ATHENS — Ryan Puglisi doesn’t fear a competition. He came to Georgia knowing he would find himself in one eventually.
That’s the case this spring, even if said battle appears to be fought in an uphill fashion as he tries to take down Gunner Stockton.
“No matter what at Georgia, no matter who you are, no matter where you are on the depth chart, you’re always going to compete,” Puglisi told reporters Tuesday night. “I think you’re competing with yourself every day as well. You know, just trying to be better than you were yesterday and putting your head down and going to work every single day, no matter where you are on the depth chart.”
Puglisi is entering his second season at UGA. It’s his first real spring, as he dealt with a knee injury last year. Saturday will be the first G-Day game he plays in. By comparison, it’s Stockton’s fourth.
Still, Puglisi believes he can win Georgia’s quarterback competition.
“I could right now, definitely,” Puglisi said when asked if he could be Georgia’s starting quarterback. “I think if you’re in the quarterback position, and you don’t believe that you can go play, you should probably do something else because you need some confidence.”
Puglisi knows he has to be ready to meet the moment. That nearly came in December, when Stockton’s helmet went flying during overtime of Georgia’s SEC Championship game win over Texas.
Stockton would have to miss at least one play because of the helmet coming off his head. Puglisi, who entered the game as Georgia’s third-string quarterback, had to quickly compose himself in what had been to that point Georgia’s biggest game of the season.
But after a review, Georgia decided that it was best to substitute an injured Carson Beck into the game, as opposed to someone who had never thrown a pass in a collegiate game.
Beck gave the ball to Trevor Etienne for the winning score, but Puglisi learned a lot from that whirlwind experience.
“You’ve got to be able to do it no matter how hard it is or whether you think you’re going to get in the game or not,” Puglisi said. “So I think no matter who you’re playing, whether it’s Texas, Alabama or someone else, you’ve got to be able to get ready wherever you are on the depth chart to go out there and play.”
Puglisi has become a popular player this spring. Part of that is because of his ascension up the depth chart following Beck’s departure.
Coach Kirby Smart and Puglisi both understand that this leads to a greater push from external forces to see Puglisi take the reins at quarterback. Stockton, with all of his 86 career pass attempts, is more of a known entity than Puglisi.
But Puglisi, a redshirt freshman from Paxton, Massachusetts, isn’t letting any positive or negative chatter distract him from his main goal this spring.
“Yeah, I think the biggest thing is just putting your head down and going to work every single day, regardless of the noise, regardless of what people say about you, good and bad. I think you just have the decision to make when you wake up in the morning, am I going to get better or not today? That’s really that simple.”
That is what in part makes G-Day so fascinating for Puglisi. Teammates rave about his mastery of the offense, as he has made clear improvements this spring.
Even if those don’t get displayed all over social media.
“He could teach the playbook at this point,” wide receiver London Humphreys said. “He feels good about it, and he’s someone I can talk to if I have any questions about, hey, what’s the deal here? What are you looking at? So we can be on the same page, just receiver to quarterback. I mean, he’s still a young guy, he’s got a lot of time ahead of him.
“So, I mean, he’s progressing great in my eyes, and I’ve enjoyed playing with him.”
Saturday will be the biggest opportunity yet for Puglisi. He committed first to play for Todd Monken. He remained with the program following Dylan Raiola’s commitment made while at Buford High and his eventual flip to Nebraska.
He battled Jaden Rashada a year ago for the No. 3 spot while he learned behind Stockton and Beck. Rashada and Beck both transferred out of the program.
Puglisi will get his biggest opportunity Saturday and welcomes the chance to show how seriously he should be taken.
“Any time you get to wear pads and play in Sanford Stadium in front of your fans and stuff like that is a blessing,” Puglisi said. “So, I think just being able to go out there and soak up the moment, play with my guys around me, and obviously that’s a quarterback’s job, it’s just your job to serve others. So, whatever I have to do out there is just to serve others and get the ball to the playmakers.”
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