It was a day that Bullard and Dawg Nation will never forget

Photos by Tony Walsh / UGA Sports Information Department

Based on the pre-game hype and post-season ramifications, Saturday's Georgia/Tennessee showdown in Athens basically was the "biggest game" ever played in Sanford Stadium.

Indeed, it was a day that Dawg fans will never forget, as well as one that Volunteer fans would prefer to forget.

Georgia put on a performance for the ages, and one of its leading actors was Milledgeville's Javon Bullard, who terrorized the Tennessee backfield and electrified Sanford Stadium with a pair of fourth-quarter sacks. Bullard, Baldwin High Class of 2021, finished with seven solo tackles, a pass breakup, as well as a team-leading two sacks and two tackles for loss. At this point, the only question is whether or not Bullard will be named as the SEC Defensive Player of the Week, which is always announced on Mondays.

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Bullard, a sophomore defensive back, was all smile after the game, for good reason, while speaking after the game with the media. 

"As a kid from Milledgeville, Georgia, to play in an atmosphere like this, I'm extremely grateful, and it's an extreme blessing," he said.

Timing is a big part of life, and Bullard chose quite a time to enroll at UGA and play football. His very first season in Athens coincided with Georgia's first national championship in football since 1980, while his sophomore season finds the Dawgs again on top and ranked No. 1 in the polls. 

Put it this way: Georgia has been ranked No. 1 a total of 32 times in the history of the Associated Press poll, which first began way back in 1948, and more than half of those number 1 rankings (17) have occurred since Bullard has been on campus.

In other words, Bullard's timing has been impeccable, these the glory days for Georgia Bulldogs football.

Bullard is the first Milledgeville guy to play on scholarship at Georgia since J.T. Wall in 2002. Wall scored two touchdowns in his final home game against Georgia Tech, exactly 20 years ago to the month.

Georgia now plays on the road against Mississippi State and Kentucky, before closing out the regular season at home against Georgia Tech. Following the victory over the Vols, the Dawgs now have greater than a 99 percent chance to play in the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta,  at least according to the sports analytics nerd. The SEC Championship Game is all set for Dec. 3.

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