Senior cornerback Deandre Baker was Georgia's most notable player who decided in January the NFL could wait and that he wanted to play one final year in college.
During last Saturday's 41-17 win at South Carolina, Baker got a taste of what Sundays could be like down the road.
The 5-foot-11, 185-pounder from Miami played boundary corner against the Gamecocks and had multiple matchups against senior receiver Deebo Samuel. The 6-foot, 210-pound Samuel made six catches against the Bulldogs but for only 33 yards, with a long gain of 10.
"It was a great challenge, because he's a really good receiver and a good guy," a smiling Baker said after the game. "With the ball in his hands, he can make plays. Everyone in the country knows that, and I was just blessed to get the opportunity to lock him down."
On the game's second play, Jake Bentley's pass to Samuel was broken up by Baker. On the ensuing snap, Bentley threw incomplete to Samuel again, but Baker was flagged for interference.
"That ball was way over his head," Baker said, still smiling.
South Carolina's opening possession ended when Baker intercepted Bentley and raced down the sideline for what appeared to be a 56-yard touchdown return. Baker, however, celebrated too soon and dropped the ball at the 1-yard line.
Inside linebacker Juwan Taylor, who was following the play, picked up the ball and was credited with a 1-yard interception return.
Baker drew a second interference penalty later in the first quarter while covering Samuel, and Samuel's 10-yard reception came on the final play of the opening quarter with Baker defending. Despite the early clashes, Georgia coach Kirby Smart does not believe the Gamecocks set out to try to attack Baker.
"I don't know if they were challenging Bake as much as that's where the reads went," Smart said. "Most of those balls were thrown into the boundary, and he was in the boundary."
Smart is thrilled to have a veteran such as Baker in his secondary after the departures of Aaron Davis, Malkom Parrish and Dominick Sanders from last season's Southeastern Conference champions. Baker was a quiet three-star member of Georgia's signing class in 2015, when Smart was still at Alabama as Nick Saban's defensive coordinator.
That year, the Crimson Tide signed defensive backs Minkah Fitzpatrick, Ronnie Harrison, Deionte Thompson and Kendall Sheffield, who transferred and is now starring at Ohio State, but Smart very much remembers Baker.
"We evaluated him at Alabama and thought he was a really good player," Smart said this week in a news conference. "We didn't pursue him as hard as we did some other guys and were probably wrong on that. He had track speed and could fly.
"The first things you look at with a corner are size and speed, and he checked off both boxes."
Baker played sparingly for Mark Richt's last Georgia team in 2015 and worked his way into the starting lineup four games into the Smart era. He had a fantastic junior season a year ago, compiling 44 tackles, nine pass breakups and three interceptions.
There had not been the hype of any one-on-one showdowns involving Baker until last Saturday, which provided plenty of entertainment.
"He set the tone and went out and handled himself just like we all knew he would," Georgia junior running back Elijah Holyfield said after the game.
Said Baker: "These are the kind of matchups I cherish."
Eyes on Florence
University of Georgia and Middle Tennessee State University officials are monitoring the track of Hurricane Florence as it relates to Saturday night's game at Sanford Stadium, which is scheduled to kick off at 7:15 on ESPN2.
Clemson announced Wednesday afternoon that its game Saturday afternoon against Georgia Southern had been moved up from 3:30 to noon. Moving up the start time of the MTSU-Georgia game is a possibility as well, with a decision expected today.
"Whenever game time is, I'm there," Georgia sophomore quarterback Jake Fromm told reporters after Wednesday's practice.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.