ATLANTA- Georgia Tech football began the final week of fall camp on Monday with a shells practice on the Rose Bowl Field and in the Brock Indoor. After practice head coach Geoff Collins spoke to the media for the first time since the opening camp and he broke down top performers from the closed scrimmage on Saturday and also highlighted some players who are making an impact and pushing for playing time in fall camp.
“We scrimmaged on Saturday and got a lot of live work in. We were probably out there for two hours,” Collins said. “We are a culture built on effort and some guys who stood out were Makius Scott an SEC transfer back home to us who did a really good job of flying around at defensive tackle. Kenyatta Watson who was limited in the spring and our athletic training staff did a great job of getting him ready to go as did Kenyatta. He played himself into shape and he did a great job flying around on the field on Saturday. Charlie Thomas has been a standout with how he has matured within our program and we all know he is a dynamic playmaker. I’m going to talk about Jamious Griffin as far as production-wise and stats from Saturday, but just his effort on all of the offense and on special teams.
SCRIMMAGE HIGHLIGHTS:
QB- Jeff Sims 8-12 passing and five carries for 50 yards cut short by quick whistles by Collins
QB- Trad Beatty threw for close to 100 yds two TDs
QB- Jordan Yates had a dime he threw down the seam to Jamious Griffin for a TD
RB- Jamious Griffin 7 touches for 90 yards
RB- Dontae Smith had 12 for 50 yds
Also walk-on freshmen RBs Englan Williams and Daylon Gordon impressed as well
WR- Peje Harris “put on a show,” per Collins. 9 catches for 90 yards and a TD.
Freshman receivers Malik Rutherford, Jamal Haynes and James BlackStrain had good days, have been a good addition to the program.
WR- Ryan King had a 14-yd TD
LB- Ace Eley had a pick six
LB- Trenilyas Tatum, “was all over the field on Saturday. He has been that way throughout practice and he is a really instinctual football player who has got some pop when he hits you.”
GT was 7-for-7 on FGs
Brent Cimaglia was 4 for 4 (32, 41, 33, 48 to end the scrimmage)
Jude Kelley was 2 for 2 (40, 30) “Jude Kelley has vastly improved and he is really impressive with the way he is kicking it right now,” Collins said.
The Jackets also got a visit from Tech legend and former everything Dr. Homer Rice. Rice met with the players afterward and shared some wisdom with the team.
“Dr. Rice was there for the first time and stayed and watched practice. I introduced him to all the guys afterward and they went up and introduced themselves and paid respect and honored him and what he means to Georgia Tech,” Collins said. “What he means to me personally, he did some things for me that he probably doesn’t even remember when I was just a young coach transitioning from a graduate assistant to a full-time coach then to being out of work and ended up at Western Carolina, that transition he helped me with just some advice and some care that I’ll never forget.”
