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
Dawg48
April 1st, 2012
4:12 pm
Kingdaddy, that’s why I enjoy posting there. No trolls.
Dawg48
April 1st, 2012
4:36 pm
The 15 car is a friggin
Dawg48
April 1st, 2012
4:39 pm
Moron!
Chip Towers
April 1st, 2012
5:44 pm
kingdaddy: I’ll try to weigh in on that this week. Haven’t been able to write enough on on-field matters this spring!
Brainiac(Dawg for life/Richt fan for life)
April 1st, 2012
6:12 pm
@ King Daddy & Dawg 48:
Thanks for the positive stuff guys.
Keep up the good work!!!!
Lakedawg
April 1st, 2012
6:29 pm
@redrucky===And at what school did Mettenberger go 11-1 at???
Rest of the SEC
April 1st, 2012
6:38 pm
Sorry but we’re just not impressed. I see that this overhyped backup qb Lemay was 2 out of 7 with a pick. Not impressed.
You're paying Richt how many million a year for this crap?
April 1st, 2012
6:40 pm
Did they serve brownies and hashbrowns to the boys?
The Bear
April 1st, 2012
7:20 pm
Saw Jay Rome play in High school a few times very good football player and basketball player as well. He has the size and ability just needs to be used right. I thought Orson Charles was under-utilized as a receiver.
RT
kingdaddy
April 1st, 2012
7:59 pm
Bear
your right about us not using one of the best T.E.z in the nation. Everyone sees it but Coach Bobo. I love my Doggies, but if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it probably gets it’s asz kicked a lot. T.E. is a position of strength for Ga. Other teams should have to Worry about them but Bobo makes them a non-factor by not game-planning them, hence a moot-point. If Bobo would work a little harder, opposeing teams wouldn’t take this for granted and would have to work harder to defend our strengths. You don’t neturalize your own strengths!!!
kingdaddy
April 1st, 2012
8:03 pm
By the way, I like my hash-browns with a side-order of pubes,hold the Monistat 7. LOL!!¡8
kingdaddy
April 1st, 2012
8:09 pm
Chip T.
I’m sorry man, sometimes I have too much fun. Thankyou for getting back to me about the not so special,special-teams. I want to believe Coach Richt is addressing the problem, but I haven’t heard much to encourage me yet. Thanks for being there for us. YOU ARE THE MAN…
ole yeller
April 1st, 2012
8:15 pm
I’v said this before, If Bobo and Murray don’t start out fast there will be changes early…..
kingdaddy
April 1st, 2012
8:31 pm
Talking about the hash-browns has made me hungry. I’ll be back after I floss…
krazydawg
April 1st, 2012
8:54 pm
I wonder how good Rome would be at wr.Something to think about.As for the qb,when you have a hungry running game it takes alot off of the qb.And all these other trolls,are worried about Georgia or they would not be here spewing b/s.Go Dawgs!!!
Brainiac(Dawg for life/Richt fan for life)
April 1st, 2012
9:05 pm
@ Logia=cal Jacket:
Not funny!!! Just put a sock in it.
Brainiac(Dawg for life/Richt fan for life)
April 1st, 2012
9:09 pm
@ King Daddy @ 8:03 post
You are singing my song dude, Love them hass browns!!!
kingdaddy
April 1st, 2012
9:17 pm
Brainiac, I hope that was ketchup.lol…
Brainiac(Dawg for life/Richt fan for life)
April 1st, 2012
9:19 pm
@ Cliff Climber:
Will you please just STFU. You and your ilk know less about more than anybody!!!
Single digit IQ’s all of you and your ilk !!!!
Brainiac(Dawg for life/Richt fan for life)
April 1st, 2012
9:21 pm
@ King Daddy:
Either just close your eyes or turn out the lights and you will never know the differnce!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
seriously?
April 1st, 2012
9:23 pm
Our offense is already practicing long drives and field goals!! Really, I thought we already knew how to do that. When can we practice scoring touchdowns.
Brainiac(Dawg for life/Richt fan for life)
April 1st, 2012
9:30 pm
@ Tide Roll:
“What does it take to get you people enraged”???
Just take a guess. Yep, you got it. IT IS ACTUALLY NONE OF YOUR damn BUSINESS but your going away permanently would be about as good as winning the $640,000,000.00 lottery.
Brainiac(Dawg for life/Richt fan for life)
April 1st, 2012
9:32 pm
@ Seriously?:
Get serious man……………………………….not funny!!!
Brainiac(Dawg for life/Richt fan for life)
April 1st, 2012
9:39 pm
Enter your comments here
Clarke County College for Girls and Effeminate Boys
April 1st, 2012
9:55 pm
YEAH DAWGS!! Bet they were really sweaty after that game!
Babalu Skies
April 1st, 2012
9:56 pm
Brownies, anyone?
bucket
April 1st, 2012
9:56 pm
For everyone that is making fun of UGA trying field goals in practice you may want to consider that they actually have to find a new kicker for the team this year. I have been annoyed at some of the decisions in the past concerning field goals also, but take the hater glasses off and consider the circumstances before allowing your fingers to make you look stupid on a blog.
evil empire
April 1st, 2012
10:01 pm
kinda sounds like you and your dawgtard buddies have the market on looking and sounding stupid on a blog cornered…
Clarke County College for Girls and Effeminate Boys
April 1st, 2012
10:02 pm
Now evil, that was uncalled for. Bucket, could you use a hug?
kingdaddy
April 1st, 2012
10:18 pm
Coach Richt…
I know you don’t let the usual trolls brother you because you know nothing you do would ever be good enough for them. We don’t want to satisfy them anyway, they are not True Doggies. I do hope you Listen to the real fans. You’ve forgotten more about football than I’ll ever know. Shutup and get to the point kingdaddy,ok. At half-time this year, please make better adjustments to our opponets adjustments. Second-half was ugly for different reasons last year. Next, can you please stop Coach Bobo from running up the gut until we get them used to chasing us outside. How many times did we run Carlton Thomas head-long into his demise? More times than I have fingers and toes per game. I know I’m preaching to the preacher, but this happened game after game and it made little yards and less sense. Good Luck and may God Bless You. I know I just p*ssed some people off,but I’m talking to you, not them…
Dr.CollageFootball
April 1st, 2012
10:20 pm
UGA = Aaron Murray still throwing catastrophic plays, like interceptions returned for touchdowns.
At least Aaron Murray is consistent year to year to year.
Some guys get worse with experience.
Standout was Hutson Mason, but I guess that would upstage Aaron Murray….
Dr.CollageFootball
April 1st, 2012
10:23 pm
Me see trouble….all the UGA running backs, except injury prone Crowell, are ineffective, averaged around 3 yards per caryy, and we all know Crowell pretty much missed 7 games….
not good, not good at all…..
kingdaddy
April 1st, 2012
10:24 pm
There goes the neighborhood… Evil is in da house
kingdaddy
April 1st, 2012
10:27 pm
Hey Doc.
THE SKY IS FALLING, THE SKY IS FALLING!!!
kingdaddy
April 1st, 2012
10:32 pm
Chip T. is going to try and find out about Ga. Not-So-Special Teams this week. We lost a couple of games last year because our special-teams weren’t prepared MORONS. Trolls, we know you’re not here to help…
CMR brown-nosers: SHUT UP !!
April 1st, 2012
10:38 pm
Brainiak MR brown-noser for life, dumbdawg 4teight, & queendaddy go eat some more weed flavored brownies with your kool-aid. You guys talk out your pie-holes.
virginia dog
April 1st, 2012
10:39 pm
And Murray is still giving away the ball.
CMR brown-nosers: SHUT UP !!
April 1st, 2012
10:50 pm
We know it’s April fools but losers like Puppydawg 48, Queendaddy-mamma, and weak brainiak, MR brown-noser for life are FOOLS all year round on this blog. LOL !!
kingdaddy
April 1st, 2012
10:52 pm
Hey BROWN-NOSER
I got YOUR QUEEN SWINGING TROLL. By the way, What team do you pull for loser?
kingdaddy
April 1st, 2012
10:56 pm
Brownie=Techie=LOSER
You come on a Bulldawg blog with nothing to offer. Go back to your basement Nerd…
kingdaddy
April 1st, 2012
11:05 pm
Brownie, reread your posts. You are just an immature kid, playing on your mommys computer. I notice you were afraid to tell us your school. It’s hard to give GT bloggers a bad name, but you do you pathetic tool. Go stand in the corner and don’t come back until you growup…
kingdaddy
April 1st, 2012
11:11 pm
Anyway brownie, pie-hole is my word I started using on this blog. Ask anyone loser, you can’t even come up with something original.lol…
CMR brown-nosers: SHUT UP !!
April 1st, 2012
11:19 pm
@ DragQueeniedaddy : Stop talking thru yo piehole, you loser. How why are you such a MR brown-noser ? Why don’t you have another MR brownie with your MR krytonite kool-punch. You don’t like UGA, but you are in love with Richt. SISSSSSSSSSSSSSSY !!
CMR brown-nosers: SHUT UP !!
April 1st, 2012
11:30 pm
@ Queer-Daddy : I’m a Tebow fan, punk. All he does is win ! All he does is win ! All he does is win ! Get a life loser, and stop the worshipping your idol Richt, because all he does is make a fool of you & let you down. Go Dogs!
CMR brown-nosers: SHUT UP !!
April 1st, 2012
11:52 pm
Aw shucks, folks. Queen-daddy has left the building. Daggumit, he forgot to finish eating his chronic flavored brownies and left a half a glass of MR old fashioned kryptonite kool-aid. I guess he got sick in his stomach and had to run to go empty his pie-hole again.
Kingdaddy
April 1st, 2012
11:58 pm
How why are you such a MR brown-noser? LOL! You can’t even spell, much less put a proper sentence together. Maybe blogging isn’t your strong-suit. I’ll try to use small words. I guess you dropped out of school early cause everybody else was an idiot. What time have you got to be to work at McDonald’s
tomorrow? You have nothing to offer an intelligent conversation. Oh sorry, were those words to big… We didn’t make you dumb, you did that…
ugalee
April 2nd, 2012
12:08 am
notice how Murray referred to his O coordinator as ” Bobo’” and not Coach Bobo? I remember when I was in playing hs football in S,Georgia and one of our players called one of our coaches by his last name. It took the kid awhile to get off the ground. The coaches at uga dont command respect and the events of the last few weeks reflect that.
Kingdaddy
April 2nd, 2012
12:09 am
Brownie
Everything that needs to be said has been said. I know you’re dumb. You know you’re dumb. You’re momma knows your dumb. Hell, everybody knows you’re dumb. You are living proof the GA. education system is broken. Good night idiot…
Kingdaddy
April 2nd, 2012
12:19 am
Ugalee
Our coach in Savannah would spit the foulest tobacco on us, but we respected him or he’d kick our butts. Chewed Tennessee Twist. It was like reaching down into an old dead.stump and sticking it straight in your mouth …
ugalee
April 2nd, 2012
12:40 am
Kingdaddy it sounds like you and i played for similar characters, wouldnt trade those experiences for anything and would love one more chance to get on the field. Just seems to me the Dawgs have lost some of the toughness that the dooley teams had. It seems as though every head coach needs an enforcer\ alter ego. Dooley had erk and I was hoping Grantham would fill that role and he still might but somebody has to instill some mental toughness in these guys, otherwise the only thing these guys are playing for is the nfl