DawgNation will offer this report after every game which focuses on the freshmen who played, what they did and which ones might lose one of those newfangled (four games or less) redshirts.  Check out the Georgia football edition from the 19-13 home finale with Texas A&M. 

Georgia played 56 of its Bulldogs against Texas A&M, including 14 redshirt or true freshmen. Yet with this one, there wasn’t a clear dominant performance by one of those young Bulldogs.

The Bulldogs played 57 players in their previous game at Auburn, including 13 redshirt and true freshmen. The total of 56 players also marked the season-low in the number of Bulldogs to play in a game in 2019.

How did that freshmen participation compare to the rest of the season?

  • 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
  • 30 of 86 vs. Arkansas State
  • 29 of 86 vs. Murray State
  • 13 of 61 at Vanderbilt

Rapid-fire participation info from Georgia-Texas A&M

  • UGA started two redshirt freshmen in Azeez Ojulari (OLB) and Kearis Jackson (WR) for the fourth straight week.
  • Jackson, a redshirt from Fort Valley, has now started in five of the eight games he’s been available this fall. He missed three games due to the wrist injury he suffered in the season opener at Vanderbilt.
  • Freshman WR Dominick Blaylock also earned his second career start.
  • The Bulldogs played just seven OLs for the second straight week in SEC play.
  • JUCO transfer DJ Daniel had his eighth straight start. The 2019 signee has started more games this fall than anyone ever thought he was likely to do.
  • The Bulldogs played just seven true defensive linemen. That total includes three players who will exhaust their eligibility after this season.
  • Redshirt senior Michael Barnett drew his third start of the season and his fourth career start against Texas A&M at the nose tackle position.

Who played against Texas A&M (by classes):

  • Freshmen: 9
  • Redshirt freshmen: 5
  • Touchdowns by true or redshirt freshmen: 1 (George Pickens)
  • True or redshirt freshmen among the leading tacklers: 1 (Redshirt DB Divaad Wilson had four stops. It was tied for fourth-best on the team)

Texas A&M freshman focus

Georgia played 14 redshirt or true freshmen. The big picture tallies up to 25 percent of all the Bulldogs who played on Saturday. That equates to:

  • 0 of 1 QBs (1 QBs played in the previous game)
  • 2 of 6 RBs (6 RBs played in the previous game)
  • 3 of 5 WRs  (7 WRs played in the previous game)
  • 0 of 7 OLs (7 OLs played in the previous game)
  • 0 of 2 TEs (3 TEs played in the previous game)
  • 1 of 7 DLs (8 DLs played in the previous game
  • 2 of 6 ILBs (6 ILBs played in the previous game)
  • 2 of 5 OLBs (6 OLBs played in the previous game)
  • 3 of 12 DBs (11 DBs played in the previous game)
  • 0 of 1 PKs (No change versus the previous game)
  • 0 of 1 Ps (No change from the previous game)
  • 1 of 2 LSs (No change from the previous game)

What that study has shown far this year: Georgia essentially plays the same group of DLs, ILBs and OLBs regardless of the quality of the Power 5 opponent.

Freshman DB Tyrique Stevenson has some technique points to dial in, but he makes about 1-2 plays per game that show why the coaches are putting him out on the field. (eff Sentell/DawgNation)/Dawgnation)

FRESHMEN BULLDOGS IN 2019

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 2019.

  • Redshirt freshman TE John FitzPatrick (1 game)
  • Redshirt freshman WR Kearis Jackson (5 games)
  • Redshirt freshman OLB Azeez Ojulari (11 games)
  • Redshirt freshman DB Divaad Wilson (2 games)
  • Freshman WR George Pickens (1 game)
  • Freshman WR Dominick Blaylock (2 games)

Who started against Texas A&M (all freshmen): Dominick Blaylock, Kearis Jackson and Azeez Ojulari

How many different Bulldogs have played in 2019: 97

How many of those have been freshmen or redshirt freshmen: 34 (35 percent of all participation)

Georgia football: Participation in 2019

  • Redshirt or grad transfer seniors: 9
  • Seniors: 8
  • Redshirt juniors: 5
  • Juniors: 15
  • Redshirt sophomores: 14
  • Sophomores: 12
  • Redshirt freshmen: 11
  • Freshmen: 23
  • Of note: Georgia has seen six of its true freshmen play in every game this year. That’s out of the 23 freshmen who have played so far in 2019. (Lewis Cine, Nakobe Dean, Trezmen Marshall, George Pickens, Nolan Smith and Tyrique Stevenson.)

THE BIG PICTURE, PART I

Freshman Game Ball 

George Pickens scored the only touchdown of the game for Georgia on Saturday against Texas A&M. (Curtis Compton/AJC)/Dawgnation)

WR George Pickens (Hoover HS/Hoover, Ala.)

Pickens earns this weekly “Freshmen Report” honor for the fourth time this season.

  • The stat line: 2 catches/57 yards/1 16-yard touchdown catch/1 slobber knocker block (at least)
  • Of note: Pickens now leads Georgia with his five touchdown catches in 2019.
  • The biggest play he made was: That touchdown catch gave Georgia a 13-3 lead with 6:44 to go in the first half. But he also came away with a 41-yard deep shot from Jake Fromm to start off Georgia’s last drive of the third quarter.
  • Final 247Sports Composite recruiting rankings: Nation’s No. 4 WR/No. 24 overall prospect/Pickens was the fourth highest-rated recruit in Georgia’s 2019 class.
  • Former All-American: Yes (Pickens was an Under Armour All-American for 2019.)
  • Why did he choose Georgia? Check out his commitment day story from this past February. That’s when the Bulldogs beat out Auburn and Tennessee for Pickens.

There are a couple of other elements to point out here regarding his 2019 season:

  • He is one catch and 19 yards shy of overtaking Lawrence Cager for the team lead in receptions and yards this season.
  • Pickens is now second in yards receiving (457) and touchdown catches (five), but now has the lead in catches (32) among all freshmen in the SEC for 2019.
  • He trails only Texas A&M TE Jalen Wydermyer for the most touchdown catches by a freshman in the SEC this year. Wydermyer, a former Georgia target, now has six.
  • Pickens has already had a more productive freshman season than all of those stellar Alabama junior wideouts did in their first SEC seasons. The same positive comparison applies to the top four  receivers at LSU, too.

Georgia football: Freshmen Report “Game balls” for 2019

  • WR George Pickens (Murray State, South Carolina, Missouri and Texas A&M)
  • Redshirt OLB Azeez Ojualri: (Vanderbilt, Tennessee and Florida)
  • WR Dominick Blaylock (Arkansas State)
  • OLB Nolan Smith (Murray State)
  • ILB Nakobe Dean: (Kentucky)
  • DL Travon Walker (Auburn)
  • DB Divaad Wilson: (Notre Dame)

Notable time for other freshmen against Texas A&M

  • DB Divaad Wilson: As stated above, his four tackles placed the redshirt freshman DB from Miami among the team leaders against A&M.
  • WR Kearis Jackson: The redshirt from Peach County had one catch for 22 yards and also earned his fifth career start on Saturday.

FRESHMEN SUPERLATIVES FOR 2019

There are several categories in which a redshirt or a true freshmen Bulldog leads the team in 2019.

  • Receptions in a game: 7 (Tied: George Pickens)
  • Longest catch: 60 (Blaylock)
  • Longest TD catch: 60 (Blaylock)
  • Longest run: 62 (Kenny McIntosh)
  • Longest TD run: 62 (McIntosh)
  • Most receiving TDs (game): 2 (Pickens)
  • Sacks (game): 2.0 (Ojulari
  • Sacks (season): 4.5 (Ojulari)
  • Tackles for a loss (game): 2 (Ojulari)

THE BIG PICTURE, PART II

Georgia freshman DL Travon Walker (44) gets close to Texas A&M quarterback Kellen Mond during this pass attempt. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)/Dawgnation)

HOT BOARD: Game-by-game freshman heat check

Let’s continue the blog with an assessment of the most valuable freshmen and redshirt freshmen to the team for the 2019 season. This feature is a nod to the top freshmen (redshirt or true) who have impacted the overall balance of the season the most up to this point.

  • No. 1: OLB Azeez Ojulari (Redshirt freshman and a former 4-star recruit): Ojulari remains one of the top candidates for the team MVP on defense so far in 2019. His 30 tackles from his OLB spot now slot him seventh on the team. His five tackles for losses trail only Tyler Clark. The former Marietta High star leads Georgia with his 4.5 sacks and his 33 quarterback hurries. That’s 14 more hurries for the next-closest Bulldog.
  • No. 2: WR George Pickens  (former 5-star recruit): See above.
  • No. 3: WR Dominick Blaylock (former 4-star recruit): Blaylock now has tied for the team lead with his four touchdown catches. He’s averaging a team-best 18.0 yards per reception.
  • No. 4: DT Travon Walker (former 5-star recruit): Walker sealed the Auburn win earlier this month. Kirby Smart said in his Monday press session that the staff already identifies Walker as one of the top 20 players on the team and will continue to try to find a way to get him more reps.
  • No. 5: OLB Nolan Smith (former 5-star recruit): Smith is team for second on the Georgia team this fall with his 2.5 sacks. His 14 QB hurries are the fourth-best total on the team. The Savannah native was even credited with a nice PBU against the Aggies on Saturday.
  • No. 6: ILB Nakobe Dean (former 5-star recruit): Dean now has 20 tackles on the year, but 14 of those have come in his last three games. He leads all of Georgia’s true freshmen in tackles this year.

LOOK OUT FOR: Freshman CB Tyrique Stevenson

OTHERS TO MAKE THE HEAT CHECK THIS FALL: Redshirt freshman RB Zamir White; Redshirt freshman DB Divaad Wilson

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 Lewis Cine
  • ILB Nakobe Dean
  • Redshirt TE John FitzPatrick
  • ILB Trezmen Marshall
  • Redshirt OLB Azeez Ojulari
  • WR George Pickens
  • CB Tyrique Stevenson
  • OLB Nolan Smith
  • Redshirt walk-on LS Payne Walker
  • Redshirt DB Divaad Wilson

Participation for 2019 signees 

Redshirt freshman DB Divaad Wilson had four total tackles against Texas A&M. (Curtis Compton / AJC/Dawgnation)

The Bulldogs who have seen action so far in 2019 is worth watching in terms of the new redshirt rules.

  • QB Stetson Bennett IV (redshirt sophomore): 3 games
  • WR Dominick Blaylock: 10 games
  • WR Lawrence Cager (grad transfer senior): 9 games
  • S Lewis Cine: 11 games
  • CB D.J. Daniel (junior college transfer): 10 games
  • ILB Rian Davis: 1 game
  • ILB Nakobe Dean: 1 games
  • TE Ryland Goede: 2 games
  • OLB Jermaine Johnson (junior college transfer): 11 games
  • DL Zion Logue: 2 games
  • ILB Trezmen Marshall: 11 games (special teams)
  • QB D’Wan Mathis: 0 games
  • OL Warren McClendon: 2 games
  • RB Kenny McIntosh: 9 games
  • DL Tymon Mitchell: 2 games
  • DL Bill Norton: 2 games
  • WR George Pickens: 11 games
  • TE Brett Seither: 2 games
  • OLB Nolan Smith: 11 games
  • CB Tyrique Stevenson: 11 games
  • WR Makiya Tongue: 2 games
  • OL Xavier Truss: 2 games
  • DT Travon Walker: 9 games
  • DL Tramel Walthour: 0 games
  • OL Clay Webb: 1 game
  • TE Eli Wolf (grad transfer senior): 9 games

True freshmen signees who did not play this week: ILB Rian Davis, TE Ryland Goede, QB D’Wan Mathis, DL Zion Logue, DL Tymon Mitchell, DL Bill Norton, TE Brett Seither, WR Makiya Tongue, OT Xavier Truss, and OL Clay Webb.

Georgia football: 2019 Freshman Reports on DawgNation