ATHENS — If there has been one constant in the Georgia offense, it has been the running of tailback D’Andre Swift.
Swift, a junior from Philadelphia likely playing his final game at Sanford Stadium, was the difference in Saturday’s game.
The No. 4-ranked Bulldogs kept their College Football Playoff hopes alive with a 19-13 win over No. 24 Texas A&M.
Swift led the way for the Bulldogs with 19 carries for 103 yards and a team-high 4 catches for 29 yards.
Swift packed a punch several times when all else was seemingly failing.
Swift had 82 yards on 13 carries in the first half, as quarterback Jake Fromm struggled to throw the ball in the rain.
Georgia needed Swift to come through again in the second half.
Texas A&M closed 19-13 with 11:16 left, and everyone in the stadium knew who the ball was going to go to.
It was Swift on first down, powering for 7 yards over an A&M defender, and on third-and-3, Swift caught a swing pass and burst 20 yards downfield.
Swift’s instant offense enabled Jake Camarda to bury the Aggies at their own 10, effectively flipping the field position at the critical stage of the game.
The Georgia defense came up with a stop, and the Bulldogs got the ball back at their 10 with 4:26 left.
Sure enough, it would come down to Swift again.
Third-and-1 at the Georgia 30, and Swift took a pitch left and sprinted 11 yards for the first down.
On the next play, Swift spun in the backfield, ran through a tackle and gained another 8 yards. It forced Texas A&M to use its final timeout with 1:42 left.
It mattered not, Swift picked up 3 yards to pick up the first down and enabled Georgia to run out the clock.
