O'Mega Blake continuing to develop and gain confidence in final weeks of season
O’Mega Blake lined up to the outside as the lone receiver on the left side of the field. As soon as the snap hit Spencer Rattler’s hands, Blake took off and darted down the field.
In just a few strides, Blake blew past his defender and had space to make a play. Rattler, looking to his left, picked up on this and threw to his wide-open receiver in the end zone for a touchdown. It was the perfect fade route that gave Blake his first big play in weeks.
Over the last few games, Blake saw a reduction in his play. He saw an open pass go through his hands for an interception against Missouri. Then, he only caught one pass for 10 yards in his next games. And a lot of that has had to do with the amount of talent in the receivers room.
“He’s a guy that, obviously earlier in the year when some of these freshmen when we were bringing them along and Juice was out, he had a major role early in the season, and he still does,” head coach Shane Beamer said. “It’s maybe not as playing as many plays now and part of that has to do with the development of Nyckoles Harbor. Part of that is Ahmarean Brown getting back, Luke Doty coming along. We’re rotating some more guys in there at receiver.”
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Even when the reps weren’t coming in bunches, Blake didn’t let it discourage him. Instead, he continued to work during practice and waited for his chance to make another impact like he had earlier in the season.
“If you ask anyone on our team, he’s worked hard mentally,” Beamer said. “Like in practice, on Thursdays especially, if he’s not out there physically taking the rep, he’s standing behind the play doing the foot work and the steps, running the route on his own to make sure he gets a rep that way. It’s helped him, it’s important to him.”
And it paid off last Saturday when he had his touchdown catch in a blowout win over Vanderbilt. He finished with three catches for 36 yards.
“I think O’Mega is a good route runner,” offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains said. “He’s got natural twitch in his body. He’s a guy that’s played a handful of snaps for us in each game and done a good job.”
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The biggest thing with Blake, and Beamer and Loggains both referenced it, is confidence and growing as a player. This year has been huge for Blake in terms of development and playing more. But he still has work to do.
“Confidence can only be born from demonstrated ability so getting out there and every time he plays he gets a little bit better,” Loggains said. “He’s a rotational guy that continues to work in…He can be a really good route runner for us. As he continues to grow and play better, his role will continue to increase.”
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By the time next season rolls around, receivers like Xavier Legette and Ahmarean Brown will more likely than not be here. Blake will be heading into his fourth year with the program and could earn himself a larger role.
“He’s come a long way and the rest of this season and this offseason will be big for his continued development too,” Beamer said. And people forget, even I forget that he was committed when I got hired here. He’s been here for all three seasons with us and we’ll be getting ready for year four next year.”
