ATHENS, Ga. - With top receiver Lawrence Cager out after ankle surgery and top running back D'Andre Swift nursing a shoulder injury, Georgia quarterback Jake Fromm could face quite the uphill climb during Saturday's Southeastern Conference championship game against LSU.
At least he'll be in the right building.
Fromm will make his fourth career appearance inside Atlanta's luxurious Mercedes-Benz Stadium, having outperformed former Auburn quarterback Jarrett Stidham, former Alabama and current Oklahoma quarterback Jalen Hurts and currently injured Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa during his first three trips.
The 4 p.m. game between the Bulldogs (11-1) and the Tigers (12-0) will be televised by CBS.
"It's nice for a quarterback," Fromm said. "You know it's going to be dry, and you know it's going to be roughly 75 degrees in there. It's fun. For me, it's more about the speed of the game.
"On turf it's a little bit faster, and that really helps me play faster."
The 6-foot-2, 215-pound junior continues to produce one of the most befuddling seasons a quarterback can assemble. In last week's 52-7 win at Georgia Tech, Fromm threw incomplete on his first four attempts and was fortunate a couple of them were not intercepted.
Fromm finished 14-of-29 for 254 yards, marking the fourth consecutive contest in which the preseason Heisman Trophy candidate has finished with less than a 50% completion rate. Before this recent stretch, Fromm only had three such games in his entire time with the Bulldogs.
Fromm's efficiency rating of 146.2 this season is below his clip of 160.1 in 2017 and well below last season's 171.2.
"The biggest difference this year is who is healthy and who is out there playing," Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart said. "I mean, there are three guys (receivers Terry Godwin, Riley Ridley and Mecole Hardman) in the NFL who were out there playing last year, and really five when you count (running back Elijah) Holyfield and (tight end Isaac) Nauta.
"There has not been a level of consistency with the perimeter skill that there probably was last year, and that's the biggest difference."
Struggles to stretch the field and make explosive plays have resulted in Georgia's offense averaging 420.6 yards per game after averaging 464.9 last season and 435.3 the year before. The Bulldogs still have a respectable average, and Fromm's recent inaccuracies are greatly contradicted by his 10 touchdowns and no interceptions the past four games.
"They have basically a pro-type quarterback in the backfield," LSU junior safety JaCoby Stevens said. "He's very mature in his decision making. He can make throws that a lot of quarterbacks in college football can't make."
Said Tigers coach Ed Orgeron: "I have a lot of respect for Jake. I think he's an excellent quarterback and an excellent leader."
Fromm's junior season includes a double-overtime loss to South Carolina in which he threw three interceptions and fumbled away a snap. He also played through rain against Texas A&M and significant rain against Kentucky, going back and forth about whether or not to wear a glove on his throwing hand.
Yet his confounding year with its share of criticism also includes 21 touchdown passes and just three interceptions, with the 7-to-1 ratio the best of his career.
"Jake has definitely handled it well," sophomore offensive lineman Cade Mays said. "He knows himself and he's true to himself. He comes out and works hard every single day, and he doesn't let anything affect him. He's focused on what he's supposed to do."
Fromm is 34-6 as Georgia's starter and is the first quarterback since Florida's Danny Wuerffel during the 1990s to guide an SEC team to three consecutive journeys to the league title game. He led the Bulldogs to a 12-of-18 showing on third down during last month's 24-17 topping of Florida, and Georgia's 95.9% scoring rate in the red zone ranks third nationally.
Though Fromm may enter Mercedes-Benz Stadium as that "other" quarterback compared to LSU graduate transfer and Heisman favorite Joe Burrow, he had a similar situation last December when Tagovailoa owned more of the spotlight. Fromm wound up completing 25 of 39 passes for 301 yards and three touchdowns in a 35-28 loss to the Crimson Tide, and he is willing to give it his best again inside a $1.6 billion facility that has been comfortable for him so far.
"For us, it's about winning first downs and how we can win our one-on-one battles," said Fromm, who was named Thursday one of 12 finalists for the Manning Award for a second straight year. "All 11 guys are playing for the team, but it kind of revolves around winning the one-on-ones, so we have to win our one-on-ones and we have to win on first down."
Blankenship honored
Fifth-year senior kicker Rodrigo Blankenship, who last month became the leading scorer in Bulldogs history, was named Thursday as the SEC's scholar-athlete of the year for football. Blankenship, who majored in digital and broadcast journalism, graduated last December and had a 3.71 GPA.
Blankenship becomes Georgia's fourth player to win the honor, joining quarterbacks David Greene (2004) and Aaron Murray (2013) and receiver Chris Conley (2014).
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524. Follow him on Twitter @DavidSPaschall.