For Georgia's Hudson, Rose Bowl twice-in-a-lifetime opportunity

For most of the Georgia Bulldogs, their visit to the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day will be their first visit to Pasadena. For Prather Hudson, it will be his second.

Hudson was a sophomore running back and defensive back at Brookstone four years ago – and a lifelong Auburn fan – when the Tigers played Florida State in the last BCS National Championship Game. So his family made the trip to Pasadena. While his mother Maxine and sisters Catherine and Camille “stayed in LA and did girl things,” Prather and his father Edward went to the game.

“The stadium is beautiful in Pasadena,” Hudson said. “They’re first class in everything they do. You can tell that even as a fan watching it.”

Although Auburn lost a heartbreaker, the Hudsons absorbed a once in a lifetime experience.

Or so they thought.

Never did they imagine they would return four years later, and certainly not like this, wearing red and black instead of blue and orange. This time, the whole family will be in the stands.

Well, except for Prather. He is now a redshirt freshman special teams player as an invited walk-on for Georgia. He starts on kickoff coverage and kickoff return teams, as well as the punt team. So regardless how the coin flip goes, Hudson will be on the field for the opening kickoff of the Bulldogs’ College Football Playoff semifinal against Oklahoma.

“I never thought I’d be back in that stadium. Georgia hasn’t been there since 1942. That’s pretty surreal that I’m going back, and not only going back but I’m going there and playing, which will be kind of fun.”

Yeah, kind of. Hudson’s journey to Athens is even more remarkable than Georgia’s trip to Pasadena. At Brookstone, he was an undersized running back playing in the smallest school classification in Georgia. He had good speed but not enough speed to stand out. He started working with Wallace Davis, the former Carver High coach, at Lakebottom, improving his take-off. Then he started training with Jordan Collins – four hours a day, six days a week. This, on top of taking Advanced Placement classes at Brookstone. Among his many high school awards was being named All-Region Two-Way Player of the Year and the Aflac Scholar Athlete of the Year. He made a recruiting video, and eventually some smaller schools started calling. He visited a few FBS schools: Vanderbilt, SMU and Air Force. But he decided on Davidson.

Then came a crazy turn of events. Georgia fired Mark Richt and hired Kirby Smart, who wanted to add depth at running back. Glenn Schumann, Georgia’s new inside linebackers coach, had heard about Hudson, did some due diligence, and recommended him to Smart. After talking to Hudson, Smart offered him a spot as a preferred walk-on. That means no scholarship money, but an assured spot on the roster.

As Hudson thought about it, he was inspired by the story of one particular former walk-on – Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield.

“He was definitely an inspiration the way he walked on,” Hudson said. “He made his way all the way up to starting quarterback at Texas Tech, then did the same thing at Oklahoma. I was like, ‘Heck, man, I gotta try something like that.’ Seeing that was definite inspiration for me.”

Hudson was red-shirted last season but he gained a lot of valuable experience on the scout teams. The coaches recognized him with two awards: scout team offensive player of the year and the Dawg Time award for effort and toughness. That earned him a chance to make several special teams this season. He picked up two more awards – the specials teams newcomer of the year and the Dawg Time again.

“It’s special when you get rewarded for all the hard work you’ve done,” Hudson said. “Coach Smart recognizes that when he sees it and he rewards all that hard work. It’s a mindset you have to set with yourself each and every practice. It’s kind of hard to do, especially when you’re in week seven and playing some team and you’re like, ‘Man, I do not want to go to practice.’ You just have to turn it on. It’s hard to do, but you get in a rhythm. I think that’s what’s helped me, and just taking one day at a time. That’s a big thing. If you think, ‘We have seven more weeks,’ that’s a huge mountain. I’m going to be exhausted.’ But if you just take Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, it’s a lot more manageable.”

His second college game ever just happened to be against Notre Dame in South Bend, and he was involved in a play that could have been heart-breaking. Notre Dame’s C.J. Sanders was spun to the ground on a kickoff return. Both elbows clearly touched the ground, and Hudson said he distinctly heard a whistle. But it happened so quickly that Sanders popped back up and appeared to have scored a touchdown. Hudson was the player closest to Sanders when he took off for the end zone. But the play was reviewed and Sanders was indeed ruled down. No harm, no foul, but a definite learning point for the freshman.

“I was sick. I was (thinking) if that happens I don’t know what I’m going to do,” Hudson said.

There were other cool moments – making his first college tackle against Tennessee in Neyland Stadium, having his best all-around game the next week at Vanderbilt, his first Georgia-Florida game, learning the importance of the Georgia-Georgia Tech rivalry.

His first time playing at Auburn’s Jordan-Hare Stadium wasn’t so fun. But avenging that loss by beating Auburn in the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta more than made up for it.

“I really think that game was a turning point for us and catapulted us into the next couple of games,” Hudson said. “I thought it was very important to learn those lessons and understand what happens so we could progress to the next stage.”

The return trip to Pasadena will be a lot different than sitting in the stands watching helplessly. But that game does serve as a reminder of the importance of special teams. After Cody Parkey’s field goal extended Auburn’s lead to 24-20, FSU’s Kermit Whitfield answered with a 100-yard kickoff return.

Since the Auburn loss, Smart has been emphasizing two concepts – playing physical and keeping composure. For Hudson and the Bulldogs, their focus is on one thing.

“Winning. Definitely. That’s what Coach Smart had really honed in on us. We’re not going out there to ride rides or to see all the sights and sounds. It’s fun to see all that stuff and definitely should be rewarded for all that, for all the hard work the team has done. But we’re out there to take care of business and do what we need to do and come out with a W.”

This story was originally published December 23, 2017 at 2:52 PM with the headline "For Georgia's Hudson, Rose Bowl twice-in-a-lifetime opportunity."