‘I love him for it’: What D’Andre Swift brings to UGA in SEC Championship despite injury

Fourteen weeks ago, D’Andre Swift revealed everything he needed to about his approach. He averaged 9.2 runs per carry with 147 yards on that starry Nashville night to open Georgia’s football season.

Georgia’s multi-faceted running back rattled off four runs of at least 15 yards. One of them went for 36. The opposition had no answer for Swift in a 24-point win over Vanderbilt. He still shook his head while responding bluntly. Swift thought more could’ve been had.

“I’m not satisfied at all with my performance,” Swift said.

That was on Aug. 31. Georgia plays on Dec. 7 to sustain the pulse of its season. The Philadelphia native probably still isn’t satisfied, but not for the same reason.

A nagging shoulder contusion was re-aggravated against Georgia Tech. Swift remained planted on the turf for a while after suffering the injury out of the Wildcat formation, and many started to worry.

As became evident that night in Vanderbilt Stadium, Swift wants the best for himself and the Bulldogs. There’s a determination to play in the SEC Championship game — not only play, but play well. The all-business runner doesn’t expect anything less. His head coach, Kirby Smart, answered each question nearly the same about his status. Smart might’ve even scoffed at it once or twice, too.

“I’m excited to see him go play. I have an expectation he’ll play well,” Smart said.

Swift practiced throughout the week. He walked around Mercedes-Benz Stadium with his running back mates Zamir White and James Cook while smiling and blowing bubbles. Keep in mind, he’s a running back. There’s a level of body punishment while taking a heavy number of carries.

It’s nearly a foregone conclusion: Swift will play against LSU. His load will probably look similar to any other.

“D’Andre Swift is a dog,” inside linebacker Monty Rice said. “He’s going to bounce back.”

Said offensive guard Solomon Kindley: “He doesn’t talk. He puts all of his action on the field.”

Georgia has the guy it calls “warrior” back in the fold. Swift is this team’s offensive heartbeat — although in a unit that has been mostly pedestrian. He’s the Bulldogs’ jolt of energy and their feature running back. One play, in the stadium he returns to compete at, demonstrated that as a freshman: that oh-so-memorable 64-yard run to clinch the 2017 SEC title against Auburn.

This season, however, Swift’s performances haven’t been as thunderous. That doesn’t mean they haven’t been vital to Georgia claiming 11 wins. He faces unique defensive fronts as opponents devote another defender to stop the run. Everyone knows it’s the Bulldogs’ backbone, but Swift always exploits that adjustment.

A series of shorter runs leads to a second-half highlight play. Seemingly the same story each week. That leads to a not-so-ho-hum stat line of 1,203 yards — two consecutive seasons over 1,000 yards rushing — and seven touchdowns. Some might place him a peg lower than those recently etched in Georgia lore, Todd Gurley, Nick Chubb and Sony Michel. That argument can be made, but Swift might win a few rounds of the fight.

“I don’t think he gets enough credit,” Smart said. “It just baffles me. He’s been a tremendous competitor, and he affects everybody around him.”

Offensive guard Cade Mays remembers the second game of the 2018 season. Georgia let Swift conduct the show inside Williams-Brice Stadium against South Carolina. The Bulldogs called outside zone. Swift dead-legged a defender, exploded for a 20-yard gain and had his teammates puzzled.

A thought of “What just happened?” echoed throughout the Georgia sideline. Apparently that happens pretty frequently.

“He’s one of the best running backs I’ve seen,” Kindley said. “He does things a lot of people can’t do. He has these cuts, and we say ‘How do you do that? You’re running full speed?’ If I do that, I might tear something in my leg. He’s a different guy.”

Friday, LSU head coach Ed Orgeron referenced some likenesses to Tigers’ running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire, who has 30 more yards than Swift on the season: “He runs the outside zone as good as anybody in the country. … He’ll run over you or run around you.”

A few of Swift’s skills stood out to his teammates. Some of the most common were vision and perception. He sees running lanes at an elevated level. Defensive lineman Michael Barnett has trouble handling Swift’s shiftiness while on the practice field. No. 7 becomes hard to contain, and that uniqueness gives Georgia a weapon.

“I mean, what can he not do?” linebacker Tae Crowder said. “He can flex out and be a receiver in the slot. And then he’s a one-cut back, there isn’t much you can do about that.”

This could be Swift’s last meaningful game in a Georgia uniform, and the Bulldogs are ready to put the overblown injury perception to rest.

“D’Andre is super special,” tight end Eli Wolf said. “Everybody sees that. We need him back.”

This story was originally published December 7, 2019 at 6:00 AM.