{"id":79302,"date":"2024-12-29T08:30:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-29T14:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/trevor-etiennes-georgia-journey-takes-him-to-home-state-of-louisiana\/"},"modified":"2024-12-29T08:30:00","modified_gmt":"2024-12-29T14:30:00","slug":"trevor-etiennes-georgia-journey-takes-him-to-home-state-of-louisiana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/trevor-etiennes-georgia-journey-takes-him-to-home-state-of-louisiana\/","title":{"rendered":"Trevor Etienne\u2019s Georgia journey takes him to home state of Louisiana"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEW ORLEANS, La. \u2014<\/strong> When Georgia lands in New Orleans later today, it\u2019ll be a much anticipated return to the Big Easy for Trevor Etienne<\/a><\/strong>. The Jennings, La. native is looking forward to getting some gumbo and making a stop by Drago\u2019s Seafood Restaurant<\/a>. He\u2019s also hoping to shake off some bad juju for his family at the Superdome.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, words can\u2019t describe how excited I am to be back home, playing in New Orleans, playing in Louisiana,\u201d Etienne told reporters in an availability on Saturday<\/a>. \u201cI actually don\u2019t have that good of a history with games in that stadium. I lost in the state championship. It was terrible. My brother lost in college, I believe twice, in that stadium.\u00a0But his last game there, he won, so I can say we\u2019re on the upside of what we call \u2018the dome curse.\u2019 Man, it\u2019s going to be electric. I can\u2019t wait. I\u2019m excited about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Etienne, a game like this is exactly what he came to Georgia for. It hasn\u2019t all been smooth sailing though.<\/p>\n

After beginning his collegiate career at Florida \u2013 wanting to do something different than his brother Travis that was a two-time ACC Player of the Year and three-time All-American at Clemson while also getting away from his home state school of LSU \u2013 he entered the transfer portal this past offseason and eventually chose the Bulldogs for his landing spot. <\/p>\n

Things got off to a rough start with an arrest in March that led to a summer of suspension talk surrounding him. Etienne missed the season opener against his brother\u2019s old school as a result. All along though, Kirby Smart and those around Georgia\u2019s program maintained high praise of Etienne as a person. Not long after, he was able to show the type of player he was too.<\/p>\n

Etienne totaled at least 90 yards of offense in each of his first two outings at Georgia against Tennessee Tech and Kentucky. He scored his first touchdown in red and black against Alabama, starting a streak of four straight games that saw him find the end zone \u2013 the final of those a three-touchdown, 110-yard night to help the Bulldogs beat top-ranked Texas on the road in Austin.<\/p>\n

\n<\/span>\n<\/div>\n

Just when it seemed things were trending in the right direction for Etienne and Georgia, he was forced to the sideline for the better part of a month due to a rib injury. Etienne was knocked out of the Florida game in the first half and played sparingly in a loss to Ole Miss. He would miss the next three games entirely.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was pretty bad. Yeah, it was pretty bad, man,\u201d Etienne said about his injury<\/a>. \u201c\u2026 Honestly, you know, I feel like every setback was just a way of God talking to me, just telling me to be patient.\u201d<\/p>\n

Etienne felt the support of his teammates every step of the way, doing whatever he could to get back on the field when many in his position might shut things down. Knowing there wasn\u2019t much rehab for ribs, Etienne focused on his conditioning, making sure he staying in shape for when he was able to get back on the field. He did that in the SEC Championship Game, providing a spark for Georgia in yet another win over Texas with a season-high 94 yards rushing including a season-long 48-yarder.<\/p>\n

\u201cNobody wants to be injured. Nobody wants to miss games or anything like that. So just being able to come back and have the game that I had, just trying to keep building on that and keep stacking days moving forward,\u201d Etienne said<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe think he\u2019s a special back that gives us a chance to hit a home run any time he touches the ball,\u201d Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo added about Etienne and the luxury it is to call an offense that includes him<\/a>. \u201cNone the more evident than that game, Texas, run a simple zone play, the frontside defensive end kind of stuck his head in the wrong gap, and he bounced it outside. It was an explosive play. It kind of got that drive going. It got the offense ignited. You know, you wish he was would have been healthy all year. He\u2019s kind of been in and out early in the year, and then the four or five weeks that he was out. That hurts you a little bit, but that\u2019s football.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bobo isn\u2019t the only one to see that Georgia\u2019s offense is different with Etienne present. Offensive lineman Tate Ratledge<\/a><\/strong> and tight end Oscar Delp<\/a><\/strong>, both of whom block for him, are aware too.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I mean, I think he makes a huge difference,\u201d Ratledge said<\/a>. \u201cHe\u2019s an explosive back, he\u2019s an experienced back.\u00a0I\u00a0mean, in the Texas game, you saw what him being back did.\u00a0I mean, he runs the ball hard, he makes the right reads, and\u00a0I mean, he makes us look good a lot of the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a guy who came here and, I mean,\u00a0I feel like\u00a0he\u2019s been here for since I got here. He\u2019s someone I really consider\u00a0a brother, and I know the offense loves him.\u00a0Everyone on the team loves him. He\u2019s a great\u00a0leader, a great person,\u201d Delp added<\/a>, asked about being the first to meet Etienne in the end zone after his game-winning touchdown in overtime of the SEC Championship<\/a>. \u201cYou know, just to have him have that moment and me get to be there\u00a0with him was was really special.\u00a0I mean, he deserves it. The things he\u2019s been through\u00a0this season that people don\u2019t really get to see, you know, behind the scenes. It\u2019s huge.\u00a0I was really excited for him and I\u2019m really happy for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\n

New angle unlocked #GoDawgs<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/KieLXNo1Z7<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Georgia Football (@GeorgiaFootball) December 8, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/span>\n<\/div>\n

Etienne will take the field New Year\u2019s Day against Notre Dame with three weeks of rest to help his ribs feel a little bit better. He\u2019ll once again be wearing the kevlar vest to protect him, hoping he can stay on the field as much as possible to help Georgia win what\u2019s without a doubt the biggest game of the Bulldogs\u2019 season \u2013 and of his career. That\u2019s been his goal from the jump.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe thing about Trevor that I love, you know, obviously he\u2019s just been here one year, but he\u2019s came in here with the right mindset. He\u2019s embraced the team. He\u2019s embraced whatever Coach Smart\u2019s asked him to do, whatever I\u2019ve asked him to do, whatever Coach Crawford\u2019s asked him to do,\u201d Bobo added to his earlier comments about Etienne as a player<\/a>. \u201d \u2026 You can\u2019t say enough about what a young man he is, and I think that part obviously is a great talent that can run and catch out of the backfield and can be explosive for us. But I think how he held himself and how he integrated into this culture of what Coach Smart has here at the University of Georgia says more about him and his impact on our football team than anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the game that every college player wants to be part of at the end of the year. This is the reason we go through the off-season training and we put all the hard work in, to to be able to get a shot at the title. And this is, you know, a step along that road,\u201d Etienne said<\/a>, speaking for himself on the importance of this game and the potential Playoff run with teammates he has gotten to know in less than a year. \u201cSo it\u2019s just really a blessing and a great feeling to be a part of something that\u2019s special \u2026 You know, like I said, this is why you come to Georgia and just being in a position that, you know, to win a national title is huge.<\/p>\n

Georgia and Notre Dame kickoff from Caesar\u2019s Superdome in New Orleans at 8:45 p.m. ET on ESPN January 1st. The Bulldogs enter as 2-point favorites over the Fighting Irish.<\/p>\n

The post Trevor Etienne\u2019s Georgia journey takes him to home state of Louisiana<\/a> appeared first on On3<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NEW ORLEANS, La. \u2014 When Georgia lands in New Orleans later today, it\u2019ll be a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-79302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79302"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79302\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}