ATHENS, Ga. - The Georgia Bulldogs had to play one football game this season on a Sunday.
Isaiah McKenzie wishes there had been a second.
Georgia's 5-foot-8, 175-pound junior receiver wanted to play immediately after the 17-16 upset loss to Vanderbilt in Sanford Stadium on Oct. 15. On Georgia's last offensive play against the Commodores, McKenzie was stuffed for no gain by linebacker Zach Cunningham on a fourth-and-1 from Vanderbilt's 41-yard line with 1:01 remaining.
"I wanted to rush the bye week," McKenzie said. "We made the best of the bye week, but we're ready to play Florida and get this loss off our shoulders. We go into this game with high hopes and just want to come out and play our best Georgia football this Saturday."
Saturday's trip to EverBank Field in Jacksonville will mark Georgia's eighth game, but McKenzie already has packed a season's worth of memories into this year.
McKenzie had six catches for 122 yards and a touchdown in Georgia's 33-24 opening win over North Carolina, and he topped that with a 10-catch, 122-yard, two-touchdown performance in the 28-27 win at Missouri. Georgia's biggest highlight so far this season is McKenzie's 20-yard scoring reception from Jacob Eason on a fourth-and-10 with 1:29 remaining against the Tigers.
Yet the week after starring at Mizzou, McKenzie dropped a touchdown pass as Georgia was trying to stop the bleeding in a 45-16 loss to Ole Miss.
He fumbled a punt return that nearly cost the Bulldogs in their second-game escape of Nicholls State, but Vanderbilt's fourth-and-1 stop is the toughest play he's dealt with.
"I've had my highs and my lows, and I just have to get better each and every day," he said. "This last play really took a toll on me, and I've made a conscious effort to never let my teammates down again."
Though McKenzie's production has dipped since the win at Mizzou - he has 12 catches for 110 yards and a touchdown in Georgia's last four games - he remains a Swiss Army knife on an offense seeking to pack an effective ground game and aerial attack in the same 60 minutes.
McKenzie leads the Bulldogs with 30 receptions for 415 yards and five touchdowns, and he also has 15 carries for 74 yards (4.9 per carry) and a score.
"He comes up to about my waist out there, but he's quick on the edge, and we like to get him the ball," fifth-year senior right tackle Greg Pyke said. "When we block the right guys up front, he's very dangerous."
Said senior safety Quincy Mauger: "Isaiah has been a great weapon, whether catching the ball, blocking or carrying the ball."
McKenzie is too active on Georgia's offense not to produce another memory of some sort this weekend.
As a four-star prospect at American Heritage High in Miami, McKenzie did not receive a scholarship offer from Georgia until two days before national signing day in February 2014. McKenzie was overshadowed in a crop that contained the tailback tandem of Nick Chubb and fellow American Heritage teammate Sony Michel, but he quickly proved his worth on special teams, returning two punts and one kickoff for touchdowns as a freshman.
McKenzie added two more punt returns for scores a year ago as a sophomore, including a 53-yarder at Auburn that was the difference in a 20-13 triumph, but this has been his most versatile and productive season to date. Beating the home-state Gators would be a first for him, and it would erase a taste he's had to endure for nearly two weeks.
"If we were to win this game, it would show that we have a good team and that we're capable of playing with anybody in the SEC," he said. "Sometimes you come up short. You come up 1-yard short. You come up short with a Hail Mary.
"Beating Florida is definitely our objective this week."
The Bulldogs (4-3, 2-3 SEC) continued preparations for the No. 14 Gators (5-1, 3-1) on Wednesday with a two-hour workout in full pads.
Unhappy returns
Georgia coach Kirby Smart was a redshirt freshman in 1995, when Florida came to Athens and won 52-17.
"I was, unfortunately, the kickoff-return guy," Smart said Wednesday, "and when you're the kickoff-return guy and they score 50-something points, you have a lot of kickoff returns and wake up really sore the next day."
Smart had five kickoff returns for 106 yards against the '95 Gators, who won their first 12 games before losing to Nebraska in the national championship contest.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.