Dominic Lovett provides unique perspective on Georgia after offseason arrival

ATHENS, Ga. — Just about everybody in Athens remembers the way Georgia-Missouri went down last season. The Bulldogs needed a fourth quarter comeback to escape Columbia with a win over the upset-hungry Tigers, maintaining their undefeated record in the process. And while Georgia faithful certainly was happy to see their team on the winning end of the close call, new UGA wide receiver Dominic Lovett can’t say the same.

A transfer from Missouri, Lovett gave Georgia just about everything it could handle in the first half with six catches for 84 yards before exiting with an injury. Missouri’s offense wasn’t the same in the second half without the threat of Lovett, putting up just six points after leading by ten at the break. Now on the other side of things, Lovett looks back at that game as both a reminder that the Bulldogs are going to get everybody’s best and a statement on how tough it is to take them down.

“I actually took that game as an honor with them being undefeated and with them just winning the National Championship. I went out there and had fun, played ball,” Lovett said. “We (Missouri) were up. They (Georgia) came back and they won.”

“Honestly, I look at that game as a growing point, from being there and being here, that Georgia is one of those teams you’re going to have to play for four quarters. They’re never out of a fight. Of course we can go back to the Ohio State game. They’re never out of a fight,” he continued. “Seeing how so many of those players entered the draft from offense and defense, I feel like it was the coolest team to play. I felt like we got after them pretty good, and it was a good game. They came out on top. I had no bad blood. I just told them after the game that it was a good game and maybe we’ll catch y’all next year. I just so happened to end up here next year.”

The “we” and “they” of the equation have changed with his transfer. Announcing Georgia as his next destination back in December, Lovett got to work right away. He was with the team in the spring, adding another weapon to a receiver room that’s got a couple of them already.

“We felt like he gave us depth and a playmaker at a position that we needed it,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said. “We were going to lose some good wideouts last year. We’ve lost a couple the last couple years. We played against. We’d seen him in high school. We knew about him in recruiting. We saw what he did to us when we played him, and just felt like he was a really good player and a good asset to the program. Once we were around him and knew what kind of person he was and his family, we felt like he was a good fit and a good match.”

“It’s just a tremendous blessing,” he continued. “I think he’d be the first to tell you the demands and what we’re asking him to do every day at practice is taxing him more, but it’s making him a more — hopefully, to be more of a complete player, which is what he wanted.”

Lovett led Missouri in receiving last season with 56 catches for 846 yards and three touchdowns. He’ll look to do just the same this season, only beside Georgia’s top two pass catchers from a year ago – Brock Bowers and Ladd McConkey – plus other talented players like Mississippi State transfer Rara Thomas and returning Bulldogs Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint, Arian Smith and Dillon Bell.

“I felt that Georgia had a strong connection as soon as I entered the portal. When I came down here, they showed me around the facility, nutrition, the academics. It was basically everything I was looking for in a program,” Lovett said. “Their standard, of course how they develop young men and send them to the league, that has been at a very high level. Coach Smart, the coaching staff, everything was everything that I wanted. The transition has been exciting, actually. New people. New people to me. New friends. New brothers to be around. That was really the main part. As far as my growth, I can say from the weight room to on the field, everything, has just gotten better. I’m just stacking days, day in and day out.”

“I feel like I’m just another weapon added to an offense that already had plenty of weapons, which is why I can go back and say they welcomed me with open arms,” the transfer pass catcher added. “They did it two years and I wasn’t here, so I was just another weapon that they added. I can add another brother, another teammate, all pushing in the same direction.”

Lovett said he doesn’t focus on individual goals like leading the team in receiving yards but certainly has his sight set on one for the team: another National Championship. He wasn’t a part of the first two, so winning a third would get him a ring he’s been after.

“It drives me a lot, but that’s not something I’m really focused on. My focus is on our first opponent, which is Tennessee-Martin, prepping for them and getting ready for them,” Lovett said. “We can’t look past no opponent. I feel like we just got to take it one game, one practice at a time. That’s the ultimate goal. But we gotta take it one game, one practice at a time.”

Georgia opens the season in less than 10 days at Sanford Stadium against the UT-Martin Skyhawks. Kickoff time is set for 6:00 p.m. ET, streaming exclusively on ESPN+ and SEC Network+.