It’s been quite a year for several freshmen and redshirt freshmen at Georgia as a host of first-year players have played key roles and a number have earned starting jobs. For the Bulldogs’ game Saturday against Auburn, no less than four youngsters are listed as starters on the depth chart –- redshirt freshman offensive tackle Isaiah Wilson and three freshmen -- offensive guard Cade Mays, defensive tackle Jordan Davis and cornerback Tyson Campbell.
Also, freshmen Channing Tindall and Brenton Cox distinguished themselves against Kentucky, recording one sack each. In addition, Eric Stokes recorded a blocked punt and returned it eight yards for a touchdown against Missouri, Trey Hill stepped in Saturday against Kentucky when center Lamont Gaillard went down with a knee injury and Jake Camarada has recorded 29 points with a 42.5-yard-per-attempt average.
And few people following college football aren’t aware of quarterback Justin Fields, who in a limited but high-profile role has completed 18 of 25 passes for 200 yards and two touchdowns and has run for 160 yards and three touchdowns.
Coach Kirby Smart said he wasn’t sure the exact number of freshmen who have played, but he said players’ decisions to enroll early have paid off handsomely.
“We’ve got a lot of them in our two-deep, and it's mainly because I think eight or nine of them came early, so that helped them get acclimated,” Smart said Monday. “That certainly had an effect with Cade and maybe Trey and those guys that came early. They got to get to work earlier.”
Recruiting top-flight players is one thing, but continued development is another feature of those first-year contributions.
“I just know these guys are working hard, and you want to bring good players in your program, but it’s not just getting them here,” Smart said. “It’s getting them bought into the principles and values and doing what the seniors want and then buying in and also learning and dealing with the frustration of being away from home. This group is starting to overcome a lot of that and get better as they get more and more experience.”
Although he had a couple of errant snaps against Kentucky, Hill acquitted himself well at center in Gaillard’s absence. Tackle Andrew Thomas gave Hill the Bulldogs’ seal of approval.
“We knew Trey was a talented kid,” Thomas said. “He has been working hard. When he came into the game, he had a small mishap with the snap, but after that he played very well for a freshman coming in that hasn’t played that much coming in. It is very important that the young guys are able to step up. That is a good thing when we are trying to compete for a national championship.”
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