Trevor Etienne came to Georgia to win a championship, and the Florida transfer did his part to make that happen on Saturday.

Etienne scored the game-winning touchdown in overtime on a 4-yard burst, giving the Bulldogs a 22-19, walk-off victory in the SEC Championship Game.

“I Wanted it bad, man, I’ve never been a part of something like this,” Etienne said during his on-field interview with ABC after Georgia locked down a first-round College Football Playoff bye and a spot in the Jan. 1 Sugar Bowl.

“This is why you come to Georgia.”

And Etienne proved why Kirby Smart stood behind him and labeled him a leader throughout this season, even as Etienne battle shoulder and, most recently, rib injuries.

“I never felt better,” Etienne said, asked about his ribs after his 16-carry, 94-yard, 2-TD rushing effort and five catches for 28 yards.

“This is probably the biggest game of my life.... to be able to win something like this is huge. I’ll remember this forever.”

Etienne had missed the previous three games against Tennessee, UMass and Georgia Tech on account of the bruised ribs he suffered earlier this season and was listed as questionable for the SEC Championship Game against Texas.

Smart said, with all due respect to SEC Championship Game MVP Daylen Everette, he felt Etienne was also deserving of the honor.

“Trevor Etienne was the MVP because he came and said, ‘Coach, I want to play this game., I came to this school because I want to win a championship,’ “ Smart said. “He stood up in front of the team and told the team, ‘like, I don’t know how y’all feel about this game because I haven’t been here. But y’all have played in it a lot, and I haven’t. And I want to play in this game. This game means something to me. I want to win this championship. It’s part of the reason that I came here. I want to win the SEC championship’

“And he spoke from the heart. And I knew right then, I said, this dude is going to play if he can. And he plays physical. He’s got cuts, and we’ve got good backs. But he made some special runs tonight that gave us some juice and energy. And he took some pressure off of Gunner.”

Etienne said the whole team had a never-say-die attitude.

“Resilience,” Etienne said, asked about how this Georgia team overcame so much to win the SEC title.

“No matter the ups and down, no matter how tough the games, nobody folded, nobody gave up, nobody gave in.”

That was certainly the case on Saturday, when things looked dim after starting quarterback Carson Beck was knocked out of the game on the final play of the first half with the Bulldogs trailing, 6-3.

But Georgia, with back-up redshirt sophomore quarterback Gunner Stockton seeing the first meaningful action of his career, kept a bright outlook.

“Everybody came out with the mindset ready to go after halftime,” Etienne said. “We were down 6-3, nobody showed any signs of weakness, and that’s what I love about this group most.”

Etienne said Stockton, who was 12-of-16 passing for 71 yards and an interception, along with a pivotal 8-yard scramble in overtime that set up Etienne’s game-winning TD run, was ready for the moment.

“I’m proud of him, he works so hard, day-in, day-out,” Etienne said. “He comes in and works day to day, this goes to show how much work he put in, and I’m proud of him.”

Freshman tailback Nate Frazier, who has filled in for Etienne when the veteran UGA tailback has been injured, added 6 carries for 47 yards for a Georgia run game that out-paced Texas’ ground attack 141 rushing yards to 31 rushing yards.