ATHENS, Ga. – Georgia has a fairly familiar starting receiver trio of senior Malcolm Mitchell, junior Reggie Davis and sophomore Isaiah McKenzie.
Next on the depth chart for Saturday’s opener against Louisiana-Monroe are freshmen Michael Chigbu, Terry Godwin and Jayson Stanley.
Terry Godwin is among three Georgia freshman receivers who have second-team spots entering Saturday’s opener against Louisiana-Monroe“We need help,” Bulldogs coach Mark Richt said Tuesday. “We’re going to play a lot of three-receiver sets, and we’re going to try and play with some kind of tempo. We’ll need six, seven, eight or even nine guys who are capable of being plugged in and being able to play, and it just so happens that we’re very young at the receiver position other than those top three.”
Mitchell is the veteran of the group, having played in 34 career games and having started 22. McKenzie started three times last year as a freshman, while Davis has just one career start but did make a 98-yard touchdown reception two years ago against North Texas.
The freshman receivers arrived highly touted, with Godwin a five-star prospect and Chigbu and Stanley four-star recruits.
“I think they’ve put in the work,” Mitchell said. “The coaches won’t put them on the field if they’re not ready, and at this point they’ve got a really good grasp. It shows how hard they’ve worked to see where they are.”
With the Bulldogs also having juniors Kenneth Towns and Charlie Hegedus and sophomore Shakenneth Williams at receiver, Richt said the backups would be inexperienced whether they were true freshmen or not.
Mitchell said he has been there to offer help to the freshmen and that he remembers his first freshman mistake in 2011.
“It wasn’t in the first game against Boise State but in the second game against South Carolina,” he said. “I learned that you don’t catch a pass and turn inside against SEC linebackers who are coming for you.”
Roaring Rico
Don’t be surprised if Georgia’s first true freshman to play a down from scrimmage Saturday is cornerback Rico McGraw of Ensworth in Nashville. The 6-foot, 192-pounder has been bracketed as a co-starter with sophomore Malkom Parrish.
“Rico has done very well at special teams and has taken a majority of snaps at corner,” Richt said. “He’s a talented guy, there is no doubt. He’s got good size, good speed and good athleticism, and you have to have a certain level to compete. He takes it very seriously.”
Talking religion
Richt was asked Tuesday about last month’s charge from the Freedom From Religion Foundation that he and his brother-in-law, team chaplain Kevin “Chappy” Hynes, were pushing Christian beliefs on the players.
“It’s a secular university, and I understand that,” Richt said. “We weren’t trying to make anybody believe in a certain way at all in anything that has to do with the spirit. That is strictly voluntary, and it never has any bearing on somebody’s ability to play at Georgia. It’s always been that way.”
Richt did say that he encourages players to grow spiritually.
“I believe our spirit is going to live beyond our body, but I don’t tell them what to do, either,” he said.
Odds and ends
The Bulldogs are 39-2 under Richt against nonconference opposition inside Sanford Stadium, with the losses occurring to Georgia Tech in 2008 and last November. Richt when asked about his message for the backup quarterbacks: “Stay ready.” Georgia’s top four reserve defensive backs are freshmen as well – McGraw, Juwuan Briscoe, Jonathan Abram and Jarvis Wilson – which leaves senior and former Ridgeland High standout Devin Bowman on the third team.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.