True Freshmen play; Massaquoi impresses

ATHENS – For all of the talk, gossip and speculation going into the 2005 season about which freshmen would play a few answered were supplied in Georgia’s first game against Boise State.

C.J. Byrd, Jeffery Owens, Marcus Washington and Tripp Chandler made their Bulldog debut against the Broncos.

Owens racked up two tackles in his first game. He played plenty of minutes to fill in for Kedric Golston, who was serving a one-game suspension for a fight in the spring.

Byrd worked with the second team secondary, which played much of the second half. Byrd, in fact played on the first play of the game as a result of his number one spot on special teams. He finished the night with one tackle.

Washington worked at middle linebacker, and got significant playing time as the backup to Tony Taylor. He finished the contest with three tackles.

Chandler got some surprising playing time Saturday when he jumped over Coleman Watson and Trahern Holden to be the third tight end to play against Boise State. He didn’t have a catch, but found his way into the scorebook when he jumped offsides at the end of the game.

But it was Mohamed Massaquoi, the often talked about freshman from Charlotte that caught the eye of the Sanford Stadium crowd and his teammates.

“You watch him and it’s like he’s a natural,” said running back Thomas Brown – a player that used his first game as a true freshman to serve as a launching pad for the rest of the season.

Massaquoi ended the contest with two catches for 47 yards with a long of 24 yards.

“If he keeps coming on, he’ll get more of an opportunity,” said Head Coach Mark Richt.

“I think they all did pretty good,” said senior Tim Jennings, another player that played his first game as a true freshman. “They all still have a ways to go, but it was a good start.”