Kirby Smart names Trevor Etienne his MVP for gutsy, emotional performance

ATLANTA, Ga. — Kirby Smart didn’t get a vote for who won MVP of the SEC Championship Saturday, but if he did, he would’ve voted for Trevor Etienne.

It’s no disrespect to Daylen Everette, who did win the MVP award. The defensive back was deserving of the honor with two interceptions in the 22-19 win over Texas. Etienne though found the end zone twice, and you could make the case winning this game meant more to him than it did any other Bulldog.

“Man, great, man. I mean, a surreal feeling,” Etienne said. “There’s many feelings that feel better, man. This is why you come to Georgia. You know, you work all season for moments like this. Can’t do nothing but appreciate it and be proud of the guys, man.”

Etienne transferred from Florida to Georgia in the offseason. He made it clear at the time of his arrival he was looking to play in championship settings like Saturdays. The Jennings, La. native remembers being on the wrong side of a state championship game in high school – embarrassed even to tell reporters the score. As he took the field at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, he wasn’t going to allow that to happen again.

“This is probably the biggest game of my life,” Etienne said. “Just to be able to win something like this is huge, man. You know, it’s something you remember forever. I know you all have probably seen Dillon Gabriel, his interview. He was like, ‘We’re chasing memories,’ and when he said that, it was like, man, I felt it. I’ll remember this forever. No matter what happens, no matter how many more games I win, I’ll remember my first SEC Championship.”

His first SEC Championship was memorable for many reasons. Etienne had missed Georgia’s last three games with a rib injury, battling the pain in his body since the start of November when the Bulldogs beat his former Florida team. He tried to give it a go against Ole Miss and eventually was shut down ahead of UGA’s matchup with Tennessee, a de-facto Playoff game for Georgia with two losses already. He was forced to watch from the sidelines then, and wasn’t going to miss this one now.

“He came and said, ‘Coach, I want to play this game. I came to this school because I want to win a championship.’ He stood up in front of the team and told the team, like, ‘I don’t know how y’all feel about this game because I haven’t been here. But y’all have played in it a lot, and I haven’t. And I want to play in this game. This game means something to me. I want to win this championship. It’s part of the reason that I came here. I want to win the SEC Championship,'” Smart shared about Etienne. “He spoke from the heart, and I knew right then, I said, this dude is going to play if he can. And he plays physical. He’s got cuts, and we’ve got good backs, but he made some special runs tonight that gave us some juice and energy. And he took some pressure off of Gunner.”

Etienne helped Georgia get into the end zone for the first time Saturday night, capping off the opening drive of the second half with a 10-yard score. It was big, not because it gave the Bulldogs the lead but also because it came with backup quarterback Gunner Stockton in the game.

“I mean, you go down at halftime. Last play you lose your starting quarterback, you know, they have every reason to quit. Everything’s going wrong,” Etienne said, recalling the early second half moments and Georgia’s resilient response with its backs to the wall. “Last week, the week before, something went wrong. You know, this team doesn’t give up, doesn’t give in, and that’s probably one of the best qualities about it.”

Etienne’s first touchdown was the first moment of resiliency the Bulldogs showed in a second half (and overtime) that featured several of them. For Etienne, his final act was the last play of the game – plunging into the end zone from 4 yards out to walk off the SEC Championship with a win.

“I mean, it was crazy, man. So, go in, we run the play. Man, great blocking. I see the back overrun it. I hit the backside. Man, then I’m, like, just laying on the ground. I throw the ball up, and then, like, everybody’s just standing over me,” Etienne recalled of his game-winning score. “Then, like, they pick me up off the ground, and the last thing I can remember is everybody was just hitting my helmet. I was trying to take it out and let y’all stop, y’all stop. But, man, this is a great feeling. You know, like I said, something I’ll remember forever.”

Etienne has been a spectator of SEC Championship Games before. He was forced to spectate Georgia’s important contests down the stretch of the regular season. Now, with the Bulldogs’ big win Saturday night, not only will they be going to the College Football Playoff, but also Etienne will get to be a part of it.

“I mean, it played a part in it,” Etienne said when asked if he came to Georgia primarily because of his Playoff desires. “Definitely wanted to compete in the bigger games. But, you know, just appreciate these moments, you know, just proud of the guys and proud of this team … Like I said earlier, I wanted this one bad. You know, like a lot of these guys, been to the SEC Championship, the National Championship. I’ve never experienced something like this.”

“I mean, I feel like that’s huge for us,” he added on the first-round bye that’s upcoming for the Bulldogs after winning the SEC. “You know, like I said, I just come back from an injury. There’s a lot of guys that have nicks and bruises. So, we want to get as healthy as we can to be our best moving forward.”

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