Kendall Milton late-season surge comes at right time for Georgia

There aren’t many players across the country playing better football right now than Kendall Milton. The Georgia running back put up a career-high 156 yards on 18 carries Saturday night against Georgia Tech, finding the end zone twice while having a third trip called back. It comes just two weeks after he set the previous career-high with 127 yards and a pair of scores against Ole Miss on his Senior Day at Sanford Stadium.

Still, for as impressive as Milton’s been playing, there’s a strong shot he comes up empty handed in terms of SEC Player of the Week awards. That shouldn’t diminish what he’s been doing and what it means for the Dawgs headed into postseason play this Saturday.

“I’ve said it all year, we have so many guys that can step up and make plays when guys are out. That’s the standard here. Next guy up mentality, whoever is in is going to help make the plays to win,” Georgia quarterback Carson Beck said after Saturday’s win over the Yellow Jackets. “The past couple of weeks with him being healthy, it’s been a lot of fun to watch. It makes my job easier too. Credit to that o-line up there getting a push, but there’s so many times where he’s making one, two, three guys miss and then taking it 30, 40 yards. Big creds to him for making my life easy.”

“Really physical. He’s getting his pads down, running through contact. He breaks a lot of arm tackles. You know, I saw two or three of their guys have to go out from having to tackle him ’cause he’s really physical and downhill,” head coach Kirby Smart added. “But make no mistake about it: it’s not just him. It’s a lot of them dudes up there in front of him. It’s quarterback run-checking, front o-line moving people, tight ends and receivers blocking downfield. It’s a team effort, and he was a big, big part of that tonight. I mean, even Daijun had some good runs, but I thought Kendall was really physical.”

As for what Milton, who has scored in seven straight games, had to say after his career day, it’s all about the blessing of it. While he and his team are having success and he gets to be a big part of the reason why, Milton has his head on straight and isn’t taking it for granted.

“I said this before, every game before my game, I say my prayers and ask God, ‘Don’t let me do too much. Just let me do what you think I’m ready for.’ If God allows me to do the same thing next week, cool. If he doesn’t, cool. I know at the end of the day there’s always a bigger plan,” Milton said. “If I get in my feelings or get upset, the plan is always bigger than me, so I keep that in mind.”

Next up for Milton and the Bulldogs is an SEC Championship date with Alabama. It’s just the second time both teams have entered the conference title game with an undefeated record in league play, and a spot in the College Football Playoffs certainly seems to be on the line. Milton isn’t concerned about that. Again, he’s just counting the blessings of being in this situation.

“I’m very excited. This is the third SEC Championship Game I will have had a chance to play in, and it’s just a blessing to be able to play in games like these,” Milton said. “These are the games that I grew up as a kid watching, the games everybody was talking about. To be able to be in the opportunity I’m in now and go back to my phone and all my friends from high school and family around the country, they’re all blowing my phone up texting me, it means the world to me to be honest. I don’t feel like anybody pictures themselves in situations like this, but I have just kept my head down and continued to work. God did the rest.”

Kickoff time for Saturday from Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta is set for 4:00 p.m. ET on CBS. Georgia opened as a favorite of around 4 to 4.5 points, and according to VegasInsider, that number has jumped to 5 or 5.5 in some places.