ATLANTA - Kendall Milton still remembers the pep talks from Sedrick Van Pran.
The two came to Georgia together as part of the Class of 2020. They've been close ever since. But as Van Pran has become entrenched as Georgia's center, Milton has battled injuries for much of his Georgia career.
Before every game, Van Pran gave his friend some encouragement, messages such as "Hey brother, prove those people wrong" or "I hear what they're saying about you, but I know the real you." Those nuggets helped keep Milton's spirits high.
Now, Milton is playing the best football of his Georgia career as his fourth season as a Bulldog nears its end. The latest installment in Milton's hot stretch came against Georgia Tech, when he set new career highs in carries (18) and rushing yards (156).
"Really physical. He's getting his pads down, running through contact," Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said after the game. "He breaks a lot of arm tackles. You know, I saw two or three of their guys have to go out from having to tackle him, because he's really physical and downhill."
Over the last three games, Milton has rushed for 349 yards on 41 carries, an average of 8.5 yards per rush. He has also accounted for five touchdowns in that span. Against Ole Miss, Milton set a now-broken career high of 127 yards.
"It feels great, but the winning feels even better," Milton said of his recent play. "I feel like Coach Smart, he’s really put it into perspective. I feel like I’ve really seen this throughout my past years at Georgia that individual success is all good, but team success is what’s going to take you the furthest. I feel like everybody put that into perspective that it doesn’t really matter who gets the credit, which I feel like week in and week out that’s been shown."
Milton said practice this week set the tone for Saturday night's performance. The Bulldogs' Tuesday and Wednesday practices featured several periods devoted to physical play and running the ball. It showed in the play of the offensive line against the Yellow Jackets, as Georgia rushed for 262 yards.
The last chunk of that total came in those closing minutes. Looking for one more first down to ice the game, the Bulldogs gave the ball to Milton on second-and-8. He plowed ahead for the first down as multiple Yellow Jackets battled to get him on the ground.
Just as he has for the past month, Milton ran like a man possessed on that play. Van Pran has known he had it in him all along.
"To be there for a brother, to be there for a friend and help uplift him, to help him understand that you may be down now, but at some point you’ll be up and you’ll be helping us in ways that we could have never imagined," Van Pran said. "I think that was the biggest thing is just making sure that he never lost confidence in himself, because I knew who he was from the beginning."
