ATHENS, Ga. - There is no college football rule stating that a player who moves from offense to defense is prohibited from ever touching the ball again.
Georgia redshirt junior inside linebacker Tae Crowder is proving that.
The former Peach State running back prospect out of Harris County High in Hamilton made his second interception of the season last Saturday in the 66-27 drubbing of UMass, returning the pickoff 13 yards to the 30-yard line of the Minutemen early in the third quarter. Crowder's first interception was accompanied by a 43-yard return in the 43-29 win at Missouri on Sept. 22.
"It's pretty fun," a beaming Crowder said Saturday night when discussing the thrill of possessing the ball. "Sometimes it feels surreal, but we practice that a lot, so I'm used to it. It's a good feeling."
Crowder, who also recovered a fumble during the 36-17 win over Florida on Oct. 27, has started two of Georgia's last three games entering this week's home finale against state rival Georgia Tech. The 6-foot-3, 235-pounder has totaled 36 tackles, three tackles for loss and a sack, and his two interceptions place him in a tie with senior cornerback Deandre Baker for the team lead.
"Tae has some elite ball skills," Bulldogs third-year coach Kirby Smart said. "Even when we were trying to move him to linebacker, he would double up and be a receiver and a running back for the scout offense. This was even when he was working at linebacker.
"He had a ton of one-handed catches, and he just has great ball skills."
Crowder has the task this weekend of trying to stop a Georgia Tech offense guided by senior quarterback TaQuon Marshall, his former Harris County teammate.
Marshall threw for 1,376 yards and 18 touchdowns as a Harris County senior, and he rushed for 1,436 yards and 12 scores. He was rated by 247Sports.com as a three-star prospect and signed with the Yellow Jackets in 2015.
After playing at running back as a freshman, Marshall became the third-string quarterback as a sophomore in 2016 and started the past two seasons.
Crowder rushed for 1,665 yards and 27 touchdowns as a Harris County senior and had 204 receiving yards and two scores. He also was a three-star recuit who had first committed to Georgia Southern before an opening developed in Mark Richt's final Georgia signing class.
Once with the Bulldogs in 2015, Crowder encountered a stacked backfield headed by Nick Chubb and Sony Michel and redshirted. He had two touchdown runs during the 2016 G-Day spring contest but moved to linebacker during the open date before the Florida game later that year.
"We used to face him when he was on the scout team," senior outside linebacker D'Andre Walker said. "I guess he just thought he wasn't going to be able to play at running back, but he's a pretty good athlete, so I'm not surprised at what he's done."
Said Crowder: "It was a really tough move, but the coaches stayed by my side and worked with me."
Crowder played in one game as a redshirt freshman, the 35-21 win over Louisiana, but appeared in all 15 last season and made seven tackles, including two in the 38-7 win at Georgia Tech. His biggest play occurred just before halftime in the Rose Bowl, when he recovered an Oklahoma squib kick that allowed Bulldogs kicker Rodrigo Blankenship to drill a 55-yard field goal that pulled Georgia within 31-17 of the Sooners in its eventual 54-48 triumph in double overtime.
His value this week is greater than ever, as the Bulldogs likely will be without sophomore inside linebacker Monty Rice, who started alongside Crowder in the 34-17 win at Kentucky on Nov. 3 but missed the UMass game with a foot injury and has not practiced this week.
The former running back wouldn't have been ready for this two years ago, but this isn't two years ago.
"I'm definitely happy with where I am," Crowder said, "and I really appreciate my coaches for taking me through the process and working with me day by day."
Odds and ends
Baker was named Tuesday as a finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award, which is given annually to college football's top defensive back. LSU's Greedy Williams and Notre Dame's Julian Love are the other finalists. Offensive line coach Sam Pittman has been named one of 15 semifinalists for the 2018 Broyles Award, which is presented to college football's assistant coach of the year. Pittman is among four semifinalists from the SEC, joining Alabama offensive coordinator Mike Locksley, LSU defensive coordinator Dave Aranda and Mississippi State defensive coordinator Bob Shoop. Smart said the Bulldogs go head-to-head more in recruiting with Auburn, Florida, Tennessee and South Carolina than they do against Georgia Tech.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.