Georgia quarterback Hutson Mason during Georgia's game against Charleston Southern on Saturday in Athens, Ga.ATHENS, Ga. -- Former Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray took a lot of program records with him, but he didn't take them all.
His successor, Hutson Mason, is on track to having the most accurate season in Bulldogs history. The 6-foot-3, 202-pound senior from Marietta often has been overshadowed by Georgia's talent at tailback, but he has completed 68.4 percent of his passes entering Saturday's game against visiting Georgia Tech.
"No matter how many times you're really throwing the ball, if you're completing balls you are giving your guys the chance to make plays," Mason said Tuesday. "Whether you're throwing it 20 or 40 times or 15 times, if you're completing a high percentage, there is a good chance you are moving the ball and doing good things on offense.
"That has kind of been the story for us on offense this year."
Georgia's single-season accuracy mark is currently held by Mason's direct superior, Bulldogs offensive coordinator Mike Bobo, who completed 65.0 percent of his attempts in 1997. Murray's 64.8-percent accuracy last season is second on the list.
Mason has thrown 12 touchdown passes with no interceptions in his last six games, and he is coming off a 10-for-12, 187-yard performance with three touchdowns in last Saturday's 55-9 rout of Charleston Southern.
"He's done a good job, and he's been super efficient," head coach Mark Richt said. "We haven't thrown the ball quite as much as we have the past few years, but we've been throwing it as efficiently or even more."
Mason's efficiency rating of 158.1 is the highest of any Southeastern Conference quarterback who has played 10 or more games, topping Alabama's Blake Sims (156.1) and Mississippi State's Dak Prescott (153.5). He has completed 160 of 234 passes for 1,825 yards with 19 touchdowns and three interceptions.
It was against Georgia Tech in Atlanta last season where Mason made his first career start, replacing Murray, who had suffered a torn ACL the previous week against Kentucky. His debut had a disastrous start, as Mason threw an early interception and the Bulldogs fell behind 17-0 in the first quarter.
Georgia Tech extended its lead to 20-0 in the second quarter, but Mason caught fire and threw for 299 yards and two touchdowns in helping rally the Bulldogs to a 41-34 double-overtime triumph.
"I didn't really know what to expect as far as how my body would react playing in front of such a big crowd," Mason said. "I didn't play very good in the first half, and after watching the film, I've seen a lot of improvement from myself in terms of movement in the pocket. My feet were really jittery last year, and I think a lot of that had to do with nervousness."
Mason was intercepted twice in late September against Tennessee and threw his third against Vanderbilt on Oct. 4, when backup Brice Ramsey had a scripted series late in the first quarter. Richt said Tuesday that Mason's performance Nov. 8 at Kentucky, when he completed 13 of 16 passes for 174 yards and four touchdowns, ended any thoughts of another early Ramsey appearance.
His 165.9 passing yards per game ranks 10th in the SEC, but not every quarterback has the luxury of a running game that produces 260.5 yards a contest.
"I think the one thing we really knew coming into this year was that we had some really good backs," Mason said. "That was kind of the one area we knew we were better than everybody else, so coming into this year we knew we were going to be pretty good at running the ball. I just tried to take every game the same, because you never know how they will fall in place."
Mason would gladly trade a single-season percentage record for an SEC East championship, which the Bulldogs could obtain with a Missouri loss to Arkansas on Friday. He realizes that outcome is out of Georgia's control, so Mason is focusing on a potential 10th win of the season.
Though he would trade this stat for a title, too, Mason is guiding an offense averaging 43.3 points per game, which is on pace for a new school standard.
"Hutson has had a very efficient year, and the stats say it," senior receiver Michael Bennett said. "He was kind of in the shadow of Murray for a while, and it's tough for anyone to sit behind someone like that, but he's kind of made his own identity. It might have taken him a little bit to sneak into that identity, but now that he has, I think he is really comfortable with the player he is."
Said Bobo: "He has probably gotten the most out of his ability than anybody I've ever had. He's handled pressure extremely well, and I'm talking about the pressure a quarterback is going to get playing at this level at a school like Georgia."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.