'Beast' Stetson Bennett continues to give Georgia a look at Baker Mayfield
Georgia’s primary focus defensively has been figuring out how to contain Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield in the pocket. And filling the role of Mayfield in practice has been freshman walk-on Stetson Bennett, who has been the top scout-team quarterback all season long.
During Friday’s practice, Bennett joined the outside linebackers and started simulating some of Mayfield’s moves.
Outside linebackers coach Kevin Sherrer instructed his position group how to contain Mayfield when he begins to scramble. Bennett would mimic Mayfield running to his right and the outside linebackers would take the appropriate angle to slow him down. Bennett has routinely been praised by head coach Kirby Smart this season for his ability to simulate the opposing team’s quarterback.
Earlier Friday, it was defensive coordinator Mel Tucker’s turn to laud Bennett for giving the defense a good scout-team look.
"Stetson Bennett is a beast, man," Tucker said. "Stetson Bennett puts a lot of pressure on our defense because he is extremely quick, he's fast and he can throw. He can throw in the pocket and he can throw on the run, and he's very, very competitive."
Bennett has been Georgia’s fourth-team quarterback this year behind Jake Fromm, Jacob Eason and Brice Ramsey. He chose to walk on at Georgia instead of accepting a scholarship offer from Middle Tennessee State, Georgia Southern and Mercer.
Outside linebacker Lorenzo Carter said Bennett has done a good job this week of playing Mayfield and has even made some plays on the first-team defense.
"He's a quick guy," Carter said. "He can outrun a lot of people. He's made Roquan (Smith) look silly, he's made me look silly. He's made a lot of people look silly. You just have to practice like we're playing the game, and Stetson does a good job at that."
On the injury front, defensive tackle Michail Carter was not spotted at Friday’s practice. He was seen walking slowly off of the field Thursday and chatting with a sports medicine representative. Carter has been a rotational defensive lineman this season and has six tackles for the season.
Freshman defensive back Tray Bishop was at practice but working off to the side. Bishop, who is on track to redshirt this season, is recovering from an ankle injury.
This story was originally published December 29, 2017 at 5:33 PM with the headline "'Beast' Stetson Bennett continues to give Georgia a look at Baker Mayfield."