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 big 21-14 road win at Auburn. 

Dominick Blaylock and Travon Walker both played bookend roles for the Georgia Bulldogs in the G-normous win against Auburn on Saturday.

Both true freshmen. Blaylock hauled in a 50-yard strike from junior Jake Fromm and then kept his feet enough to reach the end zone. That was good for the first points of the game.

(Skip ahead to the deciding play of the game.)

Walker dropped Auburn quarterback Bo Nix for a 5-yard loss on a fourth-and-10 snap at the Auburn 22. It snuffed out the last hopes for Auburn with 1:39 left to play. Game over. Georgia ran the clock out from there.

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?

It seems like that is indeed the case at the University of Georgia. What’s the biggest area of growth on the Georgia football team right now? Kirby Smart answered that one after the Auburn win.

“I would say the youth has grown the most,” he said. “I’m talking about these guys who have stepped up and begun to play whether it is special teams or a little defensive group of guys that are starting to play well. They are starting to improve. That’s probably the most growth.”

The Bulldogs played 58 players against Auburn, including 14 redshirt and true freshmen. The quality of the opponent meant a dip in freshman participation.

Georgia played four more of those redshirts and first-year guys against Missouri. They also played 63 total players against those Tigers from the SEC East.

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

  • 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
Tyrique Stevenson added a sack on Saturday against Auburn. He’s playing better every week right now for Georgia. (Jeff Sentell/DawgNation)/Dawgnation)

Rapid-fire participation info from Georgia-Auburn

  • UGA started two redshirt freshmen in Azeez Ojulari (OLB) and Kearis Jackson (WR) for the third straight week.
  • Despite the injuries across the O-line, the Bulldogs played just seven OLs. They played 10 guys at that position against Missouri.
  • JUCO transfer DJ Daniel had his seventh straight start. The 2019 signee has started more games this fall than anyone ever thought he was likely to do.
  • The Bulldogs played eight true defensive linemen. That total includes four players who will exhaust their eligibility after this season.
  • Georgia senior Julian Rochester did not play. He has played in just two games in 2019.
  • Preferred walk-on WR Jaylen Johnson made the 70-man travel roster but did not see action. Redshirt freshman DB Hugh Nelson also made the travel roster and did get in the game. He did so when a handful of scholarship DBs that made the travel roster did not.

Who played against Auburn (by classes):

  • Freshmen: 8
  • Redshirt freshmen: 4
  • Touchdowns by true or redshirt freshmen: 1 (Blaylock)
  • True or redshirt freshmen among the leading tacklers: 0

Auburn game freshman focus

Georgia played 12 redshirt or true freshmen. The big picture tallies up to 21 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 7 WRs  (7 WRs played in the previous game)
  • 0 of 7 OLs (10 OLs played in the previous game)
  • 1 of 3 TEs (3 TEs played in the previous game)
  • 1 of 8 DLs (7 DLs played in the previous game
  • 2 of 6 ILBs (6 ILBs played in the previous game)
  • 2 of 6 OLBs (6 OLBs played in the previous game)
  • 3 of 11 DBs (13 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.

Dominick Blaylock is now tied for the team lead at Georgia with his four touchdown catches for the season. (Jeff 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 (4 games)
  • Redshirt freshman OLB Azeez Ojulari (10 games)
  • Redshirt freshman DB Divaad Wilson (2 games)
  • Freshman WR George Pickens (1 game)
  • Freshman WR Dominick Blaylock (1 game)

Who started against Auburn (all freshmen): 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 five 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, George Pickens, Nolan Smith and Tyrique Stevenson.)

THE BIG PICTURE, PART I

Freshman Game Ball 

Travon Walker came up with the biggest play of his Georgia career so far with this game-deciding sack against Auburn. (Curtis Compton/AJC)/Dawgnation)

DT Travon Walker (Upson-Lee HS/Thomaston, Ga.)

Walker earns this weekly “Freshmen Report” honor for the first time this season.

  • The stat line: 2 tackles/1 sack/1 TFL
  • Of note: It was his second sack of the season.
  • The biggest play he made was: See above. That 5-yard sack of Bo Nix slammed the door on the Tigers.
  • Final 247Sports Composite recruiting rankings: Nation’s No. 3 DT/No. 22 overall prospect/Walker was the third highest-rated recruit in Georgia’s 2019 class.
  • What Kirby Smart said about Walker: “It says what I keep saying to our guys,” Smart said. “We’ve got to find more ways to play the guy. I mean he is probably one of our better overall football players and he’s playing on third down,” Smart said. “He plays quite a bit but we have got to find [more] ways to use the kid. He’s talented and we’ve got to do a better job as coaches to find more ways and more avenues for him to help us because he’s extremely athletic.”
  • What teammate Richard LeCounte III had to say about his future: “He’s special, man,” junior All-SEC safety candidate Richard LeCounte III said. “We’ll be able to see it. I can’t wait to see how he does things in these years coming up.”
  • Former All-American: Yes (Walker played in the 2019 All-American Bowl out in Texas.)
  • Notable for Walker this year: He’s still recovering from wrist surgery from earlier this year. It saw him miss two games.

Did you see the Walker chest bump with Smart?

RELATED: Check out the DawgNation Homegrown profile on Travon (Tray-von) Walker) 

Look for Travon Walker to get a closer look at earning more reps on first and second down against Texas A&M this week. (Jeff Sentell/DawgNation)/Dawgnation)

Georgia football: Freshmen Report “Game balls” for 2019

  • Redshirt OLB Azeez Ojualri: (Vanderbilt, Tennessee and Florida)
  • WR George Pickens (Murray State, South Carolina and Missouri)
  • 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 Auburn

  • Freshmen WR Dominick Blaylock: See above. That touchdown catch against Auburn now gives him crucial touchdowns in games against Auburn and Florida. Those meetings both proved to be one-score wins for the Bulldogs.
  • Freshman DB Tyrique Stevenson: The Miami native continues to look like a future indispensable piece in the secondary for the Bulldogs. He also came away with the only other sack of Bo Nix on the day for the Bulldogs.
  • Freshman ILB Nakobe Dean: Finished with three tackles. He’s proving to be a great asset in coverage for the Bulldogs.

FRESHMEN SUPERLATIVES FOR 2019

There are several categories in which a redshirt or a true freshmen Bulldog is already leading 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

Freshman Nolan Smith (right) teamed up with surging junior DE Malik Herring for a big stop on Auburn speedster Anthony Schwartz. (Jeff Sentell/DawgNation)/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. We are paying attention to the notion he has only had three combined tackles in his last two games. Those outings followed a strong 5-tackle game where he also picked up one sack against Florida.
  • No. 2: WR George Pickens  (former 5-star recruit): I’m not sure if there is a more passionate player on the team right now than Pickens. At least on game days. The celebratory leaps he had for wide receiver buds Dominick Blaylock and Kearis Jackson on their big plays on Saturday were eye-opening. He is second on the team in catches (30), yards (400) and tied for the team-high with his four touchdown catches.
  • 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 18.5 yards per reception. The former Walton High standout is now averaging a touchdown catch per every 3.5 receptions.
  • No. 4: OLB Nolan Smith (former 5-star recruit): Smith has 11 tackles, 2.5 sacks and 2.5 tackles for losses in 2019. His 11 QB hurries are the third-best total on the team.
  • No. 5: DT Travon Walker (former 5-star recruit): See above. Kirby Smart said after Saturday’s game against Auburn that the staff has to find more ways to get Walker on the field.
  • No. 6: ILB Nakobe Dean (former 5-star recruit): Dean now has 19 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.

BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR: Safety Lewis Cine, WR Kearis Jackson

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
  • Freshman 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 

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: 9 games
  • WR Lawrence Cager (grad transfer senior): 9 games
  • S Lewis Cine: 10 games
  • CB D.J. Daniel (junior college transfer): 9 games
  • ILB Rian Davis: 1 game
  • ILB Nakobe Dean: 10 games
  • TE Ryland Goede: 2 games
  • OLB Jermaine Johnson (junior college transfer): 10 games
  • DL Zion Logue: 2 games
  • ILB Trezmen Marshall: 10 games (special teams)
  • QB D’Wan Mathis: 0 games
  • OL Warren McClendon: 2 games
  • RB Kenny McIntosh: 8 games
  • DL Tymon Mitchell: 2 games
  • DL Bill Norton: 2 games
  • WR George Pickens: 10 games
  • TE Brett Seither: 2 games
  • OLB Nolan Smith: 10 games
  • CB Tyrique Stevenson: 10 games
  • WR Makiya Tongue: 2 games
  • OL Xavier Truss: 2 games
  • DT Travon Walker: 8 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