After helping guide Georgia to a 24-21 comeback victory over Cincinnati in Friday's Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, redshirt sophomore quarterback JT Daniels was asked about the past seven months with the Bulldogs after transferring from Southern California.
Daniels didn't play in any of Georgia's first six games but won the final four as the starter.
"At this point, I feel like I've been here for years," he said.
Friday marked the Bulldogs' third triumph in a New Year's Six bowl during the past four seasons, but it also represented the end of an unprecedented journey amid the coronavirus pandemic. Georgia players reported in early July and began a testing program like never before, and they wound up playing just three times in Sanford Stadium, their fewest home games since 1957.
Georgia never had senior day festivities due to Vanderbilt canceling the Dec. 19 matchup in Athens, but the Bulldogs did wind up playing 10 times.
"If you could just write a book on this season," Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. "It would be hard for me to imagine people being able to handle another year like this year back to back. I have no idea what the future holds, and I'm not suggesting anything. I'm not a medical expert, so I don't know where it's headed.
"When you talk across the board, you don't really know what your pain threshold is until you have pain. I'm not comparing this to pain, but when it comes to staying sane in a season, we've stretched that rubber band about as far as you can."
The Bulldogs began this season with aspirations of a fourth consecutive Southeastern Conference Eastern Division title and fell short after decided losses to Alabama, 41-24, and Florida, 44-28. That would seemingly make this season a disappointment, but perhaps that's where there is a disconnect between those who competed and those who watched.
Multiple Georgia players recently expressed unabashed pride in getting through a schedule given all the uncertainty that preceded the Sept. 26 opener at Arkansas as well as the weeks that followed.
"Every single day in our team meeting, Coach Smart would address us with a picture that would tell us to wear our mask and wash our hands," redshirt sophomore center Warren Ericson said. "That's what our team has been about since July, when we came back to campus. We wanted this season to happen, and we wanted to do everything we possibly could to make sure we were safe and could keep playing games."
Said senior defensive end Malik Herring: "Not knowing back in the summer was the hardest part. Some guys would be like, 'Man, we're not going to have a season.' Then it became a matter of whether people were going to do the workout or work out the next day or something."
Junior nose tackle Jordan Davis believes the constant adjusting will serve as a life lesson, and Georgia certainly didn't have it as rough - whether from a COVID-19 standpoint or success on the field - as others around the SEC.
"Look at the coaches who lost their jobs during this year," Smart said. "That shows it wasn't a free-pass year. For the guys who are organizing things and trying to stay on top of it and win games, it has been extremely competitive, and rightfully so, because we're paid a lot of money.
"To look back on this year, I definitely think this group will be remembered as a special group to endure what they've endured."
Ojulari declares
Redshirt sophomore outside linebacker Azeez Ojulari, who had three sacks and two forced fumbles in the Peach Bowl, announced Saturday through social media that he is declaring for the 2021 NFL draft.
"Playing between the hedges on Saturdays is something I'll be proud of forever," Ojulari said.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524. Follow him on Twitter @DavidSPaschall.