Georgia's 37-14 whipping of Louisville in last December's Belk Bowl clinched a 10-win season, but the triumph could not be enjoyed by all of the Bulldogs.
Safety Quincy Mauger suffered a concussion late in the second quarter and didn't know where he was.
"I actually remember what the call was and what the formation was, and I remember breaking on the ball," Mauger recalled by phone Thursday evening after the Bulldogs conducted their fifth spring practice. "At that moment, everything just kind of becomes a blink, a really long blink. When I woke up, I had trainers around me, and when I woke up again, I was on the sideline.
"That was the first time I had ever gone through that."
Mauger took more than a month to recover from the collision in Charlotte and could not run full speed at winter workouts until passing a concussion test.
The 6-foot, 199-pound junior from Kell High in Marietta is no stranger to perseverance. Since signing with Georgia in 2013, Mauger has watched six of his classmates from the secondary alone bolt with eligibility remaining -- Paris Bostick, Shaquille Fluker, J.J. Green, Brendan Langley, Tray Matthews and Shaq Wiggins.
Mauger made seven starts as a freshman under defensive coordinator Todd Grantham and seven again last season under Jeremy Pruitt. He has 108 tackles through two seasons and tallied a team-high four interceptions last year.
"It does feel kind of weird," Mauger said. "It's kind of like I'm the last guy standing, but the coaches always say that they're going to work with the people who stay here."
Georgia's fifth spring practice was also its second in full pads. The Bulldogs are scheduled to work out again today before holding their first spring scrimmage Saturday afternoon.
Coach Mark Richt said after Thursday's workout that sophomore tailback Sony Michel likely will be out the rest of spring workouts with a shoulder injury. Michel averaged 6.4 yards per carry last season (64 rushes for 410 yards) but missed five games due to injuries.
"He should be fine in a matter of weeks," Richt told reporters.
Odds and ends
Former Georgia tailback and 1982 Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker attended Thursday's practice. ... Two receivers, junior Charlie Hegedus and sophomore Shakenneth Williams, are sidelined for now with hamstring injuries.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.