ATHENS — Monty Rice isn’t buying into the Georgia football “survival” narrative, a point he made clear and backed up Saturday night.
The Bulldogs beat Texas A&M 19-13 in yet another closely-contested game, but Rice takes exception to the notion Georgia was merely trying to hang on.
How Georgia beat Texas A&M 19-13, scoring, key plays and highlights
“I wouldn’t say we survived, I would say we fought to the end,” said Rice, who had five tackles including a tackle-for-loss.
“All these guys around here, all we’ve done this year, it’s not to survive, it’s to thrive and finish and fight to the end,” he said. “I wouldn’t say we survived it. I would say we’re warriors and we’re fighters.”
The No. 4-ranked Bulldogs (10-1) kept their College Football Playoff hopes alive with the win over Coach Jimbo Fisher’s No. 24-ranked Texas A&M football program.
Georgia plays at Georgia Tech at noon next Saturday to close the regular season before the SEC Championship Game on Dec. 7.
Quarterback Jake Fromm struggled to throw the football in the rain at times in the first half, missing two potential touchdown throws.
But Fromm was 7-of-10 passing in the second half against the SEC’s top pass efficiency defense, and the offensive line and running backs kicked into gear in the clutch.
Rice and the Bulldogs’ defense stiffened in the final minutes after the Aggies drove to the UGA 42.
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Senior Tyler Clark came up with a sack to take Texas A&M out of field goal range, and freshman Tyrique Stevenson had a third down pass break up.
Fisher said Texas A&M punted the ball back to Georgia with 4:26 left in the game and all three timeouts, thinking it was going to get the football back.
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But between Fromm’s passing, the offensive line’s blocking and hard-charging runs from D’Andre Swift and Brian Herrien, the Bulldogs ran out the clock.
“D’Andre Swift iced them with his runs, and Brian had a tough run,” Rice said. “I thought he got stuffed, but you know Brian always keeps his legs churning, and he was able to get the first down and keep the drive going and make them burn timeouts.
“When you sign your scholarship to play in his league, you sign up for games like that.”
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