Mekhi Mews, C.J. Smith impress Kirby Smart with limited receiver room
ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said this week that he felt the receiver room was ‘thin.’ That showed on Saturday in a 48-7 season-opening win over UT-Martin.
With Ladd McConkey missing the game for a back injury that’s been bothering him recently and Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint sidelined for internal disciplinary issues, the Bulldogs were down a combined 87 catches, 1,099 receiving yards and 11 total touchdowns. In fact, Arian Smith and Dillon Bell were the only two scholarship receivers – of which nine of the 13 total were available – that played that had previously caught a pass. However, their absences created opportunities for new names to emerge.
Outside of tight end Brock Bowers who everyone knows about already, walk-on Mekhi Mews and redshirt freshman C.J. Smith finished as the top two receivers for the Bulldogs with 75 and 57 yards respectively. Both of those stat lines were very much aided by big plays, but still they showed Smart something.
“I thought CJ Smith and (Mekhi) Mews were two guys that stepped up tonight,” Smart said. “”I don’t do game balls. I’ve never been smart enough to figure that out. My game balls go out on Monday when we watch the tape. If I had to, it’d be Mews or CJ Smith.”Those are two guys that had outstanding camps, and it rolled over into opportunities. Those two guys had never really made a play in the game, and they went out there and did that. That’ll pay dividends down the road.”
“I don’t do game balls. I’ve never been smart enough to figure that out. My game balls go out on Monday when we watch the tape. If I had to, it’d be Mews or CJ Smith.”
Mews, who had an impressive spring game and has been a name brought up several times by Smart as he’s come onto the scene, got a spot in the starting lineup without usual starters McConkey and Rosemy-Jacksaint. In fact, he got a touch on Georgia’s first offensive play. Also serving as the return specialist for both kickoffs and punts, Mews was able to find the end zone from 54-yards out on a well blocked tunnel screen that helped spark a better second half for the Bulldogs.
“He had a great fall camp. I would say he had the best fall camp out of any guy on our team,” quarterback Carson Beck said. “He works hard. I think all the other wide receivers also played really well.”
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“That shows how hard the he works in practice. Now it’s duplicating to the field,” fellow wide receiver Dominic Lovett added. “Mekhi has been working hard since he got there. He finally got his chance and he scored. I was so proud of him.”
As for Smith, the speedster out of Orlando, Fla. saw action in three games last season. He didn’t catch any passes, thus his 10-yard grab to pick up a first down on a third quarter 3rd and 3 was the first of his career. He followed that up with a 47-yard pickup later in the quarter. Both drives ended in touchdowns for first-time starting quarterback Carson Beck and the Georgia offense.
Smart used both players as evidence that his team “grew up” during the game. Georgia will need both players to continue to grow in order to get where they want to later this season.
Of course, the Bulldogs also need to get their usual guys back. The offense was not nearly the same without the veteran presences of McConkey and Rosemy-Jacksaint, and while everybody that played as a result of their absence should continue to get better, there’s a reason those two are starters in the first place. Georgia takes on Ball State next Saturday in the second game of the season. Kickoff time is set for 12:00 p.m. ET on SEC Network.
