ATHENS, Ga. — Quarterbacks were a popular theme at Georgia’s media day Tuesday.

You could have your pick: old quarterbacks, new quarterbacks, benched quarterbacks or old quarterbacks with a new name.

The new name was provided by Georgia star tailback Knowshon Moreno, who was asked if his quarterback and close friend, Matthew Stafford, needed a championship to validate himself as a great quarterback.

Moreno began his answer with “John,” which left the questioner as off-balance as a defender who just encountered one of Moreno’s sudden cuts.

“John” is Matthew Stafford’s first name. Although Stafford is in his third year at Georgia, the first name is a recent revelation for Moreno, who just found out during a conversation with teammate Brannan Southerland.

Impressed with his newfound knowledge, Moreno used “John” on every reference to his quarterback.

You can call him “John” or you can call him “Matthew.” But that’s as close as you will come to a quarterback controversy at Georgia, where Stafford has been entrenched as the starter since the second half of his freshman season in 2006.

Heralded as a future first-round draft pick since his senior season at Highland Park High School in Dallas, Stafford has a big arm and big potential. Never mind his inconsistency. He is Georgia’s biggest advantage in Saturday’s game against Tennessee, which will counter with second-game starter Nick Stephens at quarterback.

If UT fans want to feel better about the quarterback matchup, they should listen to Georgia coach Mark Richt, a former quarterback himself. However, I preface Richt’s evaluation of Stephens by pointing out that his overall lavish praise of the 2-3 Vols made them sound like a combination of the 2001 Miami Hurricanes and the 1996 Nebraska Cornhuskers.

“Their new quarterback … I was very impressed with him,” Richt said. “He would stand in that pocket and throw very accurately. He seemed to have no trouble whatsoever in getting them in the right type of play.

“I really didn’t see any confusion. Other than once or twice when they jumped off-sides. That’s the closest thing I saw to having some ill effect from a new quarterback.

“He’s highly accurate, just seemed to have a confidence about him. He wasn’t scrambling around looking like he wasn’t sure what he was doing.”

Richt also spoke glowingly about Jonathan Crompton, the quarterback Stephens replaced last week.

“We recruited the heck out of Jonathan Crompton,” Richt said. “He’s a tremendous talent. But for whatever reason, they were struggling and they made a change (for last Saturday’s Northern Illinois game).”

The UT quarterback that Richt didn’t mention, cornerback Asher Allen did. Allen is admittedly happy that Erik Ainge is no longer a Vol.

“He always seemed to have our number,” Allen said. “He was a great player, period.

“He would make plays, and always make the right checks. He was very confident out there.”

Ainge beat the Bulldogs three times. One of those victories came in his freshman season in 2004 when the Vols were a decided underdog at Sanford Stadium.

They’re a double-digit underdog again Saturday. And they’re an even bigger underdog at quarterback.

Sports editor John Adams may be reached at 865-342-6284 or adamsj@knoxnews.com.

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.