Look back to the offseason and imagine how this season might've gone if Jarvis Jones, USC Trojans transfer, had been found ineligible due to that AAU basketball scandal from a few years back. It wasn't Mark Richt's fault, Jones didn't do much of anything wrong, and so forth, but the NCAA has made dumber decisions.
But just imagine. Then exhale, because Jones is the best player on the Georgia Bulldogs roster right now, and he proved it again Saturday night against the Florida Gators.
With four sacks, Jones posted the most dominant day of pass rushing Georgia's seen in a decade, becoming only the fifth Dawg to record that many quarterback takedowns in a single day. David Pollack himself never accomplished that feat. He also never got to chase around a one-legged John Brantley, but you make the most of what life gives you.
That's one sack shy of Freddie Gilbert's all-time UGA record. He also suddenly has eight sacks on the season, good for fifth in the country and a half-sack away from third place. Jones apologized for avoiding the media before the game and attributed the performance to his coach:
"[Defensive coordinator Todd] Grantham just put me in great position to make some plays," Jones said. "This is my first year at this position and I watched a lot of film for this game. I caught a couple of their weaknesses that Coach Grantham pointed out, and I just made it my business that I was going to use it against them."
Jones also added six tackles and a forced fumble, showing again why he's a Butkus Award nominee as one of the nation's best linebackers.
Now aren't we glad he's free of Lane Kiffin's clutches?
For more on Jones and the Dawgs, visit Dawg Sports.