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.
That led to immediate speculation that Baker, who has 116 tackles, 25 pass breakups, seven interceptions, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries in 51 college games, had changed his mind.
Baker is the No. 11 overall prospect for the 2019 NFL draft, according to longtime ESPN analyst Mel Kiper, and the No. 2 cornerback behind Greedy Williams of LSU. Williams is a redshirt sophomore who is forgoing his final two seasons of eligibility, and he is sitting out LSU's Fiesta Bowl matchup on Tuesday against Central Florida.
"It was really important to him that he stay with the team," Smart said of Baker. "We support him as a coaching staff to be around this team. He wanted to come on this trip to help the other corners."
Said Bulldogs senior defensive end Jonathan Ledbetter: "He's just in a situation where he's really blessed right now."
Georgia is expected to start redshirt freshman Eric Stokes and true freshman Tyson Campbell at cornerback against the Longhorns, who are led by the towering receiver duo of 6-6, 215-pound Collin Johnson and 6-4, 220-pound Lil'Jordan Humphrey. Johnson and Humphrey have combined for 144 receptions.
Texas enters the Sugar Bowl with a 9-4 record this season under second-year coach Tom Herman. The Longhorns were just 16-21 under Charlie Strong from 2014 to '16, and they were 7-7 under Herman after this season's team opened with a 34-29 loss at Maryland.
The Longhorns then reeled off six straight wins, including a 48-45 upset of Oklahoma, but they couldn't knock off the Sooners a second time in the Big 12 title game, falling 39-27.
Herman was asked Thursday whether his second Texas team had overachieved.
"We're winning games on toughness," Herman said. "We're winning games on attitude and physicality. We're winning games this season because we genuinely love the guy next to each other and we don't want to let them down. That motivates us more powerfully than any self-centered motivation.
"We know that our best is good enough and that it always has been, but we also we need to play our best to beat such a formidable opponent as Georgia."
The Bulldogs, meanwhile, are trying to bounce back from their 35-28 loss to Alabama in the Southeastern Conference championship game, which the Bulldogs led by 14 points on two occasions. Georgia is 11-2 and seeking to become the fifth team in program history to win at least 12 games.
"This game means a lot," Bulldogs quarterback Jake Fromm said. "We're going to come out, fight and hopefully win a big football game. It might show that we possibly could have been in the final four."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.