J.R. Reed earned his first interception of his Georgia career in the Bulldogs dominating shutout performance over Tennessee, but he knows that the team must “Keep Chopping” and not get caught up in the hype.
 
“Keep Chopping” is a phrase that this Georgia team has made their own and it can be heard all throughout the program from players to coaches. Reed gave some insight as to what this slogan means to not only him but the rest of the team.
 
 

“It just started in fall camp and we believe that if we keep going and ‘chopping wood’ and keep our heads down and keep working, then we can be the team that we want to be,” said Reed. “We don’t pay attention to the rankings. We keep working like we’re ranked whatever we were ranked at the beginning of the year. And we keep going, it starts in practice, keep our heads down, and like we said our motto is just to keep chopping wood.”

 
 
Reed mentioned not letting the rankings go to their heads and now that the Bulldogs are a top-five team, this could become even more of a challenge. This idea of not letting the rankings go to their head can definitely be seen and echoed by Kirby Smart. Smart is notorious for saying that he lets his team know that “humility is just a week away.”
 
 
The Bulldogs next test is Vanderbilt in Nashville and they will be taking on quarterback Kyle Shurmur, who coach Smart describes as the best pure passer that his defense will have faced thus far. Vanderbilt cannot be overlooked as they are definitely a team that could humble the Bulldogs as they defeated them in Athens last season by a score of 17-16.
 
 
However, if this Bulldogs team can continue to play outstanding football on both sides of the ball and continue to “keep chopping”, by not letting the hype around the team get to them, then they should be contenders in not only the SEC title race but possibly the national title picture.
 
 

 
 
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