With two defensive backs named Shaquille in Georgia’s 2013 signing class — Shaquille Fluker and Shaquille Wiggins — there has been some confusion in the locker room and on the practice field.
“You can’t call both of us Shaquille because we don’t know who you’re talking to,” Fluker said. “So I said, ‘If you call him Shaq, you might as well call me the whole name.’ But then sometimes they’d say Shaq and I (would answer), and they would be, like, ‘No, I’m talking to the other one.’
“So then they gave me another name: They called me Fluke, as in Fluker, for my last name. So I said, ‘Y’all can call me that. Fluke.’”
Problem solved, apparently.
Both Fluker, a strong safety who signed with Georgia out of East Mississippi Community College, and Wiggins, a freshman cornerback from Sandy Creek High in Tyrone, have a chance to play in the Bulldogs’ season opener at Clemson.
“I’ve got to learn quick about how our defense runs and what I’ve got to do,” Fluker said. “… If I get out there (in the first game), I don’t want to be froze up. It’s going to be on live TV, and I don’t want anybody looking at me saying he doesn’t even know what to do, he’s just standing there. That’s why I need to be in the playbook and out there on the field getting the work done.”
Fluker had an interception in Georgia’s scrimmage Wednesday.
“It was a big deal to me,” he said. “It made me feel like I was in the game. I picked Aaron Murray off.”
Etc.: The Bulldogs practiced for 2 1/2 hours under overcast skies Thursday morning, their ninth practice of the preseason. … Eighteen players missed practice or participated on a limited basis because of injuries. No new injuries were reported. … Georgia sophomore tailback Todd Gurley and senior tight end Arthur Lynch were named second-team preseason All-Americans by Sports Illustrated. … Freshman cornerback Brendan Langley, from Kell High in Marietta, said the biggest surprise to him so far about college football is "the meetings." On the field, he and his fellow defensive backs "have made plays here and there, got beat here and there," Langley said. "It's all about getting better in the end, and I think day by day we're getting better."
