Nick Chubb never tapped on his helmet to indicate he needed to come out. He never bent over, hands on knees, to catch his breath. He never even put his hands on his hips. If anything, Georgia’s freshman tailback went out of his way not to look toward the Bulldogs’ sideline at all.
“He didn’t complain,” Georgia coach Mark Richt said of Chubb’s 38-carry, four-catch, 174-yard performance against Missouri on Saturday.
“He didn’t look fatigued. Sometimes you watch a back and as the game goes on and somewhere along the way you might think, ‘we’ve got to get him out of there.’ His body language never showed that to me.”
Chubb came through for Georgia. Replacing the irreplaceable Todd Gurley in Georgia’s lineup, he led the Bulldogs to a 34-0 SEC road win.
While Chubb got most of the headlines Saturday, he wasn’t the only freshman who came through. Safety Dominick Sanders had an interception. Tight end Jeb Blazevich caught two passes. Receiver Isaiah McKenzie had five punt returns. Outside linebacker Lorenzo Carter recorded the first sack of his career.
In fact, freshmen are making a significant impact on the field for the Bulldogs this season. While that’s the case in some small degree every year, the number of young contributors and their amount of production is unusual this season.
“It’s huge,” said Jake Rowe, a recruiting analyst for Dawgs247.com. “It’s a great ratio to have. If you look at what Georgia lost on the offensive and defensive side of the ball coming into this year, it needed some help. And they’re getting it.”
- The Bulldogs lost 30 pass receptions and a whole lot of edge-blocking power in tight end Arthur Lynch. Blazevich, a four-star prospect from Charlotte, N.C., is the team's fourth-leading receiver (9 catches, 157 yards) and has started four games.
- Georgia desperately needed a boost in the returns game. McKenzie has come in from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to provide 191 yards and a touchdown.
- Help was needed in the secondary. Sanders, a three-star signee from Tucker, has started all six games and looks like a star in the making.
Such contributions were expected from from such five-star prospects such as Carter and Chubb. But Rowe rates Sanders the Bulldogs’ most valuable freshman from the standpoint of being an underrated recruit giving them unexpected production.
“He’s the only one who has started all six ballgames and, on top of the starts, he’s made plays,” Rowe said. “He’s got the interception, some tackles for loss, a lot of tackles period.”
Senior cornerback Damian Swann has been amazed by Sanders’ ability to step in and perform at a high level.
“He’s held his own since Day 1,” said Swann, who earned one start late in his freshman season. “I’m really impressed with the things he’s done, the things he’s been able to pick up on just being a freshman and not really being able to play on this level of football that long. … He has that swagger about him to where, once we saw him in (pass skeleton) during the summer, we knew he had to be on the field. All the things that he’s done, his role is only going to increase.”
Georgia was getting major production from five-star freshman Sony Michel before a broken shoulder blade against Tennessee sidelined him for at least a month. And freshman Rico Johnson was getting regular playing time at cornerback before he was medically disqualified because of a neurological issue. In all, nine freshmen have played.
Richt said recruits generally are better prepared when they show up in college.
“Guys tend to show up in a little bit better condition, and they’re bigger stronger and faster than they used to be, in my opinion,” Richt said. “Over the last 10 years or so, I think a lot of guys are one-sport guys. They work extremely hard in the offseason.”
Whatever the case, the Bulldogs are glad these young guys showed up and are pitching in.
“They’re definitely showing out right now, and we definitely needed that,” junior linebacker Jordan Jenkins said. “I think everything is starting to slow down for them, and now they’re starting to really get a knack of things and playing faster.”
Especially that Chubb guy.
“Every time Nick has gotten in there he’s been pretty impressive,” Richt said proudly.
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