When sophomore QB Jacob Eason went down with a knee injury in Week 1 of the 2017 season, true freshman Jake Fromm took over and has thrived, leading the Bulldogs to a 9-0 record.

Fromm has been calm and collected under pressure and has earned the respect of his teammates.

On Tuesday, coach Kirby Smart credited Fromm’s upbringing for his early success at Georgia, saying he’s been raised to have the leadership qualities that have helped him thrive in Athens (via 247Sports):

“That’s just his personality,” Smart said. “He’s been that way his whole life. He’s got a lot of intangibles. He’s a good leader. He’s not afraid of competition. He played baseball. Kids that grew up playing multiple sports like that, they’ve just been around it. He’s not intimidated by the moment. That comes a lot from his upbringing and just his competitive nature.”

Fromm will face his toughest test of the season on Saturday afternoon when the Bulldogs travel to Auburn to take on the Tigers, who are fighting for their lives in the SEC West.

If Fromm can play as well as he has in recent weeks, Georgia will have a chance to improve to 10-0. If the Tigers can fluster the freshman quarterback, they could pull off a big upset.