Marquez North, 6-foot-4, 221-pounds; Jason Croom, 6-5, 243; Josh Malone, 6-3, 204; Josh Smith, 2-1, 200; Pig Howard, 5-8, 187, lightning quick.
These are just some of the wide receivers Tennessee plans to cut loose in Sanford Stadium on Saturday. They’ll be without at least one other – 6-3, 183-pound Von Pearson – who had seven catches for 98 yards in a game and a half before suffering an ankle injury.
“Well, we don’t have anybody out here like these guys,” Georgia defensive coordinator and secondary coach Jeremy Pruitt said. “I feel like, right now, Tennessee has probably got as good a bunch of wide receivers as I’ve seen, and they’re all pretty young, too. They’re very deep there and they’ve been productive there.”
Leading the way is North, a sophomore and third-team preseason All-SEC selection. He has 14 catches for 173 yards and 2 TDs in three games.
Howard is a jet-like slot player who gave Georgia fits a year ago. He has 13 receptions for 89 yards.
Smith is a possession receiver who had five catches and a 40-yard TD against Oklahoma.
Croom is a sophomore from Norcross who had a 12-game reception streak broken against Oklahoma.
Malone is a the star-in-waiting, a freshman and former 5-star prospect for whom the Bulldogs battled Tennessee down to the wire.
It could be argued that the Vols haven’t utilized their bounty of talent to good enough effect. They enter Saturday’s game with a passing offense ranked 10th in the SEC at 240 yards per game. And quarterback Justin Worley has three interceptions to go with his six TD passes so far.
But they threw 215 yards against Georgia’s young secondary a year ago and come in confident to play another young group for the Bulldogs.
“It’s going to be tough,” senior cornerback Damian Swann said of defending the Vols. “Throughout this season I don’t think we’ve been really guarded guys of their statures. Bigger guys like that, there’s not really that much savvy involved. It’s going to be physical. But that’s what we’re looking forward to. We’re looking forward to those matchups and seeing where we come out at.”
