Georgia quarterback Justin Fields (1) lines up before a snap against Tennessee during a Southeastern Conference football game at Sanford Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 29, 2018 in Athens, Ga.ATHENS, Ga. – “The plan is there is no plan.”
Georgia football coach Kirby Smart uttered that statement on multiple occasions following Saturday’s 38-12 victory over Tennessee when asked what determines playing opportunities for backup quarterback Justin Fields. The five-star freshman scored a pair of rushing touchdowns against the Volunteers, while sophomore starter Jake Fromm continued his 72.5-percent accuracy rate this season with a 16-of-22 showing for 185 yards.
“You’ve got to understand that ‘the plan is there is no plan’ means that we don’t have a plan going into the game,” Smart said Monday during his weekly news conference. “You can’t have a plan, because we don’t know how the game is going to go. It doesn’t mean we don’t have a plan in practice or get certain reps for certain guys, but if you sit here and think we know exactly when Justin is going to go in or when Jake is going to go in going into a game or what we’re doing on the fourth snap of the third series in the second quarter – the game doesn’t work like that. It just doesn’t work like that.
“We don’t know how they’re going to play us up front or what front they’re going to play us in or what pressures they’re going to run, so a lot of that is determined in the game.”
Fromm has started all five games and Fields has played in all five games for the 5-0 and No. 2 Bulldogs, who host Vanderbilt this Saturday night for homecoming. It’s the 25th time the Commodores have served as Georgia’s homecoming foe.
Yet the Tennessee game represented the most significant time Fields, a 6-foot-3, 225-pounder from Kennesaw, has logged in a Southeastern Conference contest. Fromm and Fields shared snaps during a 12-play, 70-yard touchdown drive late in the first half that provided the Bulldogs a 17-0 lead, and a 12-yard touchdown run by Fields capped a 10-play, 75-yard possession that was mostly engineered by Fromm early in the third quarter to make it 24-0.
“It’s about the flow of the game, and it’s up to Coach Smart,” Fromm said Saturday. “You get the play, you go out and you execute it.”
Fields did not enter Georgia’s 41-17 win at South Carolina on Sept. 8 until the fourth quarter.
Fromm has won 17 of his 19 career games as the starter, guiding the Bulldogs to last season’s SEC championship, a double-overtime victory over Oklahoma in the Rose Bowl and a berth in the national championship game. He has completed 66 of 91 passes this year for 924 yards with nine touchdowns and two interceptions, with his 186.1 efficiency rating dwarfing his impressive 160.1 clip from a year ago.
Fields also has been plenty accurate in his limited aerial opportunities, completing 15 of 19 passes for 147 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions, and has rushed 13 times for 115 yards (8.8 per carry) and three touchdowns. The only SEC quarterbacks with more rushing touchdowns than Fields so far this season are Mississippi State’s Nick Fitzgerald (five) and Texas A&M’s Kellen Mond (four).
“I wouldn’t say he brings a different energy from Jake, but obviously he can run the ball,” sophomore left tackle Andrew Thomas said. “It allows us to run a couple of different plays, and the defense always has to key on him, so they can’t just key on the running backs.”
Said junior running back Elijah Holyfield: “He opens up a different dynamic for the team with him being able to run the ball so well. It’s exciting to watch him come in.”
Georgia’s offense has mostly thrived this season regardless of who is taking the snaps. The Bulldogs are averaging 43.2 points per game, which is ahead of the 37.8 points the 2012 team averaged to set the school record.
“I think the most important thing is that each quarterback is developing and getting better, because people forget that Jake Fromm is a sophomore,” Smart said. “He’s played in a lot of football games and has a lot of experience with the extra games we were able to play last year, but both of these guys are developing and need work, and we get them tons of reps in practice.”
A unique kick
Rodrigo Blankenship has made all 116 of his extra-point attempts as Georgia’s kicker, but the redshirt junior’s 114th try was unlike any other.
After Fields scored his 12-yard touchdown early in the third quarter, holder Jake Camarda bobbled the snap before placing the ball down. Blankenship already had begun his approach and stopped in his tracks before kicking the ball barely over the crossbar.
“The first thing we do every practice after we have our team flex is to go up to our top field and hit some no-steps, and that’s what that kick was,” Blankenship said. “You don’t get to take any steps. You’re already planted next to the ball, and you’ve just got to kick it.
“We start practice every day with that drill, so I felt comfortable thinking I can kick it far enough to kick it over.”
Blankenship is nearing the school-record mark of 119 consecutive extra points set by Blair Walsh from 2008 to 2010. When asked if his third-quarter attempt was the most memorable of all of them, he said, “I believe so. Yes.”
Odds and ends
Georgia’s game next week at LSU will be televised by CBS with a 3:30 p.m. EDT kickoff. Junior receiver Tyler Simmons (shoulder) practiced Monday with a harness. The Bulldogs have a 76-18-2 record at homecoming, including a 20-4 mark against the Commodores.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.