AUBURN, Ala. - Isaiah McKenzie is listed as a sophomore receiver at Georgia, but he continues to prove that he's so much more.
The 5-foot-8, 170-pounder from Miami stood tall again in Saturday's 20-13 win over Auburn, tying the game late in the third quarter with a 4-yard touchdown run around left end. Then with 9:28 remaining, McKenzie returned a 46-yard Kevin Phillips punt 53 yards for a touchdown to give the Bulldogs their first lead of the day at 17-10.
"He outkicked his coverage," McKenzie said, "and coaches told me all week that if I get a pitch to hit that I better hit it, so that's what I did. My teammates had great blocks, and I got around the corner and scored a touchdown."
McKenzie's special-teams score tied two school records. It was his fourth career punt-return for a touchdown, tying the mark set by Buzy Rosenberg from 1970 to 1972, and it was his fifth career kick return for a score, matching Brandon Boykin's 2008-11 total.
In last year's victory at Kentucky, McKenzie returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown and returned a punt for a score. He got his third career punt return for a touchdown in September at Vanderbilt.
"I am kind of amazed," he said. "Coming out of high school, I didn't think I was going to do what I did last year. I came into this year with high hopes to do more."
McKenzie became the first player to return a punt for a score against Auburn since LSU's Skyler Green went 66 yards in 2005. Auburn had allowed just 31 yards in punt-return yards all season before McKenzie broke free.
"He's got nerve," Georgia coach Mark Richt said, "and you've got to have nerve."
Richt admitted that McKenzie was not making good decisions in returning punts in practice, so he replaced him several weeks ago with freshman receiver Terry Godwin. Yet Godwin struggled to be vocal enough when it came to letting teammates know where a short punt was headed, so McKenzie got the job back.
In addition to his deciding punt return, McKenzie had four rushes Saturday for 26 yards and two catches for 15 yards.
"They've got me everywhere," McKenzie said, "and I'm proud to be everywhere and help the team out the best way I can. I appreciate the coaches putting me in these situations."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfree press.com or 423-757-6524.