Kyron Jones pick-six highlights big night for Georgia freshmen

ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia’s Class of 2023 could be found all over the field on Saturday night during the Bulldogs’ season-opener, contributing from start to finish. Whether it was offense, defense or special teams – shoutout Peyton Woodring – the youngsters the made up the No. 2 class coming out of high school just months ago were helping Kirby Smart and company capture a program-record 18th straight win, starting the 2023 campaign off 1-0.

On offense, running back Roderick Robinson was very much a part of the rotation in the Bulldog backfield. The San Diego, Calif. native finished with eight carries for 50 yards, both totals good for second on the team, and he found the end zone late in the third quarter for his first career touchdown.

“Proud of Roderick. It’s nothing like the first time,” Smart said in his postgame press conference. “In my experience, I’ve learned from being an assistant coach, defensive coordinator, and head coach that it takes probably four or five games before a freshman is comfortable. We’ve got to get through that with some guys. Every year we’ve been here somebody, I mean Joenel (Aguero) goes out the first play and, just like, sometimes they just do crazy stuff. You’re like, what are they doing? You have to get through those. He took one step closer to doing that. Andrew (Paul)’s in the same boat as him, right? He’s a year older, but he hasn’t played. We’ve got to bring those two guys along because they’re big, physical backs. We need to get some production out of them.”

Robinson was on campus this past spring, something that without a doubt has helped him adjust early and take on a bigger role quickly. The same applies for linebacker CJ Allen who was in there at times with the first team and played more snaps (33 per Pro Football Focus) than any other linebacker. Allen finished with two total tackles including one solo stop.

“Hard to play a freshman linebacker in our defense. He and Raylen (Wilson) being here in the spring have really grown. Raylen would’ve probably been in the same boat as him had it not been for his knee,” Smart said. “CJ picks things up. He’s very smart and intelligent. He’s conscientious. He can do things right. He has a chance to be a good player. We’ve got a pool of inside linebackers there around him … CJ did a nice job.”

Capping off the scoring for Georgia on the night was defensive back Kyron Jones. One of the only eight that did not early enroll, Jones just arrived on campus at the start of summer. That meant that fall camp was his first time going through a Georgia practice and that he didn’t have the experience of a G-Day for an idea of what it’s like to play between the hedges. Not a problem for the Charlotte, N.C. native as he intercepted UT-Martin’s quarterback with 1:59 to go and took the pass 26 yards to the house for the touchdown.

“Tipped ball. It was a tipped ball, so it was lucky is what it was,” Smart said when asked about the pick-six. “He’s going to think he did really good. It’s like I tell everybody, when you get a tipped ball, it’s lucky. I got a lot of interceptions in college that were tipped balls. That doesn’t make you a good player. That makes you in the right place at the right time.”

“Yeah, I did. I mean, my coach didn’t didn’t say I wasn’t,” Smart added later with a little bit of a joking manner when asked whether he too thought he was a good player after a tipped-ball interception. “I’m not saying that Kyron’s not a good player. Kyron is a good player. Kyron’s going to be a really physical, good player. The difference is Kyron’s run 10 400 meters, and that’s really fast. But just like Pop — his first play he ever got in, he got a pick six. With Kyron, that was his second or third play he was. But sometimes it pays to be lucky.”

Other freshman contributions included that of wide receivers Yazeed Haynes and Anthony Evans, both of whom caught passes, and several on the defensive side of the ball like Troy Bowles (three tackles), A.J. Harris (two tackles), Damon Wilson (two tackles) and Jordan Hall (two tackles). Joenel Agureo, Sam M’Pemba, Gabe Harris and Jamaal Jarrett all recorded a single stop each while Monroe Freeling played on the offensive line in his respective Bulldog debut.

The next opportunity for Georgia’s youngsters comes this weekend when the Bulldogs welcome Ball State to town. The Cardinals out of the MAC fell 44-14 in their season opener on Saturday against Kentucky, and Georgia opens as an even bigger favorite (39 points) according to Circa Sports. Kickoff time for the contest is set for 12:00 p.m. ET on SEC Network.