After watching Georgia Tech on short rest against Western Carolina, it was clear that the Jackets’ passing game still needs some work.

Despite a less than inspiring performance throwing the ball from QB Jeff Sims, slot receiver Nate McCollum’s versatility was on full display Saturday night in many different facets of the game.

McCollum was responsible for 107 all-purpose yards against the Catamounts, showing his potential in the punt return game with two nice returns while also flashing as a runner on reverses and sweeps in Chip Long’s offense with a touchdown on a WR reverse as well.

McCollum had apparently been waiting for that play to be called and finally was able to capitalize on it with a big touchdown in the game.

“The reverse, man, we’ve been repping it every day hundreds of times. So, I was ready for him (Coach Long) to pull it out, he finally pulled it out, it was a big play. Pierce had a key block and I had to make a move. I was ready to go. Since it was the first time he called it all season [I] just wanted to execute it.” he said.

An elevated punt return game could help Tech a lot throughout the remainder of the season if McCollum continues to shine there.

“It was a line drive punt return, and of course, I just wanted to catch the ball first,” McCollum said. “I’ve just been working on my fundamentals, and I want to get positive yards on punt returns. Any positive yards are good.”

He was asked about a play that happened two years ago against Duke on a punt return that went sideways, and it was a mistake that McCollum learned a lot from.

“Anytime I watch, I’ve gone back and watched that play a bunch of times. At first, I wasn’t supposed to catch that ball either way because it would have pinned us, but yeah, I watch it a lot,” McCollum said. “I feel like in my head I never wanna put my team in this position [again].”

McCollum and Sims’ connection has been showcased in 2022 so far and Mccollum worked very hard in the offseason to earn his role with the Yellow Jackets.

“In the preseason I feel like I became a better student of the game and not just focusing on my skill,” McCollum said. “Of course, ya know I worked on my craft, but I felt like coming into a new offense with Coach Long’s playbook I had to figure out why we were doing certain things and how to do them in a better way. So, I just feel like when I got in the film room I just wanted to study and be a student of the game.”

Becoming a student of the game has paid dividends in the way he has prepped for Tech’s first two games, and he shouted out former slot Kyric McGowan for teaching him the way it needs to be done.

“Big props to Kyric McGowan, he showed me this is how you should do things. Not just in the sense of playing, but in the film room this is how you should watch film,” McCollum said. “It wasn’t anything in particular, [he] just taught me all types of stuff.”

Moving onto the challenge ahead of McCollum and the rest of the Jackets this week against Ole Miss, that aforementioned connection between him and Sims will be especially important to sparking Tech’s offense in a variety of ways. Will the Yellow Jackets be able to establish the run and use this connection to keep the Rebels guessing and on their heels? We will find out on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. when toe meets leather on ABC.