Georgia split end Jonathon Rumph (18) goes through a drill during a practice in August.LEXINGTON, Ky. - By rolling to a 63-31 victory over Kentucky on Saturday afternoon, the Georgia Bulldogs remained on track to set a single-season program record for points per game.
This time, receiver Jonathon Rumph finally got to play a part.
Shelved for the first eight games this season due to a hamstring injury, Rumph erupted for four catches for a team-high 81 yards. The 6-foot-5, 208-pound senior from Cayce, S.C., also missed the first seven games last season because of injuries.
"What's going through my head right now is my mom," an emotional Rumph said afterward. "My mom kept me uplifted this whole time, and she told me everything would be all right. The coaches and players stayed behind me, too, and I'm ready to enjoy this with them as well."
Rumph converted a third-and-5 from Georgia's 14-yard line in the first quarter with a 10-yard reception and had a 19-yard catch two plays later. His first two receptions sandwiched a 39-yard pass from Hutson Mason to Chris Conley and helped set up Nick Chubb's 18-yard touchdown run that provided Georgia a 21-0 lead.
"Jonathon has gone through a lot," Conley said. "He's had a lot of health issues, and being able to get him back is huge. You obviously can see the kind of plays this guy can make and the kind of plays this offense can make when we have guys who are healthy."
Said Mason: "Rumph played great today. Some of those plays early on really helped his confidence, and he showed why we brought him here. He's a big body who can go up and get some of those balls, and I'm super happy for him."
Rumph signed with Georgia in 2013 out of Holmes (Miss.) Community College, where he had 87 catches for 1,347 yards in two seasons. He was Scout.com's No. 2 junior college receiver.
When he finally played last season, Rumph caught seven passes for 121 yards, with most of that coming against Appalachian State.
"I am so happy for Rumph," Bulldogs coach Mark Richt said, "and not only am I happy, but his teammates were so happy for him to go in there and play and play big. He made some big plays and really made his presence known."
Rumph saved his best catch Saturday for the fourth quarter, when he hauled in a 47-yard reception from backup quarterback Brice Ramsey. He snagged the ball over a defender's head near the sideline before breaking free for Georgia's longest pass play of the afternoon.
"I told Brice that if it was one-on-one to just put the ball on the defender's head," Rumph said. "I told him to put it in my range and that I would get it. I just have a lot of belief in my hands, and I went up there and made a play."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.