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Trevor Etienne is grateful to be playing for the Georgia football Bulldogs. The star running back missed the last three games with a rib injury, but he returned with a vengeance in Saturday's SEC Championship game against Texas.
Etienne carried the ball 16 times for 94 rushing yards and two touchdowns, the second of which was the game-winning score in the 22-19 overtime victory. Last season, he watched Georgia and Alabama compete in a hard-fought battle for conference supremacy, while his Florida Gators languished at home after limping to a 5-7 record. He could not help but recognize the jarring difference between both experiences.
“I’ve never been a part of something like this,” Etienne said while reveling in the biggest win of his college career (so far), via @CBrinson47.
Trevor Etienne broke some hearts in Florida
Now, Etienne's words may seem innocuous, but Gainesville might interpret them another way. Etienne miffed a significant chunk of Gator Nation when he announced his intent to enter the transfer portal. A year to the day of that decision, he wins the SEC championship while wearing red and black. Despite Florida's strong finish to the season, old wounds are bound to open up to some degree.
Billy Napier's program is undeniably moving in the right direction after upsetting LSU and Ole Miss in November, but Georgia football is on the top of the league after beating the Longhorns for a second time this year. Trevor Etienne hopefully appreciates where he got his start, though.
The Jennings, Louisiana native rushed for 1,472 yards and 14 TDs in two seasons with the Gators before switching to the Bulldogs. He has found himself under fire throughout 2024, for various reasons, but he will be the talk of the town on this night.
An injured Carson Beck, who was sidelined nearly the entire second half, handed him the ball on what turned out to be the final play of the title game. In a situation where everyone knew Trevor Etienne would be getting the pigskin, No. 1 bulldozed his way into the end zone.
If he can maintain the splendid form he exhibited in Mercedes-Benz Stadium for the next month, Georgia may very well be celebrating its third national championship in four years. Florida is hoping it can launch itself back into such conversations in the near future.
