Georgia QB Jake Fromm ‘wanted to be clean’ against Austin Peay

ATHENS — It was such a fast and easy day for Georgia quarterback Jake Fromm, the sophomore might not have even broken a sweat.

Fromm played less than half the game in the 45-0 win against overmatched FCS opponent Austin Peay on Saturday at Sanford Stadium.

“Just wanted to be clean, wanted to be consistent,” Fromm said after the performance. “Just wanted to come out and make the right decisions.”

Hidden offense

If Georgia’s intention was not to show to much of the offense, it surely succeeded.

Fromm was 12-of-16 passing for 157 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. It was a solid though unspectacular day for Fromm.

ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit was among those to talk up Fromm in the preseason, pointing out how much he had grown.

A preseason third-team All-SEC pick, Fromm led the No. 3-ranked Bulldogs (1-0) on touchdown drives on three of the four series he played Saturday.

Fromm appeared to audible on the drive that stalled out, resulting in a field goal.

Fromm delivered a third-and-3 pass late to Tyler Simmons, and it was broken up.

Modest numbers

The Bulldogs’ big play with Fromm under center was a 59-yard completion to Mecole Hardman that went for a touchdown with 1:28 left in the first half and made it 38-0.

Fromm was averaging 8.9 yards per completion before that play — an average that would have ranked 31st in the country, behind Georgia State’s Dan Ellington (9.35) at No. 30.

The Georgia quarterback explained the philosophy the Bulldogs were using against Austin Peay.

“They gave me the easy ones,” Fromm said. “You can’t go broke taking a profit, trying to get the guys the ball and let them make plays.”

Not all was perfect, and Fromm pointed that out.

Run game misfires

“As an offense as a whole we have to be cleaner,” Fromm said. “On some of the wide zones, they were getting some penetration.”

Georgia’s run game was not as dominant at times as some might have expected with four of five starters returning on the offensive line.

Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart alluded to that as well.

“Some of those plays that were 2 or 3 yards might be lost-yardage plays against somebody else,” Smart said. “We can’t have those negative plays offensively.”

The Bulldogs play at South Carolina at 3:30 p.m. next Saturday in Columbia, S.C.