TE Jay Rome stands out in Bulldogs’ first scrimmage of spring
ATHENS – Georgia held its first formal scrimmage of the spring Saturday at Sanford Stadium. And while the defense dominated as it has been throughout, there were some positive signs for the offense.
Namely, Jay Rome.
The redshirt freshman tight end from Valdosta got loose for two touchdowns, including a leaping grab in the corner of the end zone that had coaches and players buzzing long after the two-hour scrimmage concluded.
“It was pretty acrobatic,” Georgia coach Mark Richt said. “He had to kind of turn his body and reach back and snag it. He landed off his feet and the ball didn’t come out.”
Rome’s other touchdown came on a 30-yard pass from Hutson Mason down the middle of the field, a la Orson Charles.
“I ran a little seam route up the middle,” Rome recounted. “I don’t know if it was a broken coverage or what but I looked up and there was nobody in the middle and I just reached up and caught the ball and jogged in. There was nobody around.”
But it was the short touchdown catch during goal-line work at the end of the practice everybody was raving about.
“I ran a corner route to the back pylon and Parker [Welch] put it high for me and I went up to catch it,” Rome said. “It was a really high ball but I was able to get up there for it. I attribute that to basketball. I don’t know if I could’ve gotten up there last year when I had all that extra weight on me. Coach [Mark] Fox made a point to run that off of me and I think that helped.”
Afterward, Rome was beaming. Topping off the whole day was the fact that his father, Valdosta legend and Clemson two-way star Stan Rome, was there along with little brother Justin, 9.
“I just told myself I was going to come out and play hard and just have fun at today’s scrimmage,” said Rome, who ESPN rated as the top tight end prospect in the country last year. “That’s the biggest thing me and my dad were talking about, just having fun. I talk to him probably two or three times a day.”
With Charles, Aron White and Athur Lynch ahead of him last season, Rome redshirted and decided to go out for the Georgia basketball team. He played sparingly in a backup role as a forward and missed much of the Bulldogs’ off-season football work the first three months of this year.
“The transition from basketball wasn’t nearly as hard as the transition to basketball,” Rome said. “I came back and I was in really good shape. I just had to get back to being really physical and stuff like that. I’ve been staying after practice trying to catch a lot of extra balls just trying to catch myself back up and getting used to it.”
Rome wasn’t the only young offensive player to turn heads. Several Bulldogs mentioned that true freshman tailback Keith Marshall looked good, especially on one particular run.
“Keith Marshall showed why he was the number one running back,” senior wideout Tavarres King said. “He broke a long one up the middle that was pretty nice.”
Georgia’s No. 1 offense drove the length of the field against the No. 1 defense on the opening drive but failed to get in the end zone after reaching the 1 and had to settle for a field goal.
“The offense came out with a bang today,” nose guard John Jenkins said. “You could tell they were fighting. Overall it was a good scrimmage.”
Quarterback Aaron Murray agreed.
“Bobo was very happy with us at the end,” Murray said. “It wasn’t perfect but, for being a first scrimmage, I thought it we looked very impressive offensively. We had some great drives, made some great plays in both the passing and running game. So I’m happy with how far we’ve come in two weeks.”
Following are what coach Mark Richt referred to as the Unofficial/Official stats. You have to keep in mind the scrimmages are not conducted like a real games. Most of the work is situational. So for what it’s worth . . .
THE “UNOFFICIAL/OFFICIAL” SCRIMMAGE STATS
Passing
Murray 9-18-1, 74 yards, 0 TDs
Mason 5-12-0, 59 yards, 1 TD
LeMay 2-7-1, 44 yards, 0 TDs
Welch 2-6-0, 2 yards, 0 TDs
Bingham 0-1-0, 0 yards, 0 TDs
Rushing
Harton 8-24 yards
Karempelis 8-22 yards
Marshall 5-18 yards
Crowell 4-19 yards
Malcome 4-13 yards
Receiving
Bradberry 4-14 yards
Scott-Wesley 3-51 yards
Lynch 3-17 yards
Brown 2-17 yards
King 3-21 yards
Rome 1-30 yards, TD
Mitchell 1-20 yards
GOAL LINE
Malcome 2-yard TD
Crowell 1-yard TD
Rome TD catch
DEFENSE
S. Williams 4.5 tackles, INT (34-yard return)
Drew 4 tackles, TFL
B. Smith 4 tackles, TFL
Thornton 3.5 tackles, 3 sacks
Vasser 3.5 tackles, 2 sacks
J. Jones 3 tackles, 2 sacks
Rambo 3 tackles
A. Ogletree 3 tackles, 0.5 sack
Mitchell 3 tackles, TFL
Swann 3 tackles, sack
Commings 3 tackles, TFL
Gilliard INT (2-yard return)
Faloughi sack
R. Lowe sack
G. Smith sack
Morant sack
K. Geathers 0.5 sack
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245 comments Add your comment
kingdaddy
April 1st, 2012
11:42 am
What’s going on Daddy-Dawg 48
Finally got something to talk about besides the deserters. Sounds like Nick M. is going to give our backfield a little juice. The trolls still trolling and the losers (techies) still losing. How’s the little lady and your pup???
atlxmen
April 1st, 2012
11:44 am
murray is better than mason…and he ia better than mettenburger. pretty easy to tell from watching him play in games against other teams number 1 defense.. the other guys are playing against the number 3″s and 4’s in spring games. the coaches know better as they are watching them every day. rome will get his shot soon enough..
Dawg48
April 1st, 2012
11:46 am
Kingdaddy, all is going good. Have you visited Dawgs247 site yet?
HardTruth Soldier
April 1st, 2012
11:47 am
Just something to think about Dawg Nation, If Georgia is asking Hudson to redshirt to See LeMay get more time, Is this another David Greene, D.J. Shockley debacle? Word is this kid is the “Total Package” just like the kid that’s the back up at Bama. This Kid( LeMay) is not going to sit and wait as Shockley did. Dawg nation keep and eye on this Kid, he May come back to hurt us if he gets away.
Dawg48
April 1st, 2012
11:50 am
LeMay has not even passed Parker on the depth chart yet. No need to worry about another DJ and green deal.
kingdaddy
April 1st, 2012
11:58 am
To all Doggie…….Trolls can exit now!
If we can convince these kids to behave so we can field a team, we may make it through the year. These kids should be scared to death of another violation. Bobo has to be creaming, thinking about Rome’s potential. Throw A beast like Lynch into the mix with I.C.and N.M. and this year could be a funnin…
kingdaddy
April 1st, 2012
12:00 pm
Dawg48
Not lately, whut I miss?
atlxmen
April 1st, 2012
12:00 pm
lemay is not going anywhere..he will most likely play his jr and sr years at uga. he also will have some younger brothers showing up to uga to throw to. both are really good receivers. urie lemay is one of the younger brothers. im thinking murray will play all 4yrs at uga unless he just tears it up this year so lemay might have a dj shockley moment his sr year. sec champs and a national title..
WDE
April 1st, 2012
12:03 pm
Good to hear Rome and Marshall are showing up ready to play……Go Dawgs!
Dawg48
April 1st, 2012
12:07 pm
I was just going to tell you to check it out. They have a 30 day free trial going on. It’s worth the visit.
kingdaddy
April 1st, 2012
12:08 pm
Trolls
You have to have more than one good QB on a good team just in case of injury. Of course, you already know this, you just think Ga. Fans are actually paying attention to your lame attemps to up-set the Doggie-faithful. Not gonna happen, so go away..
kingdaddy
April 1st, 2012
12:09 pm
I like free stuff!!!
Dawg48
April 1st, 2012
12:12 pm
Try it out and come post with us.
road dawg
April 1st, 2012
12:16 pm
Nice to see we are still kicking field goals from the 1 yard line. Good call coach!
kingdaddy
April 1st, 2012
12:17 pm
I got some hard truth for you….Shut both your pie-holes. Hard atruth, you’re not a Doggie, so what school do you support??? Why don’t you talk about them? Troll…
kingdaddy
April 1st, 2012
12:19 pm
Dawg48
K
kingdaddy
April 1st, 2012
12:48 pm
48
Sorry, not ready to give out my card info. Catch ya later…
Chip Towers
April 1st, 2012
12:57 pm
jddawg37: Perhaps it is you who should read a little closer. I wrote a disclaimer above the “unofficial/official stats” explaining that scrimmages aren’t conducted like regular games and the stats aren’t kept that way either. Rome’s spectacular leaping TD catch came during goal-line work, therefore it didn’t count in the stats. But his 30-yarder came during the game-competition portion, so it counted.
Paddy
April 1st, 2012
1:03 pm
road dawg….this is practice. Have you never been on a team that has to practice all aspects of the game. WOW, some fans just do not have a feel for the game. rd, try soccer, it is easier!!
Dawglasville
April 1st, 2012
1:08 pm
Just nice to look at the paper and see we didn’t lose anyone today.
kingdaddy – “So what school do you support??? Those are the worst kind of trolls. Guys like A Father who won’t tell you what school they follow. I call them guerilla trolls. I think that we should call them guerolls or maybe just call them cowards.
Champion Dawg
April 1st, 2012
1:12 pm
Scrimmage? Really? l didn’t think we had enough players left for a scrimmage.
Top Dog 34: It's Mettenberger vs. Murray once again for SEC's best QB in 2012
April 1st, 2012
1:15 pm
The problem with Murray at QB for Georgia is he hasn’t performed to all the hyped expectations versus ranked competition. Oh it’s great to see him hurl six TD passes against New Mexico St. or Coastal Carolina. But it’s down right depressing to see Murray throw pick sixes or fumble in crucial situations against S.Carolina,LSU, and Michigan St. Let’s be honest if he is the best QB in the SEC then it’s a weak year in the conference at that position. It’s awful to hear the idiotic analysts call Murray a Heisman candidate because it only validates how weak the heismatic field is. Former Dog, now LSU QB Mettenberger once beat Murray in a springtime head to head competition and for transgressions was banished by Richt to LSU. Mett has earned and worked his way to start at LSU and after a year of watching mediocre QB play for the talented Tigers, he is ready to compete once again against Murray for the title of best QB in the SEC. Since Richt has refused to make Murray face competition at QB for UGA, competition will come anyway from a rival SEC program in the form of Mettenberger at LSU.
“Thomas Brown”, front and center !! Where you at !!? Since you love keeping stats, how about you track the stats of UGA’s Murray versus LSU’s Mettenberger this season. I sure would like to see again who is better. Mett won last time and I feel he’ll win again. My money is on Mett. Nuff said ! Go Dogs !
redruckus
April 1st, 2012
1:15 pm
I bet Murray will throw more INTERCEPTIONS over the Spring than Mason, and I bet Mason will throw more TD’s than Murray. And I bet it won’t matter, Mark Richt will give Mason 30 non-significant plays like last year, even though he continues to beat out Murray ever time.
WEIRD STUFF MAN.
redruckus
April 1st, 2012
1:19 pm
Murray vs. who/ Murray is #5 SEC QB in win percentage, behind guys like McElroy, Shaw, Ark, etc. Murray is 16-11 as a starter, 0-9 vs teams that finish in the top 25. I’d rank Murray the 3rd best QB on the UGA roster, and the 10th best QB in the SEC overall (Murray is the worst in interceptions, by a mile). Murray’s not accurate either. Murray throws too many interceptions, isn’t accurate, and can’t beat good teams.
redruckus
April 1st, 2012
1:22 pm
Mettenberger is 11-1 as a starter in college, not too shabby. He’s #1 in the SEC. Alabama guy is No. 2. Shaw No. 3. Ark No. 4. Hutson Mason No. 5. Christian Lemay No. 6.
redruckus
April 1st, 2012
1:30 pm
Murray still flinging interceptions. When will Aaron Murray learn how to play more conservative and trust his running game, and defense to win games?
Irish Dawg
April 1st, 2012
1:39 pm
Can’t score from the one, ol gives up 13.5 sacks, and all the kids leaving is a direct result from our recruiting. We need to make some changes and get serious. Going after 5 or 6 top players each year while other schools go after and get 15-20 is not working out too well. go
Top Dog 34: It's Mettenberger vs. Murray once again for SEC's best QB in 2012
April 1st, 2012
1:51 pm
Richt has proven to be a real unpopular politician in the past concerning his perferences for starting QB at Georgia during his twelve years tenure with no national title and no SEC title since the last of Donnan’s boys left in 2005. Lemay and his parents should be fully aware of Richt’s posturing of QBs at UGA since the Shockley debacle. There’s no way a smart, talented guy at QB is ever going to wait 3 years just to play 1 year again. While Shockley was kept on the bench by Richt there was no way the “man that knows what hell he’s doing”, was going to allow Shock to transfer and start immediately for a rival SEC school. So Richt figured it would be better to hold Shock down than play against him. This is known as reverse recruiting.
In no way should LeMay allow Richt to waste his talent and eligibility in the manner as Shockley’s talent and eligibility was wasted. I’m a Georgia fan but I’d rather see LeMay excel at QB at another major college than to see his talent go down the screwed up drain of Richt’s political QB manipulations & QB musical chairs at Georgia. There’s a reason that a coach like Richt, despite all the top recruiting classes, has failed to win a National title and it begins and end with Richt. I can see LeMay transferring from Georgia to Wisconsin or even Michigan, before Richt gives him a raw deal (as Shockley got). It’s good for college football to see the best players perform at any of the various D-1 schools, not just ones’ favorite school. Go Dogs !!
kingdaddy
April 1st, 2012
1:56 pm
Only a small hand-ful of schools out-recruit UGA.How can you have Dawg in your name if you’re a no-good, dirty-rotten bushwacker. It’s not perfect, but we still have the horses to win the SEC.Didn’t your mommy tell you if you didn’t have something nice to say, go to your own blog site? By the way, have a nice day…
kingdaddy
April 1st, 2012
2:04 pm
Yes we do have problems with our OL, but these kids will get better as the year goes on. Murry will have a dependable running game to open our passing game. We should have more balance this year so Murry doesn’t have to pass so much. A running game, defense and special teams will win in any conference. A passing game is a bonus.
niedermeyer
April 1st, 2012
2:06 pm
redruckus: Nuff of that Mason hullabaloo! He’s ridin pine cause hes not as good as Murray!
kingdaddy
April 1st, 2012
2:06 pm
Murray
Paddy
April 1st, 2012
2:12 pm
rdruckus……Mason will play some this year, just chill out. He would start if the coaches thought he was that much better than Murray. But he is not. So just root for the Dawgs like the vast majority of our fans. It is fun, try it!
kingdaddy
April 1st, 2012
2:12 pm
Chip
When you gonna go in-depth on special-teams changes and improvements. They killed us last year and I would love to feel better about the state of our special-teams play this year…
bham dawg
April 1st, 2012
2:13 pm
Who the hell is Nick Marshall? I’m assuming Keith Marshall is who all your uga insiders are referring to…
bham dawg
April 1st, 2012
2:14 pm
as far as the Hutson Mason red shirting this season… the only way he redshirts is if murray can stay healthy the whole season. if murray goes down the redshirt will come off and mason is the next guy off the bench.
Top Dog 34: 2012 will be an instant replay of 2011 at best.
April 1st, 2012
2:22 pm
Some coaches struggle for a 10-4 season and get rewarded for it, like Richt. It’s acceptable at Georgia to win 10 games against mediocre teams and go 0-4 versus the good teams on the schedule. Georgia, under Richt, now is now one best of the non-contending teams for the national and SEC championship. This means if Richt can just win 9 or 10 games and continue to pad his overall win loss record the administrators at UGA, Richt’s bosses will be content to let him stay and keep the program mediocre. On offense Georgia has a mediocre offensive system, with a mediocre QB, and mediocre offensive coaches. Really nothing has changed from last season, but Richt got an extension or a pass to keep the mediocrity status quo. On defense there is better coaching, but player suspensions are going to hurt in certain games as they did last season. UGA will be fortunate to win 9 games this season but not fortunate to win the SEC or even contend for the BCS championship. UGA has another average schedule with no SEC West contenders on it and is poised to come out without another slow start followed by a streak of mediocre wins. Georgia can’t beat the top SEC teams any longer and won’t unless major changes take place. Changes we know Richt is incapable of accomplishing.
kingdaddy
April 1st, 2012
2:22 pm
Mason and LeMay are both goingto be good for Ga., but Murray will be All-SEC this year,just wait and see…
Paddy,they know this,they’re just Trolling…
kingdaddy
April 1st, 2012
2:27 pm
Bhamdawg
your so right. Nick got kicked off the team I think. Our backfield is loaded. Sorry about the mixup, just proving I’m not perfect,thanks…
kingdaddy
April 1st, 2012
2:42 pm
Top dawg 34
Any other time you play Aub., Fla., S.C., Tenn., Missouri and G.T., it would be no cake-walk. Give it a break already with the cup-cakes. All the teams have up and down years. Even bad teams in the SEC are better than average…
bham dawg
April 1st, 2012
2:47 pm
@kingdaddy… no worries just making sure i didn’t miss something. I think we see a lot of 2 tight end sets this year with jay rome splitting out some like orson used to do. I also think that running game is going to see some kind of twist. Not just your traditional uga hand it off up the middle everytime. We have too much skill to not utilize it on the outside. Coach them up Grantham we are really going to need these young guys the first four games.
Jeff
April 1st, 2012
3:21 pm
What the heck is going on again this offseason? CMR needs to quit counting the money from his new contract and watch what his players are doing during the offseason. All the suspensions already heading into the new year and we’re just a few months since the bowl game.
bucket
April 1st, 2012
3:36 pm
I’m glad tide roll is still revealing himself as the bigot he really is. For new bloggers you need to realize that for tide roll white = no talent.
kingdaddy
April 1st, 2012
3:38 pm
bhamdawg
How about an H-back(Lynch) lead-blocking for I.C. with Rome taking out a L.B. from T. E.? We’ve got to get our backs out of the backfield. Maybe some toss-sweeps and screens with a little play-action? I’m tired of running a 170 lb. running back up the gut! Bobo will get it right this year, or he’s gone…
1953dawg
April 1st, 2012
3:50 pm
Typical UGA offensive stats. No running game, midget q.b. hits 50% of his passes, and don’t forget there is always an int. in there, that is usually taken for a t.d. Anybody that thinks this team is going to ever win an SECC with Murray, Bobo, Friend, and Richt is a total idiot. UGA fans are so accustomed to this mediocrity that it doesn’t even matter anymore. Who really cares what Richt,Bobo, or Friend have to say anymore. It’s all B.S., and for once you should consider the source where it is coming from. That being the most overrated, under qualified head coach and O.C., and O.L coach in the SEC. UGA=mediocrity, but i forgot UGA fans are use to this after 12 years. My God, how can this clown of an A.D. McGarity look at himself in the mirror. He has done the worst job as an A.D. of any one i have ever seen. No UGA program has gotten better under his watch. Football is still an embarrassment, loses to every winning program it plays. Basketball is in the worst shape it’s been since Ron Jirsa, or whatever the hell his name was. Baseball is the worst coached team in the SEC, this clown Perno lets a relief pitcher walk 4 batters in a row and the winning run last weekend. And he has the nerve to say he mismanaged the bullpen. What a fuc—- joke this guy is. And even the gym dawgs have accepted being in 3rd in the SEC now behind Florida of all teams and Bama. UGA needs to get rid of all of these over paid, under qualified idiots in the athletic dept. The A.D., the head coaches, Football, basketball, (Men&Women), gymnastics, baseball, and finally where all of this B.S starts, the president. Give UGA fans what they deserve, a respectable, competitive athletic program
kingdaddy
April 1st, 2012
3:52 pm
Speaking of Rome, get that 6′5″ jumping machine with hands in the secondary for some huge mismatches. Rome is a possible early candidate for SEC freshman of the year IFand that’s a BIG IF, BOBO will utilize him properly. Lynch should play a large part in our blocking scheme…
Dawg48
April 1st, 2012
3:53 pm
New leader!
(((((((48)))))))
kingdaddy
April 1st, 2012
3:56 pm
1953 MUST HAVE BEEN A GOOD YEAR FOR WHINE…..LOL…TROLL…
kingdaddy
April 1st, 2012
4:03 pm
Dawg48
Next time you go to dawg247, take some of these whiney babies with you. Once again, it’s turned into aPMS BASH RICHT PARTY. Some of them are trying to act like Doggie fans. Snowballs chance in hell with that…
Jk dawg
April 1st, 2012
4:05 pm
Tide roll, roll on over to your on blogs. You got nothing better to do?