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Georgia

RB Josh McCray makes a difference for Georgia on Saturday

Jeremy Johnsonby: Jeremy Johnson9 hours agoJeremyO_Johnson
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Georgia running back Josh McCray celebrates one of his two touchdowns. (Photo by Lance McCurley of UGASports.com)

Since Josh McCray transferred to Georgia from Illinois during the offseason, he’s been waiting for his time to make an impact for Georgia.

He missed a lot of camp due to illness. He’s had little impact on the first bit of Georgia’s 2025 season. He came into Saturday’s game with three carries for five yards.

The role was different for McCray on Saturday. He scored the game-winning touchdown in overtime to help Georgia to the 44-41 win over Tennessee in Knoxville. McCray carried the ball seven times for 17 yards and two touchdowns on Saturday.

Georgia head coach Kirby Smart wanted to get McCray involved on Saturday. He feels the 6-foot-1, 235-pound running back can be an impactful piece of Georgia’s offense.

“Big man, he was a difference maker,” Smart told reporters after the game. “We thought our advantage was our conditioning. We felt like we were a better-conditioned team. And I really thought there after the first drive of the second half, all right, here we go. We’re getting ready to rock-and-roll and trot them. But they bowed their neck. They’re a playoff football team, and they stopped the run some and forced us to do different things. But, McCray was great today. He was really instrumental. I told him a number of times, I said, guys, let’s get this big guy going. And, of course, Nate (Frazier) had the big run, and then he came in and finished it off. He’s a great complement to what we have.” 

Georgia rushing attack as a whole flashes

Georgia ran for 198 yards as a team. That was big in Smart’s eyes. Georgia’s identity offensively starts with the run game.

“Well, that’s who we are,” Smart told reporters after the game. “If we’re going to be good this year. We’re going to have to run the ball. We’re not going to drop back 35, 40 times a game with Gunner and be a drop-back past him. We can’t play behind in games, we can’t do that. We have to be able to play action, run, let our quarterback make some designed runs, which he did. It worked to perfection, other than the fact that we couldn’t stop them defensively.”

Georgia gets a week off next week. The Bulldogs host Alabama on Sept. 27 at Sanford Stadium in Athens.

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