Georgia went to a bit of a different look near the goal line on Saturday night against Auburn as defensive linemen Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis entered the game on offense as blockers. The Bulldogs were able to score both times that Carter and Davis entered the game, and afterwards, Kirby Smart gave credit to new offensive coordinator Todd Monken for the idea.
“(Todd) Monken talked about the inability to travel a lot of guys in the NFL and how they use defensive players for those packages,” Smart said following the 27-6 win on Saturday. “We certainly think that Jordan is a weapon because of his athleticism and his size, and Jalen did a lot of that stuff in high school. He’s a really talented guy who has played some fullback and things. We’ve had it in for awhile and thought we would use it when we needed to. I thought Monken and the offensive staff did a good job developing that package.”
Redshirt sophomore running back Zamir White was the biggest beneficiary of the formation, capitalizing on the opportunity to run behind the jumbo formation for a pair of one-yard touchdowns. It was White’s first multi-touchdown game of his Georgia career, as he finished with 88 yards and two scores on 19 carries.
“Man, that’s easy,” White said when asked about getting into the end zone with the help of the defensive linemen. “It’s crazy. You’ve got dudes out there like Jordan, 6-6 and I don’t know his weight, but that dude is huge, man. Then there’s Jalen, and he’s just a really physical guy. He’s a great guy.”
“It’s crazy, man. Those guys are huge,” he added. “Jordan Davis and Jalen, those guys are some real dudes. It’s fun for me to be out there running with them.”
Like Smart, senior offensive lineman Ben Cleveland said that the formation is something they have worked on for quite a while. Leading up to the matchup with Auburn, it was a part of the game plan, and Carter and Davis would simply come work with the offense for a period of time during practice.
“We work on it three or four times a week,” Cleveland said. “They come down just like they would be on the normal offensive scheme. It’s been very good for us in practice, and obviously it was very good for us this past Saturday.”
Georgia and Tennessee are set to kickoff at 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS on Saturday as the SEC Game of the Week. Brad Nessler and Gary Danielson will be on the call. The Bulldogs come in ranked No. 3 in the country in both rankings while the Volunteers currently sit at No. 14 in the AP Top 25 and No. 12 in the Coaches Poll.