ATHENS — Georgia quarterback Jake Fromm is the first to admit, playing in the rain is not something he has much experience with, and it’s not his favorite thing.
The No. 4-ranked Bulldogs (10-1, 7-1 SEC) beat No. 24 Texas A&M by a 19-13 count, but not before there were a few anxious moments in Sanford Stadium on Saturday night.
It could have been avoided if Georgia had cashed in on scoring opportunities early.
But Fromm and the Georgia passing game struggled to get anything going, starting the game completing 1 of 6 passes in the first quarter.
Fromm finished 11-of-23 passing for 163 yards and a touchdown.
To be fair, Fromm has done an excellent job taking care of the football. This was Georgia’s fifth straight game without a turnover, and it came against the SEC’s top passing efficiency defense.
But Fromm, a junior, missed wide-open receivers on two occasions in the first quarter on plays that would have been touchdowns. It was noted by UGA 1980 national championship QB Buck Belue.
The first miss came on the Bulldogs’ second possession when Fromm threw wide of Brian Herrien on a wheel route. The second big miss was an overthrow to George Pickens on a flea-flicker on the third offensive series.
“If I want to be as good as I want to be, I’ve got to hit those shots,” said Fromm, who has completed less than 50 percent of his throws in the past three games.
“It was kinda early in the game, still a little wet throwing with the glove on, new for me, and we got to have them, we’ve got to hit them and capitalize on those.”
The glove.
Fromm said he has been working on throwing a wet football with a glove on after his uneasiness throwing the football in the Bulldogs’ 21-0 win over Kentucky on Oct. 26.
Fromm was 9-of-12 passing for 35 yards in the downpour the night UGA played the Wildcats, throwing and completing just one pass in the second half.
Coach Kirby Smart pointed out Fromm made some very accurate throws against Texas A&M, in addition to the throws he missed early in the game in the rain.
“Well, he made some back shoulder throws that were pretty special,” Smart said. “He hit Kearis (Jackson), he hit Tyler (Simmons), he hit George (Pickens), he did some really good things. So concern is not there.”
Fromm was at his best on a second quarter drive that saw him complete 3 of 4 passes for 65 yards. The strikes included a third down conversion pass to Simmons (27 yards), a 22-yard slant to Jackson and the 16-yard TD pass to Pickens.
Fromm had the glove on when he threw the pass to Pickens, but he took it off again later.
“It (the glove) is something we worked on after the Kentucky game, just trying to find another answer, (and) honestly I really think it’s good idea when it’s raining and it’s really wet,” Fromm said. “But it was kind of that in between, it would drizzle and then it would dry up, and there were some inconsistencies with the ball there, and I said ‘hey, I’m going to take it off and let’s go rip it.
“I didn’t play many rainy games in high school.”
Fromm revealed earlier in the week he has been putting a great deal of internal pressure on himself, wanting to do his best each time out.
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