Georgia defense faces challenge in veteran Appalachian State QB Lamb

ATHENS — Appalachian State will hold its homecoming game Oct. 7 against New Mexico State in front of thousands of fans who will sit amongst the mountainous backdrop of Boone, North Carolina.

But for senior quarterback Taylor Lamb and his Georgia lineage, the true homecoming comes Saturday when the Mountaineers make the 232-mile trip to Athens to play the Bulldogs.

The four-year starter behind center is a native of Calhoun — playing a key role in beating Buford 27-24 in the 2011 GHSA Class 2A championship — and the son of Bobby Lamb, who is the head coach at Mercer.

“It’s a great family, great people, and I am betting that Taylor is going to go into some kind of coaching himself,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said. “I know he will be a really successful one, so I know they are excited about this opportunity for him to come back to his home state and play at Georgia.”

Lamb also has a direct tie to the program as he grew up a fan and had access to the facilities. His grandfather, Ray Lamb, was a member of Georgia’s support staff while Taylor was growing up.

The Bulldogs are well aware of his past ties to the state and know the Mountaineers’ signal caller will use it to amplify his performance.

“I’m sure he has a chip on his shoulder and showed he could’ve played here,” Georgia senior defensive back Aaron Davis said. “I expect him to go out and try to have the best game of his career.”

Georgia players unanimously agreed that Appalachian State put itself on the map when it upset Michigan as an FCS program in 2007. A few players don’t have concrete memories of that moment, but it is a near victory over the Bulldogs’ rival that is fresh in players’ minds.

Tennessee, a team laden with expectations, hosted the Mountaineers to open its 2016 season. The Volunteers’ hopes were that it would be a nice opportunity to kick off the campaign and showcase the team’s talent, but that nearly didn’t go as planned.

Appalachian State looked like it would top Tennessee on that opening night in Neyland Stadium after putting up a solid effort in a number of different areas. The Volunteers notched the final tally in overtime, however, to narrowly win 20-13. That moment gave the Bulldogs reassurance that their Week 1 opponent is legitimate.

“We definitely want to have a better showing than Tennessee had,” Davis said. “They’re a tough team and a winning group, so you never know what to expect as far as Game 1. We’ll go out there and give it our best then see what happens at the end.”

Lamb accounted for 136 (108 passing, 28 rushing) of the team’s 292 total offensive yards in the contest against the Volunteers. He showed spurts of rushing ability against an SEC program, and finished with 505 rushing yards and nine touchdowns in his junior season.

Lamb is one of the select few quarterbacks that Georgia will face with dual-threat capabilities, and last season that didn’t go too well for the Bulldogs as they fell to Georgia Tech, Mississippi and Tennessee — all of which presented a dual-threat option.

With 10 returning starters defensively, Georgia hopes it has the extra dimension covered.

“(Lamb’s) an awesome runner and can do many things,” Georgia junior running back Roquan Smith said. “I feel like he can sit back in the pocket, and if everything else fails, he can pull it down and run.”

Aside from Lamb, Appalachian State presents challenges in a number of other facets. The Mountaineers finished 10-3 in 2016 and have their opponents impressed by a fast defensive line, the Sun Belt Player of the Year in Jalin Moore and a dependable wide receiver in Darrynton Evans.

Georgia has a primetime showdown Sept. 9 against Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. But before then, Smart has preached to his team for several months that the opener will be no cakewalk.

“The program is 28-5 in their last 33 games — only Clemson, Ohio State and Alabama have more wins in the last 33 games,” Smart said on SEC Media Days on July 11. “To look past them would be silly. We tell our kids that they finished ranked higher than we did last year, so we have something to prove, as well.”