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Friday, September 24, aoio | The Red * Black
2
ASK AND WE SHALL RECEIVE
Georgia’s wide receiving corps has been headlined by an unsuspecting candidate - Kris Durham.
Durham and the rest of the wideouts have excelled in the absence of their biggest star.
By RACHEL G. BOWERS
The Red & Black
Kris Durham waited
patiently for 686 days, itch
ing to get back between
the hedges to play in his
No. 16 Jersey and silver
britches.
He counted down the
days between his last
home game Oct. 18,2008
—and Georgia’s season
opener on Sept. 4.
He spent those days
rehabilitating a torn
tabrum in his left shoulder
for which he had surgery
before last season and
missed all of 2009.
He fulfilled his student
teaching requirements at
Oconee County Middle
School, teaching eighth
grade Georgia history in
the spring, to earn his mid
dle school education
degree to May.
He began work on his
graduate degree in second
ary education With a social
studies focus, and went
through the last fall camp
of his collegiate career.
And alter time finally
ticked away and the day
came for Durham to suit
up for his last season open
er as a Bulldog, Durham’s
biggest problem was with
the food on his pfate at the
pregame meal.
“I was nervous. I was
very nervous. It was almost
to the point where that
morning, I couldn’t eat. I
could not eat,” Durham
said. “I was sitting across
from [quarterback Aaron
Murray] and I think Aaron
was just as nervous as I
was because neither one of
us were touching anything
on our plate.”
It didn’t take Murray
and the Georgia offense
but three plays to find
Durham against Louisiana-
Lafayette, which Durham
said helped his nervous
ness level out and every
thing “was like back to
normal.” He ended the day
with five catches for 83
yards and a touchdown.
Over the course of the
first three games, the
senior has led Georgia in
receiving, reeling in 13
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▲ (Above) After missing all of 2009, Kris Durham (16) has made Ms
mark this season and leads the team with 230 yards receiving. (Right)
Tavarres King has averaged 59.5 yards receiving per game this year.
catches for 260 yards and
one touchdown playing in
what is normally
Green’s spot. Durham has 1
compiled 141 more yards
than the next closest
receiver’s yardage total
and the other five wide
outs with catches have
just 15 more yards com
bined than Durham has
alone.
“He’s actually been an
outstanding deep-ball guy,”
head coach Mark Richt
said. “He’s been blocking
his tail off. He’s been lead
ing. Asa matter of fact, he
is one of the guys named
captain this week. Not only
because of what he’s doing
receiving, but how he’s
blocking too. He’s just a
veteran guy who we know
FIRST & GOAL
we can count on.”
As the oldest receiver
and one of the more expe
rienced players on
Georgia’s roster, Murray
said Durham has mentored
the younger receivers as far
as running routes and read
ing defenses, something
Tavarres King said “Old
man Durham” did when
King was a freshman.
“He’s been here about
12 years I think,” King
joked. “When I came in, he
took me under his wing
along with Mohamed
[Massaquoi] and Mike
Moore and just showed me
the ropes. I can’t thank
him enough for that. I’m
extremely glad that he’s
back, and back in ftill
effect.”
Coming “back in full
effect” was a long time
coming for the Calhoun
native. Durham said he’s
knocked off most of the
“rust” that accumulated
while he was sidelined and
he now realizes how spe
cial this season is to him.
“I appreciate it a lot
more than I ever have,”
Durham said. “One, I real
ize this might be my last
year ever playing and two,
once you miss a year you
realize how much it does
mean to you to be out
there."
Durham and the rest of
Georgia’s wide receivers
are told by their position
coach Tony Ball to “bum
grass" and make plays.
And with arguably the
nation’s top receiver in
Green suspended, that
point was not lost on the
group, though sophomore
Rantavious Wooten said
the receivers all try to pull
their weight even when
Green is in the lineup.
“We came together and
[said], *OK, A.J.’s not
playing and we gotta ball.’
But that’s pretty much
the mindset everyday,”
Wooten said. “Everybody
gonna get balls. [Green
is] gonna get a lot of
snaps. We expect that.
[With] him out, it’s just an
opportunity for more guys
to get plays and show the
coaches what we can do.
And we’ve been doing that
lately.”
King said the receivers
sat down during fall camp
to have a meeting about
what they as a unit want
ed to accomplish this sea
son and that having conti
nuity and consistency
throughout the unit is key
to succeeding.
“[We talked about]
everybody running their
routes the same way so
that when we’re in that
game, it doesn’t matter
who knows out there.
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SPREADING THE WEALTH
While Kris Durham and Tavarres King
occupy the No. 1 and 2 receiver slots
and account for more than half of die
Bulldogs’ air attack, four other receivers
have rotated in regularly and caught
passes from quarterback Aaron Murray:
• Logan Gray: five catches,
62 yards and one touchdown
• Marlon Brown: five
catches, 74 yards
• Rantavious Wooten: two
catches, 14 yards and two
rushes for 11 yards
• Israel Troupe: one catch
for 16 yards
Offensive coordinator Mike Bobo on his
wide receiving corps against Arkansas:
“Going back and watching the tape,
they really stepped up big the whole [Ar
kansas] game and made some unbeliev
able catches. I don’t think we had a drop
the whole game, and guys were going
after balls and making plays. That’s what
we’ve been talking about, stepping up
making plays and they did that on Satur
day.”
Aaron knows where we re
gonna be and knows
where to put the ball,”
King said. "It all comes
down to accountability
really. Everybody’s
accountable and everyone
does their job.”
In the Arkansas game,
the receivers accounted
for 177 of the 252 yards
Georgia’s offense gained
in the second half, which
helped Georgia efficiently
and quickly move the ball.
The Bulldogs’ passing
game has averaged 212.7
yards per game, account
ing for 62 percent of the
offense, and the receivers
m
have averaged 13.3 yards
per catch with just one
drop on the season.
King said the work
ethic throughout the wide
receiving corps is undeni
able, despite its overall
youth.
"You can’t ask for any
thing better than a group
of guys that's gonna do
what you ask them to do
week in and week out and
do it to the best of their
ability. That’s exciting"
King said “That’s excit
ing to know that you got
guys that are talented and
can make plays at any
time.”