O'Mega Blake getting chance to shine with injuries to key receivers
The talent was always there for O’Mega Blake. It just took longer than expected for him to show it.
Blake had to wait patiently for his shot. He sat far behind veteran receivers on the depth chart for two years, only to play in two games. But when Juice Wells went down with a foot injury in Week 3 this year, Blake rose to the occasion.
On that day, he caught five passes for 86 yards, averaging 17.2 yards per catch against a solid Georgia defense. And since then, he’s been a key target for Spencer Rattler.
“He’s in a bigger role this year,” Shane Beamer said. “He knows he’s going to play a lot more than what he did last year.”
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After not playing in the season opener, Blake has had 15 catches for 204 yards and a touchdown. He’s been an explosive receiver downfield with multiple catches for 20 or more yards.
The biggest change Beamer has noticed in Blake has kept his life in order off the field.
“Not that it was bad before but just being more consistent in everything that he’s doing on and off the field,” he said.
With injuries to not just Wells, but Xavier Legette now as well, Blake’s role is only going to expand. Without Legette or Wells, South Carolina doesn’t have a true No. 1 receiver to count on, which gives Blake a chance to fill that void for the time being.
“I see him working at it. He puts time in during the week because he knows he’s going to get an opportunity on Saturday,” Beamer said.
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But while he’s bound to get more targets this week, Beamer knows Blake has to be more consistent. Towards the end of last Saturday’s loss to Missouri, Blake jumped up for a pass that went right through his outstretched hands for an interception.
“He’s got to continue to eliminate the mental errors. He had too many of those (on Saturday), and we’ve got to help him as coaches. And that’s the biggest thing,” Beamer said.
Being more consistent and making less mistakes has become even more important with an uptick in his snap count. Beamer said Blake was on the field for 58 plays against Missouri.
“That’s a ton more than he ever used to play last season,” Beamer said. “So that’s the biggest thing is just knowing that he’s in a bigger role and doing the things during the week to allow him to perform in that role. So I think it’s more just preparation than it is anything.”
