Dominic Lovett playing his part ahead of matchup with former team

ATHENS, Ga. — They say it just means more in the SEC, and that’s certainly been true for a few Georgia contributors the last couple of weeks. First it was quarterback Carson Beck, returning to his hometown of Jacksonville to lead the Bulldogs to a win over arch rival Florida. Now, it’s wide receiver Dominic Lovett‘s turn to have his special day as he faces off against his former team in a major matchup on Saturday.

Lovett, a St. Louis native, spent the first two seasons of his collegiate career in Columbia, leading Missouri in receiving in 2022 with 56 catches, 846 yards and three trips to the end zone. The Tigers played in a pair of bowl games during Lovett’s two years, but last December, he decided something fresh was needed.

Enter Georgia into the mix. The Bulldogs added both Lovett and Mississippi State transfer Rara Thomas after each led their respective SEC squads in receiving last season. So far, it’s been a move that’s paid off with Lovett second on the team for both receptions (35) and yards (365) and Thomas not far behind in fourth (17 catches, 275 yards). Each has one touchdown.

“I think he’s fired up for every game. Dom’s a great kid,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said on Monday, asked if he’s seen any different emotion out of the seemingly quiet pass catcher. “He’s a quality young man and he works really hard. He’s busted his butt since he’s been here, he’s very humble, and bought into what we’ve asked him to do and has been very selfless. He’s trying to improve his game as a blocker, it’s one of the things he had to work on, but I’m not overly concerned about that.”

Lovett’s teammates agree with the assessment of their coach. They saw the kind of impact he could have from afar last season as he had a big day against the Bulldogs. That only added to the excitement of his arrival.

“When he first came to Georgia, the first thing I noticed about him is just that he was really quiet as far as he wasn’t the first one to speak,” Georgia offensive lineman Sedrick Van Pran said. “In conversation, he wasn’t the first one to be loud, say something. He wanted to learn, listen, and just observe, just kind of learn the way that we’ve been doing things for previous years and kind of be a part of that. I think he’s done a tremendous job of acclimating himself, without I guess changing himself, to what the Georgia standard is, what Georgia wants to be. I think that’s an amazing thing.”

“I’m sure he wants to play well in this game with this being his old team,” Van Pran added. “Ultimately, I do know Dom and I do know that winning the game is more important to him than anything. If he has to play the game and he gets zero receptions, zero targets, whatever it may be, but we win the game, I know No. 6 will be happy.”

As for Lovett himself, he spoke with reporters last week ahead of Georgia’s matchup with Florida. He’s not expected to do so this week. And while his focus was on the Gators, it was clear that the upcoming Missouri matchup had crossed his mind a time or two.

“We’ll kind of leave that game where it’s at and just focus on Florida because we can’t look past Florida,” Lovett said. “Florida is a very old-school, roughneck team, so we can’t look past them … You can’t really look past them. But to answer your question, I am excited to play Mizzou.”

Kickoff time for Saturday’s top-15 showdown between the Bulldogs and Tigers is set for 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS. The top spot in the SEC East is up for grabs with the winner having an inside track to a trip to Atlanta and a spot in the SEC Championship Game.

Georgia opened as a large favorite, and while the line has come down some, Kirby Smart’s squad is still considered to have a nearly three-score advantage according to Vegas Insider with spreads ranging from 15.5 to 16.5 points in favor of the Dawgs.