D’Andre Swift is now carrying this Georgia offense on his own back
Kirby Smart ran toward the student section at Sanford Stadium to join the players celebrating Georgia’s 19-13 win over Texas A&M and leaped upon the broad shoulders of tackle Isaiah Wilson.
Smart chose Wilson undoubtedly for two reasons. One, at 6’7” and 345 pounds and less body fat than your average placekicker, Wilson is amply equipped to shoulder an old free safety. Two — and far more important than one — Smart’s landing place was not named D’Andre Swift.
Lord knows, Swift already has enough burden to bear. He had just completed three hours of carrying an entire offense on his back.
Swift’s statistics against the Aggies were impressive: 103 yards rushing, 29 yards receiving. It pushed his season rushing total to 1,130, surpassing last year’s 1,049, and his career total to 2,797, quietly moving past Knowshon Moreno for seventh place in Georgia history.
Swift ranks third in the SEC in rushing yards behind Mississippi State’s Kylin Hill (1,125) and LSU’s Clyde Edward-Helaire (1,130). A rushing title is not out of the question, especially since the SEC Championship Game stats will count toward the season total.
But raw numbers alone do not begin to measure Swift’s importance to the Bulldogs. As the passing game was mysteriously atrophied from respectable to underachieving to now abysmal, opposing defenses are loading up more and more to stop Swift and Brian Herrien.
“I don’t think the guy gets enough credit,” Smart said. “It just baffles me. I guess the expectation is that he’s going to have 250 and 300. But I don’t even know in the SEC who is even close to him in rushing yards. What back out there is putting out 100-yard games against these caliber of defenses? I mean, it’s crazy to me what he’s been able to will himself to do. He made two catches tonight — shoestring catch, barely got his hands on one for the huge conversion. His passion comes out in the players, and I love him for it. I mean I love him for it. I think he’s been a tremendous competitor and he affects everybody around him.”
Swift has produced at least 100 yards total offense in seven of Georgia’s eight games against Power Five opponents. The lone exception was against Missouri, when he had only 12 carries and no receptions. Even then he produced 83 yards.
One of Swift’s guttiest games was against Florida. He ran for 86 yards — and that included a pair of five-yard losses and a 30-yard touchdown run nullified by a holding penalty — and 24 receiving yards.
After the game, Smart described Swift’s numbers as “hard earned”
Quarterback Jake Fromm had the best game of the season to take the load off Swift. Saturday against Texas A&M was the opposite. As Fromm continued to misfire on his passes, Swift had to carry the offense. Again, the stats don’t tell the full story. One of his most impressive runs came when he appeared trapped for a loss but hurdled an Aggie defender for a one-yard gain.
Later, after the Aggies had pulled to within six points and the defense wearing down, the Bulldogs desperately needed at least one first down to run the clock and give the defense a breather. On third-and-3, Texas A&M blitzed, forcing Fromm to quickly unload a pass toward Swift on the left sideline. Swift made a lunging catch and kept his balance enough for a 20-yard gain.
Sufficiently rested, the defense managed to get one more stop, giving the ball back to the offense with 4:26 left to play in the game.
They managed to get three first downs — one on a run by Herrien, the other two on runs by Swift — forcing the Aggies to burn their timeouts.
That final drive was not without a dramatic moment. After Herrien’s first down run, Swift returned to the game. Fromm waited until the last second to call for the snap. Texas A&M played his hand and switched the defense just before the snap, and engulfed Swift. He lashed at Fromm after the play, but later said it was all in frustration.
“Frustration on both sides,” Swift said. “We want to win. We want to succeed on offense. We weren’t doing that at the time. Just competitive guys arguing going back and forth. But it’s over ‘cause I love him.”
Fromm offered a similar explanation.
“I think it’s just two competitors that want to compete and do the right thing for the offense,” Fromm said. “The clock is ticking, they showed a blitz there at the last second and I didn’t have enough time to change it. That’s part of the four-minute scenario, trying to milk out the clock and two guys want to be really competitive and win a football game.”
It very well could have been his last game at Sanford Stadium. He’ll likely be the first or second running back taken in the NFL draft, according to most draft analysts. That, he insisted, is a decision that he hasn’t contemplated.
“I’m not sure. I’ll think about that when it’s time to think about it,” Swift said. “We’ve got a season to finish.”