Deandre Baker settling into starting role

Deandre Baker came flying off the edge on a corner blitz near the end of the third quarter.

Baker was untouched and unaccounted for, which left him as a free runner to sack Florida quarterback Luke Del Rio. For Baker, it was his first career sack.

"It was a designed play for me to make a big play," Baker said. "So that's what I did."

Baker played the game after missing the previous one due to an ankle injury.

While Baker did get flagged for a pass interference on a deep pass in the third quarter, one that could at least be considered a questionable call upon viewing the replay, the sophomore cornerback had himself a pretty good statistical day.

"We had a great performance," Baker said. "There are still errors where we can improve and things that we missed. We'll fix that this week."

Baker totaled a game-high 10 tackles, with five of those being of the solo variety. He also had pass breakup.

Senior defensive back Maurice Smith said he's seen a lot of improvement from Baker, considering he didn't crack the starting lineup until Georgia's game against Tennessee.

"He's stepping into roles that I don't think he saw himself coming into earlier in the season," Smith said. "It's big when you have a young guy who's going to step up and take on accountability that he has to make plays."

Baker was able to play after missing Georgia's last game against Vanderbilt due to an ankle sprain. This marked his third start of the 2016 season.

Baker was part of a defense that held Florida to only 231 yards. Yet the Bulldogs lost to the Gators for the third consecutive year, this time by a score of 24-10.

"We just want to focus on the task at hand," Baker said. "We'll play hard, things like that."

This story was originally published October 29, 2016 at 8:49 PM with the headline "Deandre Baker settling into starting role."