Nate McCollum has been one of the more consistent players on an embattled Georgia Tech team this season.
A sophomore wide receiver, McCollum has appeared in all 10 games and has gone over 100 receiving yards three times, first compiling 101 receiving yards against Duke, then in consecutive games – against Virginia Tech (103) and Saturday versus Miami (101).
In any season, being the only receiver on a team to go over 100 yards in a game would be a strong showing, but it is even more impressive given the circumstances with McCollum’s quarterbacks.
This season, McCollum has caught passes from Jeff Sims, Zach Pyron and Zach Gibson. With Sims and Pyron out for the final two games with injuries, it is possible that McCollum could end the season having caught passes from four quarterbacks.
With all the issues the team has endured at quarterback, Tech interim coach Brent Key lauded McCollum’s competitiveness and consistency so far.
“He is consistent,” Key said Tuesday. “He’s such a fun guy to be around day to day and watch on the field with how he plays on the field. He’s one of those guys that you say he probably did not play video games growing up. He was outside playing baseball and playing all the sports, and you can see that in the way he plays football.
“That knack of being open, being able to make plays, it doesn’t matter to him who the quarterback is. It matters to everyone, but for him, the competitive juices in his body said, I’m gonna get that ball. I’m gonna be in the right position to where that ball is.”
With McCollum in his third season on the team, he has grown in his football knowledge, which allows him to compete as well as he can.
“He understands the routes being inside at slot receiver,” Key said. “Being able to run those nifty routes and get open regardless of where the ball is and who the ball is coming from.”
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