Wide receiver Jeremiah Holloman has enjoyed a solid season, but clearly had a breakout performance against Florida, grabbing four passes for 48 yards and two big touchdowns. He’s had bigger games in terms of yardage (three catches for 90 yards against Middle Tennessee and one catch for 61 yards against Missouri) but the two touchdowns were a career best.
The Covington native, who came into the season with one reception for seven yards (he’s caught 15 passes for 282 yards and four touchdowns in 2018), is finding that his comfort level is starting to match his confidence.
“I was confident in myself going into the season,” Holloman said earlier this week. “I feel like I stepped up mentally and became more of a vocal leader in being able to talk to everybody and know what is going on.
“On the field, I knew I was able to make the plays. I have been going about the game differently. I’m becoming a student of the game like taking notes in meetings and studying different players that I have to go up against to find their weaknesses. I’ve found out that those are the things I need to do to separate myself from others.”
Smart said that he’s seen “gradual improvement” in the play of Holloman, whom he calls J.J.
“What J.J. has done is just grind it,” Smart said. “And J.J. is the epitome of if you work hard, good things will happen to you. So he blocks consistently because he controls his blocking. He doesn’t control where the ball is thrown, but he controls his blocking. He controls how he practices, because you control that. So the things that you can control you try to control, and J.J. does a great job of that.”
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