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 that 37-10 road win at Arkansas. 

D’Wan Mathis got his first career start. Everyone who tuned in or made the trek to Arkansas knew that immediately. What about Darnell Washington flashing a satellite dish’s worth of catch radius late in the half?

Those moments were hard to miss. No matter how many chicken wings or nachos one was putting down while watching.

How ’bout those four-yard carries for both Daijun Edwards and Kendall Milton in the first games of their freshman seasons?

If you didn’t know that but are glad you do know, then the weekly DawgNation “Freshman Report” was filed with that sort of reading habit in mind.

Those plays – and the young players 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 these young players that get hyped up truly measure up and make an impact on the team during their first season on campus?

The Bulldogs played 59 players against Arkansas, including 18 redshirt and true freshmen. The SEC only allows 70 players to travel on the dress list for road games.

That’s based on DawgNation’s pregame and postgame observations, the TV copy, social media postings and finally the official postgame participation chart.

Georgia played five more of those redshirts and first-year guys that it did in the season opener at Vanderbilt last fall.

How did that freshmen participation compare to how many freshmen played against SEC and Power 5 opponents during 2019?

  • 24 of the 73 against Georgia Tech
  • 13 of the 56 for the home finale against Texas A&M
  • 13 of the 57 at Auburn
  • 17 of the 63 at home against Mizzou.
  • 14 of the 57 Bulldogs who helped take down Florida for the third straight time
  • 14 of the 57 vs. Kentucky
  • 15 of the 62 against South Carolina
  • 15 of 63 at Tennessee
  • 13 of 60 against Notre Dame
  • 13 of 61 at Vanderbilt

The quick takeaway from all that charting is rather simple. Look for Georgia to play more freshmen against an ALL-SEC schedule than it did in 2019.

RELATED: Have you read the family story about the Arkansas win for Stetson Bennett IV? 

Rapid-fire participation info from Georgia-Arkansas

  • Georgia started two true freshmen and one redshirt freshman against the Razorbacks on Saturday. Those players were all on offense.
  • The Bulldogs did not start any true freshmen in the season opener against Vanderbilt a year ago. The only freshman starter was redshirt OLB Azeez Ojulari.
  • Georgia started nine sophomores or redshirt sophomores in the 2020 opener. That was more than any other group.
  • The Bulldogs also played 17 sophomores or redshirt sophomores on Saturday. That matches the freshman total for the biggest class that saw action.
  • To the best of our knowledge and scouring of the postgame official reports and TV copies, it looks like these were the only Bulldogs who traveled but did not play: Redshirt junior DB Latavious Brini, freshman QB Carson Beck, redshirt sophomore QB JT Daniels, sophomore walk-on punter Bill Rubright and freshman OL Sedrick Van Pran-Granger.

Who played against Arkansas (by classes):

  • Freshmen: 10
  • Redshirt freshmen: 7
  • Sophomores: 8
  • Redshirt sophomores: 9
  • Juniors: 9
  • Redshirt juniors: 6
  • Seniors: 9
  • Redshirt or graduate seniors: 4
  • Touchdowns by true or redshirt freshmen: 0
  • True or redshirt freshmen among the leading tacklers: 0

Arkansas game freshman focus

Georgia played 18 redshirt or true freshmen. The big picture tallies up to 31 percent of all the Bulldogs who played on Saturday. That equates to:

  • 0 of 2 QBs 
  • 2 of 5 RBs 
  • 3 of 8 WRs  
  • 2 of 7 OLs 
  • 2 of 3 TEs 
  • 4 of 10 DLs (Biggest freshman presence for the game)
  • 1 of 7 ILBs 
  • 0 of 4 OLBs 
  • 2 of 13 DBs 
  • 0 of 1 PKs 
  • 0 of 1 Ps 
  • 1 of 2 LSs 

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.

Here is the weekly list of the true freshmen and redshirt freshmen that have started games in 2020.

  • Freshman WR Jermaine Burton (1 game)
  • Redshirt freshman QB D’Wan Mathis (1 game)
  • Freshman TE Darnell Washington (1 game)

Who started against Arkansas (all true freshmen): Burton, Mathis, Washington

How many different Bulldogs have played in 2019: 59

How many of those have been freshmen or redshirt freshmen: 18 (33 percent of all participation)

Of note: Georgia has seen eight of its true freshmen play in every game this year. That’s out of the 10 freshmen who have played so far in 2020.

Freshman Game Ball 

Darnell Washington is wearing No. 0 for Georgia this year. (Chamberlain Smith/UGAAA)/Dawgnation)

TE Darnell Washington (Desert Pines HS/Las Vegas, Nev.)

Hgt./Wgt: 6-7.5/263

Washington earns this weekly “Freshmen Report” honor for the first time this season. It was the hardest freshman report game ball we’ve ever given out. That’s because there was not one clear contributor that was head and shoulders above the rest of his peers.

Yet when it comes to being head and shoulders above anything, we think of Washington. In respect to the Arkansas game, we can think of this one play he made in the first half where Georgia really needed the momentum.

The ball was slightly high for the prototype SEC tight end, but Washington is far from the prototype. This Stetson Bennett IV pass landed right in his wheelhouse.

That put Washingon in the running for the FR “game ball” honor, but this physical play he made before getting into his route on one snap cinched it.

That’s an uncommon play in the toughest conference in the country, but it shows off what a physically-gifted young man he is.

  • The stat line: 1 catch, 26 yards, 0 TDs
  • Of note: It was the first catch of his collegiate career.
  • The biggest play he made was: See the embedded tweet above.

RELATED: Family matters drive Darnell Washington to be great

Georgia football: Freshmen Report “Game balls” for 2020

  • Freshman TE Darnell Washington: 1

Notables for other redshirt or true freshmen vs. Arkansas

D’Wan Mathis did show some flashes early on against Arkansas. (SEC Media Portal)/Dawgnation)
  • Redshirt freshman QB D’Wan Mathis: It was his first college game and the first career start on the road in the SEC and he did do some good things. His first series captured what he could be for Georgia. He ran around, made some plays, and even converted a third down after getting backed up behind the sticks due to a penalty on one of his best runs of the game. Let’s not forget he had not played in almost two years in his recovery from surgery to remove a cyst in his brain. 
  • The Mathis stat line: 8-17-1 for 55 yards. No TDs. 10 carries for 4 yards. No TDs. 
  • Freshmen S Major Burns:  The 2020 early enrollee made the travel squad and played in his first career game. 
  • Freshman DT Jalen Carter: The former 5-star showed his vast potential and buzz by recording one of Georgia’s only four tackles for losses in the game. 
  • Freshman CB Jalen Kimber: The 2020 early enrollee also made the travel squad and played in his first game. He saw action at cornerback late in the contest. 
  • Redshirt freshman LS William Mote: The preferred walk-on from Spain Park HS in Alabama traveled with the team and appears to have won the starting long snapper job on punts.
  • Freshman WR Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint: He led all Georgia freshmen with his two receptions. 
  • Redshirt freshmen who saw time against Arkansas: ILB Rian Davis, OL Warren McClendon, DT Tymon Mitchell, DL Bill Norton, TE Brett Seither, OL Xavier Truss. 
  • Another quick note about McClendon: McClendon was very effective at RT in relief of firs-time starter Owen Condon. He should earn more playing time after film study of the game. 

FRESHMEN SUPERLATIVES FOR 2020

  • Receptions in a game: 2 (Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint)
  • Longest catch: 26 (Washington)
  • Longest TD catch: N/A
  • Longest run: 4 (Daijun Edwards and Kendall Milton)
  • Longest TD run: N/A
  • Most receiving TDs: N/A
  • Sacks (game): N/A
  • Sacks (season): N/A
  • Tackles (game): 1 (Burns, Warren Brinson, Carter and Tymon Mitchell)
  • Tackles (season): 1 (Burns, Warren Brinson, Carter and Mitchell)
  • Tackles for a loss (game): 1 (Carter)

FRESHMEN ON SOCIAL MEDIA

FRESHMEN TO PLAY IN EVERY GAME

The following true or redshirt freshmen Bulldogs have played in every game so far this season:

  • S Major Burns
  • WR Jermaine Burton
  • DT Warren Brinson
  • DT Jalen Carter
  • Redshirt ILB Rian Davis
  • RB Daijun Edwards
  • CB Jalen Kimber
  • Redshirt QB D’Wan Mathis
  • Redshirt OT Warren McClendon
  • RB Kendall Milton
  • Redshirt DT Tymon Mitchell
  • Redshirt LS William Mote
  • Redshirt DE Bill Norton
  • WR Justin Robinson
  • WR Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint
  • Redshirt TE Brett Seither 
  • Redshirt OT Xavier Truss

Participation for 2020 signees 

The Bulldogs who have seen action so far in 2020.

  • S Major Burns (1 game)
  • WR Jermaine Burton (1 game)
  • DT Warren Brinson (1 game)
  • DT Jalen Carter (1 game)
  • Redshirt ILB Rian Davis (1 game)
  • RB Daijun Edwards (1 game)
  • CB Jalen Kimber (1 game)
  • Redshirt QB D’Wan Mathis (1 game)
  • Redshirt OT Warren McClendon (1 game)
  • RB Kendall Milton(1 game)
  • Redshirt DT Tymon Mitchell (1 game)
  • Redshirt LS William Mote (1 game)
  • Redshirt DE Bill Norton (1 game)
  • WR Justin Robinson (1 game)
  • WR Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint (1 game)
  • Redshirt TE Brett Seither (1 game)
  • Redshirt OT Xavier Truss (1 game)

2020 signees who did not travel this week: CB Kelee Ringo (out for year/shoulder); OT Broderick Jones; OLB MJ Sherman; OT Tate Ratledge, WR Arian Smith; OL Chad Lindberg; DT Nazir Stackhouse; OL Austin Blaske; DB Daran Branch; OL Devin Willock, WR Ladd McConkey; OL Cameron Kinnie; PK Jared Zirkel and grad transfer TE Tre’ McKitty (injury)

2019 signees who did not travel this week: Sophomore WR Dominick Blaylock (out for year/knee); Redshirt freshman TE Ryland Goede; Redshirt freshman WR Makiya Tongue; Redshirt freshman OG Clay Webb; Redshirt freshman DT Zion Logue.

2018 signees who did not travel this week: Redshirt sophomore WR Tommy Bush.

2017 signees who did not travel this week: Redshirt junior OLB Robert Beal; Redshirt junior WR Trey Blount; Senior Walter Grant.

Georgia football: 2020 Freshman Reports on DawgNation