The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
QB Fromm doesn't miss a beat off bench
Freshman fills in for injured Eason, will start against Irish.
ATHENS — A review of Georgia’s season-opening victory against Appalachian State while focusing on the quarterback play and injury situation that will put Jake Fromm in the driver’s seat against Notre Dame on Saturday night in prime time in South Bend, Ind.
Eason’s brief game
If Jacob Eason never had gotten hurt, it’s possible, even probable, that he would have gone on to play well. He would have led Georgia to a comfortable win, and anybody judging him on his first three passes and two fruitless drives would have been laughed out of San- ford Stadium.
But Eason did get hurt, sustaining a knee injury. So as we go into the great unknown of the next few days, weeks and months, we are left to dissect those first nine minutes of the game, and whether they rein- force red flags about Eason from last year, or whether we’re just being silly.
Eason’s first pass was in a three-wide set, and Eason went rather quickly to Jackson Harris for a negligible gain. Nick Chubb was alone on the left side, but Eason never looked at him. A pass to Chubb might not have gained much more than the quick pass to Harris.
The second pass, the overthrow of Isaac Nauta on third down, appeared to be a case of Eason rushing his throw under pressure. Right guard Dyshon Sims couldn’t stop a linebacker who had blitzed off a stunt, and Eason threw off the wrong foot.
Eason didn’t attempt a pass on the second series, scrambling for no gain on third down. It looked like coverage was good, but Eason also appeared to misjudge where he should run, scrambling left when there was more room right. There were times last year Eason created a chance by ers time to get open. That time he didn’t. Eason’s third pass, an over- throw to Javon Wims,was just one of those simple passes that Eason sailed on last year. It was why his completion percentage was only 55 per- cent. It was why the coaches emphasized improving that in the offseason. And it was why when the next quarterback came in, things changed.
scrambling to give his receiv-
Fromm impression
Fromm’s immediate effect was accuracy. He hit Nauta in the numbers, then Mecole Hardman in the hands on an out pattern, and that’s why the offense started clicking. As coach KirbySmart pointed out, it’s not like they put in a different tempo package.
The first good run of the day also happened after Fromm entered on a 10-yard cut to the outside by Sony Michel. That was a product of better blocking, but credit Fromm for running the play correctly — something you can’t take for granted from a freshman suddenly thrust into action.
Fromm’s most impressive pass was a 25-yard strike down the middle to Wims late in the first quarter. Fromm stood strong in the pocket and hit Wims perfectly.
After the first touchdown drive, the camera caught Smart grabbing Fromm by the jersey and pushing him into the receiver’s huddle. Almost a message: “Hey, you’re the starter now, get with your guys.”
In the rush to anoint Fromm, remember a few plays.
On his first drive, he overthrew Michael Chigbu near the sideline, but if he had thrown it better, it would’ve been an interception. Fromm didn’t check the coverage before he threw and didn’t see the cornerback was right there.
The scoring drive that Fromm probably had the least to do with was the one that ended with his touchdown pass: The 34-yard TD to Wims was his only completion of the drive, and Fromm shouldn’t have thrown it. It was into triple coverage, and Wims saved the play with the leapand-snatch. It was the play of the game, I’d say.
Fromm got clocked on the play, so he deserves credit for his toughness. Hard to tell a quarterback after the fact that he should have done some- thing other than throw it, but he got lucky on that one.
Fromm got lucky again on the next drive. He rushed a pass and heaved the ball to the right side for Terry Godwin, who would have been wide open had the throw been delivered on time and on target. But there was a pass interfer- ence call, which set up another touchdown run.
Sometimes lucky is part of someone’s aura. Sometimes it’s just luck.