of plays for us.”

The Florida loss was the latest tough game for Eason through his first eight games as a college quarterback. He played well against North Carolina, Missouri, Tennessee and Vanderbilt. He struggled against Nicholls State, Mississippi, South Carolina and Vanderbilt.

Progress is being made, but it’s clear Eason is a much better quarterback in front of a friendly arena. When he’s not in front of a Georgia-majority crowd, Eason’s averaging 154.3 yards per game, compared to the 223 number he has at Sanford Stadium and the Georgia Dome.

But playing against strong competition away from home is something every quarterback has to eventually become accustomed to.

“It’s going to be tough on any freshman in the SEC, obviously,” junior quarterback/punter Brice Ramsey said. “At the same time, Jacob’s a special player. I’ve been able to watch him grow a ton, from the playbook to the snap count to reading coverages. Just all aspects of the game, physically and mentally. And then watching him progress has been really cool.”

Ramsey, who was beaten out by Eason and backup Greyson Lambert for the quarterback job during the preseason, has been helping Eason adjust to the college level at practice and during games.

Ramsey has been front and center for both the highs and lows of Eason’s first-ever collegiate season. Ramsey said he hasn’t seen Eason get ahead of himself when he does well or too down following a loss.

Therefore, Ramsey is confident that Eason will respond accordingly following what transpired against Florida.

“Jacob’s a day to day guy,” Ramsey said. “Whatever happened (Saturday), he probably already forgot.”

This story was originally published October 30, 2016 at 5:24 PM with the headline "Eason’s ‘seeing the hard way’ what life in the SEC is like."