ATHENS — There is a window next to a refrigerator in the back of Mark Richt’s office at the Butts-Mehre football complex that looks out on to Georgia’s indoor practice facility.
What Richt has seen through that window has kept him from being surprised by the play of freshman wide receiver Chris Conley.
“You talk about a workaholic, this kid works. I’ll go back there to get something out of my refrigerator, and there’s Chris down there running routes all by himself. Or maybe it’ll be just him and [quarterback Christian] LeMay in there playing catch. After practice, every single day, that kid gets on the JUGGS machine or tries to find somebody to throw him more balls.”
Conley’s hard work is starting to pay off. Since injuries forced Georgia to pull off his redshirt midway through the season, he has steadily developed into one of the Bulldogs’ more reliable receivers.
Conley led Georgia with five catches for 126 yards Saturday, and he scored his first career touchdown on a 47-yard reception. That continued a progression that saw him have one catch for 8 yards against Mississippi State, one for 17 against Tennessee and three for 38 against Florida.
His 18-yard reception on third down for a critical first-down catch in the waning moments against the Gators illustrated how much the Bulldogs have come to rely on Conley.
“He’s played tremendous these last three or four weeks,” quarterback Aaron Murray said. “He just continues to get better and better.”
Such a first-year impact was not predicted for Conley, who was a solid prospect but came into a well-manned position. But attrition within the receiving corps forced the Bulldogs to turn their eyes in his direction.
“It feels good to have the opportunity to make plays, and it feels good to have Coach [Mike] Bobo trust me with the opportunities,” Conley said. “It’s something I work on every day, trying to be consistent.”
The biggest difference between now and preseason camp, Conley said, is confidence.
“With that and just getting game reps and practice, I feel like I’m able to go out there and play with these people,” he said.
Richt agrees. “He’s worked so hard. I’m proud of that kid.”
Hard day for hedges
The biggest ovation of the day was reserved for Aron White, who got stuck in Sanford Stadium’s famous hedges after hauling in a 6-yard pass for a touchdown.
With his head and shoulders buried deep in the bottom of the English privet bushes in front of the East end student section, White’s teammates had to grab him by the legs to pull him free. After considerable effort, White was extricated and made a touchdown signal in the middle of his teammates as the student section went nuts.
“I’m kind of known as a character on the team, so some of them thought I was just fooling around until they saw the big hole in the back of my jersey,” the senior said with a laugh. “That thing had me and wasn’t letting go.”
While the hedges made out with a swath of White’s No. 81 Georgia jersey, White came out away with a two-foot long piece of hedge, which he was still holding onto after the game.
Wide receiver Tavarres King also had a run-in with the hedges. He disappeared completely into them after bobbling a pass out the back of the East end zone. But he popped out clean — on the outside of the hedge row. He had to climb back over to return to the huddle.
Long day for defense
The only down side of Saturday’s game for the Bulldogs was the number of yards allowed by the defense. New Mexico State’s 402 yards was the most Georgia has given up this season. They allowed 390 and 395 in losses to Boise State and South Carolina to start the season.
“You know Coach [Todd] Grantham is not happy about those yards,” sophomore outside linebacker Jarvis Jones said. “He didn’t say anything, but you could see it on his face.”
In defense of the defense, both touchdowns it allowed came against the backups in the fourth quarter. But nobody was feeling good about that.
Said safety Bacarri Rambo: “Coach Grantham was pretty upset, but he wants us to be the best, and we love that about him. He was fuming when he saw all those yards at the end.”
Two-way day for Smith
Branden Smith started at cornerback and tailback for the Bulldogs. But that wasn’t so unusual for the junior from Atlanta. He did the same thing last year against Louisiana-Lafayette.
Smith scored Georgia’s first touchdown on a 56-yard run late in the first quarter, which was his third rushing touchdown of his career. He also had a 44-yard kickoff return and finished with 102 all-purpose yards.
Smith has started three games on offense and 14 on defense.
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