Georgia senior cornerback Deandre Baker has reversed field and will not play in Tuesday night’s Sugar Bowl against Texas.
The Bulldogs arrived in New Orleans on Thursday afternoon, with coach Kirby Smart announcing that Baker made the trip but will not be suiting up against the Longhorns. Baker became the first Georgia player ever to win the Jim Thorpe Award as the nation’s top defensive back on Dec. 6.
“Deandre Baker is not going to play in this game,” Smart said in a brief news conference after the team plane touched down. “It’s a decision that he came to, and I don’t know what day last week that it was. It was somewhere around midweek. He was very honest about it. He was very concerned about it.
“We at the University of Georgia support his decision. It’s a tough decision when you look at it. He probably spoke prematurely at the Thorpe Award, but it was on his mind.”
Baker is believed to be the first Bulldog to bypass the opportunity to play in a bowl. The 5-foot-11, 185-pounder from Miami was not spotted during last Friday’s practice in Athens, which marked Georgia’s final on-campus workout that was open to the media.