ATHENS — When Jalon Walker walked off Kroger Field in Lexington, Kentucky, on Saturday night, his white Georgia jersey was covered with blood.
It wasn’t his. It belonged to Brock Vandagriff.
No one had more contact with Kentucky’s quarterback than Walker. The Bulldogs’ junior linebacker was in Vandagriff’s face all night, but you wouldn’t know that from looking at Walker’s stat line from the game.
In the official box score distributed at the end of the game, the 6-foot-2, 245-pound Walker was credited with two tackles, one pass deflection and one quarterback hurry. Blatantly missing were any sacks.
Give Vandagriff some credit for that. The former Georgia quarterback did a good job of getting rid of the football with Walker and others in his face. Often, those throwaways were haphazard flings that miraculously did not land in the arms of the Bulldogs. Vandagriff also used his legs several times to escape pressure.
Walker was not credited for arguably the best play he made Saturday. The Wildcats faced third-and-4 at their own 14 with 7:18 remaining in the second quarter. Lined up on the left side of the Bulldogs’ defense, Walker made a quick cut to the inside of right tackle Gerald Mincey and a beeline to Vandagriff. Without breaking stride or leaving his feet, Walker made a textbook-form, shoulder-first tackle on Vandagriff, who at the last second slung the ball to his right.
Inexplicably, Walker was flagged for roughing the passer. It was a huge foul, turning fourth-and-4 deep in Kentucky territory into first-and-10 at the 29. Ultimately, the possession would end in a strip-sack turnover for the Bulldogs, but not until three minutes later.
Walker still was processing the call after Georgia’s practice Tuesday night.
“I realize it’s football, and it’s just a game and that we’re protecting our quarterback more and more,” he said. “They said the way I was driving him into the ground, I landed on top of him, which caused the personal foul. I know now. It was a bang-bang play. I felt it was a judgment call, but we move on to fight the next day.”
Protecting quarterbacks is a point of emphasis for the SEC and in the FBS this season. But in this case in particular, it’s hard to think of what else Walker might have done. Should he have tried to roll off of Vandagriff in mid-takedown? Should have tried to slam on his proverbial brakes and go for a bear hug?
Maybe, according to Kirby Smart. The Georgia coach reached out to John McDaid, the SEC coordinator of officials, about that and a few more questionable calls.
“McDaid confirmed and felt strongly that was a penalty,” Smart shared on the SEC coaches’ teleconference call Wednesday. “It was more about the finish and the driving to the ground. They’re trying to make a concerted effort, obviously, to protect the quarterback.”
What then would have McDaid had Walker do?
“They’re basically asking him to roll over take the brunt of that on himself. So, instead of him falling on top of Brock, it should be Brock falling on top of him. So, I guess he’s got to somehow torque his body to twist and land on himself, which is tough.”
That was the bad news Saturday. The good news for the Bulldogs and Walker is they were able to generate an incredible amount of pass pressure on the Wildcats. The game-day statistics credited Georgia with five QB hurries and three sacks.
Later on that same drive, a sack by Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins was followed by a strip-sack by Raylen Wilson. Damon Wilson recovered the loose ball at the Kentucky 23 after a loss of 26 yards, and the Bulldogs were able to get three points out of it via a field goal.
Walker later would execute Georgia’s defensive play of the game in similar fashion. The Wildcats, trailing 13-12 with just over three minutes to play facing third-and-8 at the Bulldogs’ 48, went back to pass again. This time coming from the defense’s right flank, Walker took an outside line around the Kentucky left tackle and again met Vandagriff in the backfield. Again, the Wildcats QB carelessly flung the football away without turning it over. But Kentucky would punt the ball to Georgia with 3:03 to play and wouldn’t get it back until only nine seconds remained in the game.
While the narrow victory wasn’t what the Bulldogs were hoping for, the positive heading into next week’s monumental matchup against No. 4 Alabama in Tuscaloosa is that Georgia will go there having wreaked plenty of havoc. Outside linebacker Gabe Harris also registered a sack Saturday. The Bulldogs forced three fumbles, recovering one, and they still have not allowed a touchdown this season.
Certainly there is plenty about which to stress, with Kentucky outgaining Georgia 284 to 262, the Wildcats rushing for 170 yards and running back Demie Sumo-Karngbaye going for 98 yards on the ground. But there also is a lot there for the Bulldogs to feel good about.
For example, while the Wildcats possessed the football an extra 10 minutes and piled up 23 first downs, Kentucky did not record a play of more than 19 yards. And of the yards Georgia did allow, most of them came on the Wildcats’ side of the 50. The Bulldogs allowed only 38 yards in 29 plays in their own territory.
And, again, they still have not given up a touchdown in 2024.
“Nothing changed once they got across the (50-yard line),” senior linebacker Chaz Chambliss said. “We always say bend but don’t break, and I think we really characterized that. Our tackling was not where it needed to be during the game. We had way too many missed tackles. Going into next week, we’re emphasizing that. We need to knock-back tackle more.”
Said Walker: “We call it going to the doctor, and that’s what we did to see what we had going on. We’re just emphasizing getting better this week. It’s our bye week, and we’re going to spend it honing our craft.”
As for the questionable roughing-the-passer call, Walker acknowledged being pretty hot about it in the moment and then again when seeing it over in video sessions this week. But he vows to learn from it.
“I know now. It was a bang-bang play, a judgment play. But we have to move on to fight the next day. You can’t sit on it too long on it. … I preach to my teammates ‘next play, next play.’ You’ve got to get past it. It is what it is.”
By the way, when Georgia’s coaches reviewed video of Saturday’s game, they came up with a different set of numbers for quarterback hurries. By their count, Walker led the Bulldogs with 10. Including seven by Ingram-Dawkins and four by Harris, they had 36 in all.
Count them however one likes, but you can bet Alabama is seeing that as well.
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