For a time, it seemed Fromm's elders _ James Coley, in Year 1 as offensive coordinator, and Smart _ were doing him no favors: run on first down, run on second, then ask the QB to convert on third-and-6. Fromm's performance against Florida was _ 20 completions in 30 attempts, 279 yards, two touchdowns _ was a callback to Vintage Jake. The past two games, however, have been tepid. He completed 13 of 29 passes for 173 yards against Missouri, 13 of 28 for 110 at Auburn.
Yeah, he also threw for five touchdowns with no interceptions those two Saturdays, and yeah, Georgia won both games. Still, these were the fourth and fifth games of his collegiate career in which he had completed under half his passes. (Two of the others were losses at Auburn in 2017 and LSU last year.) In passing efficiency, Fromm ranks 41st nationally _ one spot ahead of Jacob Eason, lately of Washington. As a freshman, Fromm was ninth. As a sophomore, he was fifth.
Of the quarterbacks ranked among this season's top nine, eight work _ or, in the case of Tua Tagovailoa, worked _ for teams included in the CFP's top 10. Which brings us to this: How many big-time quarterbacks has Georgia seen? South Carolina, Kentucky, Florida and Missouri had lost their No. 1 QBs to injury by the time each played the Bulldogs. By the third quarter in Athens, South Carolina was down to its No. 3. In Knoxville, Georgia faced the just-promoted freshman Ian Maurer. At Auburn, it faced another freshman in Bo Nix.
As spiffy as Georgia's defensive numbers are _ third against the rush, seventh in pass efficiency _ it hasn't faced a Murderers' Row. Going by total offense, the Bulldogs' highest-ranked opponent has been Arkansas State, which is 45th. (Texas A&M, which comes to Sanford Stadium on Saturday, is 43rd.) Defense has kept the Bulldogs in every game, but Joe Burrow and Trevor Lawrence and _ oh, yeah _ Justin Fields would present a tougher test. That's not to say the Bulldogs couldn't pass, as it were, but they'll have to score more to do it.
Smart knows how this works. His first CFP game _ he was Alabama's defensive coordinator _ saw Ohio State amass 537 yards and 42 points behind No. 3 quarterback Cardale Jones. The top-seeded Crimson Tide lost that night. Fifty-three weeks later, Deshaun Watson led Clemson to 550 yards and 40 points, but Smart flew from Glendale, Ariz., to Athens to begin his new job as a mostly happy man. His defense had wobbled all over creation, but he'd earned another ring because the Bama offense scored 45.
