LSU’s Michael Clayton and Georgia’s Fred Gibson display a lot of similarities.
Both are their respective team’s No. 1 receiver.
Both measure up around the 6-foot-4, 195-pound range.
And both are excellent basketball players along with their football prowess. Gibson actually plays on Georgia’s hoops squad, and Clayton had the opportunity to show off his stuff in the PMAC but instead decided to concentrate on football.
But there is one key difference between the two- Clayton is healthy and will suit up for the Tigers in Saturday’s matchup against Georgia, while Gibson is experiencing hamstring problems and is listed as out for the game.
Advantage LSU, right? It really does not matter, according to LSU safety Jack Hunt.
“As long as I’ve been playing defense we’ve never played a team that has a receiver that is just really good where we try to double them all the time and we’ve never worked on one receiver,” Hunt said. “It shouldn’t affect our plans either way.”
Clayton wishes Gibson could suit up, because Clayton says it’s not often a person gets to see a guy with Gibson’s athletic ability.
“I’d love to see the guy play,” Clayton said. “He’s a great athlete. There’s only so many chances you get to see great players like Fred Gibson play. But if he doesn’t make the trip, we’re still going to have to play Georgia.
“We’re not playing against Fred Gibson. We’re playing against 11 guys that our defense is trying to stop.”
Clayton said good teams have good players that step up when the starters go down.
“One player’s not going to make the difference,” Clayton said. “It’s just like if I wasn’t to play, LSU wouldn’t be any less of a challenge to Georgia. People are going to step up and people are going to play. When somebody goes down, part of being a championship ball club is somebody steps up. That’s what we would do, and I’m sure that’s what Georgia’s going to do.”
Those players being called to step up for the Bulldogs include wide receivers Reggie Brown, Michael Johnson and Damien Gary.
The trio has combined for 29 catches for 392 yards and two touchdowns, while Gary also returns punts, and is averaging 14.2 yards per return.
Gary, who has eight catches for 92 yards, said stepping up should not be a problem for he and his teammates.
“We have to depend on young guys to step up,” Gary said in a phone interview Tuesday. “We’ve been in a situation like this before and depended on the veterans to make big plays. It [Gibson’s injury] opens up a lot of opportunities. We have guys that can step up when stars go down.”
Gary said he hopes his punt returning ability can affect the game.
“We work hard on special teams,” Gary said. “It could give us a good chance to win the game.”
LSU cornerbacks Corey Webster and Ronnie Prude present a large challenge according to Gary, but it is important to jump out front in the SEC.
“We’ve watched film of their defensive backs, and they are real physical and in your face,” Gary said. “If we can get out of the jam, it might give us an advantage. There’s a lot of hype for this game, but we just want to get ahead in the SEC.”