Oscar Delp sees 'room to improve' on semifinal showing

LOS ANGELES — The biggest storyline going into Monday night’s National Championship Game between Georgia and TCU – at least on the Georgia side of things – is the health of tight end Darnell Washington. The 6-foot-7, 280-pound pass catcher suffered a lower leg contusion in the semifinal win over Ohio State, and Kirby Smart said that he’s ‘hopeful’ that the Bulldogs will have him at their disposal against the Horned Frogs. However, if he’s not able to go – or is limited in any way – freshman Oscar Delp will be thrust into a bigger role in the biggest game of his career.

Delp stepped in for Washington in the second quarter last Saturday. Georgia was trailing 14-7 at the time and would go down by seven more points before a 14-point comeback to tie the game at 21 a piece. Then, after Ohio State jumped back out to as large as a 14-point lead going into the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs managed to come back once again, ultimately winning 42-41. Asked about how he played, Delp said he was ready but knows he could have been better.

“We go over it every week in practice. The twos get just as many reps as the ones, so I was ready,” Delp said. “I’ve been taking mental reps in everything we’ve done. I really just felt comfortable going in there and playing.”

“I can improve everywhere. It definitely wasn’t close to a perfect game at all,” he continued. “I kind of just went in there and threw myself in and did enough of what I think I had to do.”

Delp’s position coach, Todd Hartley, certainly agrees, and his teammates have seen the work he’s put in to be prepared for the big moment. Whether it was being thrown into the fire last week or potentially playing a significant role in Georgia’s attempt to win a second straight national title, they feel the freshman is ready.

“I don’t think the preparation has been any different to be honest with you because he prepares every week like he’s going to be a starter,” Hartley said. “The way we do things at Georgia is a little bit different. Everybody gets abut the same amount of reps the way we practice, so it’s been no different for Oscar.”

“He’s been doing good, improving every week,” Brock Bowers added. “He’s just learning the plays better, and practicing against the defense we do every week helps. He’s kind of his own character. He blocks well and can catch and run. He moves good.”

Delp knows his development doesn’t end this week, whether he plays in the title game or not. He knows he’s gotten better since arriving at Georgia in the spring and has to continue to do so headed into next season.

“This is why I chose Georgia, there’s no better tight end room to develop in and learn from players like Darnell and Brock every day. It’s been a lot of learning, a lot of growth, and getting to practice against our defense every day, learning the details from Coach Hartley and all the things that he teaches us. I’ve definitely grown a lot as a player … I can improve get better at everything, and that’s something I’ll be working on this offseason. There’s always room for improvement, and I’ve got a long way to go.”

“I’ll say this, the hardest thing for any first year kid is understanding what it takes to prepare at Georgia. Practice is hard. The way we work is hard,” Hartley added. “A lot of time kids come in and they don’t know what that means. It’s a shock to their system. Now that he’s been here almost twelve months, the biggest growth I’ve seen is in his maturity and how he prepares, how he approaches practice, how he takes hard coaching. He’s super talented, and that’s not going to change, but the way he approaches every day from a preparation standpoint has probably been the biggest change since he got here.”

Kickoff of Monday’s National Championship Game is set for 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN. With a win, Georgia would become just the second team in the last 50 years to go back-to-back and the first in the College Football Playoff era. The Bulldogs opened as nearly a two-touchdown favorite, a line which as dropped slightly since to around 12 points according to Vegas Insider.