DawgNation will offer this report after every game which focuses on the freshmen who played and what they did. No one will lose a redshirt amid the new rules of the 2020 pandemic-affected season. Check out the Georgia football edition from the bitter 44-28 loss to Florida in Jacksonville.
Georgia didn’t have the services of freshman DT Warren Brinson, junior ALL-SEC DT candidate Jordan Davis, sophomore ALL-SEC WR candidate George Pickens, senior All-American safety hopeful Richard LeCounte and fifth-year senior DT Julian Rochester on Saturday against Florida.
The Bulldogs still played 59 players in that game. It meant that the “next man up” line dipped deep in the redshirt freshman and redshirt junior classes against the Gators.
It meant UGA played seven more players from those classes than it did against Kentucky and nine more than hit the field against Alabama.
Does data like that intrigue? If so, then the weekly DawgNation “Freshman Report” is filed every week to meet that level of reader interest.
Those data points – and the young Georgia football team members who made them – are what the weekly DawgNation “Freshmen Report” is all about. It was created to move the needle forward on all the elite recruiting classes the program signs.
Do those young players that get hyped up make an impact on the team during their first season?
Here’s a quick jog around the bigger player participation pieces for Georgia from the Florida game:
- True freshman WR Marcus Rosemy started last week against Kentucky but did not start against Florida. The Florida native did score his first career touchdown as a Bulldog on Saturday.
- Kendall Milton needed to be a big part of the game plan as the Bulldogs started two tailbacks. Milton was one of those and it marked his first career UGA start.
- Georgia showed its hand as far as its depleted receiver corps goes on the game’s first snap. The Bulldogs started three tight ends, two tailbacks and zero receivers.
- George Pickens did not travel for the second straight week.
- The redshirt freshmen defensive line group from the 2019 class did make their first real appearance of the season with Brinson, Davis and Rochester out. Defensive end Bill Norton and defensive tackle Zion Logue, both 2019 signees who redshirted a year ago, saw reps against the Gators.
- The SEC is a physical grown man league, but the Bulldogs used just two defensive linemen against Florida who had more than two full seasons of experience. The breakdown went zero fifth-year seniors, two seniors, zero redshirt seniors, zero redshirt juniors, zero redshirt sophomores, two sophomores, two redshirt freshmen and two true freshmen. That’s not an enviable playing rotation.
That’s the first cache of data points to ingest. These next few are also worth sharing high up in this post.
- Georgia wound up playing nine freshmen players against Florida. True freshman WR Arian Smith was credited on the participation report with his Georgia debut. That’s one more than had seen action against both Alabama and Kentucky.
- The Bulldogs only played 51 players in the loss at Alabama earlier this year. They only played 53 players at Kentucky but saw the total number of players go up to 59 in Jacksonville.
- True freshman QB Carson Beck did not play. He has yet to see the field in 2020, but he did travel to his second straight road game after not traveling for Alabama.
- The defensive back group was severely depleted against a stout opponent. Georgia played three more DBs (12) than it did against either Alabama or Kentucky.
- Sophomore ILB Nakobe Dean led Georgia for the second straight game with a career-high 15 tackles.
- Georgia played six offensive linemen for the second straight game.
- Redshirt freshman DL Zion Logue saw his first playing time of the 2020 season.
The Bulldogs deployed 59 players against Florida, including 15 redshirt and true freshmen. That’s based on DawgNation’s pregame and postgame observations, the TV copy, social media postings and finally the official postgame participation chart.
Georgia had been shrinking its playing roster over the last few weeks, but that total rose to the same number of players needed against Arkansas in the first week of the season.
- Week 1 at Arkansas: 59 (18 redshirt or true freshmen
- Week 2 vs. Auburn: 60 (16 redshirt or true freshmen)
- Week 3 vs. Tennessee: 63 (17 redshirt or true freshmen)
- Week 4 at Alabama: 51 (10 redshirt or true freshmen)
- Week 6 at Kentucky: 53 (10 redshirt or true freshmen)
- Week 7 vs. Florida in Jacksonville: 59 (15 redshirt or true freshmen)
RELATED: Did you read what Dan Mullen and Florida had to say about Georgia?
Who played against Florida (by classes):
- Freshmen: 9
- Redshirt freshmen: 5 (+3 from the last game)
- Sophomores: 7 (+1 from the last game)
- Redshirt sophomores: 8
- Juniors: 9 (-1 from the last game)
- Redshirt juniors: 8 (+3 from the last game)
- Seniors: 8 (-1 from the last game)
- Redshirt or graduate seniors: 4 (-1 from the last game)
- Touchdowns by true or redshirt freshmen: 1 (+1 from last week)
- True or redshirt freshmen among the leading tacklers: 0 (-1 from last week)
Florida game freshman focus
Georgia played 15 redshirt or true freshmen. The big picture tallies up to 25 percent of all the Bulldogs who played on Saturday. That figure went up six percent from the past few weeks against Alabama and Kentucky.
That equates to:
- 1 of 2 QBs (0 of 1 QBs in last game)
- 1 of 4 RBs (1 of 3 RBs in last game)
- 3 of 8 WRs (2 of 7 WRs in last game)
- 1 of 6 OLs (1 of 6 OLs in last game)
- 1 of 3 TEs (1 of 3 TEs in last game)
- 4 of 8 DLs (3 of 9 DLs in last game)
- 0 of 5 ILBs (0 of 5 ILBs in last game)
- 1 of 5 OLBs (1 of 5 OLBs in last game)
- 0 of 9 DBs (0 of 9 DBs in last game)
- 0 of 1 PKs (0 of 1 PKs in last game)
- 0 of 1 Ps (0 of 1 Ps in last game)
- 1 of 2 LSs (1 of 2 LSs in last game)
FRESHMEN BULLDOGS IN 2020
What’s more important? Snaps or starts? Both are important, but there is a reason why certain players start the game and stay on the field for the biggest plays. That’s because the coaches trust them to play winning football by what they have seen on the practice field.
There are common instances where the scheme fit based on each opponent allows for a different starting rotation as well. Georgia has started out games in “12” personnel this season.
Here is the weekly list of the true freshmen and redshirt freshmen that have started games in 2020.
- Freshman WR Jermaine Burton (4 games)
- Redshirt freshman QB D’Wan Mathis (1 game)
- True freshman RB Kendall Milton (1 game)
- Redshirt freshman OT Warren McClendon (4 games)
- Freshman WR Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint (1 game)
- Freshman TE Darnell Washington (4 games)
Who started against Florida (all freshmen): McClendon, Milton and Washington
How many different Bulldogs have played in 2019: 74
How many of those have been freshmen or redshirt freshmen: 23 (31 percent of all participation)
Of note: Georgia has seen six of its true freshmen play in every game this year. That’s out of the 16 freshmen who have played so far in 2020.
Freshman Game Ball
WR Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint
(St. Thomas Aquinas/Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)
Hgt./Wgt: 6-2/195
Rosemy-Jacksaint earns this weekly “Freshmen Report” honor for the first time this season. He had a 32-yard touchdown catch with 11:44 to go in the first quarter that gave Georgia an early 14-0 lead.
He suffered a season-ending injury on this play. For the faint of heart, don’t watch this play embedded below after he crosses the goal line. His ankle is clipped as he crosses the goal and it is a gruesome sight.
This was another week in which the freshman contributions were scarce. Milton had two carries for 18 yards, including a 17-yard run. He left the game with a sprained MCL and is expected to miss 3-4 weeks.
Mathis completed 4 of his 13 passes for 34 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. He was sacked three times.
Major Burns had three tackles. Jalen Carter joined Logue and Norton with assists on tackles.
The honor here goes to Rosemy-Jacksaint. It was earned. Especially with what he showed in returning to the field in a cast of some type to continue to pull for his team.
Kirby Smart said he suffered a “fracture dislocation ankle” and a “dislocated ankle” on Monday. He’s out for the remainder of the season and they expect a full recovery. He said James Cook and Riley Ridley had that injury before in their careers.
He spoke at length about the true freshman wideout in his weekly press briefing, including a compliment to him and his family.
“The kid is a great kid,” Smart said. “I saw him coming out to the second half. We’re coming out of the locker room to the second half and he was already in great spirits and he said “Coach it is part of the game” and ‘injuries are part of the game’ and you understand that when you get into it.”
He said he was in a really good mindset just after the injury.
“I know he’ll work really hard to get back,” Smart added. “He was trying to help other guys on the sideline. That’s the thing about this team. This is a bunch of fighters. This is a bunch of competitors. They don’t feel good about what happened. Nobody does but they are ready to fight and come back and compete. That’s what defines who you are.”
- The stat line: Rosemy-Jacksaint had one catch for 32 yards. It proved to be the second-biggest offensive play of the game for the Bulldogs. Final 247Sports Composite recruiting rankings: Nation’s No. 8 WR and No. 55 overall prospect Bet you didn’t know: He’s always been a QB at heart Why Rosemy chose Georgia: “I picked Georgia because I felt at home there,” Rosemy told DawgNation last Fune. “The family atmosphere there is unbelievable and it just felt right.” Former All-American: Yes (Rosemy-Jacksaint played in the 2020 Under Armour All-American Game.) Check out his commitment day story from June of 2019
Georgia football: Freshmen “Game balls” for 2020
- Freshman WR Jermaine Burton: 1
- Freshman DT/FB Jalen Carter: 1
- Redshirt freshman OT Warren McClendon Jr: 1
- Freshman WR Marcus Rosmey-Jacksaint: 1
- Freshman TE Darnell Washington: 2
FRESHMEN SUPERLATIVES FOR 2020
- Catches (game): 4 (Jermaine Burton)
- Catches (season): 10 (Burton)
- Longest catch: 36 (Burton)
- Longest TD catch: 32 (Rosemy-Jacksaint)
- Longest run: 43 (Burton)
- Longest TD run: N/A
- Most receiving TDs: 1 (Burton, Jalen Carter and Rosemy-Jacksaint)
- Receiving yards (season): 130 (Burton)
- Rushing yards (season): 183 (Kendall Milton)
- Sacks (game): N/A
- Sacks (season): N/A
- Tackles (game): 3 (Carter)
- Tackles (season): 6 (Carter)
- Tackles for a loss (game): 1 (Carter)
FRESHMEN ON SOCIAL MEDIA
There are a couple of additional points of view and plays to share from the game.
FRESHMEN TO PLAY IN EVERY GAME
The following true or redshirt freshmen Bulldogs have played in every game so far this season:
- WR Jermaine Burton
- DT Jalen Carter
- Redshirt OT Warren McClendon
- RB Kendall Milton
- Redshirt LS William Mote
- WR Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint
- TE Darnell Washington
2020 Freshmen participation
The Bulldogs who have seen action so far in 2020.
- S Major Burns (3 games)
- WR Jermaine Burton (6 games)
- DT Warren Brinson (5 games)
- DT Jalen Carter (6 games)
- Redshirt ILB Rian Davis (2 games)
- RB Daijun Edwards (4 games)
- OT Broderick Jones (1 game)
- CB Jalen Kimber (3 games)
- Redshirt QB D’Wan Mathis (4 games)
- Redshirt OT Warren McClendon (6 games)
- RB Kendall Milton (6 games)
- Redshirt DT Tymon Mitchell (1 game)
- Redshirt LS William Mote (6 games)
- Redshirt freshman DL Zion Logue (1 game)
- Redshirt DE Bill Norton (2 games)
- OT Tate Ratledge (1 game)
- WR Justin Robinson (1 game)
- WR Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint (6 games)
- Redshirt TE Brett Seither (1 game)
- OLB MJ Sherman (5 games)
- DT Nazir Stackhouse (3 games)
- Redshirt OT Xavier Truss (3 games)
- OC Sedrick Van Pran-Granger (2 games)
2020 signees who did not play this week: QB Carson Beck; OL Austin Blaske; DB Major Burns; RB Daijun Edwards; CB Jalen Kimber; OL Broderick Jones; OL Cameron Kinnie; OL Chad Lindberg; WR Ladd McConkey; OL Tate Ratledge; CB Kelee Ringo (out for year/shoulder); WR Justin Robinson; WR Arian Smith (knee/wrist); OL Sedrick Van Pran-Granger; OL Devin Willock and PK Jared Zirkel
2019 signees who did not play this week: Sophomore WR Dominick Blaylock (out for year/knee); Redshirt freshman ILB Rian Davis; Redshirt freshman TE Ryland Goede; Sophomore ILB Trezmen Marshall; Redshirt freshman DT Tymon Mitchell; Redshirt freshman TE Brett Seither; Redshirt freshman WR Makiya Tongue; Redshirt freshman OG Clay Webb.
2018 signees who did not play this week: Redshirt sophomore WR Tommy Bush and redshirt sophomore OT Owen Condon
2017 signees who did not play this week: Senior Walter Grant; Redshirt junior OL Netori Johnson