ATHENS — Florida State, Georgia’s opponent in the Orange Bowl, had another player opt out of the game Thursday. And it’s another significant one.
Keon Coleman, the leading receiver for the No. 5-ranked Seminoles, has decided to skip the bowl to avoid injury risk and to begin training for the NFL draft. A 6-foot-4, 216-pound wideout, Coleman led the ACC with 11 touchdown catches this season. Overall, he had 50 receptions for 658 yards.
Coleman is at least the fifth FSU starter to opt out of the New Year’s Six bowl in Miami. He joined receiver Johnny Wilson (41-617-2), tight end Jaheim Bell (39-503-2), running back Trey Benson (41 carries, 905 yards, 14 TDs) and defensive end Jared Verse (41 tackles, 9 sacks, 11 QB hurries).
To review, that’s the Seminoles’ leading rusher, top three receivers and quarterback sacks leader. Add to that quarterback Jordan Travis (63.9% passing-2,755 yards-20 TDs-2 INTs), who will miss the bowl because of a broken leg, and FSU obviously will be missing some key pieces for the Dec. 30 matchup at Hard Rock Stadium (4 p.m., ESPN).
Conversely, Georgia’s opt-out number for the Orange Bowl stands at zero. It’s unlikely to stay that way but, so far at least, the core of the team that remains uninjured plans to participate. Even tight end Brock Bowers, a projected top-10 draft pick recovering from ankle surgery, hasn’t ruled out playing against FSU.
Senior defensive back Tykee Smith, one of the Bulldogs’ upperclassman starters who plans to play, was asked Wednesday why he thinks that is.
“The connection,” said Smith, referring to one of Georgia program’s four “pillars.” “People are trying to play for one another, trying to play for something bigger than yourself, playing for the ‘G.’ For some of us, it will be our last time wearing it. Want to go out a winner.”
Sending the seniors out as winners is a narrative that Georgia coach Kirby Smart has pushed hard during bowl practices. With a 49-4 record over the past four seasons, the 2023 class can pass the 2022 seniors (49-5) as the Bulldogs’ class with the most wins all-time with a victory over the Seminoles. Georgia, which currently stands as a 14-point favorite, also looks to extend the nation’s longest bowl win streak to seven.
“We’re one away from beating last year’s group, so it’s really critical to me that we do that,” Smart said of the senior class. “That’s a motivating factor. I don’t think the (bowl) streak is as much a factor because sometimes you don’t control that, and they weren’t part of some of those games.”
Inevitably, there will be some upperclassmen who won’t play. Bowers, who will be only three months removed from TightRope surgery to repair his left ankle, hasn’t declared yet, but said he is participating in bowl practices. Junior flanker Ladd McConkey, who just announced a partnership with Everett Sports Marketing (ESM), was extremely limited by an ankle injury in the SEC Championship game against Alabama and likely will sit out, regardless of his NFL decision. Likewise, junior right tackle Amarius Mims left the title game in the first half after aggravating his surgically repaired left ankle.
Junior linebacker Smael Mondon already announced that he plans to return for his senior season, but he may be sidelined for the Orange Bowl because of injuries.
Ultimately those players’ health will dictate their availability. But other UGA players with NFL considerations after the bowl still plan to play, apparently. Such players include: on offense, junior center Sedrick Van Pran, senior offensive tackle Xavier Truss, third-year sophomore guard Tate Ratledge, senior wideout Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint and senior running backs Kendall Milton and Daijun Edwards; on defense, senior linemen Warren Brinson, Zion Logue and Nazir Stackhouse and junior safety Javon Bullard.
Tykee Smith also falls in that category. Like other 2023 seniors, he has the option to return for another season in college because of the NCAA’s pandemic-season eligibility rule. A 5-foot-10, 205-pound, two-time All-American from Philadelphia, Smith insists he hasn’t yet made up his mind about what he’ll do after the bowl game.
“I ain’t really been focusing on that right now,” Smith said Wednesday night after the Bulldogs’ practice. “I’m just trying to take it one day at a time and kind of be where my feet are right now. Just kind of focusing on the bowl game right now and will go from there after that.”
That certainly bodes well for Georgia in the bowl. Not so much for FSU.
“Honestly, I don’t really pay too much attention to that,” redshirt freshman tackle Earnest Greene said of how many players the Seminoles will be missing. “You know, we just prepare to play whoever’s out there. So, we’re really just looking forward to playing everybody on Florida State. … And when I look at guys like Sedrick Van Pran, Xavier Truss, Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint, just knowing that we could send them off as the winningest class in Georgia history, that sparks a fire in everybody on this team.”
Added Smith: “I take it, like, they’ve got different guys that are going to be stepping up now, that are going to take their place. So, we’re looking at it like any other game, still preparing the same way.”
