Jake Fromm has the perfect answer when asked his confidence by Kirk Herbstreit, Chris Fowler
By Paul Harvey
Published:
Jake Fromm has certainly played above expectations since taking over as Georgia’s QB.
The true freshman was thrust into action in the first game of the season after sophomore QB Jacob Eason suffered a knee injury against Appalachian State. As the season progressed, it became clear that Eason had lost his starting job as Fromm continued to improve and play better.
The only real hiccup for Fromm this season came in the Bulldogs road loss to Auburn. Even in that game, it is hard to pin the blame on Fromm alone as Georgia made miscues across the board.
The Bulldogs would make amends for that loss by taking down the Tigers in the SEC Championship, and Fromm more than did enough in the Rose Bowl against the Oklahoma Sooners. Fromm threw two touchdowns without a turnover in the double OT thriller.
In a recent media teleconference, ESPN analysts Kirk Herbstreit and Chris Fowler discussed how Fromm truly is confident on the big stage.
Question: I wanted to get your reaction to how Jake Fromm managed the Rose Bowl Game, especially the overtime periods.
“Chris asked him a great question because he’s a confident guy for a true freshman,” said Herbstreit, who said he and Fowler were able to meet Fromm before the game. “Doing what he’s doing, Chris said, “When is the last time you were uncomfortable?” And he kind of looked perplexed and was like, “Man, that’s a really tough question. I really don’t know the last time I felt uncomfortable.” Like, in a room or on a field, nowhere. He couldn’t come up with an answer.”
“So I was not necessarily surprised,” Herbstreit continued. “Again, if you went back and listened to the show, we said before the game that the bigger the stage, the better he seemed to play. He’s one of those guys. Occasionally you have guys like that. So, as the game played out and Georgia was down, we kept trying to kind of get in front of Georgia’s not out of this type of thing. This young kid is making adjustments and doing things that are unique to him.”
While Fowler also said he wasn’t surprised by Fromm’s performance, he did want to make it clear that what Fromm has been able to do is not normal:
“No, but I think you have to remind yourself that what you’re seeing isn’t normal for a 19 year old true freshman to do that to make those throws,” said Fowler. “Obviously, he had a strong running game to lean on. He’s not asked to carry as much of the load offensively as Baker is, for example. But everything he was asked to do he executed perfectly. And during the stress of the moment, his ability to block all that out.”
“Because we talked to him about the Little League World Series, and that’s kind of a sign of things to come,” Fowler explained. “When you can be 12 years old and handle your business. I said, weren’t you freaked out by the crowds and the cameras? He said, no, I was just playing a baseball game. I said, well most kids can’t block that out that well. I think he did the same thing Monday night, he blocked out that this was the Rose Bowl. ”
While Fromm has played beyond expectations this season, he will likely need another strong performance if Georgia hopes to beat Alabama to claim the National Championship. Kickoff for the game is set for 8 pm EST Monday on ESPN.
Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.
