March 23, 2004
As the Georgia Tech football team continues spring practice, one of the leaders who should emerge for the Rambling Wreck offense is senior wide receiver Nate Curry.
Tech held its third workout of the spring Tuesday evening at Rose Bowl Field. The next practice is scheduled for Thursday at 4:15 p.m., and the Jackets continue spring drills through the April 17 spring scrimmage.
“Nate is completely healthy now, and he’s a great leader for us,” said Tech head coach Chan Gailey. “He made some big plays last year, and I think he’ll have a good spring and then a good season.”
After battling knee injuries for two seasons, Curry was Tech’s second-leading receiver last fall, catching 37 passes for 426 yards and three touchdowns. The Miami, Fla., native is also an outstanding student who wa named to the ACC All-Academic team.
Opposite Curry, Tech must replace one of the most productive receivers in school history in second-team all-ACC selection Jonathan Smith, who accounted for more than half of the Jackets’ passing offense last season. Smith set Tech season records with 78 receptions for 1,139 yards.
“We’ve got to find out who else is going to step up,” said Gailey. “Will it be Levon Thomas, Xavier McGuire, Chris Dunlap, Damarius Bilbo? Who is going to step forward from that crew to be a consistent player and a starter for us.”
Among that quartet, Thomas has the most experience. The senior from College Park, Ga., caught 10 passes for 101 yards and one touchdown in 2003. The other three players had just seven receptions between them.
“The key for all of those guys is consistency,” continued Gailey. “For some of them, it’s consistency in route-running. For some of them, it’s consistency is catching the ball. And for some of them, it’s consistency in overall play. Nate is the only one, in our minds, who has put it all together at this point. The rest of them have got a chance to, if they improve in some areas.”
“Everybody is competing,” added Curry. “Levon and Xavier are with me and we have Chris and all of the other receivers just competing out there. Nobody really has a set position out there because we are all competing. Like Coach Gailey has said, it’s been kind of sluggish out there the first couple of practices, but everyone is getting used to carrying the extra weight.”
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