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True freshman DT Jalen Carter has had an impressive start to his UGA career.

Georgia football freshmen report: UGA 44, Tennessee 21

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 the dominating 44-21 home win against Tennessee. 

Georgia played a season-high total of 13 true freshmen against Tennessee. That included two first-year players seeing action for their first snaps as Bulldogs.

Do you which 2020 signee has now also started every game so far this season?

Do those answers intrigue? If so, then the weekly DawgNation “Freshman Report” is filed every week to track that sort of information and reader interest in mind.

Those plays – and the young Georgia football team members 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 those young players that get hyped up make an impact on the team during their first season on campus? There were more of them than ever before in 2020 thanks to seeing former 5-star OT Broderick Jones and DT Nazir Stackhouse on the official participation report for the first time at UGA.

The Bulldogs played 63 players against Tennesee, including 17 redshirt or true freshmen. That’s based on DawgNation’s pregame and postgame observations, the TV copy, social media postings and finally the official postgame participation chart.

Those numbers varied from Week 1 at Arkansas and Auburn in Week 2. Georgia played 59 guys against the Razorbacks, including 18 redshirt or true freshmen. The Auburn game saw 60 Bulldogs on the field and 16 of those who classified as a redshirt or true freshmen.

Freshman WR Jermaine Burton also started the third consecutive games of his UGA career. He made some big plays against Tennessee to show he is really beginning to deserve those starting nods.

Let’s be sure to note here that Georgia played just 15 redshirt or true freshmen among its 63 participants the last time it faced Tennesee in Knoxville.

The quick takeaway from all that charting has not changed so far this year. Georgia is playing even more freshmen this fall against an ALL-SEC schedule than it did in 2019.

RELATED: Did you read what Jeremy Pruitt had to say about Georgia? 

Rapid-fire participation info from Georgia-UT

  • Georgia started one freshman (Burton) and one redshirt freshman (OT Warren McClendon) against the Vols. The Bulldogs had three freshmen (redshirt or true) start in the opener against Arkansas and against Auburn.
  • True freshman TE Darnell Washington did not start this week. His customary spot in the 2020 lineup was claimed by FSU graduate transfer Tre’ McKitty.
  • Georgia started 17 sophomores or redshirt sophomores against UT. That matched the totals from the freshman class (redshirts and true freshmen) for the team-high against the Vols.
  • Here’s a bright spot for the future: Those last two stats mean that 54 percent of the players Georgia used to beat Tennessee on Saturday will have at least two more seasons of eligibility remaining.

Who played against the Vols (by classes):

  • Freshmen: 13 (+2 from last week)
  • Redshirt freshmen: 4 (-1 from last week)
  • Sophomores: 8
  • Redshirt sophomores: 9
  • Juniors: 9 (-1 from last week)
  • Redshirt juniors:  7 (+2 from last week)
  • Seniors: 8
  • Redshirt or graduate seniors: 5 (+1 from last week)
  • Touchdowns by true or redshirt freshmen: 1 (+1 from last week)
  • True or redshirt freshmen among the leading tacklers: 1 (+1 from last week)

Tennessee game freshman focus

Georgia played 17 redshirt or true freshmen. The big picture tallies up to 27 percent of all the Bulldogs who played on Saturday. That equates to:

  • 1 of 2 QBs 
  • 2 of 4 RBs  (2 of 5 last week; Junior James Cook did not play vs. UT.)
  • 2 of 7 WRs 
  • 4 of 9 OLs 
  • 1 of 3 TEs (1 of 2 TEs last week; McKitty got the first snaps of his UGA career this week)
  • 4 of 9 DLs (2 of 7 DLs last week)
  • 0 of 6 ILBs (1 of 7 ILBs last week; Redshirt freshman Rian Davis did not play.) 
  • 1 of 5 OLBs (1 of 5 OLBs last week; Senior OLB Jermaine Johnson did not play.)
  • 2 of 14 DBs (1 of 11 DBs last week; Major Burns (Fr.), Latavious Brini (R-Jr.) and William Poole III ((R. Jr.) all played against the Vols.)
  • 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. Georgia started out games in “12” personnel this season.

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

  • Freshman WR Jermaine Burton (3 games)
  • Redshirt freshman QB D’Wan Mathis (1 game)
  • Redshirt freshman OT Warren McClendon (2 games)
  • Freshman TE Darnell Washington (2 games)

Who started against UT (all freshmen): Burton and McClendon

How many different Bulldogs have played in 2019: 71

How many of those have been freshmen or redshirt freshmen: 21 (30 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 15 freshmen who have played so far in 2020.

Freshman Game Ball 

DT/FB Jalen Carter

(Apopka HS/Apopka, Fla.)

Jalen Carter is one of the most promising freshmen on the Georgia team. He was a former 5-star recruit of Apopka High School in Florida. (Tony Walsh/UGAAA)
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