Justin Fields recalls hilarious fake punt at Georgia in SEC Championship game

The 2018 SEC Championship is remembered for a few reasons. A lot of focus was spent on the Jalen Hurts story, replacing an injured Tua Tagovailoa to grab Alabama another conference title. However, there were some quarterback storylines on the Georgia sideline as well with Justin Fields.

Unfortunately, the talking point had absolutely nothing to do with Fields playing quarterback. A freshman in the Georgia program, head coach Kirby Smart was looking to keep his Five-Star Plus+ prospect engaged. Fields was part of a fake punt package and it was deployed for the first time in Atlanta.

Georgia was around midfield, the score was tied at 28, and just over three minutes remained on the clock. Not even Fields thought running the play was a good idea as Alabama was easily able to sniff out the fake punt.

“In that time, when he said that play was coming up,” Fields began. “I was about to ask him ‘coach, are you sure?’ But at that time, the competitor in me was just like ‘he called the play, let’s go.’ I was this close to asking him ‘coach, are you sure you want to do this?’

“And right when I got on the field all the Alabama players are pointing at me. ‘Hey, hey, hey. It’s a fake, it’s a fake, it’s a fake.’ They knew it was a fake. I’ve never been out there on punt. The first time in my life I have been out there in a punt formation.”

Fields maybe made it back to the line of scrimmage, falling well short of the first down. Hurts scored his famous game-winning touchdown around two minutes later. Alabama was off to the College Football Playoff while Georgia was off to a New Year’s Six Bowl.

The stat line from Fields in the SEC Championship is not the most inspiring one. He did not complete his lone pass of the afternoon while rushing for six yards on three attempts — including the fake punt. Fields did not have an impact against Texas in the Sugar Bowl either, leaving Georgia soon thereafter.

“It played out like it played out and I was gone after the Sugar Bowl,” Fields said.

The decision to leave Athens was ultimately the right one, playing for Ryan Day at Ohio State. He enjoyed success with the Buckeyes by winning two Big Ten Championships and even winning a CFP game. Of course, the ultimate goal of making the NFL came to fruition as Fields is considered the franchise guy for the Chicago Bears.