Isaiah McKenzie continues to prove that size doesn’t always matter.
Take his two-touchdown performance in Saturday’s 35-21 win over Louisiana-Lafayette when he returned his fifth career punt for a touchdown, etching his name into the Georgia career record book.
Not bad for someone listed in the team notes as 5-foot-8 and 175 pounds.
“They never measure the heart by the height,” Bulldog head coach Kirby Smart said. “They don’t go by weight, either. I think over time he can wear down, get banged up if you use him too much but he’s got courage. He’s tough and he’s not afraid to stick it in there. I think you measure somebody by how much courage they have. Isaiah has great courage and we trust Isaiah a lot.”
It was a game McKenzie won’t soon forget.
On the game’s very first play, the junior took a pitch from quarterback Jacob Eason, picked up a huge block from tight end Jeb Blazevich and scooted untouched 55 yards for the score.
“Coach said it was going to be the first play of the game - that I was going to get the ball,” McKenzie said. “When I got the pitch, I saw that Jeb had a good block and it was up to me to hit the hole and run as fast as I could.”
For McKenzie, who finished with 164 all-purpose yards, his 55-yard run tied the team-long for the season.
His 82-yard punt return following Louisiana-Lafayette’s next possession was just as impressive, as it marked the second-longest by a Bulldog since Brandon Boykin brought one back 92 yards against Michigan State in the 2012 Outback Bowl.
It also enabled McKenzie to knock Boykin off the top of the heap as far as total punt returns brought back for a score as Saturday’s latest effort marked the fifth of his career. It also enabled him to move into a three-way tie with Vanderbilt’s Lee Nalley and Arkansas’ Joe Adams for the most in SEC history.
Oh, yeah, McKenzie’s six total returns for touchdowns (five punt and one kickoff) also stands as a new Bulldog mark.
“I’ve been thinking about it,” McKenzie said about his new record for punt returns. “After the game they told me I broke it, but I hope I’m not done yet. I’d like to get some more before I’m done.”
