Remember the notion when Jalen Carter was recovering from his ankle and knee injuries? Some suggested that the projected early first-round pick in the upcoming NFL Draft might sit out the rest of the year to save himself for the Combine

Per teammate Tramel Walthour, that idea never crossed Carter’s mind.

“He wanted to be out there with us bad, man,” Walthour said. “He’s one of our brothers, and he wanted to be out there with us. He was in the training room training every day, just trying to get back as quickly as possible.”

Carter has been back for three games now and each week he seems to be more dominant on the field.

After playing mostly on third down in the win over Florida, Carter saw extensive action against Tennessee and forced a pair of fumbles.

There was more of the same in Saturday night’s 45-19 win over Mississippi State. He created more havoc inside, finishing with seven tackles, including a sack for a loss of seven yards.

“He just brings us more energy,” Walthour said. “It gives us more confidence in the defense with him back out there.”

Head coach Kirby Smart is certain Kentucky will bounce back after last week’s loss to Vanderbilt.

“I know we'll get the response from them that you would expect out of a team the quality of Kentucky,” Smart said. “They've done a tremendous job the last two or three years with what he's (Mark Stoops) done with their program. He's built it through keeping players there, developing players, extremely physical and tough.”

Smart cited that toughness as one of the key components as to why he believes the Wildcats will be a big challenge for his Bulldogs (3:30 p.m., CBS).

“When you ask our kids over the last two years what the most physical game they played in—to a man, almost every one of them talks about how physical the Kentucky game was two years ago up there, and then at our place last year, when they went on a 20-something play drive against our defense to end the game,” Smart said. “Their defense is one of the tops in the conference year in and year out, and that way this year as well. So, it a great challenge for us to go on the road, tough environment, day game, and looking forward to the opportunity.”

The fact Georgia is having this kind of year without bringing in a single transfer has not been a subject lost to pundits in the college football world.

Smart helped spark this discussion during a recent on-field interview when he spoke about the love his players have for the university.

But as far as steps he and his assistants take when recruiting players willing to buy in, Smart said you just make the best evaluations that you can.

“No, I don't know that we're better at identifying 'em. I think we certainly delve into that conversation more than we used to. But I don't know that we're better at it,” Smart said. “There's no written script or perfect DNA quality. You assume all players you sign are unselfish and care about the program and want to be here no matter what. But let's be realistic, that's probably not going to be the case.”

Based on what Smart has seen, he and his assistants have hit more often than not, and that’s been huge for a program in the position where it currently finds itself.

“You do the best job you can and you try to move that needle while they're here, because I don't think people are where you can't change,” Smart said. “I think you develop that and you get buy-in and the older players sell it to the younger players, and you win some and you lose some.”

…On Jalon Walker, who is getting a look at outside linebacker: “Jalon has developed and is getting better and still got a ways to go, and he'll be the first to tell you he's got to grow and get better. He did get more opportunities the other night because of the passing situations they were in. But he's got to do more with those opportunities,” Smart said. “He's got to continue to grow. He has not taken what he does in practice to the field just yet. He practices sometimes better than he plays, and he's got to get through some of that anxiety, and that's part of being a freshman.”

.. Smart on keeping the players from getting comfortable: “Keep talking, recentering, coming back to the purpose and what we started all this about. We did have the good fortune of not a lot of these guys were major parts of the run that went on last year, so it was new for a lot of them,” Smart said. “The energy and enthusiasm toward making a mark themselves and creating their own identity was the lead factor. And sustaining that is, now we're getting in the fourth quarter. We're at the 15, 20-yard line trying to go finish off the regular season, and that's got to be sustained. So far, they've had a good attitude and they've approached each week independent of the previous.”

The Saturday, Nov. 26 football game between Georgia and Georgia Tech in Athens will kick off at 12:00 noon ET and be televised by ESPN, according to an announcement Monday by the Southeastern Conference office.

Georgia’s all-time record on ESPN is 60-34-1.