ATHENS — John Jenkins is from Meriden, Conn. He has never been to the Georgia-Florida game nor is he even marginally versed on the game’s traditions.
Until now.
As we head toward the final hours of the countdown to “The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party” in Jacksonville, Jenkins thinks he’s starting to get the picture.
“From the intel I’m getting, it’s a big game,” he deadpanned.
That it is, and Jenkins will play a big part in it.
The 6-foot-3, 351-pound junior will have to go it alone at nose guard for the first two quarters. His cohort and part-time starter at the position, Kwame Geathers, was suspended for the first half of the game for punching a Vanderbilt player, who was called for a flagrant clip in that game.
Jenkins and the 6-foot-6, 350-pound Geathers have divided snaps almost evenly while alternating at nose guard through the Bulldogs’ first seven games. They’ve combined for 15 tackles, three tackles for loss, a sack, a pass break-up and eight quarterback pressures. Together they’ve been one of the main reasons for Georgia’s resurgence on defense this season, rising to sixth nationally in total defense and limiting opponents to 85.8 rushing yards per game.
But Geathers wasn’t expected to be such a big part of the equation when Georgia signed Jenkins out of Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in February. That has been a bonus for the Bulldogs. As a junior college All-American, Jenkins was touted to be the missing ingredient in defensive coordinator Todd Grantham’s 3-4 defense and expected to have the kind of impact Terrence Cody did at Alabama and Nick Fairley at Auburn.
Jenkins has been solid, even surpassing Geathers to earn his first starts in Georgia’s past two games. But conditioning issues and initial problems grasping the full scope of the defense prevented him from having a major impact in the early going. Now, one would think, is his chance to show how far he has come.
“For me personally, it’s just about me being ready to play,” Jenkins said. “Being Game 8, I do have a little more of a feel for SEC game play now. Just knowing we’re going against Florida, we’re both going to be geeked to play. So really I just have to be ready mentally and physically.”
Jenkins said the Bulldogs have made very little of Geathers’ first-half absence as they have practiced the past two weeks.
“It’s not even like a big discussion,” he said. “I know personally I’m just going to go out there and do what I’ve got to do, then I’ll see him second half.”
Said Grantham: “We’re repping them just like normal. We went about our business as usual. If something happened to somebody in the first half, then we’ll have to be ready for that. Other than that it’s business as usual.”
Defensive line coach Rodney Garner said the Bulldogs’ first option will be sliding defensive end DeAngelo Tyson, who started last season at nose guard, back inside. Sophomore Garrison Smith has been playing well and is taking a lot of snaps at Tyson’s end position.
“If and when we have to spell John that’s probably what we’ll do,” Garner said.
Jenkins hopes that won't be necessary. He has heard enough about the spectacle that is Georgia-Florida to know he wants to do well in it.
"Just by the pictures I've seen on Facebook, it looks like it's crazy down there," he said. "I can only imagine it's going to be a big deal. I'm hearing from people back home. They're telling me, ‘you don't know what you've gotten yourself into.' My cousin, he's a Florida fan, so I'm hearing from him. It's going to be a wild game."
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