Georgia players committed weeks ago to at least one more go round in Orange Bowl
FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Much has been made of how transfer portal entries and opt outs will affect the Capital One Orange Bowl matchup between No. 6 Georgia and No. 5 Florida State. It’s a fair discussion. The Seminoles have been decimated by opt outs, the vast majority of their production on the offensive side of the ball and a substantial portion on defense.
The Bulldogs have been hit much harder by the portal, losing 17 scholarship players to transfer thus far plus their walk-on return specialist, Mehki Mews. They have just two opt outs at this point but they’re both quite large — star tight end Brock Bowers and highly-touted right tackle Amarius Mims.
But there’s still a game to be played and plenty of guys on each team to make it happen. The fact of the matter is that Georgia has had more opt outs in the past and that very well could have been the case this season. Senior running back Kendall Milton, however, sees things differently. There’s a chance to play football so his answer to the “why are you playing in the Orange Bowl?” question is a simple, “Why not?”
“It’s the last game of the season, just to be able to play again,” Milton said at the Le Meridien Dania Beach Hotel on Thursday. “That’s always a blessing to be able to come out here and put on a show. Everybody, we work so hard during the season. We work so hard really all year round to be able to have an opportunity to play a big game against a great team like Florida State, you can’t really ask for much more than that.
“I wouldn’t really see a reason not to play in this game, to be honest. Like I said, an opportunity to play against a great team. The season didn’t turn out how we really wanted it to but it’s still an opportunity to play a really good team. They went undefeated the whole season. They have a great roster. Top to bottom, they have great players so to be able to come out and play a team with the competitiveness. They have the same drive and tough team that we have so it’s really going to be a really tough game.”
Milton, who is listed as senior but has a year of eligibility left due to the COVID-impacted 2020 season, says he hasn’t yet come to a final decision on what he’ll do in 2024. Odds are that the bruising tailback will decide to enter the 2024 NFL Draft. Whether that ends up being the case or not, Milton made the commitment to play in this game just moments after Georgia’s loss to Alabama in the SEC Championship, a defeat that snapped an SEC-record 29-game win streak.
He’s not the only Bulldog who has every reason to sit but decided weeks ago that he would not. Fellow fourth-year playmaker Ladd McConkey, who has battled either back or ankle injuries for most of the season, also made that call. He says that a final decision has not yet been made on whether or not he will enter the 2024 NFL Draft but so long as he was physically able, McConkey was going to make sure he put that Georgia uniform on at least on more time.
“I told them from the get go, if I can get out there and I have a chance to play, I’m going to play,’ McConkey said. “Anytime I can play with my guys, I’m going to go out and do it. Yeah, leave it all out there and whatever happens after that happens after that. I’m playing football right now so lets go out there and lets go do it.”
