UGA’s Fromm suddenly finds himself in a slump
ATHENS — Jake Fromm is in a slump.
The throws that were so accurate through most of his Georgia career are suddenly missing the mark.
Overthrown. Underthrown. Wide left and wide right.
The junior quarterback needs to snap out of it if the No. 4 Bulldogs are going to make another run at the College Football Playoff.
“We’ve got to do a better job helping him out,” coach Kirby Smart said Monday, “and he’s got to do a better job hitting the ones when they’re open.”
If there’s one thing Georgia has been able to count on the last three seasons, it’s their rocksolid quarterback.
Fromm got a shot in his very first college game when Jacob Eason was injured, made his first start the next week in a memorable victory at Notre Dame, and has gone on to post a 33-6 record as the Bulldogs’ No. 1 signal-caller, including a trip to the national championship game as a freshman.
Over his first 37 college games, Fromm failed to complete half his throws just three times. Two of those performances came in blowout losses to Auburn in 2017 and LSU last season.
Now, he’s gone three straight games below 50%, though the Bulldogs managed to win them all.
Still, it’s been rather jarring for a Georgia team that is 10-1 heading into the regular-season finale against woeful Georgia Tech (3-8) but has struggled to its niche offensively.
“You can tell it bothers him a little bit here and there,” tight end Charlie Woerner said. “We’re all competitive athletes. We want to do the best that we can.”
Smart said it’s “hard to put a finger” on the reasons for Fromm’s recent lack of accuracy.
This past week, the weather was awful through the first half against Texas A&M, which might have contributed to Fromm overthrowing a wide-open receiver on a flea-flicker play that should’ve been a touchdown. The Bulldogs wound up scoring just one TD and settling for four field goals in a lackluster 19-13 win over the Aggies.
Fromm finished 11 of 23 for 163 yards and seemed a bit frustrated afterward.
When asked how Georgia could generate more big plays, he replied, “Good question. If you know the answer, please let me know.” He went on to say, “We want to hit some more shots, generate more big plays, and be more explosive. That part of who we want to be. We just have to do a better job of getting there.”
In the two previous games, Fromm was 13 of 29 for 173 yards in a 27-0 victory over Missouri and 13 of 28 for a mere 110 yards in a 21-14 triumph over Auburn.
On the plus side, he’s thrown six touchdown passes during that span with no interceptions.
“When we decide we want to do something on offense, we’re capable of doing it,” said Fromm, who has seen his NFL draft stock take a hit during his slump