ATHENS — Joenel Aguero had to wait a little bit longer to make his first career start.
The sophomore defensive back missed Georgia’s game against Clemson due to a soft tissue injury he picked up a week before the season opener.
Georgia had to scramble against Clemson, but Aguero was healthy enough to start against Tennessee Tech.
“It felt great, I was really excited, I worked a lot for that,” Aguero said.
The sophomore made an immediate impact for the Bulldogs, as he had a tackle for loss on the game’s first play.
Aguero finished the game with 2 tackles but most importantly, he finally got a chance to show what he could do in Georgia’s secondary.
Aguero learned a lot from watching Tykee Smith a season ago, where the senior led Georgia in interceptions and tackles for loss. The hope is that Aguero is able to translate what he learned onto the field for Georgia.
“He went every rep last year behind Tykee,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “Usually in our defense if you can do that for a year, you can grow and get better, and he’s done that. I mean, the jump he made this past spring was just really incredible.”
With Aguero back in the fold, it gives Georgia’s secondary another talented playmaker. The Bulldogs moved Malaki Starks in star for key stretches of the Clemson game, which allowed Georgia to get reps for freshman KJ Bolden. Add in senior Dan Jackson and Georgia has a number of defensive backs who can shut down the middle of the field.
Talent has never been a concern for Aguero, with Smart even acknowledging that the sophomore from Massachusetts may have more talent than the now Tampa Bay Buccaneer.
But now with a year and change of experience in the Georgia defense, the Bulldogs feel they can trust Aguero to make the right play and contribute to winning football.
“That’s the unselfish nature of our business. I watched Dan really help Malaki, and Malaki ended up taking over for him and got a lot of playing time in his place,” Smart said. “But Dan never blinked about it, and that’s just the culture of our place.”
Georgia’s secondary hasn’t yet been truly tested, Smart admits. Kentucky might not be able to do so on Saturday, as the Wildcats had just 44 yards passing against South Carolina last week.
Aguero will get to face off against a quarterback he knows well in Brock Vandagriff. The two matched up often last season when both worked on the Georgia scout team.
The Georgia defensive back was quick to remind reporters that while Vandagriff is capable of making plays, Aguero won plenty of battles against Vandagriff as well.
And he hopes to do so again this coming Saturday.
“He’s tough. He’s physical. He seeks contact,” Smart said. “He has learned our defense. You know, he was a kid that was really talented coming out of high school. He was talented last year, but he wasn’t knowledgeable of the football concepts we do. He’s taken a lot of reps.”
