ATHENS – Terry Godwin was asked whether – after leading Georgia in receiving yards and catching twice as many passes as his previous career-high – this could be labeled a breakout game.

“Not yet” he said, smiling.

When will it be?

“I’m not sure,” he said, still smiling. “It’s coming soon though.”

Good news for Georgia, which badly needed a receiver to complement Malcolm Mitchell, and it looks like it could be Godwin.

The highly-touted freshman had shown flashes, catching one pass in each of Georgia’s first six games. But on Saturday he became one of Greyson Lambert’s favorite targets, hauling in six catches for 78 yards.

Lambert said Godwin was his second read on most of his catches. That meant a lot of higher-percentage passes that put Godwin in position to gain yards after the catch.

“You saw that if we’re able to do that he can make people miss, and make us look good,” Lambert said.

Earlier this season Godwin had shown he was a freshman, running some errant routes, including one that led to a pick-six against Alabama.

Godwin acknowledged that had been an issue.

“Just coming out here on the collegiate level with all the defense shifting around, things like that, the game is moving a lot faster than high school,” Godwin said. “So I just had to get used to that.”

There was also some freshman-itis when it came to returning punts, but that was only seen in practice. The coaches were initially reluctant to put Godwin back there, but were forced into it on Saturday because of injuries – and Godwin came through. He had returns of 19, 18 and 12, all in the second half, critical in a game where field position mattered so much.

“I’ll be honest with you. He’s been fairly inconsistent in practice fielding punts,” coach Mark Richt said. “But he was very consistent tonight.”

Put together with his receiving, Godwin averaged 14.1 yards per touch.

“Every chance I get with the ball in my hands it’s an opportunity to help the team,” Godwin said.