Senior Day is always special for players seeing their final action in Sanford Stadium.
For Jordan Davis, it meant a little bit more.
The big noise tackle has actually played a prominent role in Georgia’s goal line offense, but it was not until Saturday’s 56-7 win that he would experience the thrill of putting the ball in the end zone by scoring the first touchdown of his career.
The score, a 1-yard run in the first quarter, gave Georgia a quick 7-0 lead.
“We had been practicing that play this week,” Davis said. “In practice, we were saying, ‘Yeah, this is the one—this will get the crowd jumping.’”
That’s exactly what happened.
Following a 5-yard run by Zamir White to the CSU 2, Davis lined up in the backfield, taking the handoff before being knocked down at the 1.
On the next play, Davis lined up as the left-side tight end, but bounced back behind Bennett, lunging in for the touchdown as the Sanford Stadium crowd went wild.
“(Todd) Monken said on the headphones if we got—I don’t remember what the play before was—but we thought we might score there. We didn’t score, and we said if we got inside the two, we'd do it, and as fate would have it, I think it was on the three,” head coach Kirby Smart said. “He didn’t hesitate, and he did it, but it was probably a little far out for the first one, and I thought he almost scored there. But Coach Monken decided to call it again. I figured they knew what was coming, but I don’t know if it mattered. He was going to get his. He was going to get that ball across the goal line any way he could.”
Bulldog fans were not the only ones thrilled with the outcome.
The Charlotte native was mobbed by teammates, as he became the first Bulldog defensive lineman to score a touchdown since Jalen Carter last year against Tennessee.
“It’s a commitment for them to go down and work on offense. Jalen told us he wanted to catch a pass, so we flexed him out and let Jordan get the ball. We worked on ball security with him this week,” Smart said. “To be honest, I didn’t think we’d get a chance. It was almost fate that he got the opportunity, because we weren’t going to do it in the middle of the field. The opportunity arose. I thought it was a great idea, and he handled it well.”
Quarterback Stetson Bennett joked his only job was to make sure Davis knew what hand to have up first in order to take the ball.
The rest, he was going to up to the 6-foot-6, 340-pound superstar.
“I was like just get him the ball, just make sure he doesn’t fumble the ball,” Bennett said. “Hopefully, nobody took a picture right when I was handing the ball off because I looked pretty small.”
Davis’ big day was not done.
After the game, Davis paid a tribute of his own, leading his fellow seniors over to the Redcoat Band. There, Davis took to the podium to “lead” on one final serenade.
He also received his very own Redcoat marching coat. Yes. It fit.
“I don’t know where they found that at, but I’m just glad they had one in my size,” Davis said. “I’m definitely going to get it framed and put it up somewhere, whether that be my apartment or my mom’s house. But it’s really special. I carry that with pride, with great pride.”
Smart loved it.
“I think it’s a special honor. He’s got a lot of friends outside of football. Jordan is a worldly person, and he’s got a lot of friends in the Redcoat Band. He had brought up about having the opportunity to go over and honor them for what they’ve done for our team, the program, and the university,” Smart said. “They came up with a plan to do that and asked me if it was good. I thought it was a great idea for the seniors to pay their respects to the Redcoat seniors, because they also have people who won’t be back at Sanford Stadium. I thought it was a tremendous honor, and what better way than to have No. 99 up there conducting the band."
Of course, it’s what he’s done and continues to do on the field that brings Davis the most fame, and is a reason there are those who consider him a legitimate Heisman Trophy candidate for what he has meant to the Bulldog defense.
However, getting to score his first touchdown since a fumble recovery in high school was pretty cool, too.
“Yeah, I would say Zamir and the running backs and wide receivers are very lucky people to feel that exhilaration every time they score,” Davis said. “You know, tackles for loss and sacks are cool, but I think there’s something special with touchdowns.”
