Georgia gets needed boost with JT Daniels, George Pickens in Orange Bowl fold

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Georgia football got a healthy — and much-needed — lift with the arrivals of quarterback JT Daniels and receiver George Pickens in South Florida on Monday night.

The Bulldogs arrived in Miami on Sunday and practiced earlier on Monday with the Orange Bowl CFP Semifinal Game just days away, at 7:30 p.m. on Friday at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla.

Georgia has worked to stay focused on the task at hand, with Michigan carrying tremendous momentum into the loser-out game after beating Ohio State for the first time since 2011 and then steamrolling Iowa by a 42-3 count in the Big Ten Championship Game.

Still, the Bulldogs continued to be pestered on Monday about their 41-24 loss to Alabama in the SEC Championship Game more than three weeks ago.

It was a deflating defeat that forced Georgia to take a long look at themselves in the mirror and take corrective action.

“I feel like any game I lost, especially in college, even in high school,” Georgia All-American Jordan Davis said on Monday. “It still hit me every once in a while when I think about it, really.”

And yet, Davis said, the Bulldogs realize what’s needed of the team is to redeem itself by beating Michigan and getting another shot at the Crimson Tide in the College Football Championship game.

“You’ve just got to keep moving forward,” Davis said. “You can’t dwell on the past. Nothing you can do about it.”

There is something Georgia can do differently if they face Alabama in the title game — if necessary — and that would be to play Daniels in relief of Stetson Bennett should the Bulldogs run into trouble.

Coach Kirby Smart is all in on Bennett, make no mistake about it.

But it’s hard to imagine Smart wouldn’t make a move to the bench if the Bulldogs were to fall behind by more than a score or needed to rely more on the pass.

The fact Pickens, who had ACL surgery last March, is three weeks healthier than the last time he took the field would seem to make the offensive strategy used when Daniel is in the game all the more effective.

At the very least, just having Pickens’ energy and the security of Daniels’ availably in relief, provides a boost.

“Dawgs going to be Dawgs,” Georgia linebacker Quay Walker said. “We’ve just got to focus on three things: Focus on us, (focus) on Michigan and things we can do better.

“At the end of the day, we’ve just got to play football.”

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