In Georgia’s 14-3 win over Kentucky this past Saturday, redshirt sophomore running back Zamir White totaled a career-high in rushing yards.
The North Carolina native rushed for 136 yards on 26 carries as he averaged 5.2 yards per attempt. White’s performance against Kentucky was the first 100-yard game of his career and it seems like his confidence is growing as the season progresses.
Coming into last season, White had suffered two consecutive ACL tears in both knees. In 2019, White was eased into the offense are redshirting the previous year. Former Bulldogs D’Andre Swift and Brian Herrien got a bulk of the carries as White rushed for 408 yards on 78 attempts with three touchdowns. In Georgia’s 26-14 win over Baylor in the Allstate Sugar Bowl, White rushed 18 times for 92 yards and a touchdown.
As Georgia prepares for Florida this weekend in a game that could decide the SEC East, White admitted that he’s finally back to feeling like his old self.
“I’m as fast, if not faster,” said White, when asked about his speed.
Georgia’s offense rushed for 215 yards against Kentucky averaging five yards per carry, which was a season-high. The Bulldogs will be looking to do that again to limit Stetson Bennett’s potential mistakes and to keep Florida’s high-powered offense off the field.
Georgia fifth-year head coach Kirby Smart believes that White will get enough chances against the Gators.
“Opportunities would be the first thing. I felt like he has always been really effective, to me, in terms of toughness,” Smart said. “He’s getting more comfortable with our run-game. We are probably doing a better job putting a hat on a hat. When you have the run-game you have, you get better at it as you do it.”
White explained that he feels like anything is stopping him from being Georgia’s No. 1 option at running back.
“I don’t feel like anything has held me back,” White said. “We play in the SEC and it’s tough to get long runs. We’ve just to keep on pounding.”
White will need that confidence because Florida will be looking to shutdown an improving Georgia rushing attack.
Here is the video from White’s press conference: