FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint attended high school 4 miles from where he sat Thursday. He starred at St. Thomas Aquinas and grew up in Pompano Beach. And if it had been up to him back in the day, he would have never left this area.
“I was a Miami Hurricanes fan growing up,” the Georgia Bulldogs’ senior tight end shared Thursday. “They recruited me. I was going to go there.”
So, what happened?
“I’ll tell you exactly what happened. So, the wide receivers coach at Miami then, he left and went to FSU. I was getting ready to commit, I was going to because I’d been waiting for the (scholarship) offer. And then he turns and leaves and goes to FSU. And that was an ‘L.’”
That would be coach Ron Dugans. He remains the FSU receivers coach today.
So, did Rosemy-Jacksaint consider following Dugans to Tallahassee? That question drew a head tilt.
“I’m a lifelong Canes fan, and we hate FSU,” Rosemy-Jacksaint said emphatically. “There was no way I was going to FSU!”
Their loss has been a gain for Georgia. Four years and two national championships later, the 6-foot-2, 200-pound Rosemy-Jacksaint returns home not only as the Bulldogs’ starting split end, but as one of his team’s more beloved players.
“He’s a leader in our room,” said flanker Ladd McConkey, a fourth-year junior. “He’s been here with me all four years. … He’s a guy I could say was just always there for you with anything you need, on or off the field.”
Rosemy-Jacksaint has been extremely productive for the Bulldogs. He’ll play in his 48th career game Saturday in the Orange Bowl. His 502 yards receiving on 32 receptions this season is more than the career 493 yards he entered the season with. With five yards against FSU, he’ll join the list of Georgia receivers with 1,000 or more career yards.
Rosemy-Jacksaint’s greatest trait continues to be his willingness to do anything to help the Bulldogs’ win. He’ll leave UGA as a downfield blocking legend.
Saturday’s game truly represents a full-circle journey for Rosemy-Jacksaint. “It feels good to come home, to be able to play in my hometown,” the senior wideout said. “Now I’m at Georgia, and I’m about to play FSU in Hard Rock Stadium. That’s crazy.”
Gunner raring to go
Should anything happen to Carson Beck in Saturday’s game, redshirt freshman Gunner Stockton stands ready to go at quarterback. The 6-1, 210-pound redshirt freshman from Tiger is now QB2 after Brock Vandagriff transferred to Kentucky on Dec. 4.
And Stockton will be up for the job if that happens. Teammate Ladd McConkey personally attested to that Thursday.
“He’s a playmaker; he’s a baller,” McConkey said Thursday. “Some of the plays he makes in practice, I’m like, ‘this kid’s going to be special.’ I saw that in from Day 1. I saw that in high school.”
Georgia fans may not be aware that McConkey’s North Murray High School team met Stockton’s Rabun County squad in back-to-back years when McConkey was a junior and senior. Stockton was two years behind McConkey, who was a two-way player and part-time quarterback who piled up 3,051 all-purpose yards in his final high school season.
“Yeah, they put a ‘whoopin’ on us,” McConkey said with a laugh. “My roommate Braxton Hicks also played with Gunner at Rabun County. “They let me know about it all the time.”
Practice update
The Bulldogs may not have practiced Thursday. Then, again, maybe they did. As of mid-afternoon Thursday, that was unclear.
Georgia was scheduled to practice at 3:30 p.m. at Barry University in Miami Gardens but sent out a cancellation notice because of inclement weather. A portion of the practice was supposed to be open to the media. UGA officials didn’t respond to messages seeking clarification about the notice.
In the meantime, the teams and Orange Bowl attendees are having to endure cooler-than-usual temperatures for South Florida this time of year. After two beautiful days of sunny weather where temps topped 80 degrees, Thursday’s high was a rainy 67 degrees. It’s expected to be dryer but not much warmer, if at all, Friday.
As for Saturday’s game, a pullover might be suggested for fans at Hard Rock Stadium. The day’s high is predicted as 65, with overnight lows threatening to dip into the 40s.
Fortunately for the Bulldogs, the team got in its beach day Wednesday.
“We’ve been having a great time,” senior running back Kendall Milton said. “You know, it’s one last opportunity with my teammates, with my guys. Last game of the season, just to be able to play again, that’s always a blessing. We’re just going to go out here and put on a show.”
Run-game update
Georgia’s run game absorbed a preseason blow when sophomore back Branson Robinson was lost for the season in preseason camp to a ruptured patella tendon. That is considered one of the worst kind of leg injuries a running back can encounter.
So instead of competing for the starting job as expected, the 5-10, 220-pound former 5-star from Canton, Mississippi, has found himself in Ron Courson’s training room every day.
“I don’t know the exact time table, but I do not think he will be involved in spring football practice,” Georgia run-game coordinator Dell McGee said. “So, he’ll just be rehabbing and getting down the mental part of the game like he has been the entire year. That part hasn’t changed. He’s still very motivated.”
Georgia endured injuries at the running back position all year, with seniors Daijun Edwards and Kendall Milton and freshmen Andrew Paul and Roderick Robinson all missing time with leg injuries. The Bulldogs turned to walk-on Cash Jones to help carry the load early in the season and got slot-receiver Dillon Bell increasingly involved in the run game as the season continued.
Accordingly, Georgia’s rushing average was down 28 yards to 177.3 per game after a bit of a rally toward the end of the season.
McGee aims to address that. In addition to Branson Robinson and the two other underclassmen returning next season, the Bulldogs signed three backs in the 2024 recruiting cycle. Notably, they also added former Florida Gator Trevor Etienne through the transfer portal.
“He provides leadership, he’s played in this league, he’s been very productive,” McGee said of adding Etienne. “You guys have watched the tape. He’s a very good player.”
Possible position change
Defensive end Mykel Williams, who earned freshman All-American honors last season, characterized his sophomore season “below the standard.”
Williams tied for the team lead with 3.5 sacks but had only 14 tackles overall in 12 games. He acknowledged that he didn’t feel like he was impactful as he could have been or certainly expected to be.
“I want to improve my game as a whole, especially within my pass rushing,” who had 4.5 sacks playing a backup role last season. “I want to use my hands better and get to the ball better. I have an offseason and this upcoming year to get better, and I’m ready to get some work in.”
Williams’ future may or may not be at defensive end. There has been discussion of a permanent move to outside linebacker, a position at which he sometimes cross-trains.
“He’s always cross-trained at other positions,” defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann said Wednesday. “… Being able to play D-end and be a bigger outside linebacker, you decide that based on who’s your best 11 on the field and what your opponent’s doing.”
“Know this: We’d like to play him on the edge more, whether that’s at D-end, Jack, anything from that standpoint. He’s one of our best players and we want to make sure that he’s doing what he does best more often.”
