ATHENS, Ga. - On Georgia's first two possessions of last Saturday's 13-7 upset win over No. 9 Auburn, quarterback Jacob Eason had a 40-yard completion to Javon Wims and a 57-yarder to Riley Ridley.
Neither completion resulted in points, with the Wims catch being negated by a holding penalty and the Ridley reception being followed immediately by a turnover, but that's missing the big picture. Eason's talented arm has found some late-season touch, and his receivers are making acrobatic plays when the ball arrives.
"As the year goes on, you would like to improve in that area, especially taking shots with the way people play us," Georgia coach Kirby Smart said Monday. "You've got to be able to win on those, or we're going to be in second-and-long. Jacob has done a good job of putting some touch on those balls and giving them a chance to make a play."
Georgia has been mostly inconsistent throwing this season, with Eason going 5-of-17 for 29 yards in the win at South Carolina and then 27-of-40 for 346 yards six days later in the home loss to Vanderbilt. The 24-10 loss to Florida on Oct. 29 was anything but pretty from an offensive standpoint for the Bulldogs, but Eason scrambling and finding Terry Godwin for 38 yards might have been the start of something.
The Bulldogs have been connecting on deep routes more consistently since, with Eason hitting Wims for 51 yards in the 27-24 win at Kentucky on Nov. 5.
"He's gotten a little better with his touch, and he's gotten a little better poise in the pocket to stand in there," Smart said. "He took a pretty good hit on one of the deep throws in this last game. He threw the ball as late as he possibly could, but he put some air under it and put a nice touch on the ball, and the receiver made the play.
"We haven't always given our receivers a chance, and the receivers haven't always given the quarterback a chance."
Not having much of a chance recently is the opposition, with Eason's last interception occurring in the Oct. 9 win over the Gamecocks. The 6-foot-5, 235-pound freshman has completed 165 of 303 passes (54.5 percent) for 1,962 yards with 11 touchdowns and five interceptions.
The only starting quarterbacks in the Southeastern Conference with fewer interceptions are Auburn's Sean White (three) and LSU's Danny Etling (four).
"He has done a good job at that," Smart said. "I think he has been lucky some, but he's also been unlucky some. I think back to South Carolina, when one got tipped straight up in the air, but you're going to give and take on some of the breaks.
"He hasn't had a whole lot of bone-headed plays."
Eason's progress isn't just on the aerial front, with junior right guard Dyshon Sims saying, "He's more of a vocal leader now, and you can tell that when we're in the huddle. He kind of just takes control and motivates the guys."
The Bulldogs are moving on from the Auburn game and are focusing on this week's visit from Louisiana-Lafayette, and they are doing so with a passing attack that is gaining more confidence on both the throwing and receiving ends.
"We've got some guys who have a chance to make plays outside more often," Smart said. "The better those guys learn, the more confident they get, and the less they make mistakes on who they block and where they go. Those guys continue to grow, so they're getting more opportunities to add some shots."
Familiar face
ULL quarterback Anthony Jennings is a graduate transfer from LSU, so he is no stranger to Smart. Jennings was LSU's starter for the 2014 matchup against Alabama in Baton Rouge, but he completed just 8 of 26 passes for 79 yards with a touchdown and an interception as the Tigers lost 20-13 in overtime.
Jennings, a 6-2, 231-pounder from Marietta, Ga., has completed 156 of 250 passes this season for 1,652 yards with nine touchdowns and seven interceptions.
"He's improved as a passer," Smart said. "He's gotten more comfortable with touch passes. He's a good athlete, but it's not like he wants to take off all the time. He's a guy who likes to throw the ball in the pocket and did that in his school.
"The system he's playing in now is a little different from the one at LSU, and they are allowing him to do a little more."
Odds and ends
Georgia's home game against Georgia Tech on Nov. 26 will have a noon kickoff on the SEC Network.... The Bulldogs could have left tackle Isaiah Wynn (knee) and defensive tackle DaQuan Hawkins-Muckle (ankle) back this week, but Smart said inside linebacker Natrez Patrick (shoulder) is questionable and receiver Jayson Stanley (foot) remains out.... Georgia won its only previous meeting with ULL 55-7 in 2010.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.