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Former Bulldogs share views on South Carolina, including WR who still supports UGA

Georgia suffered a stunning 20-17 loss on Saturday at home to South Carolina. Former WR Jeremiah Holloman was one of a few former Bulldogs who shared their feelings about the loss on social media afterward.
Bob Andres/AJC
Jeff Sentell

There was a lot of accountability shown by the Georgia football team in the wake of a stunning 20-17 loss at home to South Carolina on Saturday afternoon.

Senior captain J.R. Reed said the loss would not linger. Rodrigo Blankenship was one of the very first Bulldogs to meet the media after likely the most unexplainable loss of his Georgia career.

Those losses back in 2016 could be explained away by the notion Georgia was still building something in Smart’s first full year. Not this game. Not this loss to a 2-3 Carolina team.

Especially when Georgia showed the nation just how hard it will be to beat any team with a minus-4 ratio in takeaways. Smart was also among the many members of the team who took ownership of the final result.

Jake Fromm didn’t play at his best when his best was required. He was called upon to throw the ball 51 times after South Carolina stymied Georgia’s run game. He’d never thrown the ball more than 41 times in a game in his Bulldog career.

Georgia ran 95 plays on Saturday. South Carolina ran 67. The Bulldogs totaled up 467 yards against their SEC East rivals but did so with a meager output of 4.92 yards per play.

The loss sparked a memory in former Georgia Bulldog Arthur Lynch. He took to Twitter after the loss with a historical parallel with another bitter loss to South Carolina in 2012 and a reminder about how that season turned out.

Former WR Jeremiah Holloman supports former teammates

Lawrence Cager’s absence down the stretch was one of the reasons why Georgia’s receivers had trouble making plays against the Gamecocks. Cager (separated shoulder) has been battling that all season. The graduate transfer from Miami had four catches for 48 yards but was unable to finish the game.

Without Cager, the Bulldog receivers had a hard time getting open against the physical coverage employed at the line of scrimmage by South Carolina’s cornerbacks. The Gamecocks have recruited athletes with height and length to play that position.

It brought to mind the dismissal of former receiver Jeremiah “J.J.” Holloman back in June. University police investigated allegations of a domestic dispute between Holloman and his girlfriend. It was a disappointing end to his time at Georgia.

The contest with South Carolina marked the first time all season where his absence was clearly felt on the field in a contested game. While Georgia does have good emerging young playmakers at receiver in freshmen Dominick Blaylock and George Pickens, those two are still first-year players in the SEC.

Redshirt junior receiver Demetris Robertson came up to make a few plays. He finished with five catches for 51 yards. Robertson’s 6-yard touchdown catch with 1:48 left to play tied the game up at 17.

Holloman had the skills to help Georgia recover from the humbling loss on the road at LSU last season. He is now sitting out the 2019 season after transferring to another FBS program at Florida International University.

He hauled in two big touchdown passes from Fromm to help put down the Gators and steady the 2018 season. When the NFL drafted Terry Godwin, Mecole Hardman and Riley Ridley this spring, he was in line to be Georgia’s leading returning receiver 2019.

The reason he is no longer at Georgia is a non-football story, but his absence is another reason why Georgia didn’t have more options that could consistently get off the line and create separation on Saturday.

Remember the downfield blocks he made to turn 15-yard runs into touches that went the distance? Holloman’s blend of size, speed and physicality has been missing from that unit all season. He helped all phases of the offensive game plan.

Holloman tweeted out his regrets after the game for not being on the field for Georgia, too. He did so while also showing support to his former teammates in Cager, Fromm, Malik Herring and Richard LeCounte III after the loss.

Jeremiah Holloman-Georgia football-UGA football

 

Georgia-South Carolina Game coverage

 

NEXT Fans wonder: Was loss to Gamecocks a hiccup, or were Dawgs exposed?
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