The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Bulldogs spread wealth with WRs
ATHENS — Georgia’s receiver corps are seeing the wealth spread around, and in the No. 2 Bulldogs’ 49-7 victory last week over Mid- dle Tennessee State, three pass-catchers tallied the first touchdowns of their careers.
One of those touchdown receptions came from senior Jayson Stanley, who through- out his career has earned his stripes for his downfield blocking and special teams play.
Stanley posted Georgia’s final points of the day against Middle Tennessee, catching a 9-yard touchdown pass from freshman Justin Fields with six minutes remaining in the third quarter. It also was his first reception of the season.
Sophomore Jeremiah Hol- loman and junior Tyler Sim- mons also recorded their first career touchdowns, with Holloman scoring on an 11-yard pass from Jake Fromm in the first quarter and Simmons reaching the end zone on a 56-yard speed sweep in the second quarter.
While his teammates aggressively congratulated him after the catch, Stanley — who has 24 career receptions — acted like he’d been there when meeting the media Wednesday.
“It felt good, definitely,” said Stanley, one of five Bulldogs to post at least one touchdown catch this season. “I kind of treated like a win, though, with the 24-hour rule. Now I’m on to the next one. I kind of felt it might happen, but I told myself to just go out there and execute every play.”
Even with senior Terry Godwin slowed by injuries, Georgia’s receivers have done an admirable job in the early season. Mecole Hardman leads the way with 12 catches, 187 yards and three touch- downs, followed by Ridley Riley, who has eight recep- tions for 82 yards and two scores.
Making it LeCounte: Sophomore safety Richard LeCounte (he of the “hit stick”) earned praise from coach Kirby Smart earlier this week for his performance Sept. 8 against South Carolina, where he had a careerhigh 10 tackles. Smart was a little less pleased, however, with LeCounte’s play against Middle Tennessee, when he finished with three tackles and a fumble recovery.
Smart said LeCounte “continues to grow” and is amassing a greater understanding of what’s expected of him and the rest of the defense.
“I think he’s gaining confidence in the system,” Smart said of LeCounte. “Our defense requires a lot of calls for the safeties to make, and he’s gotten command of that better. I see him in here a lot, meeting and watching some tape. He’s grown up.”
Safety J.R. Reed s aid LeCounte has been somewhat of a special personal project for him this season.
“He’s done a good job,” Reed said of LeCounte. “He always has room for improvement. Richard’s like a little brother to me, so I’m always pushing him to be better. Good isn’t good enough, and great isn’t great enough, so I just always push him more and more. The more he gets better, the more the team gets better, and the better I feel.”
It’s likely that Missouri will present the best offense the Bulldogs have seen thus far, and LeCounte said he sees Saturday’s game as another opportunity to get better.
“Every week we come in with the mindset of making us better, as far as the team, so the game plan is still going to be executed to a ‘t,’ but (Missouri) is definitely a real good team,” he said. “We never take any opponent lightly, but we’re really focused this week. … (We have to) definitely just make sure we get back to our fundamentals and basics, getting everything back to what we’re used to doing.”