Harris County’s Tae Crowder making most of the moment at Georgia

In Georgia’s Rose Bowl game last Monday, a redshirt sophomore from Harris County made a play that won’t soon be forgotten by the Bulldog faithful.

After Oklahoma scored a touchdown to take a 31-14 lead with six seconds left in the second quarter, Georgia linebacker Tae Crowder lined up as the middle man on the front line of the Bulldogs’ kick return team. The Sooners sent a squib kick flying off the tee, the intent being to drain the final seconds off the clock and go into halftime with a three-score lead.

Thanks to a timely play by Crowder, that 17-point lead didn’t last very long.

Crowder reached to his right as the football whizzed by, grabbing it and immediately falling to the field. Crowder’s heads-up effort gave the Bulldogs great field position with five seconds to go, enough time to get Rodrigo Blankenship in position for a 55-yard field goal.

Crowder’s play helped Georgia to go into the break trailing 31-17, giving the team momentum it rode into a wild second half and an eventual double-overtime victory.

“I think that play was just all instinct. I saw it and I reacted,” Crowder said. “I thought I was just making a play, but everyone was so excited about it. After the game, it just blew up from there.”

Crowder’s kickoff catch has been the highlight of his time as a Bulldog so far. After being a late add for Georgia in the Class of 2015, Crowder has dealt with a brand-new coaching staff and a position change over the course of three years.

Through it all, Crowder has tried to make the most of each moment, just as he did in Pasadena.

Switching spots on the field was nothing new for Crowder, who did the same his senior year at Harris County. New head coach Dwight Jones moved Crowder from wide receiver to running back, and the results were hard to ignore. Crowder rushed for 1,665 yards and 27 touchdowns for a Tigers team that reached the second round of the Class 5A playoffs.

“He just had a natural ability,” Jones said. “He catches the ball well. We tell our players now that Tae Crowder probably had the meanest stiff-arm I’ve ever seen on a high-school kid. You just watched the way he carried himself on the field and how hard he worked.”

Crowder’s play caught the attention of several schools, but Georgia wasn’t immediately among them. With his intent on staying close to home, Crowder committed to Georgia Southern on December 18, 2014.

Crowder’s plans to become an Eagle changed two days before National Signing Day. After Georgia lost commit Chris Carson to Oklahoma State, the Bulldogs came calling thanks to new assistant Todd Hartley, who recruited Crowder at Marshall.

Georgia head coach Mark Richt called Crowder that night with an offer, which he quickly accepted. After calling a Georgia Southern assistant to tell him about the change of plans, Crowder was Georgia bound.

“It was a special moment, man,” Crowder said. “I almost thought I was not going to go to UGA, but I had a deep feeling. Once I got the call, I was very excited.”

Crowder redshirted his freshman season at Georgia, Richt’s last in Athens. A stacked backfield left Crowder down on the depth chart in 2016 until October. At that point, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart sat down with Crowder and moved him to linebacker.

Crowder said the toughest part of the transition was learning the plays, but he made strides in that area on a daily basis. Smart praised Crowder’s progress the week after his move, and he played in his first collegiate game against UL-Lafayette on November 19.

“You never know how things are going to work out,” said Georgia running backs coach Dell McGee, who was the Georgia Southern assistant Crowder called the night he decommitted. “Tae’s doing a really, really good job of transitioning from running back to linebacker.”

Crowder had been relatively quiet this season until the Rose Bowl play that few will forget. Jones pointed at the grab-and-drop as an example of not only Crowder’s playmaking ability, but his unselfish nature.

“For Tae, I think the instinct could have been to run with the football because he was a running back. ‘Hey, let me show you I can still run the football, too,’” Jones said. “He went straight to the ground. I told my three boys who attend Harris County, ‘That play right there gave them the chance to win the game.’”

Crowder played a huge role in the Bulldogs’ latest win, but for him, it was more about making the most of his moment.

“I was just blessed to have that opportunity in that game,” Crowder said. “It was a special play, but it was special I was able to make that play, too.”

This story was originally published January 7, 2018 at 11:06 AM with the headline "Harris County’s Tae Crowder making most of the moment at Georgia."