Georgia receivers not about individual goals
ATHENS, Ga. — The Georgia Bulldogs enter Saturday’s home finale against Georgia Tech with the Southeastern Conference’s second-ranked quarterback in efficiency and two of the league’s top-10 running backs but not a single receiver ranked among the SEC’s top 20.
So it’s Jake Fromm, the tailback tandem of Elijah Holyfield and D’Andre Swift and a bunch of unselfish wideouts who will lead the offensive charge for the No. 5 Bulldogs (10-1) against the Yellow Jackets (7-4), and Georgia coach Kirby Smart is fine with that.
“You don’t have to have a guy. You can do it by committee,” Smart said this week when asked about his receivers. “Our guys are talented, and one of our wideouts could be on somebody else’s team and be a star, but we don’t sell individual goals. We sell team goals and we sell winning, and that takes care of itself. A lot of those guys for selfish reasons want individual accolades, but that’s not really how the NFL works.
“They’re not drafting a guy based on the number of receptions he has. Some of the best wideouts in the NFL right now came from SEC teams and didn’t have a lot of catches.”
Georgia’s lone 100-yard receiving game this season was produced by junior Mecole Hardman, who caught six passes for 103 yards and a touchdown in the second game at South Carolina.
Hardman leads the Bulldogs with 475 yards and five touchdowns on 31 catches, with his yardage ranking 21st among league receivers.
Fellow junior Riley Ridley has a team-high 32 receptions for 441 yards and six scores, which ranks 28th in the SEC.
Hardman, Ridley and senior Terry Godwin began this season as Georgia’s prominent wideouts, but then sophomore Jeremiah Holloman snagged a pair of touchdown passes in the 36-17 win over Florida on Oct. 27. Holloman had a team-high four receptions the following weekend at Kentucky, but junior Tyler Simmons is the latest receiving flavor of the week after touchdown
catches the past two games against Auburn and the University of Massachusetts.
Simmons not only had a 71-yard touchdown reception against UMass but a 49-yard scoring run as well.
“Tyler has been one of our fastest guys in practice these last couple of weeks,” Smart said. “He has been popping big numbers and looking really fresh. He’s able to do some things with the ball in his hands, but he’s benefited from good perimeter blocking as well.”
Said Simmons: “There are a lot of us who can go out and play at any time. When we practice during the week, everybody gets an equal opportunity, and it’s all been showing
in these last few games.”
Georgia’s receiving game also includes junior tight end Isaac Nauta, whose 21 catches for 310 yards rank third on the team. He has scored twice.
The emergence of Holloman and Simmons, who combined for four catches last season, has resulted in a diminishing of Godwin’s numbers and a lessening in the impact of California transfer Demetris Robertson. Godwin, who was bothered by injury at the start of the season, has 15 catches for 286 yards and three scores after compiling 38 receptions for 639 yards and six touchdowns a year ago.
“I would just say that we’ve got more weapons,” Godwin said. “Like I was saying at the beginning of the season, to us this is the best receiving corps in the nation. We have guys who have proven they’re capable of going out there any time against anybody and make plays.”
No matter how they’re doing it, the Bulldogs are well ahead of last season in passing yards per game (226.4 compared to 176.9 a year ago) and total yards per game (483.9 to 435.3).
“We have good balance in the room, and we have great camaraderie,” Smart said. “I think they all enjoy being around each other. They love seeing each guy get the limelight at different times. Tyler has played well the last two weeks, and I think each one of those guys had a game where you would say that he’s the guy.”
Said Simmons: “I think I do the little things right. I block when needed, and I do my job on special teams. A lot of that goes unseen, but I’ve also gotten my chance these last couple of weeks, and I’ve tried to make the best of it. It’s good to see all of us getting a chance and showing what we can do.”
Rice off the table
Smart said on Wednesday’s SEC teleconference that sophomore inside linebacker Monty Rice remains doubtful for Saturday’s game due to the foot injury he sustained before last week’s win.
“It doesn’t look good,” Smart said.