Georgia football: Top 5 true freshman who played against Austin Peay
2. CB – Tyson Campbell
Campbell starting at corner came as no surprise Saturday. It’s how well he played that shocked fans. Campbell didn’t cross train much this summer so coaches obviously felt the true-freshman was ready to play at corner immediately. He finished Saturday’s game with three tackles and one pass deflection.
Austin Peay threw Campbell into the fire as well, as they had no interest in testing DeAndre Baker, though I can’t say I blame them. But their luck wasn’t much better with passing towards Campbell.
Campbell will be tested much more this weekend against one of the best wide receiver duos in the SEC. If he has a good game, the sky will truly be the limit for this kid. Campbell could be in for a special freshman season, starting this week.
3. OLB – Brenton Cox
Someone else who impressed on defense was outside linebacker Brenton Cox, who started opposite of D’Andre Walker. He also played in a three-point stance a lot in a base formation that looked more like a 4-3 rather than Georgia’s 3-4 scheme. That shows how highly the coaches think of the true freshman, giving him multiple roles in his first game.
He relished in those roles despite only making one tackle. He made his presence felt and Austin Peay had to constantly run away from Cox. Although they would end up running into another tackler. Defense isn’t all about making tackles or causing turnovers. Just shutting down one side of the field is a game changer, even if it doesn’t show up on the stat sheet.