› Jake Fromm continues first-team quarterback role for Georgia
There hasn’t been much noise regarding Georgia’s quarterback competition this month, and that doesn’t appear to be changing any time soon.
Meeting with the media after Wednesday’s practice, Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart was asked if he had decided on a starter for the Sept. 1 opener against Austin Peay and whether there would be any announcement. Sophomore Jake Fromm and five-star freshman Justin Fields have been competing at the position since spring workouts.
“I really haven’t even thought about it, to be honest with you,” Smart said. “We’re letting these two guys compete, and Jake has gone with the ones almost the whole time. We handle it as it goes, so it’s not like there is going to be a predetermined announcement on this date.
“That’s not really the plan, and we don’t look at it that way.”
The 6-foot-2, 225-pound Fromm completed 181 of 291 passes (62.2 percent) last season for 2,615 yards with 24 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He calmly led Georgia to its first Southeastern Conference championship in 12 seasons and was named by league coaches the SEC freshman of the year.
Fields, a 6-3, 225-pounder, was ESPN’s top overall prospect in the 2018 signing class after guiding Harrison High School in the Atlanta suburb of Kennesaw to a 10-2 record and a second-round trip to the GHSA Class AAAAAA playoffs. In two season’s as Harrison’s starter, Fields amassed 4,187 passing yards, 2,096 rushing yards and 69 total touchdowns.
Smart also was asked Wednesday if there was a plan to play Fromm and Fields against Austin Peay and other opponents throughout the season.
“I really don’t know that,” he said. “I think we’re going to wait and see how things go. You don’t really have a plan going in. Your plan is wanting the best guy to play.
“They run a lot of the same plays. It’s not like there is a Justin Fields offense and a Jake Fromm offense. We’re going to let them both continue to grow and develop.”
Smart did reveal that freshman Matthew Downing, a preferred walk-on from the Atlanta suburb of Alpharetta, would likely be the third-team quarterback.
White’s recovery
Freshman running back Zamir White is in the infant stages of another recovery from a torn ACL, with this one on his left leg. The nation’s No. 1 tailback in the 2018 signing class tore his right ACL last November and suffered his second setback on punt coverage during a scrimmage Saturday.
Smart said three recent Bulldogs who had major knee injuries in college but went on to the NFL — receiver Malcolm Mitchell and running backs Nick Chubb and Todd Gurley — already have reached out to offer encouragement to White, who is still attending players’ meetings.
“He’s done this once,” Smart said, “so he knows he can top it and get after it.”
Godwin’s return
Senior receiver Terry Godwin has missed most of the preseason with a knee injury but is now going through most or all of every workout. Smart said the 5-11, 185-pounder from Hogansville, Georgia, is trying to catch up from a conditioning standpoint, but his return has been very welcomed.
“You can’t put a measurement on the value of confidence he brings into a room,” Smart said.
Odds and ends
The Bulldogs are spending two periods of each practice this week focusing on an upcoming opponent. … Smart said senior cornerback Deandre Baker and redshirt junior safety J.R. Reed have separated themselves at those two position groups, adding that five-star cornerback Tyson Campbell “has worked with the ones, but I wouldn’t call him a starter.”