Monty Rice, Georgia Football News: Draft Scout Player News

10/12/20 - ILB Monty Rice, Sr/2021, Georgia

The defense continued to stymie the Volunteers, and the offense added a pair of touchdowns to stretch the lead to 37-21. In the third quarter, Tennessee totaled just 14 yards of offense. Finally, in the fourth quarter, senior linebacker Monty Rice put the proverbial nail in the Volunteers' coffin. He came on a blitz and, just like Ojulari earlier, sacked Guarantano and knocked the ball out. However, he managed to keep his feet, scoop up the ball and return it 20 yards for a touchdown. Rice's first touchdown since his senior year of high school and his first sack since his sophomore year at Georgia put the game out of reach at 44-21. "It was a surreal feeling," Rice said. "I kind of cried a little bit because it's just crazy. It felt like a movie or something. It's just a blessing to be in this position."

It was a phenomenally athletic play by Rice, to be sure. However, it's his preparation for that moment that shows why the Georgia defense is great. He doesn't take too many reps on third down with that play in practice. However, he stayed ready, paid attention to the reps and, when the time came, he jumped on it - literally and figuratively. That's true of this entire Georgia defense, a group Smart says is free of "prima donnas." This is an elite unit, yet it doesn't have any one true superstar. It's a unit, Smart said, that just wants one thing: to be one of the best in the nation. "They take pride in being good," Smart said. "Everybody puts sweat in the bucket. There's a lot of guys contributing on defense. The atmosphere that's created on defense here is just, we're not letting them score. We're not going to let them in. They hold everybody accountable." - Macon Telegraph

Sr/2021