NEW ORLEANS – Jake Fromm obviously has a lot of fans back in his home state of Georgia.

Turns out Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger is one, too.

“I’m very good friends with Jake,” Ehlinger said during Saturday’s offensive press conference for the Longhorns. “We’ve texted a few times since we’ve been here. I was with him probably five or six times at camps throughout high school and college, and we always had a good time together.”

Both members of their respective schools’ 2017 signing class, Fromm and Ehlinger got to know each other through the various summer camps they took part in as high school stars. As a senior, Fromm was the nation’s No. 3 pro-style quarterback according to Rivals, while Ehlinger was the No. 5 dual-threat QB.

Their seasons have been similar.

Ehlinger has completed 256 of 398 passes for 3,123 yards with 25 touchdowns and just five interceptions. Fromm, meanwhile, hasn’t thrown for as many yards (186 of 272 for 2,537 yards), but has thrown for more touchdowns (27) with just five picks.

The Texas QB said he looks forward to hooking up with Fromm again after Saturday’s Sugar Bowl.

“He’s a great dude. Everybody I’ve talked to loves being around him. He’s an easy guy to like,” Ehlinger said. “We love talking the game.”

Texas right guard Elijah Rodriguez pondered the question for approximately 10 seconds without saying a word.

The question: What Georgia defensive lineman jumps out to him when watching tape of the Bulldogs?

“I’d say it’s their big nose guard,” said Rodriguez, referring to Georgia freshman Jordan Davis. “Yes sir. I’ve been watching him a lot. He’s probably the biggest nose guard we've gone against this season.”

Rodriguez doled out all sorts of bouquets Davis’ way.

“He’s got a bright future ahead of him, and I’m pretty excited to play against a guy like that,” Rodriguez said. “I’m an interior guy, so I’ll be going against him a lot. Yeah, he looks good on film. He works hard and he’s physical. Those are the kinds of guys the rest of the offensive line and I love to compete against.”

One of the really nice stories to have emanated from this week’s Sugar Bowl activities has involved Texas tight end Andrew Beck during Texas’ visit to kids in a local hospital.

In a video, Beck—who is fluent in sign language—is seen conversing with the family of a hospitalized youngster, who is hearing-impaired.

Saturday, Beck said he never dreamed his unrehearsed interaction would have created such a positive response.

“Austin has a pretty large deaf community that I’ve been able to interact with quite a bit,” Beck said. “I’ve made some friends who are deaf as well, and I’ve been able to step into their community. So I’ve gotten to use it before, but I never imagined it would draw this kind of attention but seeing the response that it got was really cool. I hope I was able to raise awareness for some of the things they go through.”

One particular retweet caught the attention of his mom and excited her so much, she had to put in a call.

“My parents got a lot of calls, too, but my mom only really called me about it when J.J. Watt retweeted it,” Beck said. “She said ‘You have to check this out, you have to check this out.’ She was trying to send it to me, so that was cool.”