Swilling expects increased workload

In his debut game, Georgia Tech cornerback Tre Swilling had a relatively light afternoon. With Alcorn State mostly throwing away from him, Swilling made one tackle in the Yellow Jackets’ 41-0 win Saturday.

“I didn’t really have too much work Saturday,” Swilling said. “I kind of got in on a couple of short throws, I think.”

That will likely change Saturday when the Yellow Jackets play their second game of the season, at South Florida in Tampa, Fla. USF quarterback Blake Barnett completed 24 of 34 passes for 305 yards and three touchdowns against no interceptions in the Bulls’ season-opening win against Elon on Saturday. Four USF pass plays gained 20 yards or more. Barnett is a graduate transfer from Arizona State who began his college career at Alabama.

“We’re going to get tested this week,” coach Paul Johnson said, speaking of Barnett.

Wide receiver Randall St. Felix may be of particular concern to Swilling and the Tech secondary after he made his own career debut with seven catches for 143 yards and a touchdown.

St. Felix is 6-foot-2 and 205 pounds, a frame similar to the Tech receivers whom Swilling trains against in practice.

“Definitely will be a fun game Saturday, especially a team that throws the ball a lot,” Swilling said. “They had a couple receivers do pretty good last week, so it’ll be interesting.”

Swilling and B-back Jordan Mason, both redshirt freshmen, became the third and fourth freshmen or redshirt freshmen to start in their season opener in Tech’s past five seasons. Having redshirted, it was a long wait to play. Swilling described him- self as a “fly on the wall” last year as he attended position meetings with veteran cor- nerbacks such as Lance and Lawrence Austin and Step Durham, trying to soak up knowledge.

“That kind of just added onto it,” Swilling said, “and it was pretty satisfying, but still hungry to keep working and get better every week.”

Homecoming for Cerge-Henderson: For Georgia Tech nose tackle Kyle Cerge-Henderson, Saturday’s game against South Florida is different, but he’s trying to think of like any other.

Cerge-Henderson is from Tampa, Fla., where USF is located, and said he has about 45 family members and friends that he’s trying to get tickets for this week. He also has friends on the Bulls team, including a former teammate at Plant High, cornerback Mazzi Wilkins.

But, said Cerge-Hender- son, “It’s another game. It’s a little exciting to go home, but at the same time, it’s just another game for me.”

To that end, Cerge-Hender- son said he hasn’t engaged in the typical banter that often goes on when high-school friends play each other.

“I just try to stay focused,” Cerge-Henderson said.

Cerge-Henderson said he has told teammates that the weather in Tampa might be more humid, but, “honestly, Georgia heat is up there. We’ve been battling through the heat during the summer.”