Oconee County QB Mettenberger will be a Bulldog
By Carter Strickland

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Published on: 02/02/08

Athens — Georgia didn’t have to go far to get its quarterback of the
future.

Oconee County’s Zach Mettenberger, who has been around the program for
more than a decade and who lives in neighboring Watkinsville,
committed to the Bulldogs on Saturday night.

He is the fifth commitment in the 2009 class.

“It was definitely like a lightning-bolt thing,” Mettenbeger said. “I
had thought that I was going to take some visits and commit in the
spring. But I decided I just wanted to do it and get it out of the way
so I could concentrate on my senior season.”

The 6-foot-5, 205-pound quarterback was rated as one of Rivals.com’s
top 50 juniors. He also had offers from Boston College and Florida
State. But ultimately it came down to being an environment where is
comfortable.

“Really it was the players,” Mettenberger said. “I have know a lot of
those guys for a long time. And this is my home. This is where my
family and friends are.”

Mettenberger has had a relationship with Georgia offensive coordinator
Mike Bobo since 1999. Mettenberger went to a passing camp last summer
that was run by Mike Bobo’s father, George. Zach’s mother, Tammy,
works in the football office but did not apply any pressure on her
son’s when it came to recruiting.

“I want it to be Zach’s decision,” Tammy said back in November. “I
just told him I don’t want him to go more than eight hours away
because I want to be able to make it to all the games.”

The Georgia campus is six miles away from the Mettenberger’s home.

Georgia will most likely take one more quarterback in the 2009 class.
That could be Tom Savage (6-4, 220) from Cardinal O’Hara in
Springfield, Pa. Georgia might not take more than 15 players in its
2009 class.