University of Georgia Athletics
Monty Rice Keeps It Simple
December 30, 2019 | Football, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
NEW ORLEANS — The first time Monty Rice stepped on a football field, when he was 9 years old, he didn't really know what to do.
"I remember I said, 'Coach, what do I do?'" Rice told me back in August during a Quick Chat. "He put me at linebacker and he said: 'Go tackle the dude with the ball.' That's what I did and I was like, dang, that was pretty easy."
Rice has been doing just that, tackling the dude with the ball, pretty much ever since. A 6-foot-1 and 235-pound junior from Huntsville, Ala., Rice leads the Bulldogs with 84 tackles heading into Wednesday night's Allstate Sugar Bowl at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. And when the No. 5 Bulldogs take on No. 7 Baylor, Rice will busy and active against a potent Bears offense.
Baylor comes into the game averaging 35.2 points per game (second in the Big 12), 431.2 yards per game and 6.4 yards per play. The Bears have passed for 3,337 yards and rushed for 2,269.
"They've got explosive running backs, explosive receivers, a good quarterback — he doesn't slide when he runs the ball," Rice said Monday morning when Georgia's defense met with the media. "They play hard, they can spread you out when they run the ball and then they've got running backs that can run good routes out of the backfield. … They've got some good elements to their offense."
Rice spent his freshman season learning from a master, linebacker Roquan Smith, the Butkus Award winner and No. 8 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. Smith was one of the greatest Bulldogs of all time and playing behind him and learning from him was an invaluable experience for Rice.
"I'm still not where I want to be as a player, but seeing what he did my freshman year was like, it's going to be hard for anybody to repeat that because like I've said, he's a different species," Rice said. "It was fun to watch."
Rice played in 14 games as a freshman and made 22 stops. As a sophomore, he played in 10 games and started five. He was Georgia's top tackler with 59 before a foot injury cut his season short. With how the Bulldogs' 2018 season ended, the loss to Alabama in the SEC Championship Game and the loss to Texas in the Sugar Bowl, it was hard for Rice to merely be a spectator.
But he hasn't been a spectator this season, he's been a force, earning second-team All-SEC honors. Junior safety Richard LeCounte was asked Monday who on the defense has made the most process this season. His answer was Rice.
"I'd probably have to say Monty," Lecounte said. "Every game he got better. He is becoming a guy who is now known more for stopping the run and being able to control everything in front of him. That is really special. I love being out there with him."
Sophomore outside linebacker Azeez Ojulari's face lit up when asked about Rice, who was sitting 10 feet away. Ojulari said Rice was an "all-out physical, get to the ball and destroy you" type of player.
"Man, he just brings it every game, every down," Ojulari said. "In practice it shows, he's a leader, he gets us the calls, he's very vocal with his efforts. Once you see that, you just follow him and you just want to play for him and just go hard because he always goes hard every play."
On and off the field, senior defensive tackle Michael Barnett said, Rice gets to the point.
"Monty's a funny guy. [Laughs.] I don't know, he's basically a blunt guy, I can tell you that. He's going to tell you how it is, he's not going to sugarcoat anything about it. How he is on the field is how he is off the field," Barnett said. "You can ask Monty anything and he's going to tell you his opinion, whether you like it or not.
"That's just Monty and you've got to love Monty for that because you know he's going to be real about everything he says."
Football in many respects is a lot more complicated now than it was back when Rice was just getting started. The offensive and defensive schemes are way more sophisticated, the crowds are enormous and the stakes are higher. But for a straightforward linebacker like Rice, the game does still essentially boil down to that most important thing: tackle the dude with the ball.
"You can only scheme and all that other stuff, you can only do that so much," he said. "At the end of the day, you've just got to go hit somebody."
John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
