Georgia’s John FitzPatrick and Notre Dame’s Kyle Hamilton are good friends. As in really good friends. As in, they talk on the phone every week. In fact, they talked Wednesday.
Only this isn’t just any week for either of these former Marist School classmates. FitzPatrick’s No. 3-ranked Bulldogs team (3-0) play host to Hamilton’s No. 7 Fighting Irish (2-0) on Saturday in game that is expected to have national championship implications.
So, let’s just say the conversation had a decidedly different tone this week.
“Just joking around back and forth. Nothing too serious,” FitzPatrick said. “He says he’s going to come take me out, and I was saying the same thing back to him.”
Indeed, both players are expected to play significant roles for their respective teams in this game. Hamilton, a 4-star safety, is Notre Dame’s backup at free safety. But he might not be the backup much longer.
This past Saturday, he picked off a New Mexico pass and returned it 35 yards for a touchdown in a 66-14 win for the Fighting Irish. He has six tackles in Notre Dame’s first two games.
“Kyle’s so good,” said FitzPatrick, who’s a year ahead of the 6-foot-4, 210-pound safety. “He’s strong, he’s fast, he can run side-to-side and he can come up and plug the holes. So, he’s a good player.”
Georgia coaches knew that as well. Of all the players on the current Notre Dame roster, the Bulldogs probably recruited Hamilton the hardest. Naturally, they leaned on FitzPatrick to help them with that.
Despite FitzPatrick’s best efforts, he couldn’t turn his buddy, who seemed to be leaning toward the Irish from the jump.
“I tried my best, but he had a great opportunity at Notre Dame and he’s doing a great job there,” FitzPatrick said. “… I tried to lure him this way, but Kyle had a great school in Notre Dame, a great program with a great tradition and he felt like he couldn’t pass it up.”
Coincidentally, FitzPatrick was also recruited hard by Notre Dame. Obviously he came to a different conclusion.
“I thought about Notre Dame for a little bit, but I thought I’d have a great opportunity here at Georgia,” FitzPatrick said. “Georgia recruited me hard early on and, just meeting coach Smart and everybody, I couldn’t pass up that opportunity.”
FitzPatrick has had to be more patient. He was redshirted as a freshman last season and currently is third on the Georgia depth chart behind seniors Charlie Woerner and Eli Wolf.
But FitzPatrick hasn’t lacked for playing time this season. The Bulldogs often deploy two and three tight ends on offense, primarily in blocking roles. FitzPatrick also had the first reception of his career in Georgia’s second game, against Murray State.
Odds are pretty good that FitzPatrick could run into each other – quite literally – this Saturday. Safeties often are charged with covering tight ends, and tight ends often have to block safeties.
“Should be fun,” FitzPatrick said.
Regardless of what happens, FitzPatrick probably will be talking on the phone again next week.
NOTES: The Bulldogs held a two-hour workout Wednesday, their third practice of the week in preparation for Notre Dame. For the second consecutive day, that practice was closed to the media. On the SEC coaches' teleconference call earlier in the day, Smart was asked about the national spotlight being on his program this Saturday.
“Our guys are excited to get to play on a national stage in a home game atmosphere that probably will be unrivaled in Georgia history from a non-conference standpoint,” he said. “I know they’re excited with a team like Notre Dame coming to town. It is really a special event.”
One of the Bulldogs’ primary concerns will be the matchup of their defensive line against Notre Dame’s big, experience offensive line, which features four returning starters.
“It’s a big challenge for our guys up front,” Smart said. “We’ve got a good group, some very workman-like players that play really hard. We’ve challenged them this week that this is their opportunity to step up and play on a big stage, and that’s what most of these guys choose to come to Georgia for. They do it by committee and hopefully will be no different in this game.”
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