Kirby Smart always seems to have an extra card to play on defense when Georgia needs it most, and Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins represented that ace in the hole on Saturday.

The Bulldogs defensive front was hardly perfect during the 43-20 win over Florida on Saturday, but it did come up with several big plays en route to a season-high 4 sacks and 8 tackles-for loss.

The play Ingram-Dawkins made in the second quarter was arguably as big — or bigger — than any other.

Florida was looking to stay in the game in the second quarter after Georgia took a 17-7 lead when Ingram-Dawkins struck, fighting off the block of right tackle Damien George Jr. as Graham Mertz set up in the pocket.

Ingram-Dawkins, who has been dealing with a foot injury, reached out and stripped the ball out of Mertz’s hand, leading to Marvin Jones Jr. fumble recovery at the Florida 11-yard line.

It was the first fumble recovery of the season for the Georgia defense, and it could not have come at a better time.

Four plays later, Daijun Edwards scored his second touchdown of the day on a 2-yard run and Georgia was in complete control up 24-7.

“He was an added boost for us, just morale wise, to get a guy back that we think could have had one of the best years and he hadn’t been able to,” Smart said.

“So I was really proud of him to get that sack and cause the first fumble of the season that we recovered.”

A lot of work went into Ingram-Dawkins even being available to make such a play, as he has been going through a long and likely exhausting period of rehabilitation while also keeping himself ready from a cardiovascular standpoint.

“He was back (practicing) during the week, (though) he’s not completely healthy,” Smart said. “We shut him down for six week,s and they felt like it was time for him to come back.

“He said ‘Coach this foot is either going to give, or it’s not, I can’t keep sitting, I’ve got to go play,’ so he felt really good this week, (and) I thought he was in very good shape.”

Ingram-Dawkins, who hails from Gaffney, S.C., looks to be another in a long line of Georgia football players who invests their time returning from injury and develops into an NFL talent.

The redshirt sophomore appeared in 14 of 15 games last season and was expected to play a more substantial role this season before injury his foot in the opening game.

Smart had said the defensive line would play the biggest role in determining the outcome of the game with Florida, and Ingram-Dawkins’ strip-sack did just that.