Faton Bauta, Greyson Lambert and that time Georgia rolled the dice 10 years ago vs Florida
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JACKSONVILLE, Fla, — Gunner Stockton will start against Florida for the first time in Saturday’s Georgia football game in Jacksonville.
Ten years ago, the decision on Georgia’s starting quarterback against the Gators here was a gamble.
Coaches went with third-string Faton Bauta to make his first start after not taking a meaningful college snap.
Greyson Lambert was replaced as starter against Florida for that Oct. 31, 2015 game, a 27-3 Gators romp.
The move was a stunner on the eve of the game, but Lambert knew it was coming for a while since Georgia had an open date before the Florida game.
“I knew going into the Florida game well in advance that it wasn’t going to be me,” Lambert said recently. “Obviously as a competitor, that stunk. I also understood it’s a performance-based business. I didn’t have a leg to stand on coming out of Alabama, Missouri. Tennessee went OK, but we lost the game.”
Georgia had followed back-to-back losses, 38-10 to Alabama and 38-31 to Tennessee, with a 9-6 win over Missouri.
“It was very ugly,” Lambert said.
Lambert was 10 of 24 for 86 yards and an interception against Alabama, 15 of 32 for 279 yards and 2 touchdowns against Tennessee and 23 of 32 for 178 yards and an interception against Missouri.
The Bulldogs had a first-year offensive coordinator in Brian Schottenheimer.
With Georgia at 5-2, Coach Mark Richt turned to Bauta against No. 12 Florida over Lambert and Brice Ramsey.
“I was pumped,” Bauta said in 2018. “They opened up competition the week before, and when we started the week, they kind of just kept it open. I just kind of noticed I was getting more … reps than everybody else, and I was just like, ‘OK, it looks like it’s going to be me.’”
Said Lambert, “I was frustrated, but at the same time, it was the coaches’ decision. You’ve got to rock with it.”
Bauta, a redshirt junior, completed 15 of 33 passes for 154 yards and 4 interceptions and rushed for 4 yards on 3 carries despite being considered a run threat.
“You guys thought too much of me as a dual-threat quarterback,” he said. “I know for a fact even though I still could do it, that wasn’t really the strong part of my game anymore.”
Richt, in his 15th season with the Bulldogs, said days after the game he wanted to surprise Florida by going with Bauta, who was told he would get the start by Schottenheimer on Wednesday of game week. Word leaked out, so the surprise element was diminished.
Georgia returned to Lambert as starter after Florida and won the next four games, but Richt was fired after a 9-3 regular season.
Georgia hired Kirby Smart from Alabama. Smart, now in his 10th season and with two national titles, has the Bulldogs ranked No. 5 heading into Saturday’s matchup.
Bauta, a Brooklyn native who moved to New Jersey when he was 10, came to Georgia after playing at Dwyer High in West Palm Beach, Fla.
After his college career ended, he worked on football staffs at Monmouth, Colorado State and South Carolina before returning to New Jersey.
He’s general manager and partner for New Jersey United AC soccer club.
Bauta was a guest on the “Breaking Barriers” podcast this year and was asked to tell listeners about his background.
“If you ask people in Georgia, I probably wouldn’t have that good of a name,” he said. “If you ask people in New Jersey, it’s probably a little bit better.”
He told the story of being a quarterback at Georgia.
“I was a dream chaser. I was working hard, busting my ass when I was there,” he said. “My one and only opportunity didn’t go so well there. There’s plenty of people that joke about it, whatever the case may be.”
Bauta said he’s still training kids in his community in New Jersey.
“It’s like breathing to me,” he said. “You learn so much. You have all this information, and I’m like, ‘I can’t do much with it now, but let me help.’”
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Looking back at Georgia starting Faton Bauta vs. Florida 10 years ago
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