INDIANAPOLIS — Lawrence Cager earned a place in Georgia-Florida history last season with his 7-catch, 132-yard performance, but he wasn’t the only graduate transfer to have a big day.
Florida defensive lineman Jonathan Greenard, who transferred from Louisville, made the most of his one shot at the Bulldogs with a team-high 9 tackles in Georgia’s 24-17 win over the Gators.
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“The Georgia game was crazy, that environment there, been in Jacksonville,” Greenard said at his NFL combine podium interview on Thursday. “I played there in a bowl game, but seeing everything in the rivalry I grew up in, being from Georgia, I was a Florida fan coming up.
“It was mind-boggling, one of the most intense games.”
Greenard, from Hiram, Ga., was a 3-star prospect coming out of high school, and 247Sports reported Kentucky and Louisville were his only two Power 5 offers coming out of high school.
But Greenard showed his worth against the Bulldogs. He displayed grit and hustle throughout the afternoon in his first game back from a high ankle sprain that had sidelined him the previous three weeks.
“I wanted to win that game so bad, I didn’t want to come off the field,” Greenard said. “Being out there, making hustle plays, finishing plays even while being dog tired, I tried to do everything in my power to make sure we won that game, but obviously we came up short.”
Greenard tipped his cap to Jake Fromm, asked to assess the outgoing Georgia quarterback.
“Jake Fromm is one of those (guys) , he doesn’t get rattled in the pocket, he stands tall in the pocket, obviously, if I had an offensive line like that, I would definitely be standing tall too,” Greenard said. “But he controls the game He never gets rattled, stays within himself, and he understands what he possesses as a player and doesn’t do too much.
“He’s always going to keep you guessing. If he needs to tuck it and run, he’ll do that a bit. But he’s a very smart guy. He’s one of the best quarterbacks I played against, and I played against the top quarterbacks.”
Greenard also provided Georgia fans with an idea of the type of challenge Georgia will face in the 2020 season-opening game against Virginia on Monday, Sept. 7 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
“Virginia, they are a hard-working team, that’s one thing that kept them in the game against us,” Greenard said, referring to Florida’s 36-28 Orange Bowl win over the Cavaliers. “Even when I was at Louisville, it was the same exact way, they play their asses off. They always want to continue to make sure they are in the game.
“And the coach (Bronco Mendenhall), with what they are doing over there, they have really good program and guys who are willing to buy in. When you have those things, it’s really tough to beat them.”
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