Fromm Embraces The Big Moments

Offensive Media Session Press Conference

By John Frierson
UGA Staff Writer

LOS ANGELES — Forced into action during Georgia's third drive of the season after Jacob Eason suffered a knee injury, true freshman quarterback Jake Fromm came in and led, came in and delivered.

Back in the opener against Appalachian State on Sept. 2, Fromm's first collegiate pass was an 8-yard completion to tight end Isaac Nauta. His second pass, on third-and-3 at the Georgia 32-yard line, was an 8-yard completion to wideout Mecole Hardman.

And so it began.

How it ends, we don't yet know. Fromm and the No. 3 Bulldogs are in L.A. preparing to face No. 2 Oklahoma in the Rose Bowl, part of the College Football Playoffs. Is the lifelong Georgia fan from Warner Robins surprised?

"If you had told me this season was going to be written this way, I would not have believed you for one minute," he said during a news conference Thursday morning.

Fromm finished his first game, a 31-10 win, with 143 yards on 10-for-15 passing, highlighted by a 34-yard touchdown pass to Javon Wims. Looking back from that Saturday in Athens to now, with the Bulldogs (12-1) having won the SEC championship and being one of four teams left with a shot at the national championship, coach Kirby Smart pretty much nailed it in his postgame news conference.

"I thought he did exactly what I thought Jake Fromm would do," Smart said. "There's not been a moment that's too big for Jake Fromm since he was a little kid."

That's quite a thing to say about a freshman that had played a little more than three quarters of collegiate football at that point. It's also quite a thing that Smart has been proven correct.

Fromm said he's always been able to avoid getting too high or too low.

"I just know, you make a mistake, you wash it and you play the next play," he said. "You make a big play, you wash it and you try to make the next play."

Game after game, as the wins mounted, Fromm has been consistent and efficient. With Georgia's excellent running game, stout defense and strong senior leadership, Fromm didn't have to come in and carry everything on his 6-foot-2 frame.

Heading into Monday's big game against the Sooners (12-1), Fromm hasn't put up huge numbers — because he hasn't had to. He's completed 145 of 230 passes, a very good 63.0 percent, for 2,173 yards, with 21 touchdowns and just five interceptions.

While Fromm's 167.2 passing yards per game isn't even among the top 10 in the SEC, he ranks fourth in the FBS in passing efficiency (168.2).

"He's grown at a rate that a lot of freshmen don't, and it's been fun to watch him do it," offensive coordinator Jim Chaney said Thursday. "He loves playing the game of football and that shows up every day on the field in practice and in games."

What's also shown up since Fromm arrived is his drive and willingness to lead. Whether it was during spring practice or in offseason workouts without the coaches around, Fromm never hesitated to be one of the vocal leaders.

"He kept working hard all spring and I remember thinking, gosh, is this who he is or is he just selling out his first year?" senior tight end Jeb Blazevich said. "It turns out that's just who he is and that's why he's doing such a great job and that's why he's such a great player."

Said senior left tackle Isaiah Wynn: "Jake, he's always taking that leadership role, on and off the field. ... During the summer, when we were doing seven-on-seven, you could see the leadership role he was taking."

A freshman quarterback without one second of collegiate game action stepping up and challenging veterans? How does that go over?

"Sometimes you're like, dude, we don't even know if you're good yet, know what I'm saying?" Blazevich said. "But the culture we have, if somebody challenges you, you appreciate it."

It didn't take long for Fromm's teammates to see that he could play. In last spring's G-Day game, he threw for 277 yards and two touchdowns.

Chaney said there was enough separation between Eason, the returning starter, and Fromm at the end of the preseason for Eason to be the first-string guy. But since Fromm's been the starter, beginning with the second game of the season at Notre Dame, the freshman has gotten better and better.

"He got on the field and performed," Chaney said.

As has Georgia's offense as a whole. In 2016, the Bulldogs ran for 2,785 yards on 533 attempts, during an 8-5 season. Through 13 games this season, Georgia has rushed for 3,641 yards on 591 attempts. That's 4.7 yards per carry in 2016 and 5.8 this season.

In total offense, Georgia averaged 384.7 yards per game last season; in 2017, it's 433.6.

"I sit here a year later and you ask me, what's the difference last year to this year? We blocked better, and we've got some talented kids carrying the ball — but at the end of the day we blocked better," Chaney said.

In the one game Georgia lost, 40-17 at Auburn on Nov. 11, the Bulldogs' offensive line struggled, the run game was held to 46 yards on 32 attempts and Fromm was 13-for-29 for 184 yards. There's a good chance that Oklahoma will try to duplicate what the Tigers did as much as they can.

"You've got to send blitzes at him," Sooners linebacker Emmanuel Beal said Thursday of Fromm. "At the end of the day, he's a freshman and he's obviously been in this type of game, a big game, before, so for us to just send pressure, see what we can do to disrupt the his passes, get hands in his visual spaces."

Because Georgia has run the ball so well, Fromm hasn't attempted more than 29 passes in a game this season. Chaney said he won't hesitate to let Fromm air it out, if that's what it takes to win a game.

"People always ask, Jim, what's going to happen when you have to throw it 40 times a game?" he said. "Hell, I don't know the answer to that, but if we have to do it I'm not at all scared of that scenario, because I think the kid that's pulling the trigger's got a great brain, makes good decisions and can throw the ball accurately."

And "the kid" has shown over and over the past few months, and long before, that the big moments don't bother him.

Playing in the Little League World Series in 2011, he hit three home runs and struck out 11 of the 18 batters he faced. Playing in the SEC Championship Game on Dec. 2, with a spot in the College Football Playoff also on the line, he was 16-for-22 passing for 183 yards and two touchdowns.

He and the Bulldogs have another big moment ahead Monday. Fromm said he may be a bit anxious, but he won't be nervous.

"For me, when I get the most nervous is when I know I don't prepare," he said. "For me, this year and this season, I think I have prepared more than any freshman quarterback or any quarterback in the country could prepare. ... For me, I know I've prepared, so I'm ready to go."

John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.

University of Georgia Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Jeb Blazevich

Jacob Eason

Jake Fromm

Mecole Hardman

Isaac Nauta

Javon Wims

Isaiah Wynn

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