Tae Crowder has always “flashed” as a football player. That’s not necessarily an endearing term for college coaches. It means, every once in a while he looks really good. Other times, well, he can be hard to spot on the field.
These days, Crowder has been hard to miss. Let’s just say the senior inside linebacker for Georgia has been more strobe light than flashlight this season. Now and then, he stands out like a laser beam.
Crowder certainly was shining bright for the No. 3 Bulldogs on Sept. 21 against Notre Dame. In that nationally televised game, Crowder recorded one of the most impressive tackles for loss one will ever see from an inside linebacker.
Patrolling an inside-the-hash zone on a pass play, Crowder jettisoned his area when Ian Book’s pass went to Notre Dame’s Avery Davis on a flanker screen in the flat. Before any blockers could even spot him, Crowder shot through them like a laser beam and took down Davis for a 2-yard loss, almost separating the receiver from the ball in the process.
“I just read the play and reacted,” Crowder said after the game. “It was something we’d seen in practice.”
That was just one of many impressive plays Crowder made against the No. 7-ranked Fighting Irish. The 6-foot-3, 235-pound converted running back led the Bulldogs with nine tackles and affected several other plays in the 23-17 victory.
“That was one of my favorite games so far,” Crowder said. “It’s just a great feeling.”
The Bulldogs anticipate more productive games for Crowder this season as he finally seems to be fully indoctrinated an SEC inside linebacker. They could use another big one Saturday as Georgia resumes SEC Eastern Division play at Tennessee (1-3, 0-1 SEC) after a bye week.
Crowder signed with Georgia as a running back, but had played receiver before his senior year at Harris County High. So it took some time and deliberate effort for him to develop true linebacker instincts.
The belief is that he has them now.
“Tae has taken ownership in his job,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said this week. “He's become much better at being able to adapt to change within a game, within a play. Something checks, something changes, so many formations you get from offenses nowadays and so much complicated scheme stuff, (but) he's able to help get us right. … So he has grown at that. I think the fact that he's gotten better at that allows him to make some plays.”
Crowder concurs and credits others for his improvement.
“I’ve just got to thank the coaches for helping me and the scout team for giving us a great look,” Crowder said. “A lot of what we see in practice we’re seeing in the games and it pays off.
Again, Crowder always has shown flashes of being a dominant force at Georgia’s weakside linebacker position. Last season, he looked like he’d been shot out of a cannon after snagging a midfield interception against Missouri. He returned the ball 43 yards before he was knocked out of bounds inside the 5. Crowder also had an interception against Massachusetts and returned it 13 yards before getting dragged down.
Crowder's teammates believe it’s just a matter of time before he gets to show off those running-back skills again this season.
“People told me he played running back before and I really didn’t understand that until one day at practice he was actually playing running back,” junior defensive back Mark Webb said. “Once I saw that, I could kind of see his vision and stuff. He always knows where the back’s going.”
Said fellow inside linebacker Monty Rice: “Tae’s a hard worker. He does what he’s supposed to do every day. So, it’s not surprising” that he’s playing well.
As a result of his improvement, Crowder has been able to stave off a host of talented young challengers to start all four games this season. He’s expected to start again Saturday night when the Bulldogs take on Tennessee, though Georgia routinely plays five and sometimes six players at the two inside positions.
With 17 tackles to his credit one-third of the way into the regular-season schedule, it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that Crowder earns all-conference honors. At the very least, a serious shot at playing on the next level after college seems plausible.
“I can't compare him to other guys because I'm not watching all the other guys in the league,” Smart said. “I don't think he would be concerned with all those things right now. He's trying to play his best football for his teammates, so that we can be successful on defense.”
So far, so good.
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