UGA’s Irvin not ready for senior season to end

Athens — Perhaps none of the seniors on Georgia’s football team are less ready to play their final game in Sanford Stadium than defensive tackle Corvey Irvin.

“It feels like I just got here,” he said. “And now I’m going to have to leave.”

While most of Georgia’s seniors have been in Athens for four or five years, Irvin is a junior-college transfer who arrived just last year from Georgia Military College. “I was a pup,” he said. Suddenly, his second — and final — season of eligibility at Georgia is wrapping up.

He’ll play his last home game Saturday against Georgia Tech, then a bowl game, then be gone.

“I’m going to miss it — the good times, my teammates, the coaches, UGA itself,” said Irvin, who is on track to graduate next month. “I’m glad I got to experience a big-time program like this. I’m going to be able to tell my kids and grandkids about it.”

Irvin has made much of his second year with the Bulldogs. He became a starter — and a vocal team leader — after Jeff Owens sustained a season-ending knee injury in the opening game. And he has played well enough to receive an invitation to play in the Senior Bowl — a showcase of NFL draft prospects — in Mobile, Ala., on Jan. 24.

“I hope I get a shot at the next level,” he said.

First, though, two final games with Georgia.

Irvin, a 6-4, 286-pounder from Augusta, notes that if the Bulldogs beat Tech and win their bowl, his two seasons will produce back-to-back 11-2 records.

“22-4 in two years: That would be good,” he said.

Before Georgia’s Nov. 15 victory at Auburn, Irvin called a players-only meeting of the defense and set goals for the game. He said the defense won’t set numerical goals for the Tech game.

“We’re just going to go out and play football, and everything else will take care of itself,” he said. “We just can’t get frustrated. When something goes wrong, we’ve got to have thick skin about it and get ready for the next play.

“If you practice hard enough, I’m pretty sure [the Yellow Jackets’ triple-option offense] can be stopped, because they are not undefeated. I’m not saying that to be cocky.”

Before kickoff, Irvin will participate in Senior Day, an annual rite in which the team’s seniors go through a gauntlet of teammates and then meet their families at the midfield “G” for a photo opportunity. For Irvin, it just seems too soon.

“I wish I had another year,” he said. “I wish I could come back next year and play again.”