Hutson Mason, Former Georgia Bulldogs Quarterback

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Brock Bowers one on one. Caught! Touchdown!

He ate him alive! Falls down into the end zone. Six more for Georgia. We can't wait for the 2023 season. Caleb Williams throws the fade in the corner.

Oh my! Touchdown Trojans! And we're counting down the days to kick off. Are we there yet? We said no!

What's wrong with your ears? Here is your college football fix, only on the Zach Gelb Show. Alrighty, let's spend some time right now with the former Georgia Bulldog. And that of course is Hudson Mason, kind enough to join us on the Zach Gelb Show on CBS Sports Radio.

We'll go through the entirety of the SEC. Hudson, appreciate the time as always. How you been? Real good, Zach. Hope you're enjoying your summer.

I am ready for some college football. Look forward to taking it with you here for a couple minutes. I did want to tell you my one commitment to you today for the next 10 or 15 minutes is no matter what you ask me, I will not hang up on you. Good! You won't be joining Deebo Samuel and Aaron Donald. I'm not going to join the long list of people that have hung up on Zach Gelb on live radio.

That's some good stuff. Well, we'll see what we'll ask you to try to annoy you to get you to hang up on us. We were just talking about Georgia right before the break. And this is not a slight on them because they've won back to back national titles. They're expected to win three straight this year. You look at their schedule this year, even in the great SEC, no LSU, no Alabama, no A&M. Man, if they're not undefeated at the end of the regular season, that would kind of be disappointing.

Yeah, it would be. I mean, with SEC media days going on this week today, Georgia and Kirby Smart, it was their day in Nashville, Tennessee. And I was taking a peek at the schedule again.

And I just, I go, holy cow, man, this is going to be a, could be a little boring this year. A couple of jamborees to open up the year and no disrespect to South Carolina. But I mean, look, Georgia is going to be a double digit favorite in every single game they play. And I was going through the schedule and I was just asking myself, you know, what point do you even think that Georgia would get challenged? Somebody brought up Auburn to me and I don't, I don't expect Auburn to be super competitive this year.

Certainly not on the level of Georgia. And they got Kentucky after that, maybe Tennessee, but that's really late in the year. So, yeah, it could be a year where, you know, the postseason starts for Georgia, or really the regular season, excuse me, starts come December like it has the past couple years. And like you said, I like what Shane Beamer's doing at South Carolina, right? Mark Stoop's a good coach, who frees now back in the SEC.

But until November 18th, I know Lane Kiffin could always put up a ton of points. But until you play Tennessee, and we'll see if Joe Milton can really put it all together, there's not a game on that schedule that even intimidates you if you're Georgia. Yeah, and it's unfortunate because it's not the SEC that I grew up watching with, you know, Georgia and Tennessee and Florida with Fulmer and Spurrier and Mark Rick all duking it out for the East.

That's just not what it is right now. I mean, Florida is projected, they're over-under in Vegas for a win total this year is five and a half. I mean, there's a legitimate chance that the Florida Gators in year two under Billy Napier might not make a bowl game. They've got a tough schedule. So, it's not Georgia's fault. Georgia has to just play the teams that, you know, that are on their schedule. It's really a, hopefully Tennessee and Joe Milton and those guys up there can have a good year, I think, because that's really the only one that I kind of point to right now that maybe late in the year could give Georgia a run.

Hudson Mason here with us. I did see that Coach Smart earlier today said Carson Beck is the leader for the QB1 title right now. What are your expectations, assuming he is starting this year, for Georgia for Carson Beck?

Yeah, it should be him. He has been there for several years. I admire Carson Beck a lot. I think his journey and his path to becoming the starter was pretty similar to mine, a guy that had the weight and back up a stud for a couple years.

And in the era of, hey, if you don't play right now, guys hit the portal and they leave. That's not what Carson Beck did and he hung around and, you know, he should be the starting quarterback for Georgia unless he just has a terrible camp. So, he's a former four-star recruit out of Jacksonville, Florida and had a bunch of offers and has really developed great as a pocket passer. He's not as mobile as Stetson Bennett, but I think when you just talk about the intangibles, the size, the arm strength, all those things that you talk about what it takes at the next level, I mean, he's got it all. He's totally different body build and really totally different quarterback than Stetson. And I think that'll probably be the biggest maybe change for Kirby Smart and new offensive coordinator Mike Bobo is you got a guy in Stetson last year that was very underrated as an athlete.

I mean, he could extend plays, get positive yards on a dead play. Carson's more of a pocket quarterback, got a big arm, but he's got a really high ceiling and he's going to have a really talented room around him. I think this is going to be Georgia's most talented receiver room. They added some guys in the portal from Missouri and Mississippi State and then they've already got a couple studs that they're bringing back, including an All-American tight end and Lad McConkie at receiver as well.

So, he's going to have a lot of weapons to disperse the ball to. Talk right now to Hudson Mason. Let's talk a little bit about LSU with Brian Kelly. A year ago, everyone who is clowning him and deservedly so with the whole accent and the cringe-worthy recruiting videos, but he had a monster year one get into the SEC title game where he loses to your Bulldogs. Year two now for Brian Kelly at LSU.

Seems like people are singing a different tune this year. It really is and I think it proves Zach that winning cures everything. Don't ever forget that in sports. Winning cures everything and what I mean by that is, you know, this time last year going into mid-July and SEC media days. Everybody was kind of making fun of him about, man, is this is this going to be a good fit and him talking about me and my family.

And he got this Northeastern Midwestern guy coming down to the deep south and everybody was wondering about the fit. Here we are a year later and nobody that narrative is completely gone. And that's because of the year that they had last year beating Alabama, getting to the SEC championship game. And there's a ton of hype and I think rightfully so. I think they're going to be the pick from the media to win the West and they're going to be my pick. They got the best offensive player in the conference and Jayden Daniels at quarterback. They got the best defensive player in the conference and Harold Perkins, maybe the best defensive player in the country at the end of the year. They got one of the best receivers in the country.

So and I thought it was interesting. Let's see Monday. It was LSU's day and at SEC media days and Brian Kelly said that they are close to cutting the gap between their roster and Georgia's roster. He did not say Alabama.

He said Georgia. And I think that caught a lot of people by surprise because I think there's a lot of people that are wondering, especially with some of the question marks regarding Alabama coming in this year at quarterback. Is LSU tracking down Alabama? Well, I know what you just said about LSU, Hudson Mason, but what is your view of Alabama? Like even if they don't end up winning the SEC West once again, which they didn't last year, how far do they fall off? Well, I don't think there's any any disputing.

I think there's a couple of different there's two different ways to answer that. I don't think there's any disputing the legacy of Nick Saban. He's the greatest of all time.

Well, let me just interrupt you for a second and I'll say it. What Paul Finebaum said the other day on ESPN was just disgraceful. How he's talking about the legacy getting impacted. Nick Saban could not win a game this year. And you know what, if Paul was on the show, he'd probably hang up with me, Hudson, because I'll tell you this, I don't care if Nick Saban doesn't win a game this year. He's one of the greatest coaches, not the greatest coach of all time.

That was just stupid television the other day. Yeah, I mean, look, it's not going to change at all whether, you know, he's the greatest of all time or not. Maybe, you know, I think what it does is it just I think we already think or let me speak for myself. I already think and I know a lot of people share this thought that Georgia has already passed Alabama as the new supremacy and the top of college football and winning back to back national titles supports that. There's a lot of people that are wondering if LSU is right behind Georgia with the talent, the way they've recruited, beating Alabama last year, and a lot of that has to do with some of the question marks regarding Alabama coming into a year.

They have typically always known who their next quarterback is going to be in line. And I'll tell you right now, I don't think anybody in Tuscaloosa heading into training camp knows who their starting quarterback is going to be to begin the year. So if the way that you're saying that in the SEC right now, and I agree, I probably agree with the ender in this season, and that's not to discredit Alabama because it's just the uncertainty at their quarterback position that Georgia's one and LSU is two. When you look at the entire landscape of college football, how many teams do you consider after Georgia maybe being in front of LSU?

I would put Michigan. I think this is the most talented team that Jim Harbaugh has ever had. Ohio State obviously is going to be in that mix, but Ohio State has got a, you know, question mark at quarterback as well, so does Clemson coming in this year. I think that's what's interesting about a couple of these teams, Georgia, Ohio State, Clemson, they're all breaking in new quarterbacks, you know, and Georgia's breaking in a new quarterback and a new offensive coordinator, and so is Clemson. And so you can pretty much assure yourself that of those three teams that I just mentioned right there, whoever's quarterback plays the best this year is going to have, probably be the team that's standing as one of the four teams, if not the national champion at the end of the year.

That's just typically how football works. And the best quarterback in college football right now is Caleb Williams, but I can't put USC there. Maybe USC makes a college football playoff, but their defense has to be able to make a stop before we could even consider putting them in that conversation.

Yeah, I would agree with you. I mean, I think what we saw last year at the end of the year, them collapsing in the Pac-12 championship game and losing to Tulane, I think a lot of the questions reside on the defensive side of the ball and a ton of optimism about them on the offensive side, but it'll be interesting to see, you know, they'll be the favorite in the Pac-12 if they can, you know, finish the year like they're supposed to. Let's get to A&M. So Jimbo Fisher, what a putz he was the other day. He talks to one outlet and says that it's going to be Bobby Petrino calling the plays, and then when he addresses a bunch of reporters, didn't even want to say that. Jimbo, to me, is someone that is so easy to root against, and he should be on the hot seat. I know it comes down to that contract and if they're going to want to pay it, but they've got a whole lot of talent at A&M, and I just don't believe in Jimbo Fisher.

How about yourself? Yeah, I think Jimbo has, and I've been covering Jimbo for a long time, has had one of his games. He may be more so than any other coach has mastered dancing around a question more so than any other maybe public figure that I've ever met, including a politician. You know, I do not understand for the life of me why he will not come out and publicly address and just give a direct answer about Bobby Petrino's status with the team.

Who is calling plays? I mean, you know, and to me, what this is, is this is Jimbo Fisher trying to control the narrative. And what he's doing here is, because let's remember, who they play week one is New Mexico. It's not scheme like he claims it is. You know, they could pick their score against New Mexico, for crying out loud. So it really has nothing to do about withholding scheme advantages, or hey, what system are we going to do?

That's hogwash. What it is, is it's about controlling the narrative. And if things don't go well to start the year, Jimbo Fisher could always say, well, hey, Bobby Petrino was the offensive coordinator, you know, or Bobby Petrino wasn't the offensive coordinator or vice versa. If things are going well with Bobby Petrino calling the plays, he could look really good by saying, see, I told you this is why I brought Bobby in and I gave him play calling. So it's all about just controlling the narrative, keeping the cards close to his vest, and you know, I think about halfway through the year, maybe in the first couple games, whether things are going well or not, you'll finally hear him come out and say, hey, no, I've been calling plays, or Bobby's been calling plays, depending on how it's going. It's just a lot of confusion, really, with him.

And I don't get any of it. I understand what you're saying. Hudson Mason here with us for a few more moments. So we've gone through Georgia, Alabama, LSU. We've discussed Tennessee, NANM.

Who else jumps out to you? Is there a team in the SEC that maybe isn't getting enough attention that maybe we should start paying a little bit more attention to you? I think, you know, those three teams are, you know, the three teams that I think are probably a part of the seven to eight teams, a part of the conversation to make the college football playoff. You know, if I had to throw another team in there, I think Tennessee's an interesting team just given the fact of what they did last year under Josh Hypo and the fact that Joe Milton is, quote, a new quarterback from Hendon Hooker. But most people forget that Joe Milton was the original starter for Tennessee when Josh Hypo got hired and, you know, his experience last year in the Orange Bowl beating Clemson and playing really well.

So, yeah, he's a new quarterback, I guess, because he's not your starter from last year, but he's not exactly an inexperienced quarterback. And I think that's what will give Tennessee a great shot at maybe sitting there at the end of the year pushing Georgia or maybe having a shot as a dark horse to the playoff. You know what also surprised me? That Spencer Sanders elected to go to Ole Miss when he's not even guaranteed to be the starting quarterback after being in a pretty solid situation at Oklahoma State with Gundy, whereas you have now Jackson Dart and Spencer Sanders competing for that Ole Miss job. Yeah, it's wild.

It's a day and age of the portal and, you know, I've quit trying to figure out why guys transfer and, you know, some guys seem to be in good situations like he was at Oklahoma State and then they end up leaving. And so it's certainly the era of mobility in college football. Well, I won't hold you to it, but last thing I'll ask you, right now if you had to give me your four teams to make the college football playoff, who would they be? You know, I would put Georgia in there, obviously. I would put Michigan in there. As I said, I think this is Harbaugh's best team. You know, the other two teams to me could be a combination of Alabama and LSU. I think LSU wins the West, so I'll throw LSU in there.

And then really, I mean, the fourth one, you're putting me on the spot here. I haven't given it much thought yet. I'll put Ohio State in there. Right? Wouldn't it be crazy if we have an all-SEC, all-Big Ten college football playoff? Because I don't really look at a team in the Big 12 that's going to be there, and in the Pac-12, I'm more optimistic on Washington than others, but you know how this works. The Pac-12 just beats up on each other each and every year. Yeah, there's no doubt.

I think Washington, as you mentioned, Michael Pinnix, Jr., is a really good team, an interesting team, but I just don't have much faith in the Pac-12 right now being able to finish this season. All right, Hudson Mason, good deal. Always appreciate the time. I'm sure we'll be talking to you throughout the entire season. Thanks, Zach. See you, ma'am.