Brad Stewart ready to start for Georgia Tech
Georgia Tech wide receiver Brad Stewart likely won’t soon forget his first road trip — Notre Dame Stadium at 80,795 strong.
“I’ll be honest, I was a little nervous at first,” Stewart said Monday. “It was just a huge experience — big-time football, everything.”
The freshman from Savannah likely will have another first Saturday — his first start. With Micheal Summers out with an upper-body injury, Stewart figures to be in the starting lineup with Ricky Jeune. It’s one of a number of adjustments that the No. 20 Yellow Jackets may have to make to their lineup for Saturday’s ACC opener at Duke after a handful of injuries in Saturday’s loss to Notre Dame.
“We’ve got a bunch,” coach Paul Johnson said.
Stewart has been in the receiver rotation in the first three games. He caught his first pass against Tulane in the second game of the season and nearly caught a touchdown pass against Notre Dame, but his fourth-quarter reception was ruled an incomplete pass after video review. Johnson praised Stewart for playing a physical game as a perimeter blocker.
“One time, it wasn’t his guy, but he knocked a guy off his feet,” Johnson said. “He was flying around.”
The game proved a valuable lesson for Stewart, who was the last member of the 2015 signing class to be offered a scholarship, but who made an impression on coaches in the preseason with his playmaking knack. He was one of a number of team members, particularly among offensive skill-position players, cited by Johnson as “wide-eyed” by the experience in South Bend, Ind.
“It kind of got the best of me at the beginning, but I calmed myself down and relaxed and just started playing towards the end, and I really felt comfortable,” he said. “So, that was good. I think from now on, that’s how I’m going to be starting to play.”
Tech’s offense could use a playmaker on the outside, particularly with Summers out. Summers has accounted for five of the nine receptions made by wide receivers, including the only one that advanced the ball 25 yards or more, and had been showing a developing rapport with Thomas. The Jackets’ offense functions best when it has a big-play threat at receiver to exploit defenses drawn forward to play the run.
Stewart said that Summers has been a role model for him from the time he enrolled in the summer. Earlier than expected, Stewart may be called on to show what he’s learned.
“I feel for him. I’m going to be praying for him,” Stewart said. “He knows, as well as I know, I’m going to have to step up, and he’s going to help me through this because I know the connection we have. We’re going to have to step up on the perimeter, losing a veteran like that. But he’ll be back and ready whenever he can.”
About the Author
Ken Sugiura is a sports columnist at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Formerly the Georgia Tech beat reporter, Sugiura started at the AJC in 1998 and has covered a variety of beats, mostly within sports.
