Leonard Floyd, arguably Georgia’s best overall defensive player, was unable play much Saturday due to ongoing shoulder problems. But all the Bulldogs did was insert their 5-star freshman, Lorenzo Carter, who put together the best game of his young career.
The 6-foot-6, 237-pound outside linebacker from Norcross, recorded nine tackles, 2.5 sacks and 3.5 tackles for loss as Georgia beat Kentucky 63-31 on Saturday. And he started fast. His first two of sacks came on Kentucky’s second and third possessions.
One of them might have been the result of Carter lining up wrong.
“I got the call late and got lined up late, right before the snap,” Carter said with a laugh. “I guess they didn’t see me because I came through clean. Preparation builds luck or something like that.”
Richt said Floyd, the normal starter at “Sam” linebacker, has been battling sore shoulders for weeks.
“(Floyd) did play a little but we were hoping we could play Lorenzo a little more anyway,” Georgia coach Mark Richt said. “With Leonard, it’s a cumulative thing, hitting week after week.”
There didn’t appear to be any drop-off with Georgia’s linebackers with Carter in the group. Ramik Wilson led the Bulldogs with 12 stops and Amarlo Herrera was third with seven tackles.
“I played a lot and it’s always enjoyable when you get a win over a good team,” Carter said. “We did a great job out there. We put a good second-half together.”
As for how Carter responded to the playing time, Richt smiled, “I guarantee you playing in that game as much as he did will give him a lot of confidence.”
Georgia was a little beat up on defense coming into the game. Sophomore cornerback Brendan Langley didn’t make the trip because of a hamstring injury and defensive backs Corey Moore and Quincy Mauger each had to leave the game after running into each other on a play in the second half. Richt said he expects them both to be “fine.”
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